‘If they’re good enough, they’ll play for Portsmouth!’
That’s the stark message John Mousinho has sent to anyone who continues to dispute the club’s decision to dismiss 11 academy players at the end of last season.
The Pompey head coach also stated that a pathway to the first team will be established for anyone they believed could break into the senior ranks and contend for a place, despite the lack of a development squad at Fratton Park. In May, the Blues released ten second-year scholars and third-year youngster Destiny Ojo as difficult decisions were made about the academy’s future. Since then, some have been handed trials at Premier League and Championship clubs, without success. Although 17-year-old Koby Mottoh – a winger who made five first-team appearances for the Blues – has been snapped up by top-flight Bournemouth and handed a role within their under-21 ranks. That has understandably raised eyebrows among sections of the Fratton faithful. However, defending the club’s decision-making process, Mousinho said the Blues stand by their opinion on any youngster they’ve decided can leave PO4. Speaking to The News, the Pompey boss said: ‘If there are any youngsters at the football club, whether they are through the academy or whether they’re external, if they’re good enough to play for Portsmouth, then they’ll play for Portsmouth.
‘We do not turn players down for any other reason than we don’t think they’re good enough to affect the first team. ‘Obviously, the most important part of my job is to win games, which is also the most important thing for the fans, so whenever we do pick teams, it’s all about who’s going to be the most effective – first of all in the short term but then we have an eye on long-term development as well. ‘There’s two bits to the answer about player development. There’s never a player that we’ve let go that we thought was going to be good enough in four years time and we don’t have the time to develop. 
‘We don’t believe the players we let go will be good enough to play for Portsmouth in League One or the Championship, which is where we’ve shifted the needle.’If we have a player who we believe will be good enough, such as Toby Steward, we will sign him and there will be no rush to develop him. We find a development path, despite the fact that we do not have an under-21s team.
Many people believe that a development side and structure that serves as a link between the academy and the senior ranks is essential for a club of Pompey’s size.
Mousinho confirmed that is something the team will consider in the future. However, as the Blues continue to progress both on and off the pitch following a series of terrible years that threatened the club’s very existence, he insists that priorities remain paramount.
He went on to say, “In terms of an under-21s side, I think it’s something the football club would like to get to in an ideal world.”I think the way things have happened in the past, I’m sure it’s no secret to any Portsmouth fan that by the time the Premier League years finished, there was a football club without a training ground, and a football club with a pitch that needed major investment to keep it above 10,000.
capacity. There’s been a lot of time, effort, and money put into it, and I believe that all of these building blocks will lead to us becoming the football club that all of our fans want us to be.’The first team is currently the priority, which I believe is the correct course of action.
‘We may have a wonderful under-21 side but the main team isn’t performing, which is completely worthless. We want to get our priorities straight and make sure we have everything knocked off on the first-team side, so we have a fresh new facility in terms of the training ground, we have the massive reconstruction of Fratton Park, we’ve put a lot of money into the first-team squad and development.
There – and if one day we can move on and create and develop the levels of the football club, I’m sure we’ll consider it.
‘But I think the most important message is that I don’t believe any academy player is being held back due to a lack of under-21s. We’ll always take them on, make a way for them, and if we’re wrong, we’ll admit it and accept the consequences.
‘There’s nothing we’d rather do than develop our own players; it would save us a lot of money and effort if we had players coming through.’
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