'The truth is we were scared of the backlash': The inside story behind the brave decision which transformed Portsmouth

Rich Hughes chuckles recalling the wise words imparted by former colleague Phil Boardman: Hindsight never loses.

Certainly when armed with hindsight, the decision to appoint John Mousinho as Pompey’s head coach was wonderfully inspired, a stroke of genius even. 

Yet at the time of that January 2023 unveiling, few shared the sporting director’s conviction that the Oxford United centre-half and part-time set-piece coach was the right man.

Perhaps it was a gamble, maybe high-risk stakes, nonetheless Hughes, along with Andy Cullen, Tony Brown and owners Tornante demonstrated remarkable faith in the 37-year-old PFA chairman.

And, almost 15 months later, they were rewarded for such astute judgement with the League One title and a Championship return.

Hughes told The News: ‘We had 130 CVs and were able to cross them off based on what we felt was a natural fit for us and what was right at the time. We started with a shortlist of eight and whittled it down to varying degrees.

‘John was the least experienced. When we went through the process, our viewpoint started as “Okay, we’ll speak to this guy and see where it’s at”. It wasn’t lost on us it would be leftfield or an unorthodox appointment.

‘Then, towards the end, we were looking at reasons to not hire John - and that was a really powerful shift. 

‘After his third interview, I called Rob Edwards (Luton head coach), who’s a good friend of mine. I didn’t mention John's name at any point, I just wanted to get Rob’s understanding of how he knew he was ready to lead a team for the first time.

‘I talked through the scenario we were going through and, after the conversation had past midnight, Rob told me: “Rich, you’ve made up your mind, don’t hesitate. You know what you want to do, be brave, be bold and follow it through”.

‘It was quite nice to have that validation from someone I know and trust really well. He didn’t know it was John, he just assessed the situation I was in.

‘On the Friday morning before Exeter, I watched John address the players for the first time and thought “We have something special here”.

‘It was his mannerisms, the way he deals with people. He’s well humoured, intelligent, empathetic, smart and has a really good football IQ. John has a great way of dealing with everyone, whether that be a player, people who work in the canteen or those visiting the training ground for a day.

‘It became apparent quite quickly that he was going to be really successful at this football club.’

Barely 48 hours after Mousinho’s appointment, the Blues’ new head coach faced Exeter at Fratton Park.

Caretaker boss Simon Bassey had overseen preparation for the League One encounter until Friday's training ground entrance, when the ex-Stevenage skipper introduced himself to the squad at training.

The following day represented the perfect start with Marlon Park, newly installed as captain, and Joe Morrell netting in a 2-0 success, representing a first League One win in three months.

Mousinho would steer his team into eighth at the 2022-23 season’s end, following four defeats in 23 matches. No play-off spot, but undoubtedly he had created hope.

Hughes added: ‘I’ve said this to a few people and hate it because it sounds a little woolly. I remember playing Oxford at Fratton Park (October 2022) and I hadn’t been in the building long.

‘Karl Robinson, who has obviously been a big impact in John’s career, stood very firmly at the back of the dugout and wasn’t hugely barking instructions. Whereas John was on the touchline with a hoodie and shorts. I watched him and thought “This suits him, he looks like he fits the touchline”. 

‘I spoke to him afterwards and had various conversations with him at FA courses. I was also aware of his work as PFA chairman. As an organisation, it was going nowhere in a hurry and John sort of revolutionised that, it went through a period of transformational change.

‘Myself, Andy Cullen, Tony Brown and the board of directors felt that was something we needed as a football too. We needed to change things here in terms of the club’s direction.

‘The easy thing would be to say it wasn’t a brave decision, that we believed in it. The honest truth was we were scared about the backlash and scared we were making a decision that people would have viewed as out there.

‘It wasn't the fact that it was John, the problem was the existing clamour for a name that fans already knew, which we understand, we get that, the club had one league win in 14 games. It wasn’t a great period and everyone thought “Get some experience to steady the ship”.

‘Whereas we didn’t feel hugely in danger of being dragged into a relegation fight, so we actually felt that a six-month period could relaunch a bit of a charge for the play-offs again, which we did to a degree without ever really threatening it.

‘It was brave and it was tough, but, very much as a collective, we believed in John and his abilities and felt it was the right thing to do.

‘It would be remiss of me to sit here and say we didn’t worry, we absolutely did. But even if we were to appoint someone with 900 games on their CV, there’s always a worry that it won’t go well.

‘Sometimes you can get too paralysed by all the reasons to not do something. With John, we focused on the criteria of the individual we wanted and the skills he portrayed, he ticked the boxes.

‘I had worked with Rob Edwards before at Forest Green, who was a first-time appointment. Andy had worked with Russell Martin at MK Dons as a first-time appointment - and we had both seen the successes that could be had.

‘Testament to the club, they were brave enough to back me with the initial gut instinct - but also brave enough to follow it through.’

On April 16, Conor Shaughnessy’s 89th-minute header secured Pompey a 3-2 success over Barnsley on an emotional Fratton Park evening.

Having topped League One for all but eight days since September, it marked the title and, of course, promotion to the Championship following a 12-year absence.

By that stage, Mousinho had already been honoured as the Sky Bet League One Manager Of The Season in recognition of a remarkable achievement.

Back in January 2023, Hughes and Co weren’t fortunate to possess hindsight.

‘Somebody said it to me before the Exeter game: “You are gambling with the future of this football club”, said Hughes.

‘Everything is a gamble. There is no set formula that says something is guaranteed to be successful. Good managers have gone to clubs and failed, bad managers have gone to clubs and done well, and everything in between.

‘Any appointment is a gamble, there are varying degrees in it. You have your best inclinations how different pieces will work and different scenarios, but actually I don’t think there is ever a managerial appointment that’s not a gamble.

‘David Moyes is leaving West Ham, but be careful what you wish for. He is very successful and is to be replaced by Julen Lopetegui. Now I don’t know either of these people, so I’m talking very blindly, and West Ham have made a decision based on their facts and information.

‘But that’s a risk. They are hiring somebody who has coached in the Premier League, Porto, Real Madrid, the Spanish national team, but there’s a risk attributed to everything. There are simply varying degrees of risk with appointments.

‘We have John. It is a genuine privilege to work with him every day. He’s an incredibly talented individual and someone I now call a friend.’