'Any other club would have sacked me': Portsmouth boss on football's impatience - and his gratitude to Michael Eisner

Now the unwavering backing of owners Tornante has been rewarded, with their impressive head coach securing Championship football for successive seasons.

Outside of the current top five, only Pompey, Middlesbrough, Watford, Sheffield Wednesday and QPR have not changed managers this season.

Among the casualties were Des Buckingham (Oxford United) and Paul Warne (Derby), who accompanied the Blues from League One last season - with both gone by February 7.

In contrast, despite being rooted to the foot of the Championship for much of the first half of the campaign, including five points adrift of safety at the start of December, Pompey’s hierarchy never lost faith in their boss.

And Mousinho has thanked Michael Eisner and Co for their patience.

He told The News: ‘Fair play to Pompey, there are definitely times when we have sat and thought that, had it been any other football club, that’s going to be it.

‘An interesting thing, though, is the fans have never turned and that has been a reflection of them knowing what we are trying to achieve, they understand the circumstances. We’ve probably always just managed to put in that performance as well, which keeps everyone on side.

‘But there has been a huge amount of loyalty from the football club to myself, they have stuck by everything we said in that first press conference back in January 2023. Not many clubs do that.

‘Look at the amount of clubs which bring head coaches in. You talk about being a long-term project, but things go wrong after six months and there's a change. Things go wrong after three months and there’s a change.

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‘To have that backing has been really, really important. It has enabled me to not panic, to not think I need to do something drastic on Saturday to save my job. They believe in me - and that’s a really powerful thing to have behind you.

‘I’ve always had that assurance, whether that has been explicit or implicit, it has always been there. The club have been brilliant.

‘If a football club are sure they have the right guy in place, which I’ve felt with me, then it’s about sticking to what they believe in - and myself sticking to what we believe in.

‘My take has always been that every decision I make will be for the good of the football club long-term, not to try to necessarily increase my stock.’

‘We’ve never been at loggerheads’

The unveiling of Mousinho as head coach in January 2023 was widely viewed as a huge gamble by those outside of Fratton Park’s boardroom.

Identified by sporting director Rich Hughes - who himself had only been in the job for three months - and backed up by chief executive Andy Cullen and Tornante, it has proven an outstanding appointment.

And Mousinho has praised the hierarchy for creating a footballing structure which has allowed him to thrive.

He added: ‘I probably haven't spoken about it a huge amount this year, but I look at alignment.

‘When I joined, I felt there was alignment through the football club. Essentially Rich (Hughes) has had that ability to shape the club as a sporting director, backed by the owners and backed by the executive.

‘I was the next part of that, so there has always been that alignment from top to bottom - and everybody in the chain has a really good relationship.

‘Rich and I work incredibly closely together, but I speak to Tony (Brown) and Andy (Cullen) all the time, I speak to Eric (Eisner) and Michael all the time, Breck and Anders, everybody in the chain. There’s a lot of communication.

‘Even the media. I don't like complimenting them too much, but I’ve never felt we’ve ever been at loggerheads at any time of the season, despite some horrendous losses. We’ve all been together hoping the football club goes up and up and up.’

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