Portsmouth boss’ honest recruitment admission with summer transfer business under microscope
Pompey fans gave a positive response to their club’s summer transfer activity after the window’s close, but there’s been more criticism of the business of late. John Mousinho discusses the club’s most recent recruitment.
John Mousinho acknowledged Pompey’s summer transfer business doesn’t currently look successful ‘on a couple of fronts’.
But the Blues boss insisted it’s far too early to come to any definitive conclusions over the latest batch of additions to arrive at PO4.
Pompey boss: ‘Very, very early to assess summer business’
And the Pompey head coach outlined his belief the players still finding their feet in the Championship will come good, while highlighting the need for signings to make an immediate impact.
Eleven new faces were brought in across the summer, with there an overwhelmingly positive response to the business from the Fratton Faithful at the window’s climax.
There’s been more criticism aired of late, however, as frustration has grown amid Pompey’s recent Championship struggles.
Mousinho sees players like Adrian Segecic and Joseph Bursik doing well early in their Fratton careers, with there's signs of others making the necessary adjustments to the English game’s second tier.
He said: ‘It’s still very, very early on if you’re trying to assess our summer business.
‘If you look at someone like Luke Le Roux who we brought in this summer, he made his third start on Saturday. It’s far too early to assess Luke’s impact.
‘Then there’s players we’ve brought in this summer who we haven’t seen yet. So how do we assess that?
‘It’s almost impossible to do that other than to say at the minute, without being able to properly assess, it hasn’t been particularly successful on a couple of fronts. That’s not to say that it won’t be in the future.
‘It’s a mixture, it’s always a mixture.
‘I don’t think you ever bring in the amount of players we brought in, and everyone’s going to hit the ground running and start games for you.
‘But we’ve had plenty of players who we brought in this summer who’ve made an impact in the side.
‘The likes of Adrian Segecic when he came in burst on to the scene and was very lively.
‘I think Segs had a bit of time out of the team and was primed and ready to come back in and make an impact, when he unfortunately picked up the injury.
‘We’ve had some really solid contributions across the board.
‘I thought Josh Knight’s game against Wrexham was his most solid for the club and Joe Bursik has had some really good performances.
‘We’re working across the pitch and there’s green shoots that those players, given time, can have an impact.’
Mousinho: ‘We need players who can impact it now.’
Mousinho feels Pompey’s football operation have to tread a very delicate line when deploying their recruitment strategy.
The club are looking to land talent they can develop and improve as assets, while also having to take care of getting results on the pitch in the here and now.
All of that comes against a backdrop of Pompey operating with resources known to be at the rear of Championship spending hierarchy.
Mousinho added: ‘It’s an interesting mix in terms of what we’re trying to achieve at the club.
‘We want to get to a position where we have players we can develop, and we have players who can either make the club money or push the club up the league.
‘We make no bones about that, but we do need players who can come in and impact it now.’