The huge 'price tags' mistake Portsmouth made against Norwich that John Mousinho doesn't want repeated at West Brom
Pompey travel to West Brom on Saturday with the head coach keen for his players not to make the same mistake they made against Norwich last week
John Mousinho has been ramming home a very simple message to his players ahead of their Championship trip to West Brom on Saturday.
And it’s one you wouldn’t expect from a head coach who last season guided his team to mid-table security following a famous title-winning promotion campaign.
The prompt for the words of advice offered to every member of his first team stemmed from last weekend’s disappointing home defeat at the hands of Norwich City, when the Blues took until deep into the second half to show they could be no pushovers for the Canaries - a shift in mindset that, unfortunately, proved too little too late.
Since then, Mousinho has regretted the way his side went about their business against Liam Manning’s big-spenders, who are tipped to be in and around the promotion picture at the end of the season.
So much so that he’s determined not to let his team fall into the same trap again, starting with tomorrow’s game at the Hawthorns.
It’s a venue that saw Pompey succumb to a 5-1 thumping at the hands of the Baggies last season, with the visitors punished after making too many changes to their starting XI.
Mousinho will have learnt from that mistake. And he’s hoping his players will have learned something, in particular, from their Fratton Park display against Norwich - that they can’t afford to be overawed by who they come up against in the Championship.
John Mousinho’s message to his players ahead of West Brom game
Speaking ahead of the West Ham v Pompey game, the Blues boss said his players need to realise they deserve to be competing at this level and they can ill afford to be concerned by the ‘price tags’ some of their opponents carry or demand.
‘The overall feeling this week has just been a bit of regret,’ said Mousinho as he reflected on the Norwich performance.
‘I think we just didn't quite have that belief in the first half that we were going to get something out of the game.
‘It wasn't until we really clicked into gear for the last 15-20 minutes that we actually believed that we belonged at the level against a side who have spent so much money and have got such a great array of talent.
‘Maybe that just set us back a little bit early on. So it's been interesting for us this week to make sure that we're not playing against price tags, we're not playing against club history, we're not playing against anything other than 11 other players on the pitch.
‘I think we've got to get our head around that and make sure we go into games with a lot more confidence.’
Pompey’s ‘estimated’ market value compared to Norwich and West Brom
Norwich spent the guts of £20m-plus on new players ahead of their 2-1 win against Pompey last weekend - a sum that takes their squad market value to around £88m, according to transfermarkt.com.
In comparison, the Blues’ transfer outlay this summer has been around the £3m mark - a pint-sized figure that includes the undisclosed fee they paid Hannover 96 for Josh Knight this week.
Transfermarkt.com have subsequently put a £25.6m valuation on the first-team squad assembled by Mousinho to date for their latest Championship season.
Saturday’s opponents, West Brom (5), have had a quieter transfer window than both Norwich (11) and Pompey (7) when it comes to new signings.
But they haven’t been afraid to splash the cash, with approximately £10m spent on the arrivals of Aune Heggebø, Nat Phillips, George Campbell and reported Blues target Krystian Bielik.
That puts their estimated market value at around the £56m mark, which is more than twice than what Pompey are believed to be worth.
But, again, that’s not something the Blues’ players need to be distracted by. They proved time and time again last season - especially at Fratton Park - that they are good enough to compete in the Championship. It’s just a pity they need reminded of that, though!