Portsmouth's most important business of summer - and what it means for their future

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Pompey have developed a pattern of often announcing their business on a Friday teatime over the years.

I know this for a fact, because it keeps me out of the pub. 

Reporting transfers or new contracts does partially ease the pain, when positive breaking news lands as I’m looking to get away on a flier.

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And stories don’t come much brighter than the one which broke at 5pm at the end of the working week last Friday.

The news dropping of John Mousinho agreeing an extension to his existing long-term contract was given the teaser treatment by the club, in the same vein afforded their 15 player signings this summer.

But few, in any, were celebrated with the same exuberance as the clip used of the Pompey head coach’s pumped-fisted celebrations at Lincoln on the final day of last term.

And quite right, too.

Just as significantly as Mousinho’s new agreement was Rich Hughes extending his commitment to the Blues, after his seismic impact since arriving as sporting director two years ago.

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It means Pompey have secured the two figures who, it goes without saying, have been the fundamental pillars in the rise to the Championship.

Perhaps one of the biggest surprises is it took this long for the contracts to be sorted.

The Pompey boss would never say as much, but it would be no surprise if the length of the wait to see him rewarded for his impact at PO4 had left him perplexed.

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Still for both men and the club there is now mutual security, though the extent of that will be buried in the clauses and minutiae of those contracts.

Details remain vague, though there was one key piece of information contained within the four minutes of Mousinho's post-Burnley radio reaction.

'I’m really happy to hopefully extend my stay for a lot longer,’ Mousinho said, as he quietly seethed at events on the pitch at Turf Moor.

‘Four more years is really pleasing and I think we can build something very special at this football club. I’m delighted and very thankful to the board.’

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The mention of four years was one Mousinho chose not to repeat in any of his ensuing broadcast and written debriefs at the weekend, but it was an intriguing titbit of information nonetheless.

Both Mousinho and Hughes’ stars have risen massively since signing their first Pompey contracts, so the remuneration afforded the pair will no doubt reflect that progress as will the measures from the club to protect their prime assets.

Because that is what they now are. 

For all the growing value in the Blues’ playing squad, the leaders of the club’s football operation are the ones who will be attracting the most admiring glances from within the game.

Speak to those who work in this business and Hughes’ standing as a shrewd, connected operator is well established. 

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People generally speak well of the man from Staffordshire, and going successfully about your work in this business without making too many enemies is no mean feat. 

Mousinho meanwhile is the full package with his standing as one of England’s bright, young managerial things now well established and equally deserved.

Being able to handle the boardroom as smoothly as the dressing room is a challenge many of the 37-year-old’s peers struggle with. Mousinho straddles both with a common thread of decency which stretches to his relationship with the media and, of course, the Pompey fanbase.

The key, however, is the Londoner’s leadership of the playing group and the manner in which he’s used his close proximity in age as an aid rather than hindrance. 

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There’s an approachable feel to Mousinho and an accountability for his methods. When it comes to man-management, there’s something to say for being straight with people over the Machiveillian tactics of some of the Pompey boss’ predecessors.

So with much to admire, it’s inevitable chief executive Andy Cullen will be fielding calls for Mousinho from rivals - if he hasn’t already.

The hope and dream is the architect of Pompey’s success is here to build, as he says, something ‘very special’.

If not, the Blues are now steeled for the day the man being openly touted for a Premier League future goes elsewhere.

And they can take on that challenge with the contingency the sporting director role was implemented for at this football club.

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