Ex-Portsmouth coach lifts lid on where it went wrong for Colchester United's Jay Mingi at Fratton Park

Jay Mingi was advised ‘several times’ to change his agent after ‘messy’ Pompey contract negotiations.

That's according to Simon Bassey, who doesn't believe the midfielder’s career has subsequently reached the levels expected of him.

Mingi is at League Two strugglers Colchester United after rejecting a fresh Fratton Park deal during a controversial end to two seasons on the south coast.

Ironically, he is now managed by Danny Cowley, the boss who brought him to the Blues in September 2021 following a successful trial.

Bassey’s time as first-team coach overlapped with Mingi’s Pompey stay and he's an admirer of the former Charlton and West Ham man’s ability.

However, he has questioned the 23-year-old’s injury record and mentality - and criticised his representative.

Bassey told The News: ‘Jay is a boy I really like, but when he has to bite down on a gum shield it’s not always there.

‘His career hasn’t gone to where I would have hoped and I’m sure where he hoped. There’s talent there, but he’s a boy who’s had too many injuries.

‘When he initially joined us on trial, I picked him out straight away, he’d always come out with the ball, he was aggressive and edgy.

‘Then, once he got his deal, sometimes they can get a bit comfortable. All of a sudden they have a job and aren’t fighting for one, so it probably didn’t go as well for him.

‘The way his contract was sorted out was pretty messy and I have told him several times he probably needs to look for someone else to represent him.

‘Jay has that power where he can pick it up and glide with it, he can go past people, he can tackle, there’s lots of good stuff, but he needs to concentrate on putting it together regularly, game after game - and staying fit.

‘You are no good to anyone if you’re great one week, rubbish the next two, then injured the next four. You are unreliable and, at lesser clubs with smaller squads, you can’t have unreliable players because they cost you money.

‘So Jay at Forest Green was excellent, Stevenage in the FA Cup was excellent. Wycombe away, MK Dons in the FA Cup, excellent.

‘Then before the MK Dons league game at Fratton Park (December 2022), I told him “Be careful, they’ve got senior boys and you took liberties last time”. He was clumped after five minutes and then didn’t play again that game, he was really, really quiet.

‘These are things young boys have to learn.’

A hamstring injury collected in November recently sidelined Mingi for 12 Colchester matches.

He has since returned and featured off the bench in their last three fixtures, including Saturday’s 1-1 draw at rock bottom Sutton United.

Bassey added: ’Jay’s a nice kid, but maybe he needs a bit of devil about him because he’s that boy who has to play on the edge, for me.

‘If he can do that then he should really start kicking on. Fingers crossed he does it at Colchester.’