John Mousinho's press conference ahead of Saturday's visit to Preston.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00John, you want to wear the phrase, don't get too high, don't get too low in football. And
00:05we've seen that over the last two hours, haven't we, really?
00:08Yeah, it was always going to be difficult after the Leeds game to not get too high.
00:11We were trying to guard against that. We were really, really vocal publicly and also internally
00:15with the group around what it took to be a good team and what it takes to be a good team
00:20is to win those sort of games against Leeds and follow it up with wins against the next
00:25opposition. And we didn't manage to do that. So I think it tells a story in terms of where
00:29we are as a group. We've still got to get better at those sort of things. We won three
00:33on the spin and then went away and we were disappointed against Luton and backed the
00:38Luton loss up with a really impressive win a week later. So, yeah, we just have to get
00:45better at all these sort of things. And it's part of the progression of the group.
00:50Did it remind you of League One days? Probably having a lot of possession, trying to break
00:54size down at home?
00:55A little bit. Yeah, it did actually, a little bit. One thing I think we coped better with
01:01last year was dealing with sides on the counter. We didn't concede cheap goals like we did
01:05last night, not too often anyway. And when we had the chance, we put the ball in the
01:09back of the net from set pieces or stayed in the game until the 80th, 90th minute and
01:13we'd always sort of pop up with set pieces. A lot of the time, if you're patient and if
01:18you do the right things consistently and you make sides work, my take was, we'll never
01:22know right, but my take was that Plymouth could sustain what they were doing for 45,
01:2760 minutes. After 70 minutes, I think it becomes really difficult in doing that physically.
01:32The physical output was right up there. I think it becomes difficult, you start to make
01:36mistakes, gaps start to open up in defence. And that actually did happen in the last 20
01:39minutes of the game. Unfortunately for us, we were 2-0 down, so it was just a bit too
01:42much of a mountain to climb. Rather than being 0-0 going into the last 20, 25 minutes and
01:46popping up with a set piece or all of a sudden one of those crosses comes off, we gave ourselves
01:50too much to do.
01:51Do you expect to see a game like that again this season?
01:54I don't think there'll be a game quite as extreme as that. I think the majority of sides
01:57in the Championship will come out and play and press. But maybe it's one of those things
02:04that maybe in the future, we're nowhere near there yet as a team, but maybe when sides
02:09do sit off a bit more, we have to be a lot better with the ball and make sure that we're
02:13locked up in the back as well.
02:15Your high pressing style, is that affected as well in games like yesterday?
02:19Yeah, we just didn't have to press. We didn't have to press at all yesterday. Plymouth have
02:24played from the back plenty this season and under the new manager. They didn't do it last
02:29night. But yeah, we'd set ourselves up for a certain style in terms of how we were going
02:34to press them. We didn't have to do any of that or execute any of that. There were other
02:38things that we talked about, particularly forward runs from the front three and how
02:41the 10s make those runs down the side and that's what we didn't deal with well at all.
02:44So the first goal just comes from not tracking a run down the side of the pitch, opening
02:48up the channel for Obafemi. And when we did that, we were a bit too aggressive and left
02:54ourselves exposing behind.
02:55Are you expecting a different game at Preston?
02:57I think so, yeah. Preston are a side who've managed to steady the ship this year. They've
03:05been pretty solid in terms of their league position. They've probably threatened a bit
03:11more of the upper echelons of the league, but they've picked up some good results,
03:14particularly at Deepdale, a really good result in the week. And I think they've got a really
03:18good side, a really, really solid side. I think they're really well coached and it's
03:21going to be a tough game.
03:24You obviously signed Regan Paul to a new deal. Were you delighted with that?
03:27Yeah, absolutely. I think that Regan was coming to the end of his contract in the summer,
03:32so it was one of those things that we wanted to make sure that we'd boxed off. Regan gives
03:38the club security, particularly in that position where we're trying to build the centre-halves
03:45and trying to build good partnerships between all of the centre-halves and make sure that
03:49we're secure for the future. So really pleased we've managed to do that and we've got another
03:52contract to centre-half next year.
03:54Before you and Rich Hughes arrived at the Football Club, you probably had a history
03:57of letting good players go when the contracts ran out. Is that something you've tried to
04:01address since you've been here?
04:03Yeah, less so. It would certainly be my strategy, but less so anything to do with me. I think
04:07that's something that the executive at the Football Club, and Rich in particular, has
04:14taken care of and we've been very, very wary of letting players go because it's really
04:19difficult to replace players. What we've found at this level as well, there aren't many free
04:21agents. I think when you go, when we were operating at League 1 and I guess the same
04:26would have been said when Portsmouth were in League 2, it becomes a bit easier to pick
04:29up free agents. The contracts are shorter, people tend to sign two-year contracts, they
04:35come to the end of them, people don't really secure the assets. But it's very, very different
04:39than this level. We actually found it difficult in the summer, there weren't that many free
04:42agents available. We're looking at the free agent list this year, it's very, very similar.
04:46There's a lot of clubs that are being wise and are being prudent about making sure that
04:50they do have players sign up to long-term contracts. So we have to do the same and I
04:54think we've done well this year.
04:55Have you noticed since you've been here, the club has improved its organisation in
04:59dealing with things like contracts so effectively and efficiently?
05:02Yeah, I don't think, well, when we say improved, I mean, since I've been here for two years,
05:07I've never thought there's been an issue. Whenever we've needed to do a contract, I
05:10think we've done it, we've done it efficiently. And whenever we haven't wanted to do a contract,
05:13it's the opposite as well. So yeah, it's always been run very, very smoothly in terms
05:18of what we've been, the operation of the football club.
05:20And of course, you don't get too involved in that anyway, do you?
05:23No, so when we have the conversation about who we want to retain and who we want to offer
05:28new contracts, and then yeah, I've got nothing to do with it after that point. And usually,
05:33Rich gives me the nod just before he goes out into the public. I know what's going on,
05:36I know it's going to happen, but it's something I don't have to focus on. It's the football
05:39side I do get to spend the majority of my time doing.
05:42Are there other players being talked to at the moment?
05:45I think we're going to always review every single contract. And if all of a sudden we're
05:51going into the last year of players' contracts next year, then we'll be reviewing all of
05:54those, and even ones with longer term contracts as well, like you saw with Terry, just making
05:57sure that we tie players to the appropriate level of time we want to keep at the football
06:01club, reward them appropriately as well. So it's always ongoing.
06:05So with those players, because in their futures, and few are out of contract in the summer,
06:09are you looking at a big overhaul again this summer?
06:12Certainly not as big as last summer, or the summer before. So I think the summer before
06:15we did 14, I think 14 in the summer. We did eight in January. I think if you look at the
06:23transfer windows that we've had, the first summer transfer window, we were very, very
06:27clear about what we needed to do in order to compete in League One. That was our take.
06:31We wanted to build a squad that was ready to compete at the top end of League One. We
06:34bolstered that again in January, so it looked like across the season, I think 19 new faces
06:37coming in. We were really comfortable with that. I think had we stayed in League One
06:41an extra season, there would have been far less activity in the summer, but we got promoted.
06:47And I think in order to compete at this level, we thought that the right thing to do was
06:50to probably have that squad overhaul again, to make sure we're competitive at the next
06:55level. So we did that in summer. We've done it again in January. I think if we do manage
07:00to stay at the level, then things will be a bit more steady. We'll still look to bring
07:05players in, obviously, but I think you've got to go through a few of these transfer
07:09windows to get to a position as a football club, like some of the sides higher up the
07:13league, where they're only bringing in one or two every transfer window, and maybe it's
07:16one or two with a bit more quality that are costing the club slightly more in terms of
07:20fees, etc. But we're certainly not in that place yet. We've got to keep building. We've
07:23got to keep being aggressive in the transfer windows, and I think that'll come with probably
07:27two or three more windows at least.
07:29Yeah, because it takes time to evolve a squad, doesn't it, from promotion? You can't do
07:32it all in one summer or in the January window. It does take a bit of time.
07:36Yeah, you need to do enough to make sure that you stay in the league, and that's been our
07:40sole focus, to make sure that we did enough last summer and bolstered the squad again
07:44in January to try and stay in the league. That's what we're focused on. That's what
07:46we're trying to do. We will look at that again in the summer, if we do manage to remain in
07:52the Championship, and that'll be the aim again next year, probably to build upon things.
07:56But certainly, if we do manage to stay in the league, we've got to make sure that we
07:59follow it up next season. I think once you have a couple of windows or a couple of years,
08:06a couple of big summer windows, then I think you can start to become a bit more solid,
08:12a bit less fluent in terms of the squad rotation and the squad turnover, and just add little
08:18bits here and there.
08:19You mentioned in the last issue the other day about how you're waiting for international
08:22clearance. Have you got that now?
08:23Yeah, we've got that.
08:25So, you expect to see him after the window?
08:28After the break, yeah. He'll be available for the backbone game, I think, the fitness one.
08:33He's not injured, he just hasn't, don't panic, he just hasn't trained enough yet.
08:38From what you've seen him in training so far, what sort of player is he?
08:42Really solid, centre-half, comfortable on the ball, brings a lot of composure to the
08:47game. We haven't done a huge amount other than small-sided games, small possessions,
08:52so I haven't necessarily seen him opening up in any of the bigger games, but he's got
08:56a huge amount of experience.
08:57He's capped for Sweden, he's played at the top level and he's sure to be absolutely
09:02fine in terms of his defensive capabilities and his aerial dominance, so we're looking
09:05forward to seeing him.
09:06Is he different to what you've got?
09:09Yeah, I think so.
09:12Every single player, every player that we've got, I think every centre-half that we've
09:15got has got a different profile and they play in a different way.
09:19Alex fits that bill, hence we wanted to bring him in.
09:22What's so different about him compared to the others?
09:25They're not massively different, they're all just different profiles.
09:28Hayden Matthews is different to Rabban, different to Sharks, Regan, Marlon, Riley and Alex.
09:33They're all different players, none of them are exactly the same.
09:36He's a centre-half who's comfortable on the ball.
09:39He can head it, he can clear it, he can lead lines and he can defend, so plenty of the
09:46lads we've got in the building can do that, but just in a different way.
09:49It's understandable why you brought him in as backup.
09:52Do you expect to use him before the end of the season?
09:55Yeah, we wouldn't have brought him in otherwise.
09:57Because you've got some players coming back as well, hopefully.
10:02We didn't bring Alex in and think he was going to play straight away against Leeds.
10:07We'd always had the international break in mind.
10:09There are no free agents out there that are fully fit.
10:12There aren't actually many free agents that have played as recently as Alex has, quite
10:15a few of them have been out of contract since the summer.
10:17So there was no way we were looking at the free agent market thinking, oh, we're just
10:21going to get someone who's going to come in and play 90 minutes.
10:23We knew we'd have to build them up, we knew we'd have to get them up to scratch.
10:25So yeah, that's absolutely fine.
10:27We're well aware of what we're looking at and I think it's really wise business for
10:31us to do that at this time of the season.
10:33Yeah, so realistically, Blackburn onwards then.
10:37Finally, any injury news at all?
10:39No, Colleen Miller fell from last night.
10:40How's Christian Sailing?
10:42Yeah, Christian's fine, he won't be available for the weekend.
10:44So he's okay for the weekend?
10:45No, he won't be available for the weekend.
10:47So what's the time frame with him?
10:49Maybe it's the Blackburn game for Christian.
10:53And Jordan Williams, is he still the time frame for Blackburn?
10:55He'll be back training next week, yeah, Jordan will be back next week.
10:58Perfect.