Darren Anderton pinpoints John Mousinho surprise after Portsmouth success | OneFootball

Darren Anderton expects John Mousinho is being monitored on his progress with Portsmouth.

Highlights

Darren Anderton believes John Mousinho will have other clubs interested in his services if he continues the good work with Portsmouth in 2024/25.

Mousinho has a busy summer ahead of him as he prepares his Portsmouth squad for their first season in the Championship since 2012. It is an exciting time on the south coast at the beginning of next season, with Fratton Park full of optimism about what the Championship could entail for Portsmouth.

For a club of Pompey's size, they ideally need to be in the top two tiers of English football, but since their promotion from League Two in 2017, they had struggled to get themselves back into the Championship. That's despite coming close to a second tier return on a few occasions in recent years, but they have drifted away from the promotion mix in the last couple of seasons and will have been hoping that the appointment of Mousinho could be a turning point for them.

Mousinho was the man to turn their fortunes around, after he guided Pompey to the League One title last season, clinching top spot by five points ahead of Derby County. Not only that, but his side lost just five games as they accumulated 97 points in the third tier.

There is no doubt that Portsmouth will need to strengthen their squad before they make the step-up, but, for many, Mousinho is the club's biggest asset currently. During his first season as a head coach last year, his side ended the campaign in eighth, but the Portsmouth boss has displayed plenty of positive signs of progressing the club since his appointment midway through that season.

That continued into last year, where they were in the automatic promotion places from matchday seven until the final game of the season, including sitting in top spot for each of the final 26 matchdays of the campaign.

Darren Anderton on John Mousinho and Portsmouth

Mousinho and co. also learned this week that they will open their league campaign with a trip to Elland Road to face Leeds United on 10 August, but that isn't likely to stop the optimism at Fratton Park currently.

Darren Anderton's career began with Portsmouth, where he played in two seasons, appearing 77 times in the process. We asked if he is surprised that there hasn't been interest in Mousinho, and whether he expects that to change.

Speaking exclusively to Football League World via William Hill, he said: "Good question; yes, I am.

"He has done a great job at Portsmouth, and with him in charge, Portsmouth can do well in the Championship and surprise a few teams.

"The better he does during the season, there could be interest, but I hope he stays at Portsmouth as they can enjoy more success with him in charge."

The 38-year-old has overseen 41 wins from his 76 games in charge of the squad, with a win percentage of 53.95, but his biggest challenge yet will be to navigate the second tier and ensure Pompey are well clear of the relegation battle.

The work of John Mousinho at Portsmouth

Last year was their seventh consecutive season in the third tier and Fratton Park hasn't seen Championship football since 2012, and Mousinho's stock is well on the rise for being the first manager to achieve that with Pompey.

He may be one of the youngest and least experienced managers in the EFL, but Anderton is right to point out that he could easily manage at a higher level if Portsmouth survive comfortably and continue to progress under Mousinho this year.