John Mousinho: Portsmouth appoint Oxford United player-coach as head coach

Lead professional development phase coach Zesh Rehman and goalkeeping coach Joe Prodomo will support Mousinho for Pompey’s game with Exeter City at Fratton Park on Saturday, with caretaker manager Simon Bassey leaving the club.

Portsmouth say they will appoint an experienced coach to work alongside Mousinho as he aims to lead the club up from their current position of 15th in League One.

“John possesses real leadership and motivational skills – evidenced by his position as captain at a number of clubs and election as PFA chairman,” said Cullen.

“A Uefa Pro Licence holder, he has a clear vision and an identity he wants to bring to Pompey and is comfortable working with Rich Hughes within the new football structure that has been put in place to deliver our short, medium and long-term goals.

“I am a firm believer that to achieve success, you must possess an open-minded approach. By simply doing the same things again and again, we only reduce the prospect of propelling the club forward.

“That is why our head coach search embodied speaking to a wide and diverse range of candidates and why we also now have a sporting director to deliver progress across all our football operations.”

Mousinho’s last appearance as a player came as a late substitute for Oxford United in their 2-1 FA Cup first-round win over Woking in November.

He has played 550 games in an 18-year career that began at Brentford and seen him play for six other English Football League sides, ending with a five-and-a-half-year spell at Oxford.

“He has made no secret of his wish to step up and become a manager,” Oxford boss Karl Robinson told his club’s website., external

“We have helped him along his career path like we do with all of our staff, and and he is joining a great club where I am sure he will do well.

“We look forward to seeing him again later in the season when we play Portsmouth and I know he will get a tremendous welcome back from the fans.”