Andrew Moon column: How Portsmouth head coach John Mousinho has slowly steadied the ship
- Published
Portsmouth's leading scorer this season, Colby Bishop, celebrates his goal in their "statement win" over Bolton in League One in midweek
A tale of two Bolton matches.
There were only 45 days between the two games but they couldn't have been more different.
Back in the middle of January, managerless Portsmouth were well beaten at Bolton.
It could have been more than the 3-0 scoreline such was the gulf between the sides.
But on Tuesday night at Fratton Park it was Pompey fans who were buzzing after a 3-1 victory over the same opposition.
Those lurking outside the dressing rooms would have heard the angry voice of Bolton boss Ian Evatt making his feelings clear to his players.
Finally, Pompey got the statement win that they had been lacking.
'Subtle changes' key to Portsmouth's steady resurgence
It was John Mousinho's fifth win as Pompey head coach, taking his tally to 17 points from nine matches.
That's play-off worthy form, albeit it is realistically too late to make a push for the top six this season.
Looking at the current table, 80 points might be needed for a play-off place, a tally almost certainly out of reach for Portsmouth.
So how and why has this turnaround happened?
Mousinho's changes have been subtle rather than dramatic.
Key has been slight formation change using a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1 as opposed to the 4-4-2 Danny Cowley utilised earlier in the season.
The 36-year-old talked about wanting to play a "front-foot game" when appointed and the energy and aggression required to do that was certainly evident in the win against Bolton.
Pompey crave escape from 'cruel mistress'
There's a calmness to Mousinho's management style.
That style, of course, is very much in the formative stage and even he's admitted the sheer number of things you have to deal with as a boss has come as a surprise.
The former centre-back is intelligent enough to know a tough run will come at some point but a good start to your first job really helps.
A number of players have talked about things being simplified in the approach.
Players finding fitness and form will always help a head coach.
Joe Rafferty has been brilliant since returning from five months out injured.
Joe Morrell is in the best form of his Portsmouth career and Ryley Towler has been solid filling in for Clark Robertson at the heart of the defence.
But League One has been a cruel mistress to Portsmouth over the years.
A morale-boosting run of home wins was much needed for supporters but escaping the third tier is what they crave.
This sixth season in this division is going to become seven and there is a generation of Blues fans who won't remember life outside of the bottom two tiers of the English Football League.
Pompey were excellent for the final few months of last season but that didn't ultimately help them towards a promotion.
Attention soon turns to the 2023-24 campaign
Once again, significant changes are likely this summer.
Nine players are out of contract in addition to five loan players returning to parent clubs.
The likes of Ryan Tunnicliffe and Michael Jacobs have found form in recent weeks but does that mean they are the right players for next season for a promotion push?
Those are the decisions Mousinho and sporting director Richard Hughes will have to make.
Portsmouth have made it clear they want to sign players on the way up rather than the way down.
But talking of direction of travel, Pompey need to finish in the top 10 this season to avoid a fourth consecutive campaign of ending up lower down in League One than the previous year.
You can hear every Pompey match live on BBC Radio Solent with Andy Moon and former Blues striker and manager Guy Whittingham.
