John Mousinho is honest when asked what has caught him off guard as a new manager.
The Portsmouth boss is learning the ropes, 11 months into his career, despite guiding his unbeaten side to the top of Sky Bet League One.
As the former chair of the Professional Footballers’ Association and a player who started his coaching badges early, his transition to management has been almost seamless.
Yet the former defender who made 550 appearances in an 18-year career is still getting used to one final change.
“I love the job, I really do, everything apart from three to five o’clock on Saturday is great because I just feel completely helpless,” he told the PA news agency.
“Any time you see a head coach or a manager on the sidelines and their behaviour seems a bit erratic just spare them a thought because you lose that control. Sometimes it’s such an emotional game, emotions get the better of you.
“It’s been the biggest surprise because as a player I always felt in control, at least able to influence something. In some ways you do have ultimate influence and control but in others you’re standing on the touchline hoping 11 players do their jobs.
“A lot of the time it’s a really horrible place to be but, genuinely, I am loving it.
“We knew it (his appointment) might be seen as more of a gamble or risk than normal, although we didn’t think it was the case.
“If you start gambling with the future of the football club you can put yourself in a bit of a tricky spot.
“There’s a risk in every appointment and that was one of my answers when we were talking about the whole process and the appointment itself, there’s mystery with every single appointment no matter how many games you’ve managed or coached.”
That process has taken the 37-year-old, the third youngest boss in the EFL, and Pompey to the League One summit with a six-point lead.
Stretching back to March, they have not lost in the league in 26 games and have won 17 points from losing positions this season – including coming from 2-0 down to beat Reading 3-2 on Saturday.
Mousinho’s January appointment raised eyebrows as he was still playing and coaching at Oxford under Karl Robinson. He had 24 hours before his first game – a 2-0 win over Exeter – but has not looked back, having also had to step down from the PFA.
“I’d been with Oxford, at Fleetwood away, and I didn’t play. I was sat at the back of the bus and 10 days later I was the head coach of Portsmouth,” said September’s League One manager of the month, who credits Robinson for his guidance.
“It’s strange making the transition. Your whole life has changed overnight.
“I had to think about how I interacted with players, how I interact with the staff. As a player you can be very, very selfish. Then all of a sudden, you can’t be as a head coach.
“The biggest change from when I first started playing and maybe in the last 10 years is players have become a lot more conscientious about their own careers.
“It’s an interesting new side of it. When people first started playing it maybe wasn’t particularly cool to do your extras, to look at video analysis and dedicate your life to being a professional footballer.
“We were getting to the back end of the drinking culture when I first started playing and it’s slowly gone out of the game so players are much more focused on their own development.
“We’re probably just a bit behind other countries in terms of the way we’ve embraced that as individuals. There’s no longer the accusation of being busy. It’s good to be good.”
Mousinho takes Portsmouth to Chesterfield on Sunday in arguably the pick of the FA Cup first-round ties.
The Spireites, top of the Vanarama National League, are managed by former Pompey boss Paul Cook, along with the ex-players on his coaching staff Gary Roberts, Tom Naylor and Michael Jacobs.
Just four years after winning the FA Cup in 2008, Portsmouth were relegated to League One and spiralled into the fourth tier before Cook took them back up in 2017. They have been in League One since and Mousinho plans to be the one to take them out.
“When you’re at Portsmouth, one of the first things people talk about is the success with the FA Cup,” he said. “There’s a huge amount of spice to this game.
“The club has been through a lot over the past 10-15 years, going right to the brink of liquidation, so what we’re trying to do is part of the long, slow rebuild.
“Everybody’s desperate to move the club forward, the most important thing is we move the club forward in the right way.
“That’s been the whole mantra since day one. Yes, we want to get out and we’d love to have done it yesterday but these things just take time.”
'It's a shame' - Alonso confirms Leverkusen's Boniface out with thigh injury
Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso confirmed that Victor Boniface will be sidelined for some time after picking up a thigh injury on international duty with Nigeria.
Boniface, who has scored eight goals in 15 appearances in all competitions this season, was replaced late on in the Super Eagles' 2-1 defeat to Rwanda on Monday.
It is another blow for Leverkusen, who have managed 17 points from 10 games so far this season, the worst start to a league campaign in 12 years by a defending champion.
Only Omar Marmoush and Harry Kane (both 11) have scored more goals in the league than Boniface this term (six).
Alonso revealed that the 23-year-old will miss Saturday's Bundesliga encounter against Heidenheim and their Champions League tie against RB Salzburg next week.
"We will have to see how long he will be out. It is a shame," Alonso told a press conference.
"He has a thigh injury. For tomorrow, for Salzburg and maybe a bit longer. We will have to wait and see.
"It is too early to say but we hope he can still play this year. We have to see with the recovery and improvement but it is not a matter of six or eight weeks."
Leverkusen have dropped points in six Bundesliga games already this season (D5, L1), as often as they did during the entirety of their 2023-24 title-winning campaign (D6).
They come into this weekend's fixture against Heidenheim on a three-game winless run in the Bundesliga (D3), the first time they have gone this long without a victory since between April and May 2023 (five games).
Leverkusen sit fourth in the Bundesliga, already nine points behind leaders Bayern Munich as the busy festive schedule kickstarts on Saturday.
Alonso's side have eight games in just under a month, including a DFB-Pokal round of 16 clash with Bayern at the start of December.
"Eight games in four weeks. It is nothing new for us," Alonso said. "An intense phase is coming up for us and it starts tomorrow.
"We have clear goals for the Bundesliga, the Champions League and the German Cup."
Object thrown at City striker 'Bunny' Shaw in Champions League win over Hammarby sparks UEFA investigation
UEFA has opened an investigation after Manchester City striker Khadija Shaw was hit by an object during their Women’s Champions League win against Swedish side Hammarby on Thursday.
The towering Jamaican striker scored both goals in City’s 2-1 win at the Stockholm Arena to see her side through to the quarterfinal stage.
Her animated celebration in front of the home fans after her first goal saw the 27-year-old being booked, with replays also showing an object seemingly thrown her way from the stands.
“Proceedings have been opened against Hammarby IF for throwing of objects (Article 16(2)(b) of the Disciplinary Regulations),” UEFA said in a statement.
“Manchester City player Khadija Shaw received a yellow card following her goal presentation for unsporting conduct,” the statement added.
Following the game, City captain Alex Greenwood chided match broadcaster DAZN for failing to mention the incident in a social media post.
The post on X, external said Shaw “antagonised” the home fans and received “stick” from them.
Greenwood replied, "Correction. Travel to Stockholm, score a big goal. Celebrates her goal. Gets objects thrown at her.”
Girona handed huge injury boosts ahead of Espanyol clash
Michel says Girona are in better physical shape ahead of their home clash against Espanyol after being handed numerous injury boosts.
Last season's surprise package, Girona, have had a mixed start to the campaign and sit 10th in the table but registered back-to-back league wins before the international break.
They have struggled with injuries to key players this season, but Viktor Tsygankov, Jhon Solis, Arnaut Danjuma, Yaser Asprilla, Ladislav Krejci, Ivan Martin, and Alejandro Frances are all available for the game.
Michel hopes that having a wider group of players available will help them to extend their winning run.
"We are better physically. Only Yangel Herrera, [Gabriel] Misehouy, Portu and Abel Ruiz are out, and the rest are in the squad" Michel told reporters.
"Each case will be different in terms of giving us minutes, but they are ready to help us.
"Now we have replacements in each position, and it gives me peace of mind. We need everyone ready and in the next two to three weeks, we will be ready to play at 100%."
Michel said Herrera, who has scored twice and registered one assist in LaLiga this term, was not expected to return until the new year.
"He is a player who makes the difference in terms of duels, arrivals into the opponent's area and possession. He is vital, but we will not have him until 2025," he added.
Girona have 18 points after 13 games and will face an Espanyol side sitting in the relegation zone. The visitors are yet to win away this season, losing five of six games on the road, but Michel has won just one of his four LaLiga matches against Espanyol (D2 L1).
The Girona head coach said Manolo Gonzalez's team cannot be taken lightly despite their underwhelming performances in away games.
Espanyol are yet to win away this season, losing five of six games on the road.
"We faced each other in pre-season and we drew. It will be difficult since they are a very good team in transition with players like [Javi] Puado or Jofre [Carreras] with speed and depth," Michel said.
"It's always a different game. It's a derby, and it's good to play them. There is a rivalry that must be sporting and, for our people and the players, it is a different game."
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