JOHN MOUSINHO got ridiculed when he was announced as Portsmouth boss.
Stunned fans joked there was a typo on the club’s website and Jose Mourinho had taken over.
Specsavers even got in on the act, claiming anyone wearing their glasses would have correctly read Mousinho.
But after taking Pompey back into the Championship after a 12-year absence — in his first full season in charge — Mousinho has become their own Special One.
As he heads to Elland Road to face title favourites Leeds, the Portsmouth boss admitted: “Unless you were an EFL anorak, I’m not a name you would have been familiar with.
“I didn’t mind having a laugh with all that amusing stuff.
“It wasn’t only on social media with the fans but also on my family WhatsApp group. I got a proper ribbing.”
Mousinho, whose dad is Portuguese, spent most of his playing career as a defender in the lower divisions.
And at the time of his Fratton Park appointment in January 2023, he was combining life as a 36-year-old Oxford player with a role as chairman of the PFA.
So it is no wonder Mousinho’s appointment at such a big club raised eyebrows.
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He told SunSport: “I had always wanted to be a head coach or manager.
“I was lucky in the final couple of years of my playing career to work under Karl Robinson, who gave me access to coaching, selection and recruitment meetings.
“I had a big influence on the connection between the players and coaching staff and was doing set-piece coaching.
“Every aspect of coaching suited me and I had completed my pro licence six months before taking this job.”
Pompey were 15th and had not won for ten League One games when Mousinho walked in but they finished eighth — before winning the title last season.
He said: “The only way to stop people laughing and joking about me was to win football matches.
“I came in with the aim to consolidate and get to the summer first.
“We then recruited 14 players and went for promotion.”
Mousinho’s work on the South Coast has many similarities with Kieran McKenna’s success at Ipswich.
Also in his first managerial job, he stopped the rot when he first went in before lifting them out of the third tier.
But can Pompey emulate the Tractor Boys by clinching back-to-back promotions to the Premier League?
Mousinho said: “Ipswich have given us a blueprint to work off. Kieran is an exciting coach touted to take on bigger roles.
“We’re not setting sights low but, if we don’t replicate Ipswich it won’t be a failure.
“The most important thing, having not been in the Championship for 12 years, is at a minimum to still be in this division this time next year.”
Mousinho may not claim to be like Mourinho (right), but the 38-year-old understands the hunger in the famous naval city to join south coast rivals Southampton, Brighton and Bournemouth in the Prem.
And expectations are high at a club bought by ex-Walt Disney chief executive Michael Eisner in 2017.
Mousinho cautioned: “Portsmouth were last at the top table 14 years ago.
“The club was mixing it with the big boys and won the FA Cup in 2008.
“We must be sensible in how we consolidate the gains we’ve made from this promotion so we can attack the league in the coming seasons.
“This promotion has reinvigorated the city. But we must remember this club almost went into liquidation before the supporters bought and saved it.
“Then the Eisner family came in and transformed the club. We must make sure all that hard work doesn’t go to waste.”
Pompey’s Irish defender Conor Shaughnessy returns to the club where he made his pro debut.
The 28-year-old made 15 appearances for Leeds but then did the lower league hard yards with Mansfield, Rochdale and Burton before Pompey snapped him up last summer.
Shaughnessy, who ended up starting 45 of the 46 league games, said: “I enjoyed my time at Leeds — I was signed as an under-21 and managed to get into the team. I got injured and it made it difficult from there.
“It’s going to be great going back. Elland Road has such a great atmosphere. It will be rocking for the first game. I had to drop into the lower leagues so it’s great to be back here again.”
Meanwhile, lifelong Pompey fan Marlon Pack will be prouder than anyone when he captains the side on such a big stage.
The midfielder — who grew up on the Buckland council estate in the city — was 16 when he watched Kanu score the winner for Pompey at Wembley to beat Cardiff 1-0 in the 2008 FA Cup Final.
Pack — who made his Championship debut for Pompey two years later aged 19 — returned to his home city after stints with Cheltenham, Bristol City and Cardiff.
He said: “There was no prouder moment than lifting the League One title trophy for my boyhood club and hopefully we can get back to the Premier League.
“Two other south coast clubs I can mention — Brighton and Bournemouth — have shown how to do it. We’ve put building blocks in place and hopefully this is the start of something special.”
