That’s the blunt message John Mousinho has delivered to anyone who continues to question the club’s decision to release 11 of their academy youngsters at the end of last season.
The Pompey head coach also insisted a pathway to the first team would also be put in place for anyone they believed could break into the senior ranks and compete for a place – even without the existence of a development squad at Fratton Park.
The Blues let go of 10 second-year scholars and third-year youngster Destiny Ojo in May as tough decisions were made on the academy kids’ futures.
Since then, some have been handed trials at Premier League and Championship clubs, without success. Although 17-year-old Koby Mottoh – a winger who made five first-team appearances for the Blues – has been snapped up by top-flight Bournemouth and handed a role within their under-21 ranks.
That has understandably raised eyebrows among sections of the Fratton faithful. However, defending the club’s decision-making process, Mousinho said the Blues stand by their opinion on any youngster they’ve decided can leave PO4.
Speaking to The News, the Pompey boss said: ‘If there are any youngsters at the football club, whether they are through the academy or whether they’re external, if they’re good enough to play for Portsmouth, then they’ll play for Portsmouth.
‘We do not turn players down for any other reason than we don’t think they’re good enough to affect the first team.
‘Obviously, the most important part of my job is to win games, which is also the most important thing for the fans, so whenever we do pick teams, it’s all about who’s going to be the most effective – first of all in the short term but then we have an eye on long-term development as well.
‘There’s two bits to the answer about player development. There’s never a player that we’ve let go that we thought was going to be good enough in four years time and we don’t have the time to develop.
‘The players that we let go, we don’t think will be good enough to play for Portsmouth at the top end of League One or the Championship, which is now where we’ve shifted the needle to.
‘If we do have a player, and a really good example is Toby Steward, who we think will be good enough, then we’ll take that player on and there’s no rush to actually develop. We find a development pathway, even though we don’t have an under-21s side.’
A development side and structure that acts as a conduit between the academy and senior ranks is something many believe is necessary for a club of Pompey’s stature.
Mousinho admitted it’s something the club will look into in the future. However, as the Blues continue to develop both on and off the pitch after some traumatic years that threatened the club’s very existence, he said it’s all about priorities still.
He added: ‘In terms of an under-21s side, I think for the football club, it’s something in an ideal world I’m sure the football club would love to get to.
‘I think the way things have transpired in the past, I’m sure it’s no secret to any Portsmouth fan that by the time the Premier League years ended there was a football club without a training ground, and a football club with a ground that needed significant investment to keep it above 10,000 capacity. There’s been a huge amount of time, effort and money put into that, and I think all of these building blocks are towards us becoming a football club that all the fans want us to get to.
‘The priority at the moment is the first team and I think that’s the right thing to do.
‘We could have a fantastic under-21 side where the first team isn’t performing and that’s absolutely pointless. We want to get our priorities straight and make sure we have everything knocked off on the first-team side – so we have a brand new facility in terms of the training ground, we have the huge redevelopment of Fratton Park, we’ve put a lot of money into the first-team squad and development there – and if one day we can move on and as we build and develop the layers of the football club then it’s something I’m sure we’ll look into.
‘But I think the most important message is – I don’t think any academy player is being blocked because of a lack of an under-21s. We’ll always take them on, we’ll always find a route for them and if we’re wrong on that, we’re wrong, and we’ll take our medicine.
‘There’s nothing we’d like more (than to develop our own players), it would save us a hell of a lot of money and a hell of a lot of time if we have players to come through.’
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