'Crazy' if fans wanted Mousinho to leave Portsmouth – Darke

It would be "crazy" if any Portsmouth fans wanted head coach John Mousinho to leave the club, according to commentator and supporter Ian Darke.

The Pompey boss recently admitted it was "flattering" to hear of rumoured interest from fellow Championship side Bristol City, while Mousinho has also been linked with a move to Stoke City, despite Mark Robins still being in place at the club.

That speculation has upset some Portsmouth fans but Darke has hailed Mousinho's impact at on the south coast after keeping the club in the division for a second season and he says it is vital that the 40-year-old is in the dugout at Fratton Park for the start of the new campaign.

"I think it would be ideal and I think it would be what every sane Portsmouth fan would want because he's done a great job, there's no denying that," Darke told BBC Radio Solent.

"Promotion as League One champions, staying up - kind of against the odds - two seasons running, particularly this last season when your main contributor in terms of creation, Josh Murphy, missed 22 Championship games and Colby Bishop had an off year.

"There were injuries as well, many of them, and yet Pompey still stayed up pretty comfortably."

"It would be crazy if anyone wanted to get rid of John Mousinho but it does seem as though he is a bit of a wanted man."

He continued: "This could just be whistling in the wind, the stories about John Mousinho and Stoke City, so let's hope he is staying but I think he wants to hear something he likes from the club owners.

"There is a good manager in place, he doesn't really want the job of going back again and just playing with a low budget with the main aim being survival.

"Everyone connected with the club wants to see some modest progress in the direction of the top half of the table."

Despite a strong end to the campaign, which saw them lose just one of their final eight league games, Darke is sceptical about whether Portsmouth can kick on again next season and push into the top half of the table as things stand.

"Not unless there is more money forthcoming from the club owners," he said.

"It is their money and they can do what they want with it but it is going to be a tough division.

"It is going to be difficult for Pompey unless they go into the market. They have got to think about buying players of proven Championship quality."

While Darke is desperate for Mousinho to stay, he insists that the boss does not owe Portsmouth anything and would be within his rights to explore new opportunities if they offered him the chance to progress his career.

"He's made a great impression and has got very good relationships with the local media - he is liked, maybe even adored, by the fans," Darke said.

"Some of them have gone off him because of this soap opera that has been going on but I don't think that's fair because the fans are with a football club forever and, as he said, none of the professionals are, really.

"They have jobs to do within the football industry and he owes it to himself and his family to give himself the best possible opportunities to progress.

"Nobody should feel bad. I don't think he owes Pompey anything, he has done a wonderful job for the club. But, ideally, the club owners will tell him things he likes the sound of and he'll carry on with Portsmouth and hopefully the club would kick on a little bit."