'We didn't want him kidknapped': Danny Cowley lifts the lid on signing Portsmouth's Magnificent Seven - and admiration for John Mousinho

Danny Cowley makes it abundantly clear he doesn’t warrant any mention in dispatches when assessing Pompey’s Championship return.

Indeed, it was The News which contacted the man succeeded by John Mousinho rather than Colchester’s current manager’s throwing himself forward to bask in reflected glory.

Nonetheless, it is indisputable that seven of the Blues’ League One title-winning side were recruited during his Pompey regime, which ended in January 2023.

Of his signings, Marlon Pack, Joe Rafferty, Joe Morrell, Colby Bishop and Connor Ogilvie were pivotal performers and automatic first-team choices when available.

Others such as Zak Swanson and Tom Lowery also played their part, despite persistent injury impacting their presence, a regular frustration during their time at Fratton Park.

Cowley watched from afar with admiration at Mousinho’s achievements, as the managerial newcomer marked his first full Pompey season by securing promotion with two games to spare.

And also with a degree of pride at the key contributions from some of his former charges during a stunning campaign.

‘John Mousinho has done an incredible job and made football management look ridiculously easy. Only people who have lived that job know how tough it is and he deserves so much credit,’ Cowley told The News.

‘Honestly, I don’t deserve any credit for Pompey’s promotion, I’d like to make that absolutely clear. I genuinely believe the success is down to the players and the current staff, Rich (Hughes), John and Andy Cullen as well. Andy has made a huge difference to that football club.

‘People don’t really know where it was when we inherited it, but the club has moved forward significantly behind the scenes. The provision that now supports the first-team has significantly improved, no doubt allowing the first-team players to be able to perform at a much more consistent level.

‘Pompey have also done brilliantly with recruitment. Hopefully they had a decent platform and foundation to build from.

‘Abu Kamara has come in and done so well, Alex Robertson wow what a player he was, Regan Poole was a no-brainer, I know Will Norris well, he started with me at Braintree and was incredible for us there.

‘During my time at Pompey, we also got some wrong, Denver Hume at the time, and unfortunately this is recruitment.

‘We’ve had really successful years at Concord Rangers, Braintree and Lincoln, in particular, and even though the teams were incredibly successful, you don’t get all the recruitment right. I don’t know anybody who does, unfortunately.

‘Recruitment is an impossible science, it’s not easy. We always think about the ones we got wrong more than the many we got right, that’s how it goes. When you look back, though, at Pompey we got more right than wrong. 

‘With Colby, we went into that window without a number nine and were waiting to create funds through Marcus Harness leaving (Ipswich). That then gave the finance to sign him.

‘Before we arrived, the club had probably made some mistakes in the transfer market with some fees for the previous forwards. John (Marquis) and Ellis (Harrison) hadn’t really worked out.

‘However, it looked like Colby was going to Blackpool. He was sitting in their changing room waiting for a medical, the manager had gone home and there wasn’t anybody really to welcome him.

‘I don’t think he felt valued, yet he knew we were really, really keen. Colby changed his mind and then we got the call from his agent asking whether we’d still be interested. Absolutely!

‘I understood why Colby wanted to go to Blackpool at the time, they were in the Championship and it was a real ambition of his to play at that level.

‘His medical there wasn't straightforward, he’d had some injury issues which slowed Blackpool’s deal. They had sent him for some scans and something showed up, so they wanted him to see a specialist - and we got in-between it.

‘My best friend is a doctor and we always use him in that capacity, he’s a genius and we have a lot of trust in him. There was no big concern from us. When we did Colby’s medical, we were pleased with what we saw - a really robust athlete.

‘I got Simon Bassey to drive to pick him up from London, we didn’t want him kidnapped along the way, so he was chaperoned into Portsmouth! He got in really late at night.

‘We had a friendly against Bognor that evening, so I had one eye on the game and one eye on my phone. I had to leave the dug-out to take a call at one point during the first half!

‘He’s proven to be a fantastic signing for the club.’

Signed for £500,000 in July 2022, Bishop has subsequently registered 45 goals in 100 outings for Pompey - missing just two league games in two seasons.

Remarkably, he’s also the first player since Guy Whittingham to break the 20-goal mark in successive campaigns, previously achieved in 1989-90 and 1990-91.

Another financial outlay under Cowley was around £280,000 for Morrell from Luton in August 2021, beating Ipswich to the Welsh international.

Having previously worked together at Lincoln, where the midfielder spent the 2019-20 campaign on loan, Pompey’s then head coach was delighted to get his man after fearing it wasn’t to be.

He added: ‘Joe was going to Ipswich, it was all done, but we were pulling on his heartstrings. We must have pulled hard because the financial offer there was significantly bigger than ours, yet he chose us.

‘What a great kid, he possesses a winner’s mentality and is such an excellent professional. He trains very, very hard every single day, always trying to improve and develop his game.

‘When you’re the size of Joe and Tom Lowery, to be able to play at the level they have you need to be incredibly gifted and talented - and both players are.

‘You don’t often get boys playing for international teams in a major tournament when in League One and the team actually suffered because he probably had a disrupted time going into the Qatar World Cup finals. Unfortunately, that hurt the team at that time.

‘Off the back of returning from the World Cup and up until his injury (January 2024) he has been able to play with a really high level of consistency and has been a really good signing for Pompey.

‘I’ve mentioned Tom (Lowery) and I feel so sorry for him. He came to us with a really clean injury record, having played lots and lots of games and been a mainstay of that Crewe team which won promotion and had a lot of success.

‘It has been such a shame to see him have injury after injury, really bad luck with different problems, which have hampered his time at Pompey.

‘And such an intelligent player, fantastic ability to receive and pass, brilliant at receiving in tight areas, really quick feet to get out of congested areas in midfield, brilliant at committing players.

‘Tom has the capabilities to play in the Championship in my opinion, for sure. If he can get a run of games and find a rhythm, I think anything is possible for him.

‘He had a lot of Championship interest at the time we signed him (August 2022) and rightly so because he’d done so well at Crewe. Ultimately, he was waiting for a deal at that level and it didn’t happen. We got wind of it and jumped on it.

‘This is where sometimes recruitment can be difficult because you don’t have a crystal ball and nobody could have anticipated the injuries Tom has subsequently suffered.

‘Certainly there was nothing to suggest those injuries would happen, but sometimes this is football and we understand this.’

In July 2022, Cowley strengthened his right-back options by signing two within seven days - Swanson and Rafferty.

Swanson arrived from Arsenal on a free transfer on the eve of the pre-season tour to San Pedro del Pinatar in Murcia.

And, during the six-day Spanish stay, Rafferty also became available following his release from Preston, signing upon the team’s return.

Cowley said: ‘We recruited two right-backs in quick succession that summer.

‘We were second in the league (2022-23) when Joe was playing regularly and sometimes you don’t know how good a player is until you don’t have them. That is so true with him, he’s so reliable and does the basics well, with and without the ball.

‘He’s a player who makes a team better and a winner, with a fantastic mindset. It doesn’t matter what it is, it could be a game of table-tennis at the training ground or a game in training or a really important league match, he’s a winner.

‘Joe happened really quickly, he became available while we were in Spain. He’s an underrated and maybe undervalued player, these are the type of players we like to sign.

‘Zak was one we were aware of through watching under-23s games. I saw him live at Bournemouth when they played Arsenal and then at an Arsenal home game at Boreham Wood’s ground.

‘We saw the potential in him, we thought he could grow and develop. He’s a very clever player who can play in different positions, very modern day in that he can go on the overlap and also invert into midfield positions, using the ball well from there.

‘He has this 360-degree vision which allows him to go and play inside the pitch and connect the game.’

In August 2021, Connor Ogilvie arrived on a free transfer from Gillingham, representing Cowley’s ninth signing since appointed as Pompey’s head coach permanently.

Formerly on the books of Spurs, the versatile defender had enjoyed loan spells at Stevenage (twice) and Gillingham (twice) before arriving at the latter permanently in May 2019. 

Ogilvie had turned down a new Gills contract in the summer of 2021, yet continued to train with Steve Evans’ squad - until Pompey swooped.

‘Connor was a no-brainer for us. Some signings carry an element of risk, we never felt that with him. A very sensible recruit for the football club,’ added Cowley.

‘He’s another really underrated player, an outstanding professional and so reliable. You pretty much don’t need to talk to him Monday to Friday, you know you’re going to get a high level of consistency on a Saturday. He’s a delight to be honest.

‘If they were all like Connor, your life would be very, very easy. Low maintenance, high output. He speaks when he needs to and plays with a big personality on the pitch.’

Cowley’s first signing of the summer of 2022 was a free transfer from Cardiff - Pack.

It represented an emotional homecoming for the lad from Buckland, who had left Fratton Park in search of regular football 11 years earlier.

And in June 2022, Cowley beat Derby to the midfielder’s services - although the head coach elected to keep Clark Robertson as his skipper.

He said: ‘Marlon probably shouldn't have been available to a League One club, but the reason why is because of his affinity with the city and the football club.

‘We definitely pulled on his heartstrings! I remember him being away on holiday and pretty much pestering him every single day over there. I can be pretty relentless when I want to be.

‘We knew what he would give us on the pitch, but also off it and how powerful his signing would be in connecting the support.

‘Marlon had lots of clubs interested and rightly so because he’s an outstanding player. However good a player he is, he’s an even better character.

‘We considered making him captain, but Clark was a year in and Marlon had such a big character that he didn’t need an armband to be a leader.

‘Our hope was that he’d lead anyway, which he did, but of course the captaincy would have meant a lot to him and maybe his game has gone to another level as a consequence of that, I’m not close enough to have that opinion.

‘I can understand why people will criticise us for not making him captain and I think the criticism would be pretty fair, if I’m being honest.’

Following the capture of the League One title against Barnsley, Cowley texted Mousinho his congratulations.

The pair were enrolled on the same Uefa Pro Licence course together at St George’s Park, along with Nicky Cowley and Jon Harley.

And Danny was delighted to see Pompey - and their boss - achieve the Fratton Park success which had eluded him.

He added: ‘Again, I honestly don’t deserve any credit for Pompey’s promotion. I am genuinely so pleased for the club to go up.

‘It’s a brilliant football club and the supporters are so amazing. They love the club and the game so much, it means everything to them. Nicky and I are just the same.’