John Mousinho dismissed criticism from Tom Cleverley, saying, “Why should I care what he thinks?”

The Pompey coach defended his post-match remarks and behavior in a heated Boxing Day game with Watford.

It proved to be a tinderbox affair at Vicarage Road on a contentious afternoon, with referees erroneously giving the home side a crucial penalty and Kwadwo Baah being sent out after the final whistle for provoking Pompey players and supporters.

Mousinho stated unequivocally that if Baah’s behavior had been caused by a player in his camp, they would not play for Pompey again.

The Blues’ head coach is unconcerned with Cleverley’s allegation that his touchline behavior was detrimental to his team’s success.

Mousinho told The News, “It was a good game of Championship football, we lost – and we have to take that on the chin.”

‘I was quite dissatisfied with how we lost the game. We were well worth a point, and we could have grabbed it near the finish.

‘There was a lot of frustration in the changing room and among the personnel, and we will constantly try to improve.

‘But as for anything else, I honestly don’t care.

‘My reaction (to Baah’s behavior) was what would happen if one of my players did it. If one of my players violates this policy, they will not be able to continue playing for Portsmouth.

‘And the moment I start worrying about what Tom Cleverley thinks, smack me over the head and tell me I’m doing the wrong job.

‘That is, until he buys the football club, in which case I will pay heed to what he says!’

Mousinho received a yellow in the second half after Watford equalized from the spot, but he clarified that it had nothing to do with what he said to the referees.

And the fact that the Watford staff received no repercussions for their actions following their victory was an inconsistent attitude from the officials in Mousinho’s opinion.

He explained: “I accepted the booking for an untidy bench.”

‘What occurred was that after the penalty, no one understood what was going on.

‘I didn’t say anything to the fourth official, but there were a few people on the pitch. So I accepted the ticket for the dirty bench, and the buck needs to stop somewhere – which is just great.

‘The key thing I asked all of the officials on the day was this: if you’re going to book me for that, you should look very closely at what happened on the Watford bench throughout the game, as well as the second goal.

I’m telling the officials that they can’t have it both ways. They cannot have it both ways. I’m still quite upset about it, and I believe the refereeing was extremely awful.

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