Pompey boss calls to treat his 24-goal
John Mousinho has called for greater protection for prized asset Colby Bishop as he looked to a future with the striker at Pompey.
The Blues’ boss has called on officials to give his top scorer better protection, after they admitted the striker is subjected to a different threshold for fouls to other players.
Bishop enjoyed the biggest season of his career, after his £500,000 arrival from Accrington last summer.
The 26-year-old banged in 24 goals and saw his valuation multiply, with the likes of Blackburn and Ipswich credited with interest.
One hallmark of Bishop’s season has been the constant physical battering he’s been subjected to virtually every week, as he leads the line for Pompey.
Mousinho feels there is an imbalance over the level of punishment the striker has to receive to pick up a foul, compared to other players.
He said: ‘Colby gets a battering every week and there seems to be this incredible threshold for fouls against Colby. We joke about it, but I genuinely had to raise it with referees every week. I have no idea why he’s treated differently.
‘The Oxford game (on April 18) is one which springs to mind. (Oxford defender) Stuart Findlay twice early on had gone straight through the back of him.
‘I understand the ones where the ball is up in the air and Colby is trying to pin a centre-half, with his arms behind him. I get those ones.
‘But there are ones which are just blatantly obvious that the referees don’t give.
‘They have admitted to me themselves there seems to be a higher threshold, because of his size and stature.
‘I said “that is not how you referee games, you have to make sure you do it properly”.
‘If it’s one of those which is 50-50, that’s fine, but even as big as Colby is he needs protection as well.’
Despite being a player in demand, Mousinho hinted at Pompey planning for a future with Bishop at Fratton
Park, as he vowed he would continue to push his case with referees moving forward over the physical stick he takes.
The Blues’ head coach explained how the striker gets exasperated over the issue, so feels it’s important to fight his corner with officials.
He added: ‘I know Colby gets frustrated and can lose his head about it sometimes.
‘I sympathise with him when I see some of these things going on.
‘He gives as good as he gets in a lot of circumstances and we’ve never complained about that, but sometimes the foul goes against Colby and it’s bizarre and baffling.
‘It’s something we’d like to improve upon next season.
‘It’s out of our control almost, but we’ll keep asking the question.’
*Ex-Pompey goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu could be offered an escape route out of relegated Southampton.
According to Football Insider, Spurs have been keeping tabs on the Republic of Ireland international’s development at St Mary’s.
And despite being a mainstay in a sorry Saints side that will drop back into the Championship after 11 years away, the north Londoners are reportedly hoping that a £15m bid will be enough to tempt Southampton into selling.