'He's probably a victim': Manager defends former West Brom playmaker after coming under fire from fans at new club
If you asked West Brom fans to sum up John Swift's time at West Brom then the reviews would be mixed.
The ex-Chelsea and Reading midfielder had good spells during his time at the club - but was in and out of form and departed when his contracted ended in the summer.
Swift made an emotional return to hometown club Portsmouth - and has been a regular for Pompey this season.
But he has started to come under fire from the club's supporters - and was cheered off in their clash with Blackburn last week having made a mistake that led to a goal.
However, despite coming in for flack from the home fans at Fratton Park - his manager John Mousinho has defended Swift and his impact, and insists he is sometimes a bit of a 'victim'.
He told The News: "‘What happened with John and Blackburn’s goal had nothing to do with my thought process of substituting him at the time.
"If we ask players to play football then we’re going to give the ball away, it’s going to happen. We gave the ball away probably about 150 times in that game and, unfortunately, on that occasion, we gave the ball away and didn't defend properly.
"‘It’s one of those things, there are going to be a load of mistakes made all the time. If we aren’t going to make mistakes, then we might as well pack up and go home.
"John’s had a real impact whenever he’s played - and we’ve now got him back into the side after a little spell out.
"Firstly, we’re asking John to play out of position as a six. Secondly, we are asking him to create, we’re asking him to try to do things with the ball which we think he can do and work to his strengths.
"A lot of the time that’s taking risks and a lot of the time that is trying to play. Ultimately, if you want to be safe, we can get the ball and hit the channel every time or hit the centre-forward and try to pick up seconds, but that’s not the way we want to play at the moment.
"He gives us different options. John is probably a victim sometimes with his style, but he works his socks off, his numbers are always through the roof in terms of his defensive contribution and what he does out of possession.
