Posts Tagged ‘Portsmouth’

Pompey’s unpaid fees could block spending plans

• Sulaiman al-Fahim says transfer embargo might not be lifted
• Unpaid fees, salaries and taxes need to be settled

Portsmouth’s ability to make signings next month has been cast into doubt because the club must clear a seven-figure sum in outstanding fees before the Premier League will lift the transfer embargo it imposed in mid-October.

The money is for instalments owed on several transfers, which include Glen Johnson’s move from Chelsea and the signing of John Utaka from Rennes, each of which occurred in 2007.

Portsmouth’s prospects of sourcing the finance to lift the embargo are muddied by other monies they have to pay over the coming month or so. These include at least £2.5m to the former owner Sacha Gaydamak; £1.8m for salaries; and outstanding tax and VAT bills, thought to amount to £5m and £6m respectively.

At the end of next month a considerable amount is also due for the next instalments of outstanding transfer fees, which the board will have to consider when drawing up any financial strategy.

Portsmouth’s chief executive, Peter Storrie, said last week he was under the impression that “everything is sorted” for the embargo to be lifted in time for January. Following Saturday’s 4-1 defeat by Manchester United, the new manager, Avram Grant, spoke of his need for reinforcements so the club can avoid relegation. “We are to have discussions in the next couple of days and I will know what we can do in January,” he said. Grant is yet to have those discussions with Storrie, though it is understood they will meet by the close of the week.

Sulaiman al-Fahim, the non-executive chairman, last month publicly backed the owner Ali al-Faraj’s ability to lift the embargo but has now altered his view. He contacted the Guardian last night to apologise to supporters for those comments, and demand the situation be “clarified”.

He said: “I would like to apologise for saying publicly last month that I was confident the transfer embargo would be lifted. I said this in good faith. As the embargo is still in place, then it seems there is still an ongoing issue. Avram Grant needs this situation clarified one way or another as we are now less than a month away from the January transfer window.”

Although Faraj has yet to visit the club he bought in October, Fahim challenged the Saudi to meet him to discuss Portsmouth’s future.

“I have never met al-Faraj and I am ready to invite him to the UAE as my guest or I will go and meet him in Saudi Arabi, if he doesn’t have time to come to the UK,” he said. “As a chairman and shareholder I want to know who is he and what plans he has for the club.”

Portsmouth declined to comment.

This is our time, insists bullish Wenger

• Manager believes his team are ready to fulfil potential
• Injuries may cause Arsenal problems against league leaders

Arsène Wenger insists the “moment has come” for his Arsenal side as they prepare to face the Premier League leaders Chelsea at Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

Arsenal, who have a match in hand on their title rivals, will be looking to close an eight-point gap on Chelsea after slipping further off the pace in the wake of last weekend’s lacklustre defeat at Sunderland.

Confidence within Wenger’s squad, however, remains high after they returned to winning ways with a 2-0 victory over Standard Liège in midweek to book a safe passage through to the knockout stages of the Champions League.

“Everyone will look at the game to rate our potential, and I have no worries about that,” said Wenger. “We are ready for the game, are well focused, prepared and the confidence is good. We just want to focus on the game like we want to play it.

“It is a big test, yes – but that is what you want, to play these teams,” he added. “I think there is a period for any team to come out and show its strengths. For my team, this moment has come.

“We are not any more a team that has to be considered to be young. I think we have the strengths and we can show that on Sunday that we are strong enough to compete.”

Arsenal, though, must take on Chelsea still missing the strikers Robin van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner, the full-back Kieran Gibbs, while the centre-back William Gallas is rated as only 50-50 to face his former club. Gibbs is set for an extended spell on the sidelines after his injury during the closing stages of the win over Liège on Tuesday night.

Gibbs had been scheduled to fill in for Gaël Clichy, out with a back problem, so Armand Traoré, who had a spell on loan at Portsmouth last season, will deputise.

“Kieran had surgery this morning and the surgeon gave us a good report that he did not need any metal in his foot,” said Wenger. “The first metatarsal is broken, which is very rare. He will be out for at least three months.”

Even with Arsenal’s defensive reshuffle, Wenger knows full well that whoever is in the back line will face a stern examination from Didier Drogba and the former Arsenal forward Nicolas Anelka.

“You know they are a good side and to beat them, you have to deliver a good performance,” said Wenger. “It is more important we focus on what we do than any strength or weakness of Chelsea. They are a strong side and have a good manager in Carlo Ancelotti, but I believe that despite all that, we can still beat them. Let us expect them to be strong on the day, and then let us be stronger.”

Portsmouth opt for experience by appointing Grant as manager

• Grant’s first game will be against Manchester United
• Chief executive says he was the ‘logical choice’

Portsmouth have confirmed that Avram Grant will be the club’s new manager, as predicted in the Guardian today. The former Chelsea manager has been granted a work permit and his first match in charge will be the club’s home game against Manchester United on Saturday.

“Avram is a very experienced and respected manager who has managed at the highest level. The board believes he is the man to help steer the club out of the relegation zone,” said Portsmouth’s chief executive, Peter Storrie.

“He knows the club, the players and the set-up at Fratton Park, so it was the logical move to make him the next manager, once the board had decided to relieve Paul Hart of the role. He will take charge of training on Friday alongside first-team coaches Paul Groves and Ian Woan.”

Grant will still, technically, be the Portsmouth director of football for Saturday’s game. However, the club will then apply to the Football Association to change his permit status to manager. Grant spent the 2006-07 season as Portsmouth’s technical director before he joined Chelsea as director of football.

Following José Mourinho’s departure from Stamford Bridge, he guided Chelsea to the 2008 Champions League final but was sacked after the defeat by Manchester United. He rejoined Portsmouth in October.

Hart gets chop at rock-bottom Pompey

• Paul Hart sacked after dismal defeat against Stoke City
• Darren Ferguson and Avram Grant possible successors

Avram Grant will be among the candidates discussed by Portsmouth tomorrow as the Premier League’s bottom club start looking for a manager after sacking Paul Hart tonight, with Darren Ferguson emerging as the bookmakers’ favourite.

Hart was dismissed after a dire start to the season, which has left Portsmouth with seven points from 13 games. Grant, the club’s director of football, would appear ideally placed to take over, though he does not yet have his work permit.

Mark Jacob, an executive director and the lawyer of Portsmouth’s owner, Ali al‑Faraj, said there were no candidates lined up and that he would be at Fratton Park tomorrow for talks with the chief executive, Peter Storrie. Asked about Grant, Jacob said: “Whether he is offered the job or not is another matter; that is something the board is going to be discussing.”

The Guardian understands that Grant is in Germany and was not consulted over the sacking or sounded out over whether he would like the job. Whether he would accept should it be offered is unclear but the Israeli is keen to return to management in the Premier League, following his time in charge at Chelsea during the 2007-08 season.

A series of bets was placed on Ferguson tonight but Jacob said of Sir Alex Ferguson’s son, who left Peterborough United this month: “He’s a new one on me.” Jacob refused to discuss other prospective replacements after Alan Curbishley, the former Charlton Athletic manager, was suggested. “It’s not even been discussed at board level as yet,” he said. Pressed on the profile of the club’s ideal replacement, Jacob said: “We want to act in the long-term interests. Unfortunately too many clubs make short-term appointments which they think will get them out of a hole.”

The decision to sack the 56-year-old Hart, who steered Portsmouth to safety last season after succeeding Tony Adams, followed Sunday’s 1-0 defeat at Stoke. “There had been talks ongoing for the last couple of weeks,” Jacob said. “We can’t continue to be unlucky in games which quite clearly we have been on top of. We clearly should have got a result at Stoke.”

The first-team coaches, Ian Woan and Paul Groves, will take charge temporarily with Portsmouth’s next game at home to Manchester United on Saturday. Hart declined a role at Portsmouth as head of player development for the 18-21 age group.

Danny Webber, who was signed by the club in the early weeks of the season, admitted Hart’s exit came as a shock.

He told Sky Sports News: “Paul was at training today and everything was as normal. I don’t think any of the players saw this coming at all. I am sad to hear Paul has gone as I myself and all the lads have been impressed with the work he was doing and how he conducted himself. I don’t think anyone would have any bad words to say about him.”

The former Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp, who is now at Tottenham, expects Grant to get the job. “Avram’s there – he worked with me there, he’s managed Chelsea,” he said. “I’d be surprised if he didn’t end up taking it – it’s a good opportunity for him to get back into management but I don’t know, only he will know exactly want he wants to do. But he would be my choice if anybody was to take it.”

Defoe sets his sights on more of the same

• Defoe aiming for Champions League finish with Tottenham
• Tottenham team-mates praise striker after five-goal haul

Jermain Defoe has now discovered what scoring five goals against a ramshackle Wigan Athletic defence can do for a reputation. While his Tottenham manager, Harry Redknapp, was busy hailing him the “best finisher” in the English game, the forward’s captain for the day, Jonathan Woodgate, was going a step further.

“I think he’s the sharpest striker not only in the Premier League but probably in the world,” said the centre-half. “He’s that sharp he simply doesn’t miss, in training or in matches.” The mind boggles over the superlatives that might have been used had Defoe registered a Premier League record sixth goal of the afternoon.

The 27-year-old has had to build bridges in recent weeks. His petulant stamp on Aaron Mokoena during a fractious return to Portsmouth last month resulted in an untimely three-match ban that checked both his own and the team’s breathless early-season form. Redknapp had been livid at the misdemeanor, his desperate pleas at half-time for the forward to retain a cool head having gone unheeded. Defoe’s mother, Sandra, had been so ashamed she could not bear to watch the evening’s highlights show while his grandfather had been moved to give the forward “a bit of stick” for his folly.

The two league fixtures Defoe missed were lost, with Spurs scoreless in each, though now all is virtually forgiven. A 9-1 thrashing of Wigan – a much improved and physically imposing team up to then – does have the air of a freak result but, psychologically, it will surely prove as encouraging for Spurs as it is demoralising for the Latics.

The statistics prove Redknapp and Woodgate right to some degree in that no other striker boasts a better goals-to-minutes ratio in the Premier League this season than Defoe’s 75 minutes per goal. Fabio Capello recently decided not to start with him against Brazil because he felt he knew the ins and outs of Defoe’s game. That, in itself, has to be encouraging in a World Cup year.

“When I was sent off I knew what I had done straight away and it was out of character,” said Defoe, whose last booking had been for Portsmouth against Bolton on 20 December 2008. “It was stupid but, having been out of the team through suspension, it was important to come back like this because I owed something to the team. The World Cup is always at the back of your mind but it’s important to focus on your club form to give yourself the best opportunity to get on that plane.

“What happened against Wigan was unbelievable. I definitely remember scoring four goals in a youth team game for West Ham against Aston Villa but I don’t think I’ve scored five even on the PlayStation. I’ve spoken to all the great strikers over the years – Les Ferdinand, Ian Wright, Clive Allen – and they always told me that, no matter how many you score, always try and get another. I’ve got that mentality now.

“A few of us will stay behind training with Les and Clive and you learn from them. I watched some of Clive’s goals on YouTube the other day. When you think he got 49 in one season, that’s unbelievable. But, if you put that work in, you will get rewarded. That’s all I do – work hard and push myself to the limit.”

The substitutes’ board had actually been raised with Spurs 6-1 up and Defoe’s tally on four, prompting a look of disgust from the striker towards the bench that gave way to relief when he realised it was Aaron Lennon who was being summoned from the fray rather than himself. “The break recently might actually have done me some good because I felt full of energy,” he added. “People are talking about the Golden Boot and I heard what the manager said about me being in with a chance of winning it but I’d prefer just [for the club] to finish fourth, to be honest. That would be fantastic.

“To be in the Champions League, playing against the best defenders in the world, would put more pressure on all of us and we’d love to have that challenge. The results went for us on Saturday, so we had to take advantage. It was funny in the dressing room afterwards because none of the lads could believe what had just happened. We know how good we are. We know we have a good team and a strong squad but to score nine goals in a game? Crazy.”

Other Spurs players caught the eye, with Lennon outstanding on his return from injury and the entire midfield functioning superbly, though Defoe drew the focus. “Jermain can do anything he wants to do and Fabio Capello seems to have a lot of faith in him,” added Woodgate. “He can make a massive impact at the World Cup, without a doubt, and he’s got every chance for the Golden Boot.” Aston Villa will pose a sterner test on Saturday, but Defoe’s reputation precedes him these days. First the Premier League, then the world; the division’s striker of the moment will take some stopping.