EPL Talk » fratton park

Gary McAllister Agrees To Join The Portsmouth Fight

Paul Bestall — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 22:20:21 +0000

It sounds as if Gary McAllister is about to named as Paul Hart’s assistant manager tomorrow morning. Reports coming from Radio Solent are claiming that McAllister, after turning down the same role under George Burley with the Scottish national team last week, has agreed to join Pompey. After the start that Paul Hart has had to endure with the loss of a team over the summer and then being expected to form one in about 3 days, he’ll be glad of the help.

McAllister’s reasoning for turning the Scotland offer down was that he wanted a full time position in English club football and it seems his chance has now arrived. It’s certainly a baptism of fire but when you’ve worked for Ken Bates, you can turn your hand to most situations without any fear at all. After being out of football for nearly 10 months, since being sacked from Leeds United on December 21st, it sees a welcome return for the likable Scotsman to the Premiership.

McAllister could actually do with such a position after two ill feted managerial positions at Coventry City and Leeds United. Both clubs had varying pressures that McAllister struggled to cope with, Coventry were desperate to return to the Premiership as quickly as possible but McAllister’s personal life was thrown in to turmoil when his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. He resigned in January 2004 to spend more time with her, but she sadly passed away in March 2006.

Leeds United were struggling to overcome the shock of Dennis Wise and Gus Poyet leaving, when McAllister came to the club and they managed to get to the play off final, but lost in a shock defeat at the hands of Doncaster Rovers. After that, it was always going to be tough for McAllister and a shock defeat to non-league Histon in the F.A. Cup sent the club into free fall.

Now he’s got a chance to come in as an assistant manager and cut his teeth in an environment where he can learn more than simply taking the managers job at a club he used to play for. There’s no pressure from supporters who remember him strolling around the midfield, spraying balls to all corners of the park. There’s nowhere else for Portsmouth to go and Paul Hart has continued to rise above the ridiculous levels of media pressure on his position.

The two go back to their time together at Leeds United, when Hart was in charge of the youth academy and McAllister was the club captain. This is not a decision based on a whim, the two obviously know each other well and are aware of each others strengths and weaknesses. The existing relationship could be crucial in allowing the duo to hit the ground running and Portsmouth aren’t too far away from getting some points on the board.

Hart has had to suffer the biggest asset stripping seen at a Premiership club since Leeds United’s implosion in 2003-2004. Yet he had to go through something similar when he was the manager of Nottingham Forest as the club desperately tried to recover the money that David Platt had blown in his dreadful tenure as manger.The irony of the situation will not be lost on him at all, but at least is should stand him in good stead.

Portsmouth Need To Sort The Takeover Out Quickly

Paul Bestall — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 21:50:04 +0000

The Premiership season begins on August 15th, just under four weeks away and for most clubs in the top flight, July has seen them scurrying about trying to strengthen their squads. At Fratton Park however, Portsmouth find themselves hampered by the current process of due diligence for Sulaiman Al Fahim’s proposed takeover to be completed. As such, no new players have come in and the board have allowed Glen Johnson to leave for £17 million.

The board have now accepted an offer of £12 million from Peter Crouch and it seems a simple matter of crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s. The only question is where Crouch will end up. Sunderland were in the driving seat but the player would like to remain in the south of England which would have put Fulham in the driving seat until Harry Redknapp threw his hat in ring. Having signed him twice before, Redknapp would now appear to be the favourite to see Crouch finally return the club where his professional career began.

Of course, this misses the bigger picture here, that of Portsmouth Football Club. The last few seasons have been eventful at Fratton Park, even by Pompey’s standards, but overall it has been a significant, if not a completely positive period in their history. Until Redknapp left for Tottenham, it had been a period of continual improvement and the F.A. Cup win was the icing on the cake for the whole project. The first team squad had the most quality it had seen in years sprinkled throughout it, with England internationals in every department.

That squad as of today looks threadbare even before Crouch’s departure. So far, 9 players have left the squad. Johnson, Davis, Djimi Traore, Lauren, Little, Thomas, Pamarot and the loan deals of Jermaine Pennant and Amand Traore have concluded. At the moment, the club have 15 professionals on their books. Kanu and Sol Campbell are currently considering new one year deals to extend their time at Pompey.

Now I know that takeover’s seem to take a matter of days when it comes to Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City’s buy outs, but they did take time, we just weren’t so aware of the facts that we are when it comes to the Portsmouth deal. Yet the clubs fans need it resolving as soon as possible. The playing squad needs strengthening as a matter of urgency because if not, it could be too late to get a squad together before the kick off in August.

The news that the shirt manufacturers, Canterbury, have also gone in to administration has meant that Peter Storrie has been having to work hard to secure an alternative. Yet, when you’re the third highest paid executive in the Premier League, it shouldn’t take too much to bring in a new shirt manufacturer, with Umbro leading the charge to take over the contract.

By all accounts, the deal should be concluded in a matter of days, but with no manager, no shirt manufacturer and now the smallest first team squad in the Premiership, Sulaiman Al Fahim is going to need to hit the ground running to get the club ship shape. A new manager is paramount as a first decision to get the transfer targets already positioned; I’ll be amazed if Al Fayed hasn’t got a manager already on board to takeover. For all the good work that Paul Hart did to rescue the disaster that was Tony Adams’ reign, he has made it clear he wants to return to the academy.

I just hope everything get’s sorted soon for Portsmouth and their fans. It’s a terrific club, with some of the most passionate fans I’ve ever come across. They don’t deserve to get caught in the blocks once the season kicks off, three relegation scares in 5 years will be pushing their luck.

Portsmouth Turning Into A Farce Due To Financial Troubles

The Gaffer — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 13:09:13 +0000

Alarming reports are coming out of England this morning regarding the future of Portsmouth Football Club.

According to The News Of The World, owner Alexandre Gaydamak has put the club up for sale to avert a financial crisis, and is looking to sell Pompey for an initial £20 million.

Incredibly, the newspaper is also reporting that a stunning 90 per cent of Portsmouth’s annual income is used to pay player’s wages, which is a definite recipe for disaster.

“The financial position of the club is fully audited and is consistent with its peers in the football industry,” said an official from Portsmouth FC in a statement from the club this morning. “The club’s owner has already stated that the club is not for sale but, as with all businesses, should the right offer be forthcoming, serious consideration would be given to the proposal.”

What an absolutely ridiculous statement by Portsmouth. First, the club fails to address the newspaper’s statements head-on and says that their financial position is similar to bigger clubs in football — which is a scary thought for the other clubs. So, they don’t deny they’re in severe financial trouble.

And second, they say they’re not for sale, but if the right offer came along they would be. What politically correct nonsense is that? The club owners are too proud to say the club is for sale, but behind everyone’s backs they’ll tell insiders that they’re for sale. At least Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley had the balls to tell the public he wants to sell his club.

The problem for Portsmouth is that they may face a difficult task trying to find an investor willing to buy the club from Gaydamak. Their Fratton Park ground only fits just less than 20,000 and their new 36,000 stadium on Horsea Island is still up in the air and won’t be ready until 2011 at the earliest.

I know that Harry Redknapp has a penchant for buying lots of expensive players, but what sort of wages is Portsmouth playing their stars if that amounts to 90 per cent of its income? Sure, Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe, David James and Lassana Diarra must be making huge wages. But other than those players, what other stars do they have? Kranjcar, Distin, Diop, Lauren, Hreidarsson and Utaka to name a few.

Either Portsmouth is paying more than they should for wages, or their income they’re bringing in is inadequate. Whatever the case, this looks like an extreme case of poor management by Gaydamak, which spells disaster for Portsmouth if a wealthy investor doesn’t bail them out soon.