Portsmouth

Pennant cool on Portsmouth switch
Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant says he does not want to join Portsmouth after the two clubs agreed a fee. The 26-year-old was expected to go for talks at Fratton Park in the next few days, but he remains convinced his future is at Anfield. "My preference is to stay at Liverpool and I am still hoping to do so. I do not want to leave," said Pennant. "I am happy to compete for my place here and hope that I am given the chance to do so." Pennant has played 81 times for Liverpool since joining from Birmingham in July 2006, but has only featured four times so far this season. Pompey boss Tony Adams, who knows Pennant from their time together at Arsenal, is desperate to sign a player who has been interesting Real Madrid and AC Milan. "Jermaine is a player I have been tracking because he is not getting regular first-team football," said Adams. "I realised he wasn't in the team at Liverpool, he was a bit-part player, and I said to our executive chairman Peter Storrie that we might be able to give him a platform to play football. "We have had a bid accepted by Liverpool and we want to get him down here ASAP." Pennant began his career with Notts County before moving to Arsenal and he also played on loan for Watford and Leeds before joining Birmingham.

Portsmouth sign Mullins and Pele
Portsmouth manager Tony Adams has bolstered his midfield options with the double signing of Hayden Mullins from West Ham and Pele from Porto. Mullins, 29, has agreed a three-and-half-year deal at Fratton Park and moves to Pompey for an undisclosed fee. Portuguese attacking midfielder Pele, 21, joins on loan for the rest of the season with a view to a permanent move. "Hayden and Pele have been on our radar for some time," said Portsmouth executive chairman Peter Storrie. "They will add strength to our midfield. Central midfield is an area we have needed to strengthen - that's why we brought in two players." Both players have been signed in time to play Aston Villa on Tuesday and they will add some much needed cover in Portsmouth's midfield. Papa Bouba Diop, Richard Hughes and Niko Kranjcar are all out injured, while Lassana Diarra departed for Real Madrid earlier this month. The signings continue a busy transfer window for Adams, who has already brought in Jermaine Pennant on loan from Liverpool, while Jermain Defoe left to rejoin Tottenham. Mullins has spent the last five years at West Ham after joining from Crystal Palace and he has made 21 appearances for the Hammers this season. "It was in a little bit of a shock," he told Portsmouth's website. "I trained on Sunday with West Ham and then it all happened very quickly, but I'm very pleased to have joined. Pele Pele has previously played for Italian giants Inter Milan "It was a great experience to have worked under Gianfranco Zola but it's a great challenge here to come and work with some really talented players. "I enjoyed my time at West Ham but I was there for five years and thought that maybe it was time for a change. "Portsmouth are a club with a lot of history. They won the FA Cup last year, so I'm very excited to be here." Portugal under-21 international Pele, whose full name is Vitor Hugo Gomes Passos, is an attacking midfielder and has previously played for Inter Milan. "It's always been an ambition of mine to play in England, to play in the Premier League," he said. "I've always watched English football, and the crowds are always great here. "England is the home of football, so it's fantastic to get this opportunity."

Portsmouth confirm Adams sacking
Portsmouth have sacked manager Tony Adams and first-team coach John Metgod following a run of poor results. A Portsmouth statement confirmed: "This has been a difficult decision and Tony has worked tirelessly to arrest the slump in form." Portsmouth have won only two of their 16 Premier League matches since Adams, 42, took charge back on 28 October. Former West Ham manager Alan Curbishley and ex-Chelsea boss Avram Grant have been touted as possible replacements. Director of youth operations Paul Hart will take over as caretaker manager. On Saturday, Pompey were beaten at home by Liverpool despite leading 2-1 with only five minutes to go. Prior to the defeat by Liverpool - their seventh loss in eight games - Adams had insisted he had the backing of the club chiefs. Portsmouth are currently 16th in the table, one point above the relegation zone, with 14 games to play. The club's statement added: "The owner and the board feel they have been as supportive as they can during a period when results have been poor. "The team has played well but too many points have been dropped from winning positions. "The priority for the club is to remain in the top flight and we feel the appointment of a new manager will give us the best opportunity to enable us to do this." Adams was appointed at the end of October when Harry Redknapp, who guided Pompey to FA Cup glory last season, decided to take the Tottenham job. The former Arsenal and England captain was named as Redknapp's number two in 2006, after an ill-fated spell in charge of Wycombe and coaching jobs in the Netherlands with Feyenoord and Utrecht. At Wycombe, the Gunners legend won only 12 of his 53 games in charge, losing 20. However, Adams' former Arsenal team-mate Nigel Winterburn feels it is wrong to solely blame the manager for poor results. He told BBC Radio 5 Live: "Tony will be very, very frustrated - he was a fantastic leader on the football pitch, but being a manager is a different animal. "It is always the manager who takes the blame as he is the one who sends the players out. "But I think you also have to look at the players. They are the ones who play for 90 minutes and if they don't perform properly, they have to take some of the responsibility as well. "It is too easy to look only at the manager when a team goes on a poor run - we should look at the players as well. "Portsmouth have put in some terrific performances but they just could not get a win, and individual errors have cost them dearly in several games this season."

Pompey begin new manager search
Portsmouth have begun the search for a new manager following Tony Adams' sacking on Monday. Several names are believed to be in the running including former England manager Sven Goran Eriksson and ex Chelsea boss Avram Grant. Other names in the frame include former West Ham manager Alan Curbishley and ex England boss Terry Venables. Croatia manager Slaven Bilic and former Sunderland boss Roy Keane have also been linked to the job. Former England manager Glenn Hoddle and ex-Liverpool boss Graeme Souness are also touted as possible replacements. Adams, 42, left the club after winning just two of 16 Premier League games since taking over on 28 October. The club are only one point above the relegation zone and last month were dumped out of the FA Cup, losing to Championship side Swansea City. But with the club facing an uncertain future on and off the pitch, securing a new manager may be harder than Portsmouth think. ODDS FOR NEXT POMPEY MANAGER Avram Grant Avram Grant - 6/4 Sven Goran Eriksson - 9/4 Alan Curbishley - 11/4 Slavin Bilic - 5/1 Terry Venables - 16/1 Odds supplied by William Hill and correct on 10 February The club is currently up for sale, meaning plans for a new stadium and training complex have been put on hold. Portsmouth were also forced to sell key players in January with Jermain Defoe and Lassana Diarra leaving. Adams felt he was not given enough financial backing and a new manager may be unwilling to join a club which has so much off-the-field uncertainty. Grant has close links to owner Alexandre Gaydamak having previously served at the club as a director of football and is currently out of job having left Chelsea at the end of last season. But the Israeli is also being linked with a return to Chelsea following Luis Felipe Scolari's sacking on Monday. Eriksson is currently coach of Mexico's national team but could be dismissed if they fail to beat USA in a vital World Cup qualifier on Wednesday. However, the Swede's wage demands may prove a sticking point, especially as Gaydamak is looking to sell the club. Curbishley is out of work having quit as West Ham manager in 2008. But a legal dispute about the compensation he believes he is owed from the Hammers could affect his chances. Bristol City manager Gary Johnson, as well as fellow Championship boss Roberto Martinez of Swansea, are highly rated in the Premier League while Venables could offer badly needed stability and experience at Fratton Park. The hierarchy at Portsmouth have closed ranks since announcing Adams' departure with the club cancelling their usual Tuesday press conference. Portsmouth have also said they will not make any further comment until they are ready to announce a new manager, but have given no indication how long that process will take.

Portsmouth owner 'faces surgery'
Portsmouth owner Sulaiman Al Fahim will undergo an operation to remove kidney stones on Friday, says his spokesman. Ivo Gabara said Al Fahim is suffering from a kidney infection and was rushed to hospital in Dubai on Thursday. "This will not have any impact on the refinancing or management of Portsmouth," Gabara told BBC Sport. Al Fahim was urged to find a "permanent financing solution" for Pompey in a strongly-worded statement issued by the club's executive board on Thursday. The board - Peter Storrie, Tanya Robins and Roberto Avondo - claimed to be in the "final stages" of securing funding to pay the players' wages this week. Gabara said Al Fahim's advisers were working closely with chief finance officer Robins to ensure that the loan of £50m was "disbursed on schedule over the next three to four weeks". "In the meantime, the day-to-day running of the club continues under chief executive Peter Storey," he added. However, the club was unaware on Friday morning that Al Fahim was facing surgery. Portsmouth's players were due to be paid on Wednesday and the club initially claimed this had not happened because of technical problems. However, the club later explained that wages were not paid on time because of "a delay in the transfer of funds" after banks demanded TV receipts and profits from the last transfer window, meaning Al Fahim needed to refinance the club. The Premier League is understood to be monitoring the situation and looking to see if Pompey fulfil the financial criteria set out to its clubs, while the Professional Footballers' Association will deal with any contractual issues if players are not paid. "It is very disappointing to all of us that the players have for the first time had to wait for their contractual remuneration for reasons entirely outside the club's control," read the statement from Pompey's executive board. "It is through the joint efforts of the executive directors that we are in the final stages of securing funding that will allow the club to meet these contractual obligations. "It is clear that in order to ensure that the club is able to secure its longer-term future, a more permanent financing solution needs to be found quickly as the executive directors consider it an obligation to the club's loyal employees and fans, who undoubtedly feel equally disappointed. "In order to achieve this we will continue to work closely with the owner's lawyers and associates in delivering the finance that is needed over the next 10 to 14 days. Ultimately the responsibility to deliver this remains with the owner." According to minutes from a meeting on Friday between Al Fahim and the Pompey Virtual Alliance (PVA) - a group of fans' websites - the club's new owner is willing to work with other investors in Portsmouth. That news was greeted positively by fans, who have seen Paul Hart's men lose their first seven Barclays Premier League matches of the season. There have been constant doubts about the financial stability of the club since Al Fahim's takeover in August.

Pompey set for new takeover twist
Portsmouth could become the subject of a new takeover after it emerged owner Sulaiman Al Fahim is willing to sell part of his stake in the ailing club. Saudi business tycoon Ali Al Faraj will make an offer for a majority stake on Monday. Ivo Gabara, a spokesman for Al-Fahim, said: "Sulaiman's lawyers are engaged in talks with lawyers for Al-Faraj. "He expects an offer to be made. In the best interests of the club, he is willing to forego full ownership." He added: "If or when an offer is on the table, it will be considered on its merits." The two sets of representatives were meeting in London, while Al-Fahim has also met with Premier League officials. BBC Sport understands Al Faraj has already passed the Premier League's fit and proper person test. He is believed to have supplied the club with a £5m bridging loan to pay the players' wages. He was believed to be part of a consortium put together by club chief executive Peter Storrie and which was initially beaten to the takeover of the Fratton Park side when former owner Alexandre Gaydamak chose to sell to Al Fahim. During that time, Al Faraj passed the Premier League's fit and proper persons test for directors of football clubs. Al Fahim recently told Pompey fans he would raise £50m to help the club's precarious financial position and allow manager Paul Hart to strengthen his squad. Gabara, talking to BBC 5 Live's Sportsweek programme on Sunday, said he believed the refinancing deal was on course to be completed over the next three weeks, with two major financial institutions in Europe and the United States pledging loans. Hart faced the departure of a number of key players in the summer as the club tried to raise money to help ease debts. He finally led the south coast side to their first win in the Premier League on Saturday when they beat Wolves 1-0, but Pompey are still bottom of the top flight having played eight games.

Clough annoyed with Rams
Nigel Clough lamented Derby's naivety after they conceded a 90th-minute equaliser to draw 1-1 at Portsmouth in the Championship. Steve Davies' first-half volley looked like being enough to secure the Rams only their second win in 12 games before David Nugent netted a late leveller. Clough said: "Naivety has kicked in so many times this season. The players we have are very inexperienced and don't seem to be learning as quickly as we would like them to. "It should have been all three points on a number of occasions this season. But we make inadequate decisions in the last five minutes of games. "I think we've conceded more goals between 80 and 90 minutes than any other team in the league. "The goals were two great finishes. But the ball shouldn't have been anywhere near our box in the 90th minute." On goalscorer Davies, he added: "Steve has been out a long time. That was his first start, and he's going to play a part in the next 17 games. "Unfortunately, he'll just be getting to full fitness as we're finishing and going into the summer. "He didn't finish the game and he has played 19 full league games in his career. You can see how far he has had to come back from. He has not played regularly at all in the last five years. "He has an awful long way to go and it will be next season, if he stays injury free, before he gets to full fitness." Portsmouth manager Steve Cotterill continues to be restricted by the financial problems at the club and admits it is hard to play the way he wants to play. Cotterill said: "We do need to be stronger here (at Fratton Park). It's very difficult. We were at home and potentially we wanted to start at 4-4-2. "We wanted to do that but we are a player missing. If we had still had Utaka (who was the latest player exit when he joined Montpellier earlier in the week), we would have gone 4-4-2 from the kick-off. But we need someone to balance off that left-hand side for us. It has been a headache." Portsmouth started with a on-loan back line and Cotterill added: "When I went into the stand, someone said 'you need to get a back four, Steve.' Well that's great, but it would probably cost us about £3million if we wanted to get some good ones. "Does anybody not think I want that? You give me the money and I'll spend it - 100%. But I'm working with what I have, and quite often we've had four loan players at the back. How ideal is that?" Asked why he watched the second half from the stands, he commented further: "I had words with the fourth official at half time and the referee said to me 'I think it would be a good idea Steve that you don't get in any more trouble and you stay up in the stand in the second half'. "He was right. So I didn't get in any trouble; I didn't get sent off. He just said it would be a wise decision for me not to get involved in anything. "I suppose I have to thank him for that really because he was right. I might have got in some trouble."

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