Was Tony Adams' Sacking the Right Decision: Who Will Be the New Pompey Boss?

Portsmouth are now on the lookout for a new manager after sacking Tony Adams in the late hours of Sunday Evening.

Was Tony Adams’s sacking the right decision?

It’s definitely a very hard decision on Tony Adams after just 16 games in charge. However the simple fact is that football is a results driven industry. When you go on a bad run it’s always likely to create panic, and unrest amongst board members fans. He also inherited a very strong squad who shouldn’t be sliding so quickly down the table. Just two wins from 16 with such a strong team at his disposal just isn’t good enough.

It was always going to be very difficult to follow in Harry Redknapp’s footsteps, after his great accomplishments at the club. Harry Redknapp was also extremely popular with the players, and a few recent signings had been persuaded to join Portsmouth because of Redknapp.  Were Portmouth’s players as motivated to play for Tony Adams as they were under Harry Redknapp?

Tony Adams was also at a disadvantage due to the state of the club’s finances, forcing him to have to sell key assets Lassana Diarra and Jermaine Defoe. It was like having one hand tied behind his back at times.

Throughout January players were constantly being linked with moves away from the club. This must have proved a mighty distraction to all the players.

For whatever reason when a member of club staff gets promoted to the big job it never seems to work out. Sammy Lee at Bolton and Chris Hutching at Bradford and then Wigan are just a couple of examples of this.

In the end a mix of all these factors, and a lack of experience at this extremely high level showed. Bad luck has been a problem too. Portsmouth have played well in many of the games under Tony Adams. Had Wigan, Hull City, AC Milan, and Liverpool not all scored injury time goals Pompey’s recent record may have looked better.

With many Premier league clubs now under foreign ownership results have become more and more important. If Portsmouth were to get relegated the owner Alexandre Gaydamak, who has invested millions in the club, would lose  a lot of money.

That’s something he simply he couldn’t afford to happen. The owner also has the club up for sale. Surely if the club were going to be relegated to the championship the club would be less attractive to sell, particularly in the current economic climate. For these reasons it is absolutely crucial Portsmouth don’t get relegated.

Therefore it’s likely that panic has set in, and the feeling that a change had to be made now before it was too late. The only big change that the club could make was to sack the manager.

The club may look well look back and come to the conclusion that it was wrong to appoint Tony Adams. Promoting him to the manager’s position was always going to be a big gamble with his lack of experience, and failing at a lower level with Wycombe Wanderers. In this case it proved to be the wrong gamble for Portsmouth.

Tony Adams as manager of Portsmouth just didn’t work.

Who are the key candidates for the job?

It’s not a very easy time to be looking for a new manager. There aren’t that many great managers out of work to choose from at the present time.

There appears to be three main candidates for the job.

These three candidates are Avram Grant, Alan Curbishley, and Sven Goran Eriksson.

Who out of these three are most likely to join Portsmouth? Who would be the strongest choice for the job?

Avram Grant: Avram Grant recently worked alongside Harry Redknapp as a director of football before joining Chelsea in the same role. Therefore he already knows the club inside out, along with many of the current players. Therefore he would be able to settle in pretty quickly and get on with the job.

His experience and track record is also extremely promising, and he has a great knowledge of the game. He showed in Israel how good he is eyeing fresh young talent and giving them a chance to shine. This is a skill that could prove very useful as Portsmouth manager, with the lack of finance he would have at his disposal.

He came close to winning Chelsea the Premiership and Champions League last season. His winning percentage was very close to that of Jose Mourinho whilst manager of Chelsea.

He is currently unemployed and looking for a new job. However with the news of Scolari’s exit from Chelsea Grant has become one of the hot favourites to return to the Chelsea hot seat.

Alan Curbishley: Alan Curbishley may not be a huge name but he is a very competent manager. Importantly he has also had experience of Portsmouth’s current position down near the relegation zone. He knows what it takes to keep a club in the Premiership, and his teams are always hard to beat.

He kept Charlton Altheltic in the premiership for a long time. He kept West Ham United in the premier league when it started to look like it was going to be impossible to stay up. He is also used to working with not very much money. At Charlton he made many key low money signings including the likes of Dean Kiely, Danny Mills and Darren Bent.

Since Curbishley left Charlton the club’s fortunes have fallen dramatically. From being a midfield premiership club, they are now on the brink of League One football. That’s a big testament to the job which Curbishley did at Charlton, and how big a mistake it was to let him go.

Alan Curbishley was also amongst the names considered for the England job after Sven Goran Eriksson left.

It has been five months since he left West Ham, so it is very likely that he is now ready to look for his next challenge.

Sven Goran Eriksson: Sven’s record in football management speaks for itself. At club level there can be no doubting how strong a manager he is. He has won domestic titles in Sweden, Portugal and Italy.

He won the Cup Winners Cup with Lazio in 1999. He has also reached three major International Tournament Quarter-Finals whilst in charge of England. He also recently revived the fortunes of Manchester City after a dire season the year before. He was controversially sacked which made the jaws of many football fans drop to the floor.

Out of the main candidates touted for the Pompey job he definitely has by far the best-looking CV and the highest-level experience. Sven is also very popular with the players, and has many good contacts within the game. The Pompey players who came to the club for Harry Redknapp would enjoy a similar relationship with Sven.

This big question mark is whether Sven would come to Pompey. The size of the club and lack of financial power could put him off the job. He also already has a job with the Mexico National team.

Who would be the best man for the job?

As an avid Portsmouth fan myself I would definitely pick Sven out of the above three candidates.

Although he didn’t quite make the grade as England manager (although Steve Mclaren helped make his International achievements look pretty good) his club record is phenomenal. He is amongst the elite of the game when it comes to club management.

He would create a great relationship with the players, and would give everyone around the club a really big positive boast. Players love to play for Sven and the fans would really take to him.

He did a brilliant job in his single season as Manchester City manager doing the double over United in the process. I think he showed at City that he could cut it in the Premier League.

Out of the three favourite candidates he is certainly the least likely but not impossible.

If Sven weren’t to come to Portsmouth, then I feel either Curbishley or Grant would both be very good choices.

Whoever comes in the decision needs to be made quickly, so that the team’s form can be turned around as quickly as possible.