Avram Grant took another swipe at the Premier League after
Portsmouth's troubled season came to a close with a 1-0 defeat
against Chelsea in the FA Cup final.
With Chelsea having won the double, the cup losers would
normally have been guaranteed a place in Europe.
But Portsmouth failed to apply for their licence in time and
the Premier League refused to support them, having docked them nine
points for going into administration.
An angry Grant feels his side have been unfairly treated, and
took up the theme once more after Saturday's final.
He said: "Each one of the Premier League needs to come and
shake hands with the players and say 'You saved the pride of the
English league'.
"But they punish the players, they punish the club. It makes
me angry.
"I will fight against something I think is wrong. You saw
today what Portsmouth did on the pitch.
"They should send a letter to the players saying thank you.
You saved us, you will be in Europe next season and we will give
each one of you a medal because you were good. That is what I
think.
"Find the people that did something wrong and punish them.
The club and the fans deserve to be in Europe next season.
"The English league shot itself in the foot. The players
respected the Premier League when the Premier League didn't respect
the players."
Grant has been linked with the vacant managerial post at West
Ham but he refused to elaborate on his plans for next season.
When asked if he would be staying at Fratton Park, he said:
"I'm not thinking of this now. I am waiting to see what is the
future of the club. If the club wants to do like Newcastle and keep
all the players and try everything to continue then I'm still
waiting but not for long.
"If someone will not buy the club they will have a problem."
Grant felt his side could have won the cup after weathering a
first-half storm in which Chelsea hit the woodwork five times.
They would have taken the lead if Kevin-Prince Boateng's
feeble penalty had not been saved by Petr Cech. But then came
Didier Drogba's free-kick winner, after which Frank Lampard dragged
a Chelsea spot-kick wide.
Grant said: "We deserved more. We had good chances at the
right time. Chelsea are a good team but Portsmouth can be proud of
this.
"It is a sad day but a very proud day. We forced them in the
last 10 minutes to waste time."
Grant also reflected on a season in which the club went into
administration with £138m of debt.
He said: "It was a very difficult season I won't forget. I
have won a lot of games and got to the final of many competitions
but this was unbelievable."
