Portsmouth manager Avram Grant is ready to accept players being
sold behind his back - for the first and last time in his career.
Portsmouth are reportedly £60 million in debt and facing
a winding-up petition from HM Revenue and Customs in the High Court
early next month.
Those problems have prompted the club to apply to the Premier
League for permission to sell players outside of the usual transfer
windows.
The likes of Algerian left-back Nadir Belhadj and promising
centre-half Marc Wilson have both been linked with moves away to
balance the club's books.
Chief executive Peter Storrie admitted he and Grant nearly
walked out of Fratton Park last month, when Younes Kaboul and Asmir
Begovic were sold without their say-so.
But the former Chelsea manager is prepared to do his best for
the club as long as he is in charge, despite the prospect of his
already threadbare squad being further depleted.
On the subject of players being sold behind his back, Grant
said: "It has happened to me for the first time in my life.
"I needed to take a decision, and I took a decision to stay
and do everything I could for the club.
"There are many things that have happened here that I don't
like. Things have happened here that I never accepted in the past
and I will not accept in the future.
"But because of the club and the fans, I am trying to do the
best I can with this situation."
After the high of knocking local rivals Southampton out of
the FA Cup last weekend, Grant admits he was brought back down to
earth with a bump when he heard news of Portsmouth considering more
player sales.
He said: "At the beginning, I thought it was a joke. But now
I know it is not a joke.
"I don't even want to talk about this because I came to this
club to do something.
"But every week, or every day sometimes, there is a new thing
and I don't know whether these things are sad or funny sometimes.
"Everything happens after we get a good result - something
happened after the wins against Burnley and Liverpool.
"We got a good result against Southampton and I thought
nothing could happen now because there is no transfer window. You
cannot say there is no creativity at this club."
When he took over as manager from Paul Hart in November,
Grant was not expecting his every wish to be provided.
But he says a string of broken promises have severely
hampered his efforts to keep a sinking club in the Premier League.
He said: "I'm not happy with the situation because when you
promise something, you need to keep your promise.
"I know it's not easy in football and I know not 100 per cent
of the things I want can be done. But it's not possible that 100
per cent of the things will not be done.
"I don't know who is at fault - I am not involved with the
financial situation.
"But I'm trying not to think about myself at the moment and
I'll give everything to the team, which is important for the future
of the club.
"I know not many people believed I would stay two months ago,
but I stayed even though the situation was very bad."
