Portsmouth, the Premier League's bottom club, have run into severe financial difficulties and have failed to pay their players' wages on time on three occasions this season. There are fears the club could go into administration but Al Faraj, who took over the club in October after the brief reign of Sulaiman Al Fahim, is determined to tackle the problems. Ahmed Al Faraj, who is helping his brother run the club, told Portsmouth's The News: "We need more patience from the football fans and the people to give us a chance. "It is not right to be criticised for two months, that is not fair. We need six months or a year, after that they have the right. It's very hard but we are confident. "Be patient with us, give us your support. We don't have anything to hide." Pompey needed to secure a short-term loan to cover the players' December wages and twice missed their own self-imposed deadline to pay. That brought criticism from some supporters, who have dubbed the new owner 'Al Mirage' because of his lack of visibility since taking over from Al Fahim. Ahmed added: "Ali has promised them they will be in the picture very soon and they will know everything. Trust us. "I don't blame them, they have been let down by different people. "But I am sure if they put themselves in our situation they would understand. We've had a problem because of the previous owners." By that he was pointing the finger firmly at Al Fahim's predecessor Alexandre Gaydamak, who authorised a series of expensive signings. His regime delivered FA Cup success in 2008 but the club have since struggled to meet their financial commitments and a number of top stars have been sold. Ahmed said: "The mess was huge when we took over, we couldn't believe it. "Financially it was unbelievable. We are now addressing this and trying to get everything into place and I promise you we are moving forward. "Things are improving from now and it will get better, especially financially. We are reducing the debts and stabilising. It is the toughest challenge I have faced, this is not easy. "If we don't want it we would not have bought the club and we could have waited for administration and got it very cheap and not need to pay all this money. "I would hope they (the fans) appreciate that and would support our backs and give us a chance to work with them and they will see the results."
