Source: Team_Talk
Grant plans Pompey summit meeting
Avram Grant wants a meeting with Portsmouth administrator Andrew Andronikou before deciding what his future holds.[LNB] It is widely anticipated Grant will be asked to step into the managerial vacancy at West Ham following the departure of Gianfranco Zola last week.[LNB]Portsmouth fans retain a slender hope the Israeli will remain at Fratton Park, and that Sunday's FA Cup final defeat to Chelsea at Wembley will not be his last game in charge.[LNB]All will be resolved once Andronikou delivers the answers Grant craves, which, without a new owner in place, are unlikely to be positive.[LNB]"I love the Premier League. I want to stay in the Premier League. But I love Portsmouth," said Grant.[LNB]"I spoke with the administrator a long time ago and asked him what the situation was. He said two weeks. Then it was three weeks. He says everything is okay but I don't know what the situation is.[LNB]"Clubs like Newcastle were relegated but they kept the squad.[LNB]"Maybe Portsmouth want to build something new, which is good. But to do that, you need stability.[LNB]"I am not just talking about money. You need to know where you are going. We need to see."[LNB]As it is difficult to see how Andronikou can offer any greater stability, Grant's exit appears inevitable.[LNB]He will leave the south coast a wiser, more rounded individual, having experienced life on both sides of the great Premier League divide following the season he spent at Chelsea.[LNB]"From the education side it has been good for me to experience both," he said.[LNB]"Of course at Chelsea things are much easier. You can buy any player you want. You have the facilities.[LNB]"When you see the training grod at Portsmouth, you understand you need more than this.[LNB]"Now I know how to do things if the situation is really bad. But I prefer it to be for just one year. Not more."[LNB]Grant will go to his grave believing his club have been the victim of a massive injustice, first for the nine-point deduction for going into administration, which sapped all their will and condemned them to the drop, then to deny them a place in next season's Europa League because they failed to submit entry forms by the cut-off point.[LNB]The counter-argument is that if Portsmouth had not over-spent so massively, they would not have had sufficient quality to reach yesterday's final in the first place.[LNB]"I don't know about that," said Grant.[LNB]"When I came here, these players were already at the club and no-one said anything about relegation.[LNB]"Because there were no rules, it allowed people to do what they did with the club. It was wrong. I admit it was wrong.[LNB]"I never said people did the right things. But the fact is we achieved something on the pitch. The players deserve something."[LNB]That a missed penalty should cost his team so dearly was a particularly bitter pill for Grant to swallow just two years after John Terry slipped and missed the spot-kick that would have given Chelsea victory in that soggy Champions League final in Moscow.[LNB]He tried to console Kevin-Prince Boateng - the third player to miss a penalty in an FA Cup final - John Aldridge and Gary Lineker were the other two, and remarkably Frank Lampard was to become the fourth near the end - but it was impossible.[LNB]Instead, Grant offered wider words of praise for his entire squad.[LNB]"It is amazing what the players have done," he said.[LNB]"It is something that has even surprised me.[LNB]"Every week we have had a lot of problems. You cannot even imagine what has happened at Portsmouth this season.[LNB]"Sometimes the media create a big story from a small story. This is bigger than you think.[LNB]"I have been coaching since I was 18 and a half and this was one of the most emotional seasons I have ever had."
