Source: Team_Talk
Grant vows to carry on smiling
Portsmouth manager Avram Grant has vowed to carry on smiling despite being handed yet another piece of bad news by the club's administrator.[LNB] Andrew Andronikou has revealed that several Pompey players may not be available after Sunday's FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham because of expensive clauses being triggered in their contracts.[LNB]Better news is that Aruna Dindane can return the squad as the Ivory Coast striker has at least one more game before Pompey would have to make his loan move from Lens a £4million permanent switch.[LNB]Grant - who also has the likes of Hassan Yebda, Kevin Prince Boateng, Nadir Belhadj, Papa Bouba Diop and Tommy Smith all pushing to be in contention at Wembley - will continue to approach what has proved to be the most testing job of his career in the right frame of mind.[LNB]"I will ask him [Andronikou]. I hope it is not true, but the situation with money here is not easy," the former Chelsea boss said regarding the contract clauses.[LNB]"But you either smile or you can cry - and I will not cry.[LNB]"There was not even one moment that I thought of giving up."[LNB]Grant added: "We had to decide what we were playing for, because we knew from January about the nine points.[LNB]"But to play for the fans is very important. I have been a fan - when you are a fan, you love your club without condition, so to play for them and for pride was Grants feels the FA Cup has provided a welcome "easy" distraction for Portsmouth.[LNB]"For any season for Portsmouth to be in the semi-final of the FA Cup would be special, but in this season it is more special," he said.[LNB]"Compared to all of the other difficulties we have had, this is much easier.[LNB]"I have always believed, because this is the strength of football and why everyone loves it. Anything can happen.[LNB]"We are not going to Wembley just to watch. We want to be part of a good game."[LNB]Whichever side Grant is able to send out at Wembley, the Pompey boss is in no doubt they will give the required performance.[LNB]"We have continued to play for pride and that has been great," he said.[LNB]"When you test the character of people, it is when they are not in a very good situation.[LNB]"But everyone here, the players, the staff and the fans, make me feel a lot of pride.[LNB]"You can be the best player in the world, but if you do not have fighting spirit, you will not succeed."[LNB]Grant praised Pompey's fans for their continued support through a period when the very existence of the club was put in doubt.[LNB]"What I have already said about our fans is not enough, they are the best in the country," he said.[LNB]"They support us and give us a lot of passion. I am very proud of them and they can come to Wembley with a lot of pride.[LNB]"Sometimes people say that the fans are the 12th player, but for us they are more important than that."[LNB]Despite his obvious passion for the club and city, Grant admits had he known then what he does now, the decision to move back into the hotseat at Fratton Park would perhaps not have been straightforward.[LNB]He said: "On the football side, of course I wouldn't have taken the job. The answer is very clear, to work like this, no way.[LNB]"But there were so many good things also in the picture, about the city and off the pitch.[LNB]"Even to continue was not an easy decision, but I am happy I took it, even in this situation."
