Source: Daily_Mail
Southampton 1 Portsmouth 4: Pompey FA Cup run is small change
One team in Hampshire, roared the Portsmouth supporters - a risky song choice given the circumstances. [LNB]Southampton may have been soundly thrashed but the way things are going they could soon be turning to Aldershot to salvage some local rivalry. [LNB]Avram Grant, hands sunk deep in pockets, emits gloom better than most and he gave a hopeless shrug when it was suggested Pompey's progress into the last eight of the FA Cup might ease the financial pressure. [LNB] Chiming nicely: Belhadj (left) scores Portsmouth's third, to the glee of Jamie O'Hara and Aruna Dindane[LNB]'Who does it help?' asked Grant. 'The other clubs who we owe themoney? Here it is only about tomorrow. That is the situation. The mostimportant thing is that the club stays as a club.' [LNB]The Portsmouth manager led the celebrations but his message was notto get carried away since Portsmouth could be wound up at the HighCourt before quarter-final weekend comes along. [LNB]Pompey have already earned nearly £600,000 in prize money and TVappearance money from this FA Cup run. Go all the way and lift thetrophy at Wembley as they did two years ago and they will receive closeto £4m, without merchandising spin-offs. [LNB]Take that! A Saints fan mocks Pompey's financial plight[LNB][LNB]Yet the taxman wants more than £12m and there are plenty of othercreditors waiting in line including their FA Cup winning ownerAlexandre Gaydamak and FA Cup winning captain Sol Campbell. [LNB]Naturally, Southampton fans revelled in the shambles. One, wearingan Arab head-dress, waved fake money at the 4,000 visiting supportersbut Grant's collection of cast-offs, has-beens and players the clubcouldn't sell eventually overpowered their League One hosts.[LNB] David James excelled in front of England's assistant manager FrancoBaldini, making three brilliant saves when the game was in the balance- the pick from Adam Lallana's header just after half-time. [LNB]Baldini, however, will have noticed James wincing and stretching hisgroin gingerly after he kicked the ball. The 39-year-old goalkeeper hasstruggled with niggling injuries all season and has been forced toadapt his rigorous fitness and conditioning regime.[LNB] It will concern Fabio Capello, a stickler for seeing his players train properly, but Grant is in no doubt. [LNB][LNB]'Great saves, that's Jamo,' said the Pompey manager. 'For me, he'sthe best English goalkeeper. In the knockout stages of the World Cup,you need someone who can save you and Jamo knows how to do it.' [LNB]Apart from James, Saints were denied an FA Cup upset by Jamie O'Haraand Quincy Owusu-Abeyie, two players signed in January when the PremierLeague agreed to lift the transfer embargo imposed on Portsmouth toallow loan signings and free transfers. [LNB]Substitute Quincy scored the first and set up the second for Aruna Dindane after Rickie Lambert had equalised. [LNB]O'Hara then released Nadir Belhadj for Pompey's third and completedthe scoring himself. Quincy, 23, hopes his spell at Fratton Park onloan from Spartak Moscow will revive his career in England, which endedwhen he left Arsenal for Russia after failing to establish himself inArsene Wenger's team.[LNB] 'I didn't have any doubts about coming here,' he said. 'I was awareof the problems. But I thought it was a great chance to come into thePremier League.' [LNB]O'Hara, Portsmouth's best player this season, was also prepared tosign up for more time at Fratton Park, returning for a second loanspell from Tottenham and this time cleared to play in the FA Cup. [LNB]'I came back because I want to play regularly and Pompey are afantastic club,' said O'Hara. 'It would be a terrible shame to see themgo down. This win could be a turning point.' [LNB]Southampton manager Alan Pardew took comfort from his team'sperformance at the end of a week when his chairman Nicola Cortese saidthe team's League One results were 'not satisfactory'.[LNB] 'When I came here, he said I would be judged after 18 months and I expect to be judged after 18 months,' said Pardew.[LNB] 'In the future I think we'll produce some really strong results.'I'm very confident the guys I've brought in here will do a great job.We need to learn from days like this and next year we can become a realforce like Leeds have become.'[LNB] FA Cup sixth round draw: Chelsea head for potential Man City showdownAvram Grant hails Pompey heroes after cup win over SaintsThe lesson of Pompey: A football club is no place for any ego tripPremier League have obligation to save Portsmouth, says West Ham co-owner[LNB] [LNB]
