Source: Daily_Mail
Tottenham set to pounce as Portsmouth confirm departure of England keeper David James
Free agent: James's deal at Pompey is set to expire[LNB]David James will make his final Portsmouth appearance in the FA Cupfinal after being told he is not being offered a new contract.[LNB]Tottenham target James, 40 in August, waved a clause triggering a year's extension to his £50,000-a-week deal after he has played 25 games. [LNB]Administrator Andrew Andronikou says debt-ridden Pompey, who on Friday were said to be £134million in the red, cannot afford to keep the England goalkeeper. [LNB]Striker Kanu, hero of Pompey's 2008 cup final triumph over Cardiff, defenders Steve Finnan, Ricardo Rocha and Herman Hreidarsson and Greece midfielder Angelos Basinas are also being released. [LNB]Andronikou said: 'Half a dozen of the cup final team will have to leave. That is a fact of life. We want to keep the spine of the team, but the rest must go. [LNB]'They will be made up of three categories: loanees, those out of contract, and those earmarked to be sold. Jamie O'Hara, for example, is one of those players on loan, so he will be sent back to Spurs. [LNB]'Aruna Dindane is another on loan and he will revert to Lens who plan to sell him on. David James is out of contract, and so won't be offered a new one, and so on. [LNB] Exit: Aruna Dindane (left) is another Pompey regular to leave Fratton Park[LNB]'Those out of contract will go - their contracts will not be renewed, and there are others we shall sell. [LNB]'In the sense of selling players, we shall be like every other club this summer: when an offer comes in, we shall negotiate and, if we can reach agreement on price, the player will be sold. [LNB]'There will be quite a lot of speculation about which players will be sold off, but that is going to be a question of which players attract offers and how much are those offers.'[LNB]James turns 40 in August and the World-Cup bound goalkeeper hinted he could yet stay on at Fratton Park despite the lack of a contract.[LNB]'I have thought about it [the future], but I have not made any decisions because I need to sit down with the administrators and see what the plan is,' James revealed.[LNB]'With the FA Cup coming up, there is nothing that is going to happen betweennow and then. That conversation will happen afterwards.'[LNB] Underdogs: Pompey completed their unlikely cup run by beating Spurs inthe semi-final, in part thanks to Frederic Piquionne's goal in extra-time (above)[LNB]Should Pompey pull off what would arguably be the biggest shock in the history of the famous old competition, James, who was part of the FA Cup-winning team two seasons ago, maintains it will be just rewards for a collective team effort.[LNB]'Playing Chelsea, who are in pretty good form at the moment, we are going tobe definite underdogs,' said James.[LNB]'But we will do as we did at Spurs, preparing well to identify how we can nullify their strengths and take advantage of their weaknesses - Chelsea are not unbeaten and have not won every game 8-0. It is just a case of making sure we do things right.'[LNB]Hard work is the key to a Portsmouth success, according to James. He added: 'I do not believe in fairytales - I like reality. It is no good walking out there and thinking something divine will take over - we are going to have to work hard like we did against Tottenham when we got through by virtue of a solid team performance.[LNB]'Chelsea are a tremendous side, league champions, and in their five high-scoring games, they have probably put in more than we have scored all season.[LNB] Happier times: James was part of the side that won the trophy in 2008[LNB]'It sounds daunting, but at the same time, they are not unbeaten and there areflaws in their make-up.'[LNB]Pompey beat Coventry, Sunderland, arch-rivals Southampton and Birmingham enroute to their semi-final against Spurs.[LNB]James, though, thought the FA Cup dream was dead at the Ricoh Arena before abit of good fortune saw Pompey come through their third-round replay afterextra-time.[LNB]'When we had travelled up to Coventry, after 89 minutes I thought the FA Cup run was over,' recalled the Pompey goalkeeper, who missed the game through injury.[LNB]'It was bizarre how that late own goal got us into extra-time. I was in the players' lounge, about to walk out wondering whether it was going to be penalties or not, then we got the last-minute goal from Aaron Mokoena to win it.'[LNB]James added: 'The FA Cup performances, bar that one at Coventry, have been exceptional - at Southampton, against Birmingham and especially Tottenham, because they played well on the day, but we played better.[LNB]'That is probably the saddest thing, that it was not able to be rectified in the Premier League.'[LNB] Pompey debt £4m less than thought... but crisis club are still £134m in the redChelsea v PORTSMOUTH: Jamie O'Hara faces race to be fit for FA Cup showdown Portsmouth flop John Utaka set for cut-price £3m Sochaux switchPORTSMOUTH FC
