Grant happy to be back

New Pompey manager confident he can guide the club to safety

By Chris Burton   Last updated: 27th November 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

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Avram Grant is delighted to be back in English football and insists Portsmouth are capable of beating the drop.

The Israeli tactician, who will take charge of Pompey for the first time against Manchester United on Saturday, is set to be officially confirmed as the club's new manager once outstanding issues regarding his work permit have been resolved.

He takes the reins under difficult circumstances, with the club having recently parted with Paul Hart after failing to clamber off the foot of the Premier League table.

The outlook appears bleak, with a transfer embargo placed on the club by the Premier League preventing Pompey from bringing in new recruits to help aid their cause.

Grant, though, is confident that the South Coast club, who are paying the price for a turbulent summer both on and off the field, have enough quality already on their books to steer a course to safety.

He insists he was only too happy to help the club in their hour of need, having agreed to step down as director of football at Fratton Park, and is confident he has the tools available to him to be a success.

Big club

Grant said: "I had a lot of offers from other places but I waited for English football. I think the Premier League is the best league in the world. I am delighted to be back.

"I need to do a good job. I came here because the team is not in a good position.

"I love this club. I was here three years ago and I enjoyed it very much. It's a big club and I think they deserve to be in the Premier League and I will do everything I can to make sure they stay there.

"I came as a director of football, which is a very important position now for teams, and I did that job when I came in 2006. It was good for me, good for the manager and good for the club, and I wanted to do it again. Unfortunately the board took a decision that I will now take this job.

"In football the results are important and what has happened has happened. I came to help this club and I am happy to do it now.

"I think that the spirit of the team is good, they have tried to play good football. They have been unlucky with results, even before I came here. But I think what is here is good enough to stay up."

Exciting

Grant has prior experience of joining a club in crisis, having replaced Jose Mourinho at Chelsea in 2007, and he insists he is capable of replicating the success he enjoyed at Stamford Bridge.

"I think what is exciting in football is that no team is the same and has different situations," he added.

"At Chelsea it was different, but when I went in there they were in a crisis and on the way down, but it turned out well in the end. Here we are bottom of the league, and it is a big challenge, but I think we deserve to stay in the Premier League."

Grant has also sought to assure first-team coaches Ian Woan and Paul Groves that he has no plans to bring in his own backroom staff.

"I arrived only a few weeks ago as a director of football, and I know the people, but I didn't think I would be in this position," he said.

"I think the coaches are doing a good job and Paul and Ian will stay."

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