Asmir Begovic admits it is a relief to have moved away from the uncertainty surrounding Portsmouth.
Bosnian stopped believing non-payment explanations
New Stoke goalkeeper Asmir Begovic admits it is a relief to have moved away from the uncertainty surrounding Portsmouth.
The Bosnian left a financially-stricken Fratton Park on transfer deadline day after snubbing Premier League rivals Tottenham for 'sporting reasons'.
Pompey have been in disarray and on Thursday an application to HM Revenue & Customs was submitted in an attempt to delay a winding-up order after Balram Chainrai was confirmed as the club's fourth owner of the season.
Players have gone unpaid on several occasions as the Premier League's bottom club have battled to avoid administration and Begovic is glad to have left the confusion behind, claiming off-field problems have impacted upon the Pompey squad.
Asked if it was a relief to quit Pompey, he told
Sky Sports News: "In a few ways it was because with all the problems going on behind the scenes, it does affect the players.
"So it is a relief to come to a more stable position, for sure."
Frustration
Asked if it was affecting players' performances, he added: "In one way or another, probably, because maybe certain guys weren't preparing the same.
"But once we got on the pitch we tried to put the problems behind us and tried to move on. But it would be nice if you didn't have to worry about those kind of things."
Begovic has also lifted the lid on the frustration among Portsmouth's players regarding the non-payment of their wages.
He said: "We had no idea. We had people coming in from the PFA (Professional Footballers' Association) to try and get answers. But we weren't getting any answers.
"They (Portsmouth) were giving us different excuses as to why money wasn't going in. They would say it was going in one day and then it wasn't going in that day. We really didn't know."
He added: "Sometimes you just stopped believing different things and just knew there wasn't any money available."
