Harry Redknapp, the great wheeler-dealer of British football management, has yet to make a signing in the January transfer window. The Portsmouth manager was supposed to have been given £30 million to spend on players this season by Alexandre “Sacha” Gaydamak, the owner, but his summer spending fell far short of that sum.
As the Pompey fans in the decaying museum piece that is Fratton Park watch Redknapp’s team continue to defy gravity, despite the lack of investment, they could be forgiven for echoing the words of Tom Cruise in the film Jerry Maguire: “Show me the money.”
On Friday, after the resignation of David Chissick, the vice-chairman and Gaydamak’s former right-hand man, Portsmouth’s official website issued a denial of suggestions that Gaydamak was losing interest in the club he bought from Milan Mandaric last year for an estimated £25 million. However, Gaydamak has missed high-profile matches away to Liverpool, Manchester United and Newcastle United and has been seen at the training ground on only a handful of occasions.
Redknapp wants Younes Kaboul, the Auxerre defender, but the relatively small fee of £4 million could be prohibitive and loan signings remain more likely than permanent deals. Unless Gaydamak sanctions a significant buy during January, people may conclude that he has either run out of money or lost his enthusiasm for the club.
A series of stories in the summer linked Portsmouth with a number of high-priced stars, including Jermain Defoe, the England forward, but in the end Redknapp was forced — yet again — to assemble a budget squad of overachievers and experienced but underpriced short-term signings. He plucked Kanu from the free-transfer scrapheap and although he is paying substantial wages to Sol Campbell and David James, they are not burdening the club with long-term contracts.
But, having done so much with so little, Redknapp is understood to be frustrated. He has been loyal in public to Gaydamak, but over recent weeks his utterances have sent a series of mixed messages. On December 23, after the 3-1 victory over Sheffield United, he said: “Now is the time to strengthen, surely.” The “surely” was a clear message to one particular set of ears. But by New Year’s Day, that had become: “I haven’t got a clue if I’m going to be bringing in a player or not.” His professed ignorance of the size of his transfer budget, if any, has become a recurring theme.
So is there any money? In Israel, where Sacha’s father, Arkady, resides and where it has been claimed that Gaydamak Sr is bankrolling his son, the family’s wealth shows no signs of drying up. Arkady recently put a further 150 million shekels (about £19 million) into his club, Beitar Jerusalem, as well as making substantial and politically astute charitable investments such as building a refugee camp for Israelis who fled the north of the country during last summer’s attacks on Lebanon. However, he insists that his son has made his own money, although Israeli sources are no wiser than anyone else as to how and how much.
True, a year ago the club spent about £12 million on players, but documents filed in Companies House showed that Gaydamak had a mortgage charge put on the players, which meant that they were effectively security for the money he had put in. Directors can lend money to a club by taking a mortgage on the assets, but in Portsmouth’s case the players were almost the only asset not already mortgaged.
The windswept training ground at Eastleigh has a new £800,000 block that houses offices, physiotherapists’ rooms and a gym, but it remains spartan compared with most others in the Premiership. The club are about to submit a planning application to build a training ground on a 55-acre site they have bought in Titchfield, but land in Hampshire will never be a bad investment, whether work goes ahead or not.
Of more immediate concern to the paying customers is Fratton Park. The Milton End — for home fans as well as visiting supporters — is still open to the elements and it was probably little comfort to soaked supporters who witnessed the 2-1 FA Cup win over Wigan Athletic on Saturday that lounges and dressing-rooms have been upgraded. As part of a £700,000 close-season refurbishment, the traditional boardroom was replaced with a chairman’s lounge.
Extra land has been bought adjoining the ground to house new offices and a club shop, but plans for a long-overdue redevelopment of the stadium have been put on hold while the club consider relocating.
But things cannot be all bad when the club can afford to employ Avram Grant, the former Israel manager, as “technical director”, a post that seems to come with no role attached beyond refereeing training matches. That did not stop Grant requesting his own office — while Redknapp, Tony Adams and Joe Jordan make do with one between them — or telling an Israeli television station that he is “living a dream in Portsmouth” and that he has an “important job”. One player described that job as “observational”, implying that Grant watches players and reports back to Redknapp. Some suspect that he watches Redknapp and reports back to Gaydamak.
What he sees is a talented manager who has guaranteed that the club will be in the Premiership next season, when the renegotiated television deal promises new levels of wealth to an owner who should be grateful. But how high might Portsmouth finish if Gaydamak shows Redknapp the money?
Summer signings
Nico Kranjcar (Hajduk Split) £3.5m
Andrew Cole (Manchester City) £500,000
David James (Manchester City) £1.2m
Sol Campbell (Arsenal) free
Kanu (West Bromwich Albion) free
David Thompson (Wigan Athletic) free
Glen Johnson (Chelsea) loan
Manuel Fernandes (Benfica) loan
Ognjen Koroman (Terek Grozny) loan
Rodolph Douala (Sporting Lisbon) loan
HARRY’S FADING OPTIMISM
Dec 17 “Sacha [Gaydamak] is a terrific young fellow and he’s given me terrific support. If I went to him to get a couple of players, he will be there. The owner will back me. That is not a problem.”
Dec 18 “The owner is ambitious to do well here and I know that if I want two or three signings next month, he will be there for me.”
Dec 23 “Now is the time to strengthen, surely.”
Dec 27 “If the owner says to me, ‘You have £4 million to spend’, then I will have a look and see where we can strengthen.”
Jan 1 “I keep looking, but I don’t know whether I’ll be able to bring anyone in. I’ve not got a clue about what money is available.”
Jan 4 “I can honestly say no one is going to be walking in here tomorrow. We’re not close to doing anything, really.”
