Debate: is Adams the right man for the job?

Tony Adams says he would have been mad to turn down the chance to manage Portsmouth, after he was unveiled at a press conference at Fratton Park.

The former Arsenal captain described the job as a great honour after he was chosen to replace Harry Redknapp, who left to take over at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. Adams will take full charge for the first time in tomorrow’s match away to Liverpool.

"It's fantastic," Adams said. "I'm very honoured, it's a great opportunity and one I would be mad to turn down. I'm excited and I can't wait to get going.

"We've got some great players here at Portsmouth and I've been kind of responsible, with Harry, for bringing them to the club.

"I am going to take this opportunity and risk, because Harry's done a fantastic job for this club and is a hard act to follow. But I think it is my time, I think I am ready.

"I have been here [for] 2½ years and I didn't want them to give the job to anyone else. I think it's my time, I think I'm ready. This is the next step.

"It's like Christmas," he added. "It's the best job in the world. I'm scared to bits, of course, but another bit of me is really excited. I couldn't sleep last night.

"I would have been gutted not to get the job but thanks [must go] to the club for having the courage to put me in place."

Adams also revealed he had spoken to Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, before accepting the post.

"I spoke to Arsene last night for advice and he said 'welcome to hell'," Adams said. "I said 'are you scared? Because I'm coming for you!"'

When asked what he would do if Redknapp attempted to sign the club's best players when the transfer window re-opened in January, Adams said. "I'll fight him. I will do whatever I can to hang on to them. They're here because they're good players, but my job is to keep them here and to get them to play well.

"At the moment they're responding well - they might not like me but at the moment it's going well. The environment is very important. Matchdays become intense and that's been me as a player."

Adams, 42, the former Arsenal and England defender and captain, who steps up from assistant manager, became the heavy favourite yesterday to replace Redknapp, who had said last season that he would like Adams to succeed him as Portsmouth manager.

Although Adams’s only previous experience as the man in charge was an unsuccessful spell at Wycombe Wanderers during season 2003-04, since then he has studied coaching methods at home and abroad – with Feyenoord and Utrecht of Holland – before becoming Redknapp’s assistant in 2006.

He has added practical experience under Redknapp to the ideas he took from working with Wenger at Arsenal, where he won four league titles and three FA Cups, and said last season that he felt ready for another crack at management.