Paul Hart, the Portsmouth manager, is so used to the daily dramas and crises at Fratton Park that he claims that he may miss them if they went away.

On Tuesday, when he attempted to sign Eugen Bopp, the former Nottingham Forest midfield player and a free agent, he discovered that the club had been under a transfer embargo that had been imposed by the Premier League since October 15 — but nobody had informed him.

After this, plus two changes of ownership over summer and the non-payment of the players’ wages last month, had he inquired whether there were any further surprises in store? “No, I’ve not even been tempted,” he said. “I think it’s nice to wake up in the morning and see if there’s something else happening. I don’t know if I wouldn’t miss it now, in a perverse sort of way.

“It is relentless, a bit, and sometimes you feel that there wouldn’t be very much in the papers if we weren’t providing it. But I don’t really get surprised any more, and I’m not saying that in a laissez-faire or an arrogant way. I try to focus on what my real job is, which is the football side.”

The transfer embargo, though, affected the football side, and will not be lifted until payments are made to Revenue & Customs and clubs, including Arsenal and Chelsea, who are owed instalments of transfer fees. “I don’t get disappointed, I dealt with it,” Hart said. “I’m led to believe it will be resolved. And I’ve been told that [this month’s] wages will be paid.

“These problems are here to be overcome and I think that we will overcome them. We’re just waiting for all this to be settled down, the investors to be settled in and then we’ll reassess. That’s what needs to happen. The situation isn’t easy, for a lot of people at this football club, not just me.

“The players keep me going. We have had massive performances and got nothing. We need to turn these performances into wins and get off the bottom [of the Premier League table] and that would be a massive psychological lift. We go out and work hard at what we’re good at and not leave too much to luck. But if we could have a bit, I’d be grateful.”

Peter Storrie, the chief executive, is confident that the payments for the lifting of the transfer embargo will be made. Watford confirmed yesterday that they had received the first instalment of the fee for Tommy Smith.

Financial assistance is being given by Balram Chainrai and Levi Kushnir, two members of the consortium that Storrie put together in August in an unsuccessful attempt to buy the club himself, and who have both attended the past two matches.

“They are providing a loan to the club,” Storrie said. “They will not be new owners as it is being suggested - this is well off target. The new owner plans to completely refinance the business and that should be in place by the end of November.”