It looks like there is going to be a change in ownership at Portsmouth and that will raise questions over the future of Paul Hart, but for me he deserves the opportunity to go into next year.
Paul’s brief was to keep them in The Premier League and he has done that. His job in a sense was made easier by the form of the teams at the bottom who were quite appalling, but he did what he had to do.
There is no doubt he deserves the opportunity to take the club on. He stepped into the breach, fulfilled the brief he was given and there is no reason why he can’t.
There are one or two question marks. I watched them the other night against Sunderland and they were set up to win the game but it was not impressive. He changed it round and got the job done, but there are question marks about whether he is the man who can get the team to play in an open and expansive way.
He has earned his spurs and I think he deserves the chance, but whether he will be given that chance is another matter. I hope so because he has done what he has had to do.
There are other Premier League clubs in a better financial position than Portsmouth so in that sense it is surprising that they have gone for Portsmouth, but it is good for them and hopefully can take them to the next level.
Portsmouth have hit a brick wall financially. In the space of six months they have gone from a buying club who can compete against anybody to a selling club. From a financial perspective it makes sense and to get to that next level they will need a new ground and training facilities and that does not come cheap.