Grant's role at Pompey up in the air after Hart's sacking

Grants role at Pompey u

By ALLON SINAI
Avram Grant's dream of coaching in the English Premier League once more could be set to come true after Paul Hart became the first manager in the league to lose his job this season when he was fired by Portsmouth on Tuesday. Grant, who has been Portsmouth's director of soccer since early October, would likely relish the chance to take charge at Pompey, although Sky Sports News has claimed that he is actually not in contention to succeed Hart and will remain at his current position. If Grant is to be named as manager his first match at the helm will be against Manchester United on Saturday, the same club he faced in his first game as Chelsea boss. The 56-year-old Hart paid the price for the south coast club having been in last place since the start of the season. He was fired after Sunday's 1-0 loss at Stoke which left the club with only seven points from 13 games, three points fewer than next-to-last Wolves. "Paul has worked under very difficult circumstances with the financial restrictions the club has faced since he took over," said Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie. "However, the board feels that the team should have accrued more points to date and that we need a new man in charge to ensure Premier League survival." The club said that first team coaches Paul Groves and Ian Woan would take charge of the team until it found a replacement for Hart, who had been in charge since February. AP contributed to this report