Burton's Banter returns - and so does Grant

Managers always talk about waiting until 12 games before looking at the table.

Well, this blogger has waited until eight games in before locating his keyboard.

The events at Pompey have, as usual, been nothing short of sensational but we'll come to that later.

First I'd like to re-introduce you to this blog, which started up last season and will now pick up the reins again in the 2009/10 season.

My name is James Burton. I'm deputy sports editor at The News, Portsmouth, and this is a blog about Pompey.

Hopefully, it will add to our already-comprehensive interactive web coverage of the club, which as well as featuring all the latest stories, now boasts established webchats and podcasts.

As on our website, portsmouth.co.uk, feel free to leave your comments at the bottom and the best ones will be picked out and published in our daily newspaper.

Formalities over, let's crack on.

With Sulaiman Al Fahim elbowed out of control and Ali Al Faraj moving in as the main owner of the club, a 2pm press conference on Wednesday promised to be nothing more than confirmation of that takeover.

But there was an unexpected add-on - the return of Avram Grant, or as some harsher members of our sports desk call him, the Honey Monster.

Grant has been welcomed back with open arms by fans and David James - but I'm sceptical.

After all, what does Grant bring to the party? Is he a top coach like Brian Kidd? Can he attract the best players to Fratton Park? Does he bring tactical nous to the table?

I'm not convinced about any of these. He was underused during his last spell at Pompey.
And I'm not convinced Grant did anything to enhance his reputation at Chelsea, where he simply prolonged Jose Mourinho's footballing mantra for another year.

The worry is the Israeli will be moved into the hot seat if the axe falls on Paul Hart - a pretty uninspiring prospect in my book.

It's worth pointing out, too, that Hart can't be pleased with Grant's arrival. Just as he appears to be moulding a team in his image, winning the fans over in the process, he gets undermined by an appointment which does not appear to be his choice.

Of course, it may end up being a match made in heaven.

Let's hope everyone looks back on Grant's return as a positive moment in Pompey's history.

I fear it may be a rocky ride.

Positive news needed - and fast

So far this summer it's taken a lot to arouse this blog from its off-season slumber.

But the current furore over the Pompey takeover is too big an issue to ignore.

Glen Johnson's departure was in many ways inevitable and the majority of Pompey fans wished him well as he made his way to Merseyside.

The feeling was the Blues would soon be in new wealthy hands and the club would be putting into place their vision for the future.

July 24 is now the magical day when Sulaiman Al Fahim will apparently assume control.

He must be warned, though, the wait is crippling the club.

The lack of information over the finite financial aspects of the deal is perhaps understandable - until you get to the sale of the club's best players.

The exit of Glen Johnson, Peter Crouch, Sol Campbell and Sylvain Distin would seriously wound any club.

So where's the money going? How will this affect the sale price? Do Pompey have enough time to get in adequate replacements? Is Al Fahim going to release enough funds to get in decent replacements?

All unanswered questions which have frustrated Pompey fans to the point of anger.

Add to this the fact Paul Hart looks increasingly likely to be handed the manager's job full time and you wonder how ambitious the club really are.

Hart's honest and respected but what sort of players can he attract to the club? Aaron Mokoena anyone? Not exactly box office.

The dreams of having some money in the kitty to attract top players and a big-name manager look in jeopardy.

Fans, and especially those with season tickets already paid for need some reassurance.

At the moment, the arrival of Aaron Mokoena to compliment a second-string outfit does not fill anyone with confidence and is certainly not value for money.

You have to move fast in the Premier League just to stand still and at the moment Pompey are moving backwards.

To this point it's been a troubling summer.

Someone from the club's hierarchy, new or old, needs to reassure the fans they are ready to step on the gas, bring in some quality footballers and cement their place in the top flight.

Maybe it's too early to mention the c word, but this kind of instability and inertia generally only means one thing - the Championship.