Alex Ferguson: Portsmouth fans are so noisy, I won't hear my phone link to Manchester United dug-out!

Sir Alex Ferguson fears being drowned out by the Pompey Chimes at Fratton Park today.

Ferguson is banned to the stands and is worried he won't be able to hear his telephone link to his dug-out because of the racket generated by John Portsmouth Football Club Westwood and his pals.

The dreadlocked and bare-chested Westwood is famed for the din he makes with his bell and Fergie expects his eardrums to take a bashing.

"We've got the communication lines for the game in place," said the Manchester United boss, in readiness for the first of his two-game touchline ban.

"The only problem we've got is that it's such a noisy place, Fratton Park. It's one of these old places and it's a bit rickety that stand.

"The directors box is towards the home end where all that noise comes from with the drums and whatever the hell goes on in that place.

"It's a good racket and it's a terrific football stadium, really. So we'll have to cope with that."

Ferguson also expects to have to deal with a Portsmouth side buoyed by Avram Grant's appointment as manager.

Ironically, Fergie also faced the Israeli in his last game in charge of an English club, in the 2008 Champions League Final, and feels Grant was harshly treated by Chelsea.

He was pushed aside by the Blues to make way for Luis Felipe Scolari, despite coming within a John Terry penalty kick of lifting the European Cup.

Fergie said: "Sometimes you don't understand football, that's true. Getting to the final of the Champions League was an achievement and they were a penalty kick away from winning it. And they were second in the league.

"But it might not have been all about that. It might have been that someone else came on the horizon at the time. Sometimes that can happen.

"They might look upon that as progress for the club to get a different manager. It’s difficult to say because I’m not really close to the scene at Chelsea, but nonetheless it would have been disappointing for Avram, having achieved what he did.

"But he has got on with his life and never shown any bitterness about it. He has handled it well I think and I think he will do OK.

"He's kept in touch with me quite a lot, Avram, and he's a football man. He'll be glad to get back in and when your team's bottom of the league, you've got a task. Hopefully he can manage that."

Rock-bottom Portsmouth have been in turmoil for the last 13 months, since Harry Redknapp's departure, and Ferguson feels all the changes have taken their toll on the team.

Grant is their fourth manager since the start of last season and Ferguson feels there has been too much disruption.

"Changing a manager does create a different philosophy," he said. "It can change the whole management structure – the assistants, the coaches, youth development – all aspects of the club can change when a new manager comes in.

"It's a well-known fact that when a manager comes to a new club, he wants his own staff in, people he has worked with and knows he can trust so therefore you get that kind of change.

"The impact can have a reverse effect on a club. When you change round a lot it can be disruptive to the players’ own minds about the consistency of the club or the ambition of the club. It’s not easy that."