Avram Grant faces dressing-room unrest as Portsmouth fail to pay players for third time
Published 23:00 03/12/09 By Darren Lewis
Avram Grant is battling growing unrest after Portsmouth's players were not paid in November.
Mirror Sport can reveal it is the THIRD time this season that the club's stars have not received their salary following the farcical takeover of Sulaiman Al Fahim, who subsequently sold the club on to to Ali Al Faraj.
Some players still remain relaxed about not receiving their wages. But others are considering their position as they had been assured that Al Faraj's takeover would bring stability to the crisis club.
It is a bitter blow for Grant, who had hoped to keep a happy ship until he could make changes to the Pompey squad in the January transfer window. As such, he sacrificed the club's bid to reach the Carling Cup semi-final this week by playing a number of fringe stars in the 4-2 defeat to Aston Villa.
But some players were unhappy at not playing and, now that they have not been paid, the patience of others is being sorely tested.
It all adds up to a massive headache for Grant, who leads his bottom-of-the-table side into a lunchtime kick-off against Burnley that they must win.
The club were widely thought to be solvent after Pompey were given a £15million cash injection by Hong Kong businessman Balram Chainrai to clear debts.
Portsmouth defender Hermann Hreidarsson, the club's PFA representative, said: "I need to find out more. I cannot say anything at the moment."
The club issued a statement last night saying: “Portsmouth FC can confirm that the majority of the first team squad have not yet received their November salaries. A proportion of their wages will be paid Friday with the club’s new owners working towards paying the remainder over the next few days.”
The club's struggle to meet the salaries of their players and staff is all the more staggering because, since winning the FA Cup in 2008, they have pulled in around £80m in transfer fees after staging a mass fire sale.
