Grant back on mission to rescue Portsmouth

Storrie claims Hart is not under threat as Faraj regime welcomes Israeli's return

Grant is understood to be very upset that two of his best players are to be sold (GETTY IMAGES)

Peter Storrie, the Portsmouth chief executive, yesterday promised Paul Hart his job as manager is safe despite Avram Grant's reappointment as director of football.

Grant has made a surprise return to Fratton Park, becoming Saudi Arabian billionaire Ali al-Faraj's first major change as Portsmouth owner since taking over this week. The appointment of the former Chelsea manager raises immediate doubts over the future of Hart, who has presided over Portsmouth's worst start to the season in their 111-year history.

Storrie insists Grant, who spent a year as Portsmouth's technical director when Harry Redknapp was manager in 2006, has been bought in to assist Hart in keeping the club in the Premier League and not to replace him. "Avram is coming in as director of football, that has been made abundantly clear," Storrie said. "Avram wants to get back to being involved in the Premier League. He did the same role with Harry and at Chelsea.

"It is normal when a new owner comes in they want their own people and I got a phone call on Monday night saying they wanted to bring Avram in," he added. "The first question I asked them was how Avram's appointment affected Paul because I knew that would be the first question Paul would ask me.

"They have been delighted with the job Paul Hart has done through trying circumstances. I went to the training ground to speak to Paul about it and he fully understands. He has had a discussion with Avram and they are meeting as well."

Grant has been out of the game since being sacked by Chelsea following their European Cup final defeat to Manchester United in May last year. The Israeli, who is close friends with Faraj's legal advisor Mark Jacob, has spoken publicly about his desire to return to management in the Premier League. Hart has been working without a recognised assistant since Brian Kidd left at the end of last season.

Storrie said: "Avram's role is almost identical to the brief he had when he was here before. He will help and advise Paul and now we have two senior people at the club. Avram is very experienced as a national team manager, Premier League and Champions League manager but also as a director of football.

"Directors of football are split into two categories; the first category is on the transfer side and the other is on the technical side. Avram will deal with the technical side. Paul will have the final say on team selection. When it comes to signing players in January it will be a four-way thing between the manager, the director of football, our chief scout Ray Clarke and myself."

Grant's arrival follows one of the most turbulent periods in Portsmouth's history. The 2008 FA Cup winners were days away from becoming the first Premier League team to go into administration before Faraj bought a 90 per cent shareholding from controversial former owner Sulaiman al-Fahim.

Despite the club now being backed by one of the richest men in the Middle East, Storrie says the days of Portsmouth paying big transfer fees and inflated wages are over. "We were in a serious position before Ali took over, you cannot get more serious than not being able to pay the players. You always hope there will be someone out there to come to your rescue and there were a couple of other people I approached.

"Ali was very keen to get involved and he has a big interest in the Premier League. Unlike Sulaiman, who was trying to raise the funds to refinance the club, Ali already has the finances in place. We have had discussions regarding building a new training ground and redeveloping the stadium and very briefly about the January transfer window.

"I think the new owner will be sensible. [Former owner] Sacha [Alexandre Gaydamak] and Harry [Redknapp] brought great success to this club in terms of league position and winning the FA Cup, but I don't think you will see us spending £20m on a player. We need to get the right infrastructure in place and build from the bottom upwards."

Storrie also defended Fahim, who has become a figure of fun after an ill-fated 43-day reign in charge. "Sulaiman had all the right intentions and I genuinely believe he wanted to make it work at Portsmouth. Every time he told me finance would be coming in I believed him because he spoke so passionately about what he wanted to do but he had no concept of time.

"As an example: when he first became owner on 29 August, I said we would be up against it to get new players in before the transfer window shut on 1 September and he asked if we could extend the window. He did not understand how things worked over here."