Portsmouth can rise again, says Mandaric

Portsmouth are the first club in the top flight to enter administration, with debts in excess of £70 million.

They now face a nine point deduction, which will leave them 16 points off Burnley who are in 19th place and almost certainly see them relegated to the Championship.

Pompey who have struggled through the course of this season have had four different owners, all of which have failed to stabilise the club.

The south coast club were set to face a winding up order on March 1, but opted to go into administration in a desperate bid to save the club.

It was believed that there were four separate parties who were interested in taking over the club, but no deal was completed before Thursdays deadline.

Rise again

However in the midst of all this mess, former Portsmouth chairman, Milan Mandaric, now chairman of Leicester City, believes that his old club can rise from the ashes and become and force once again.

“What’s happened is sad. It’s been one mess after another. It’s something we didn’t want to see happen but we have to deal with it.

“The community lives and breathes for the club there and there is no reason why it can’t grow out of this and be even stronger.

“I’m quite sure Portsmouth in two or three years time can be as solid as they were two or three years back.

Pompey, who just two years ago contested and won the FA Cup final under Harry Redknapp, now see themselves preparing for life it he second tier of English football.

Stepping down

The club’s chief executive Peter Storrie revealed today he will leave the club when he has helped a new buyer take over.

In a statement posted on the clubs official website Storrie said:

“Once the sale is complete, I will tender my notice to the new owners as set out under the terms of my contract.

“I have really enjoyed my eight years at the club and the success we have enjoyed on the pitch: winning promotion to the Premier League and seven years in top-flight football, culminating in winning the FA Cup in 2008.

“I will really miss the genuine fans who have been so supportive and good to me…”

Portsmouth travel to Turf Moor for tomorrows Premier League encounter with Burnley, hoping to get a vital three points to at least give themselves a fighting chance of staying in the Premier League.

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Ennis needs more rest before Doha

After becoming Word heptathlete Champion in Berlin last year, 2010 was set to be a big year for Jessica Ennis.

Ennis got off to a fantastic start in Glasgow breaking the English World Record for 60m hurdles, beating World Champiom Lolo Jones in the process. However since then she has been sidelined with a foot injury, most recently keeping her out of the Aviva Grand Prix in Birmington this weekend.

Jessica said: “New scans of my foot today show it has healed a lot, but with the World Indoors only a few weeks away the advice from the UK Athletics medical team is to give it a little more time to completely heal and focus on the World Indoors.”

The 24 year old is outright favourite to take gold at the indoor championships in Doha but faces stiff  competition from Olympic champion Nataliya Dobrynska.

Ennis added: “I am of course disappointed at missing the opportunity to compete in Birmingham.”

With Ennis missing spectators will be hoping for someone else to shine. The two leading ladies who could take centre stage are silvermedalist Lisa Dobriskey (1500m) and bronzemedalist Jenny Meadows (800m).

This will be Lisa’s first race of the year after deciding not to race in the two previous events. Meadows however is already in fine form after storming to a 2 second lead in the previous meeting in Glasgow.

It is not just Great Britian who will be well represented at the meeting. The worlds fastest ever woman USA’s Carmelita Jeter will be out to claim victory in the womens 60m. Sweden’s former Olympic Champion Christian Olsson is making a rare appearance in the Triple Jump after being sidelined by injuries over the past two years.

Olsson wil go head-to-head with Great Britians Phillips Idowu who claimed gold in Berlin last year.

Phillips said: “Olsson competing will potentially push me to jump further and I want to give him a good challenge on the day, especially in front of a home crowd. The bottom line is, no matter how good he is, Olsson’s just another competitor I want to beat.”

Tickets are still availble for the meeting and came be found through the Aviva Grand Prix website.

Ferguson fears relegation

Preston North End boss Darren Ferguson says his side’s poor defending could lead them in to a relegation battle ahead of Saturday’s trip to top-of-the-league Newcastle United.

Preston manager Darren Ferguson

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Reading Vs West Bromwich Albion FA Cup Fifth Round Preview

Brian McDermott will be looking for his Reading side to continue their good run of form as they play West Brom in their fifth round FA Cup tie.

The Royals, unbeaten in three games, have had a very successful cup run this season and will fancy their chances at the Madejski Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Beating Burnley at home in the last round and Liverpool in the one before that, McDermott will believe his side will be able to make it to the sixth round for the first time since the semi final cup run of 1927.

Speaking to Readingfc.co.uk, McDermott said: “We’re really looking forward to it. We should have a good crowd, a special atmosphere and a special day.

“The FA Cup is a great competition and everyone has memories of it. We were talking about Bob Stokoe, Alan Sunderland, fantastic memories. Now we have our own memories, beating Liverpool at Anfield with Shane Long scoring, then beating Burnley and we want more of it.

“It’s a good game for us because it’s at home. We’re pleased to have our fans behind us. I don’t like to talk about giant killings because we are Reading, we are a big club.”

West Brom will not be easy to walk over however, as they are currently top of the Coca-Cola Championship, unbeaten in seven and have won four games on the trot in all competitions.

The Baggies will be seeking a 12th away game without defeat, having not lost on the road since their league trip to Barnsley on 29 September.

Having beaten Newcastle in the previous round will help Roberto Di Matteo’s men gain confidence for the task ahead:

In an interview with wba.co.uk Di Matteo, who twice won the competition with Chelsea, said: “It’s a great competition the FA Cup in England

“We’ve tried our best in previous games and that’s what we’ll do on Saturday - we’ll try to get through to the next round.

Both sides will be looking for a win and a chance of playing one of the bigger teams left in the competition at the Quarterfinal stage.

Team News

Matt Mills is available for Reading after serving a suspension and should replace cup-tied Zurab Khizanishvili. Gylfi Sigurdsson and Marek Matejovsky are close to a return but Royals’ boss Brian McDermott must do without Noel Hunt, Chris Armstrong and Julian Kelly.

West Brom will have to make changes from the side that went top of the table after beating Scunthorpe - with Mark Nouble cup-tied. Jerome Thomas is suspended while Marek Cech and Ishmael Miller are injured.

Form Guide (All competitions)

Reading: WWWLW

Last Match: vs Plymouth Argyle (h) 2-1

Last Win: vs Plymouth Argyle (h) 2-1

West Brom: WWWWD

Last Match: vs Scunthorpe United (h) 2-0

Last Win: vs Scunthorpe United (h) 2-0

FA Cup History:

Reading: Semi Finalists in 1927

Lost the most FA Cup ties out of any other team currently in the Football League.

West Brom: Winners in 1888, 1892, 1931, 1954 and 1968

Runners-up in 1886, 1887, 1895, 1912 and 1935

Head-to-Head

These clubs have already met in the league at the Hawthorns this season, when the home side won 3-1.

Reading have won their last three home league and cup meetings with the Baggies, and have not lost in six on their own patch since Albion’s 2-0 second level league victory in January 1995.

This is the third time they have been paired together in the FA Cup, and honours are even at one win a piece. The most recent was Reading’s success, after extra time, in a third round replay at the Madejski in 2006

Spurs told to move on

Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes has insisted to both fans and players of Tottenham that they need to move on from Wolves and focus on Sundays FA Cup tie with Bolton.

“We have to look forward,” he said.”This is such an important game for us and we have to forget about Wolves. Bolton is another difficult place to go but we have to keep going and try to make it into the next round.”

Other FA Cup fixtures include Cardiff City’s visit to Chelsea, with Cardiff hoping to keep up their 100% record in the competition against the Premier League giants.

Derby County face Birmingham City at Pride Park, with Derby hoping to end a seven match unbeaten run against their Premier League opponents.

Reading host West Brom in an all Championship encounter, in a Cup run that has seen Reading see off both Liverpool and Burnley.

In Saturdays evening kick off Manchester City play Stoke City at Eastlands, with Manchester City winning five out of their last six games against Tony Pulis’ men.

As well as Bolton’s game against Tottenham Sundays games include Notts County’s trip to West London, where Fulham have been victorious in the last two meetings between the clubs in this competition.

Also Crystal Palace host high flying Aston Villa at Selhurst Park, in Sundays evening kick off.

Another tie that catches the eye of many football fans is the South Coast derby between Southampton and Portsmouth at St Marys Stadium.

John Utaka, who hopes to shake off a hamstring injury, insists that Pompey will do everything they can to claim the win against their bitter local rivals.

“It’s a derby match, so of course we want to win,” said the striker. “We know how important it is for the fans and we want to win it for them.

“Everyone is really excited about the match and it’s one that we can hopefully be victorious in.”

Fifth Round Proper

Saturday, 13/02/2010

Chelsea vs Cardiff City (ko 12.00)

Southampton vs Portsmouth (ko 12.30)

• Live coverage on ITV 1

Derby County vs Birmingham (ko 15.00)

Reading vs West Bromwich Albion (ko 15.00)

Manchester City vs Stoke City (ko 17.15)

• Live coverage on ITV 1

Sunday, 14/02/2010

Bolton Wanderers vs Tottenham Hotspur (ko 13.30)

• Live coverage on ITV 1

Fulham vs Notts County (ko 15.00)

Crystam Palace vs Aston Villa (ko 15.45)

• Live coverage on ITV 1

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