November 27th, 2009 by Phil Lythell

Avram Grant is clearly not the kind of manager who likes to make life easy for himself.

Having started and ended his unhappy reign in charge of Chelsea with games against Manchester United, the Israeli once again finds himself beginning a new career with a meeting against Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, this time with Portsmouth.

The Israeli will doubtless put this down to a quirk of fate, although the timing is certainly unfortunate.

Pompey fans are likely to be more forgiving if the Grant era starts with a whimper here, but the new man cannot afford to start too sluggishly.

Portsmouth produced perky performances without earning the points they deserved under Paul Hart, who was sacked on Tuesday, and Grant will hope to enjoy rather more luck than his predecessor.

Tactically expect Pompey to place the emphasis on hustling United out of their stately rhythm – with the likes of Hayden Mullins and Jamie O’Hara pivotal figures in central midfield – and relying on the speed of Aruna Dindane or Frederic Piquionne to hit the visitors on the break.

They will be without David James who suffered a calf injury in the warm-up ahead of last week’s defeat to Stoke, so Jamie Ashdown will continue to deputise in goal.

Sir Alex Ferguson will certainly be smarting at the fact that Manchester United sacrificed their proud home record in European competition in midweek and will have little sympathy for the plight facing Portsmouth’s new manager, with his sole objective being a win because he knows Chelsea show no signs of slipping up on the domestic front.

Ferguson said: “Portsmouth have brought in a new manager and the club will be expecting a response. The change of ownership causes disruption. New policies come in and you can see an affect on the pitch, but Portsmouth have some very good players. I’ve looked at the videos and they are in a false position, really.

“We know Avram well from Chelsea. He’s very experienced and I’m sure he’ll get the right reaction from his players. It’s always a great football ground to go to and we need to deal with that, so it should be a very hard game for us.

“Avram Grant has kept in touch with the game quite a lot and he’ll be pleased to get back in. He’s got a task on his hands, but hopefully he can manage it.”

United must slip into their smooth passing style and make sure both Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov get the service they need. If this happens quickly then Portsmouth face an uphill task in containing a United side that knows it can ill-afford any more slip-ups in the league if a fourth successive Premier League title is to be won.

Rio Ferdinand (back) is facing a losing battle to be fit, while he is expected to be joined on the sidelines by Jonny Evans (ankle) and John O’Shea (foot). Ferguson will also be without long-term absentee Owen Hargreaves (knee), although one person certain to find himself back in the reckoning is Berbatov, who has recovered from a knee injury.

Ferguson said: “I think Dimitar is doing very well for us. His record at international level gives an indication of just how well he has done for his country, but he has scored important goals for us also. I have no worries about him. I am happy with his form, I am happy he is with us. I couldn’t be happier with him.”

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