The axe falls on Hart, a luckless boss faced with an impossible task
Just hours earlier, Paul Hart cut a relaxed and good-humoured figure. There was no hint of the fate that was to later befall him.
The subsequent axe clearly surprised Hart as much as anybody.
Taking place at the Wellington Sports Ground, he had just overseen a training session, the first since that Stoke defeat.
Looking back at a tenure which lasted 30 matches, it's hard not to feel some sympathy for a manager who was dogged by misfortune from the outset.
Admittedly, with finances hamstrung, his task was never going to be an easy one.
With star players sold off and without a penny to spend, he had been left with a transfer budget akin to a League Two side rather than one from the Premier League.
After keeping Pompey in the top-flight last term, quite simply he was presented with an impossible mission to repeat his trick.
The penalty miss at the Britannia proved one piece of misfortune too many for Hart.
For a manager dogged by bad luck, there was little chance number 13 would pass without incident.
And so it proved.
The 56-year-old was last night dismissed after the 13th league match of a depressing Blues season.
It was also a game which yielded a 10th defeat.
That was enough to condemn Hart and prompt his Fratton Park exit.
Coincidentally, one of his predecessors, Alain Perrin, had also perished in such circumstances.
Almost four years ago to the day, the Frenchman was sent packing after overseeing a 3-0 defeat at Liverpool.
His 13th match of the league season, it had left the Blues one place above the relegation zone with 10 points.
In comparison, Hart's start to the season was even worse – three points and four places worse to be precise.
As in that 2005-06 campaign, change was needed.
But while Milan Mandaric wielded the axe on that occasion, nobody quite knows whose decision it was ultimately to lever Hart out.
Was is Ali Al Faraj? Or was it Mark Jacob?
Whoever it was, Pompey's current owners will certainly be hoping last night's decision will galvanise the club in the same manner Perrin's replacement did.
As if anyone needs reminding, it was the subsequent arrival of Harry Redknapp in December 2005 which saved the day and sparked the greatest escape of them all.
Now Pompey face the biggest threat to their prized Premier League status since those dark days.
And the hierarchy have acted accordingly.
Not that you will hear too many dissenting voices over Hart's departure, Sunday's Stoke defeat ensured that.
The backlash was a sizeable one, with The News message boards flooded with calls for the manager's head.
Never before had Hart and his on-going performance as Blues boss received such a public mauling as he was set upon from all angles.
At a time when the club are keen to rebuild fraying relationships with supporters, they were not going to bury their heads.
There was little argument his team performed well for him at times, but he suffered enough ill-fortune to keep the Blues anchored to the foot of the table.
In the end, performances of endeavour and positive talking were not enough. It never is in a results industry.
The straight-talking, honest and enduringly dogged Hart had to go in the end, the club's Premier League future matters above all else.
There are now 25 matches to save Pompey's top-flight status, except this time Redknapp is not on the menu.
Whoever is next in the hot seat, let's hope he has better luck than Hart.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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