Huge former Portsmouth favourite throws hat into ring for Fratton management role - as former West Ham United, Liverpool and Manchester City man responds to Blues' skipper oversight

The former England man has thrown his hat into ring to assume the Fratton hot seat in the future, after Sol Cambell revealed he has been twice overlooked for the Blues vacancy in recent years.

The 52-year-old was a massive fan favourite at Fratton Park during his four-year stay, which saw him amass 158 outings and also lifted the FA Cup in 2008.

Following his retirement in 2014, James has since had two spells as head coach with Indian side Kerela Blasters while also holding coaching roles with Icelandic side IBV and Luton.

And despite being without a managerial job since 2018, he is keen to return to the dugout – and would be open to making a comeback to Fratton Park.

In an interview with TopRatedCasinos.co.uk, James said: ‘Sol Campbell and how many other hundred people applied for that job?

‘I love Sol, if it wasn’t for Sol I wouldn’t have joined Portsmouth. I had a conversation with him before I signed.

‘As a qualified pro licence holder, I would be interested in managing Portsmouth Football Club. It’s a fantastic football club.’

In an interview with The News last week, Campbell revealed he was twice overlooked for the Blues job where he failed to receive a response from his former side.

While James insisted players’ previous relationships with clubs should not play a role in their applications for a job, he does, though, have sympathy with his ex-Fratton team-mate.

He added: ‘I do think there’s a problem in football. The consistent view is that football clubs in general are very poor at dealing with applicants for positions.

‘I don’t think any football club should necessarily actively go out and look for ex-players of any stature and say “Do you want the job?”.

‘If like myself you’re interested in becoming a manager, then you put out applications left, right and centre.

‘The issue in football is the actual response to applicants. It’s not because Sol Campbell was or I was a former player, it’s just that as a courtesy you should turn around and say in any language “Thank you for the enquiry but we're not going to go with you”.

‘There were a few former clubs which I applied for and I got absolutely no response for, and I thought that was a lack of courtesy rather than whether or not they liked me.

‘With Sol, he falls into the category of many many wannabe coaches and managers like myself and it seems a little bit personal. It’s not, I just think that football in general is very bad at dealing with requests.’