On this day: Under-fire Portsmouth boss defiant as sack speculation grows
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The then Pompey boss promised he wasn’t feeling the heat as his Blues team geared up for a Premier League showdown with Everton at Fratton Park.
On the same day, owner Sulaiman Al Fahim had jetted into England ahead of the clash with David Moyes’ men. He was due to meet Pompey fans, after his revelation he would not be loosening the purse strings for a January transfer spending spree.
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Hide AdAl Fahim was also expected to sit down with Hart to discuss the way ahead, although the 56-year-old was unsure about the details of that meeting.
The Blues headed into the game against the Toffees with increasing speculation surrounding Hart’s future, after his team’s nightmare start to the season.
The underfire boss cut short his weekly meeting with the press in the build-up to the game as questions intensified over his position. But he vowed he was unconcerned about his role as manager.
Hart told The News: ‘I don’t feel under pressure. Pressure from what? I want to get results, that’s what I’m looking for.
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Hide Ad‘What have I got to fear? I know what I do day in, day out. I’ve got nothing to fear.
‘It’s not me who is going to make decisions like that. It’s not something I think about every waking hour. I’m not the owner, I’m a manager. I’m a coach. That’s my job.
‘I’m supposed to be having a meeting with him (Al Fahim). I guess I have to wait until I have that meeting with him before I say anything. I have to wait to see what he says to me and go from there. I can’t speak for him.
‘A discussion isn’t necessary. It’s about what we do now – and that’s fine.’
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Hide AdHart had to work under the most testing of conditions after succeeding Tony Adams and guiding Pompey to safety at the end of the 2008-09 season.
Asset stripping to pay debts and months of uncertainty over the club’s future made it hugely difficult to plan for the future. Hart refused to blame that for the team’s plight and maintained he had the players in his ranks to turn the team’s season around.
He said: ‘We have a decent set of lads and we concentrate on the positives. A lot of them are seasoned professionals. When they make a mistake they know they have done it.
‘They are equally keen to put this record straight. Keeping the spirits right, concentrating on eradicating the mistakes and what we are doing right is what I’ve been doing.’
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Hide AdHart was relieved of his duties as Pompey manager in November 2009, with the Blues bottom of the Premier League after taking only seven points from 13 matches. His last match in charge was a 1-0 defeat at Stoke, which left them from points from safety.
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