Steve Cotterill: Liquidation threats and forced player sales - Portsmouth were tough to manage

Yet Pompey’s lure had no equal among suitors. The opportunity was irresistible.

‘I remember going to an interview in a London hotel with Andrew Andronikou and David Lampitt, who were in charge of the club at the time,’ he told The News.

‘Pompey were in administration, so I asked when it would be coming out. They said six weeks – we were still in it four months later.’

This week marks a decade since Cotterill replaced Avram Grant at Fratton Park following the popular Israeli’s exit for West Ham.

Months earlier, Pompey’s seven-season Premier League residency had ended, the club departing the top flight in administration and with an FA Cup final appearance against Chelsea.

It heralded a period of three demotions in four years as the Blues plummeted to the bottom division of the Football League at breakneck speed.

Yet Cotterill’s maiden season of 2010-11 represented an anomaly during such dark times. A placing of 16th ensured no relegation.

He inherited a club still financially challenged, without an owner and forced to sell off a string of assets to have excelled in the shop window at the 2010 World Cup finals.

Then there was the threat to liquidate Pompey, contracts which prohibited Michael Brown and Richard Hughes’ participation – and the worst pre-season tour he can remember.

Cotterill eventually quit for Nottingham Forest in October 2011, with the Blues 19th in the Championship.

And he reflects on the challenges of 16 months at a club which, at the time, was in perpetual crisis.

He said: ‘What a club Pompey is, by the way. Fantastic supporters and I also had a great set of staff.

‘But unless you’ve actually lived it, people wouldn’t have any idea of how difficult it was at the time.

‘When I’ve been in a job, I have never been one of those that tells everybody if something’s not right behind the scenes at a football club.

‘I don’t think that does you any favours – or helps the perception of the football club. I can now say that Pompey was tough.

‘I had just been promoted with Notts County and received three job offers. I took Pompey.

‘For the first time in a long time I was going to be working close to home in Dorset, which really appealed. Besides, Pompey is a great club. I wanted to do this.

‘I went in there and looked at the players still available for us. I know they had been relegated, but there was a good side to pick from. The problem was half of them were at the World Cup and, when they returned, quickly left.

‘Prince Boateng came back in and trained for two days. He had fantastic quality – wow if we could keep him here, I was thinking. Then he was gone.

‘I suppose that’s what I was at Pompey for – to stop them getting relegated. My job was to make sure we stayed in the Championship, there were no ideas of getting back up straight away or promoted.

‘Maybe if we had kept a few of those players that ended up leaving then we would have had a really good chance for a year or so. But we couldn’t afford them.

‘Coupled with a side which had just been relegated, there were no relegation clauses in some of the players’ contracts, which later that season meant I had a further problem.

‘We had Michael Brown and Richard Hughes playing well in central midfield for us. Then, all of a sudden, clauses kicked in that if they played another game their contracts would be renewed on their existing Premier League money for another 12 months.

‘That put me in an awkward position because I wanted the lads to stay and play – but obviously the club couldn’t afford to pay them their wages.

‘Nothing was ever straightforward.’

Within three weeks of his appointment, Cotterill was tasked with leading Pompey on a pre-season tour to America and Canada.

The trip had been coordinated by administrator Andrew Andronikou, long before the manager’s arrival.

Purported as paying for itself, it consisted of four matches in 11 days, involving facing Club America in San Diego, Ventura County Fusion, FC Edmonton and Washington.

However, just six senior players were available to play – Jamie Ashdown, Michael Brown, Richard Hughes, David Nugent, Tommy Smith and Hayden Mullins. The remainder of the squad was swelled by Academy products.

What unfolded was the most chaotic pre-season Cotterill has ever experienced in his long managerial career.

He added: ‘It was absolutely horrendous, I have never felt so sorry for a bunch of lads in my life. It was the toughest pre-season I ever had to deal with.

‘There were six flights in 11 days, four of them were delayed and two were cancelled. We spent more time on flights and sitting on the tarmac of runways than on the training ground.

‘Our last match was in Washington. Considering the flight delays, once we landed we headed to the hotel, quickly got some food down the players and sent them off to bed.

‘They had three hours of sleep maximum – then had to be woken up to go to Washington and be beaten 4-0 in 100-degree heat. It was cruelty.

‘I remember that trip for the wrong reasons, you wouldn’t plan a pre-season like that, it was the worst for fitness. That was why we started the season so slowly.

‘But, in terms of bonding and getting to know people, that environment really brought the lads together and was great for team spirit.’

Having been at the Pompey helm for four months, Cotterill faced another challenge – liquidation.

On the eve of the Championship visit to Hull in October 2010, an official statement distributed by administrators claimed the club would be ‘closed down and liquidated by the Administrators’.

Andrew Andronikou had informed Cotterill of the impending bombshell minutes ahead of the scheduled press release.

The Blues boss was told proceedings to liquidate would be initiated on Monday, unless an agreement could be reached with former own Sacha Gaydamak.

Pompey were facing their final match.

Cotterill said: ‘Probably the time when everybody realised how bad it was was when we went to Hull. We had some fantastic results when I was at Pompey, but that was the biggest.

‘The night before, I was in the hotel reception having a coffee with some of the staff and received a phone call from Andronikou to say the club could be gone by Monday. I was warned it would be breaking on Sky Sports in 10 minutes.

‘Liquidation meant the lads’ contracts would be null and void. We were due to have our evening meal and I had to go in there and explain it to the players.

‘Obviously they were worried, their wives and girlfriends were ringing them up after watching it on Sky. My phone also never stopped that night.

‘I told them: “If any of you are not happy to play against Hull then I understand. If the club is liquidated on Monday, no-one will have a contract, no-one is being paid. Should someone get injured tomorrow, there is no way of coming back from that”.

‘I wouldn’t want the guilt of telling them they had to play, so gave each one of them the option of backing out.

‘They were looking around at each other and I added: “If anyone is unhappy, I totally understand. If you need me to leave you alone, I will go outside for five minutes so you can have a chat”.

‘Quite a few of them spoke up straight away and said “No Gaffer, we want to play. We’re all in”. I will never forget that.

‘To play the following day with that on their minds and demonstrate that commitment was first class.

‘We won 2-1 that day and thankfully the club didn’t go into administration. Considering everything surrounding that game, it wasn’t necessarily the best result – but it was the best win.’

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