Tony Adams: Sacked as Portsmouth boss at my son's fifth birthday party - but I already no longer trusted Peter Storrie

The phone call which gatecrashed the fifth birthday party of Atticus William McNaughton Adams was entirely expected.
Tony Adams' tough three-and-a-half months as Pompey manager was ended while he attended his son's fifth birthday party.Tony Adams' tough three-and-a-half months as Pompey manager was ended while he attended his son's fifth birthday party.
Tony Adams' tough three-and-a-half months as Pompey manager was ended while he attended his son's fifth birthday party.

Upon its conclusion, Pompey were seeking a new manager.

A disintegrating Premier League campaign amid escalating financial turmoil overseen by owner Sacha Gaydamak meant Tony Adams had braced himself for that February 2009 outcome.

Then there was a deteriorating relationship with executive chairman Peter Storrie, crumbling trust issues which the former England skipper considered beyond repair.

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It ensured the timing of Storrie’s intervention was impeccable, irrespective of the moment of delivery at the Adams family’s Cotswold home.

Within 24 hours of a 3-2 home defeat to Liverpool, the Blues had dismissed their manager following three-and-a-half months at the Fratton Park helm.

Leaving the club in 16th, he had collected just four wins in 22 fixtures.

Adams told The News: ‘I said to Peter: “I’m not going to drive all the way there for you to tell me directly I haven’t got a job any more”. It’s kind of what I wanted anyway, it was only a matter of time.

Tony Adams, left, with chief executive Peter Storrie Picture: Chris Ison/PA Wire.Tony Adams, left, with chief executive Peter Storrie Picture: Chris Ison/PA Wire.
Tony Adams, left, with chief executive Peter Storrie Picture: Chris Ison/PA Wire.
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‘I wasn’t going to resign and told him in a nutshell that he pretty much needed to let me go. I made it very clear I didn’t want to work with him any more, shall we say.

‘I had gone in there with false pretences, I suppose, and quickly realised the mess. Then I thought I owed the club to rebuild, to cut salaries and throw people out. I wasn’t going to resign or walk away before the transfer window closed.

‘Players left, Jermain Defoe was sold, and we balanced the books. At that point I was plugging holes rather than completely stopping the flood which was about to happen. I said “Pete, that’s it. Thanks mate. Get me out of here”.

‘There was a lack of trust (with Storrie). Taking the job was not a regret because you don't know what’s going to happen, but maybe I didn’t take enough time to consider it.

Pompey boss Harry Redknapp shares a joke with coaches Tony Adams and Paul Groves during happier times. Picture: Digital South/Robin Jones








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Pics;  Robin Jones, The Digital South
Mobile; 07816 672061,  Home; 023 80444648Pompey boss Harry Redknapp shares a joke with coaches Tony Adams and Paul Groves during happier times. Picture: Digital South/Robin Jones








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Pics;  Robin Jones, The Digital South
Mobile; 07816 672061,  Home; 023 80444648
Pompey boss Harry Redknapp shares a joke with coaches Tony Adams and Paul Groves during happier times. Picture: Digital South/Robin Jones ..... Pics; Robin Jones, The Digital South Mobile; 07816 672061, Home; 023 80444648
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‘I kind of knew that it was all going to go wrong, yet there was still an element that a new owner might come in, Peter Storrie may go, something could happen. I’ve seen it done at other clubs.

‘As assistant manager, I didn’t have to deal with Storrie at the start, it was all Harry. I never knew him well on an intimate level.

‘He’s a nice enough guy, it’s not personal, but in a working relationship I couldn’t work with him or for him. It was quickly evident we were on different paths.

‘I stayed to do the transfer window and I don’t think the working relationship could have gone any further, to be honest. So I got out.

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‘The financial situation impacted upon my job and Peter was caught up in it as well, it must have been very difficult for him and I’ve got sympathy for him trying to handle that.

‘One minute the owner has millions and the next he hasn’t. It’s very difficult to legislate and I would imagine tough for him trying to run the ship in the situation it was.

‘I had never been a head coach at that point and still value it to this day because it’s such a learning curve. I had 16 Premier League games, that’s it.

‘I went there because of Harry at the end of the day, a hilarious and wonderful man. I went there to work for him and all of a sudden found myself, for one reason or another, in charge of the team.’

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Adams stepped up from assistant manager to replace Harry Redknapp in October 2008 at a club which at the time resided in seventh.

Redknapp had quit to become Spurs boss on the eve of Fulham’s Premier League visit to Fratton Park.

Days earlier, the Blues had suffered a 3-0 defeat at Braga in the Uefa Cup – now suddenly they had lost their figurehead.

Yet a bigger storm was brewing.

Within a month of taking the reins, Gaydamak informed Adams that he could no longer afford to fund the club, immediately cutting off all investment.

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January 2009 would see Lassana Diarra and Jermain Defoe auctioned off as the Blues were forced to considerably lower their sights.

Adams added: ‘I had actually resigned before Pompey gave me the job. Football is bizarre.

‘I’d never re-signed my contract. There was a clause, something like £75,000 or another ridiculous figure. This was for an assistant, so I went to Peter and told him he needed to take that clause out of it or I wouldn’t be signing it.

‘They wanted money for me should I go to another club. Just take it out, there’s no point in that being in there.

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‘I kept on saying to them “Can you sort it out?”. Harry said speak to Peter – and Peter said speak to Harry. I was going backwards and forwards and enough was enough.

‘I wrote a letter which said “That’s enough, I am out of here”. Then Harry beat me to it.

‘That letter was still in Peter’s drawer when I sat in his office with Joe Jordan and Paul Groves ahead of Fulham’s visit when we no longer had a manager.

‘I said “Look guys can you please let me and Peter chat for two minutes”. Then I told him: “Peter, I’m not going to be a caretaker, I don’t want to be a caretaker. I’ve been here two-and-a-half years anyway, let Joe and Paul do that, they are great people, let them take the game today. Plus you have a resignation letter in your drawer”.

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‘He told me to let Paul and Joe take the match and then come and talk to the owner after the game. We’d have a chat.

‘I went to see the owner, saw plans for the lovely new stadium, and he offered me the job there and then. I got on with it.

‘A month into the job, the owner called me to his offices in Berkeley Square. His message was “We are absolutely gone”. At that time, his dad’s assets had been frozen and nothing was there.

‘You had been sold a dream, but really I knew what was happening. I could have resigned but there’s a bit of ego in there as well. Okay. I will look after these boys, something may happen.’

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Atticus Adams is now aged 16 and studying at Marlborough College in Wiltshire.

Described by his father as ‘a bit of an all-rounder; he represents the school’s first-team at rugby, while also turns his hand at cricket.

Adams said: ‘I love the book ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’, I love the character of Atticus Finch and I love the movie, Gregory Peck plays it beautifully.

‘I bought my missus a first edition, but never got it signed and the author, Harper Lee, has passed away now. Both me and Poppy love the book. I read it when I got clean and sober and both of us liked the name – so Atticus Finch became Atticus Adams.

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‘He’s quite happy at the moment, he has a little less work to do because he should have been taking his GCSEs this week. Instead he goes into his A-levels now.

‘It seems a long time ago when he was five!’

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