Tony Adams Appointed Portsmouth Manager

Former Arsenal and England defender Tony Adams has been named as the new manager of Portsmouth.

Adams was in temporary charge alongside Joe Jordan for Sunday's 1-1 draw with Fulham following the departure of Harry Redknapp.

And on Tuesday the 42-year-old was given the top job at Fratton Park, with Wednesday's match at Liverpool his first test as an English top-flight manager.

Peter Storrie, who has become executive chairman at Fratton Park, confirmed the appointment and revealed Adams had been given a two-year contract.

He continued: "It's been a bit of a whirlwind 48 hours.

"I know we said we'd take our time a little bit but we had a think about it, had a chat with Tony and we feel he's done a tremendous job here and thoroughly deserves this opportunity to manage the club.

"He's not only popular among the board and people working at the club, but as was shown on Sunday, it's a popular

EPL Dismisses Portsmouth Ownership by Arkadi Gaydamak Speculation

The English Premier League has dismissed suggestions that Portsmouth are effectively controlled by Arkadi Gaydamak, father of the club's owner Alexandre.

Newspaper reports in Israel had claimed that Israel-based Arkadi Gaydamak, the subject of an arrest warrant by French authorities, was effectively in charge at Fratton Park.

But the EPL said in a statement that it had no reason to question Alexandre Gaydamak's ownership of the club.

"In response to recent press speculation regarding the ownership of Portsmouth Football Club, the Premier League can confirm that it has re-examined the current position, found there to be no variance with information already on record and therefore is able to re-confirm that Alexandre Gaydamak is the ultimate beneficial owner of Portsmouth Football Club," the EPL said in a statement.

The question of Gaydamak senior being effectively in charge is an issue because the EPL requires that club owners and directs pass a "fit and proper persons" test.

Arkadi Gaydamak, the owner of Israeli champions Beitar Jerusalem, has been the subject of an arrest warrant by French authorities keen to question him in connection with allegedly illicit arms trading to Angola during the 1990s.

A Portsmouth spokesman had earlier dismissed suggestions that Alexandre Gaydamak was no more than a puppet of his father.

"We are a little surprised that this issue has come up again because Alexandre Gaydamak owns the club 100 percent and nothing has changed," the spokesman said.

Manchester City Dismantled Portsmouth 6 - 0

Swaggering Manchester City turned on the style with a devastating display of attacking football to crush Portsmouth at a buoyant Eastlands. Robinho produced another captivating display to inspire Manchester City to a thumping 6-0 win over Portsmouth here Sunday.

With Khaldoon Al Mubarak watching, City ran in six goals as Portsmouth were unable to cope with a hugely impressive attacking display from Mark Hughes's side. Jo, Richard Dunne, Robinho, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Ched Evans and Gelson Fernandes each scored while David James, the Portsmouth goalkeeper, suffered a bad day at the office.

Robinho, making his second league appearance since joining from Real Madrid for a British record 32.5 million pounds, teed-up fellow Brazilian Jo to score his first goal in England's top-flight before finding the net himself.

City captain and Republic of Ireland defender Richard Dunne also got his name on the scoresheet before Shaun Wright-Phillips claimed his first goal since returning to the club for a second spell.

Substitute Ched Evans added to Portsmouth's embarrassment in the closing stages, the 19-year-old grabbing his first senior goal for the club. And there was still time for Gelson Fernandes, another substitute, to score.

Portsmouth, FA Cup winners in May, were expected to give Mark Hughes's side a stern test yet the south coast club were fortunate to escape a heavier defeat as City turned on the style with a display which suggests they could be top four contenders this season.

But it was Robinho's efforts which captivated the home fans at Eastlands.

As early as the third minute he forced former City keeper David James into a fine save before teeing-up Wright-Phillips to test the England international.

Portsmouth's nervous defence held out until the 13th minute when Robinho set Jo on his way, the former CSKA Moscow striker skipping past the advancing James before rolling the ball into the net with his left foot.

City doubled their advantage seven minutes later, Dunne tapping home his first Premier League goal since October 2006 after Elano's corner hit the bottom of the post.

Portsmouth created few chances yet former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch spurned a 28th minute opportunity to reduce the deficit after stabbing wide Glen Johnson's cross.

Sol Campbell thought he'd scored for the visitors in the closing stages of the first half but his header was hooked off the line by Pablo Zabaleta.

However, the second half belonged to the home side as Portsmouth conceded four more goals.

Robinho made it two league goals in as many appearances as he rounded off a delightful move involving the impressive Stephen Ireland and Jo by finding the net in the 56th minute.

Then Wright-Phillips sparked joyous scenes among City fans as he found the net for the first time since re-signing from Chelsea, the player beating James at the near post after a defence-splitting 68th minute pass by Ireland.

Pompey were shell-shocked yet their troubles were far from over. Evans, who had replaced Jo eight minutes earlier, made it 5-0 as he took advantage of more chaotic defending by the visitors in the 78th minute.

And five minutes later an error by James allowed Fernandes to wrap up a stunning victory for City.

Foreign Ownership of Premier League Clubs

ASTON VILLA - American billionaire Randy Lerner completed his takeover of Aston Villa last September for 62.6 million pounds ($122.5 million) after securing the required 90 percent of the Birmingham club's shares. The Cleveland Browns owner installed himself as chairman of Villa, taking the place of Doug Ellis who stepped down after 38 years at the Midlands side.

CHELSEA - In July 2003 Russian businessman Roman Abramovich agreed to buy the company that owned Chelsea in a deal which valued it at nearly 60 million pounds ($99.50 million). Under the cash offer, Abramovich, through his English offer vehicle Chelsea Ltd, agreed to purchase 84.9 million Chelsea Village shares at 35 pence each, just over half of its entire issued share capital. Abramovich has spent millions on the club since 2003 and has been rewarded with Chelsea winning successive Premier League titles and domestic cups.

FULHAM - In 1997 Egyptian-born businessman Mohamed Al Fayed, owner of top London department store Harrods, invested 30 million pounds ($49 million) in Fulham and took over as chairman after agreeing to acquire a controlling stake. With his financial backing Fulham repurchased the freehold to their Craven Cottage stadium on the banks of the river Thames in west London for an estimated 7.5 million pounds, while on the pitch they were promoted to the top-flight in 2001.

LIVERPOOL - The 2005 European champions, seeking an injection of cash for two years to help challenge for top honours and fund a new stadium, agreed in 2006 to be taken over by U.S. sports tycoons George Gillett and Tom Hicks for 174 million pounds ($340 million). The 18-times English league champions had been in talks with Dubai International Capital (DIC), but DIC dropped its bid plans when Liverpool asked for more time to consider a rival offer from Gillett. In March 2008 takeover talks involving Tom Hicks and Dubai International Capital (DIC) were terminated in March amid disagreement over who should be running the club. DIC, which made a 400 million pounds ($807.6 million) bid for the Merseyside club, said it was "in advanced discussions" with Liverpool's co-owners although no agreement had been reached on price or shareholding percentage.

MANCHESTER CITY - In July 2007 former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was hailed as an unlikely saviour when he bought the club for 81 million pounds ($146.3 million). New managers Kevin Keegan and Sven-Goran Eriksson, both tried to restore the clubs fortunes, but failed. Eriksson joined the City scrapheap in June 2008 after just a season in charge. Mark Hughes was named new manager on June 4. Prospective new owners, Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment, said on Monday they wanted to make Manchester City the biggest club in the Premier League.

MANCHESTER UNITED - In August 2005, supporters were unhappy with the American tycoon, Malcolm Glazer's 790 million pounds ($1.41 billion) takeover and used the first home game where his sons Joel, Avi and Bryan, all board members, were in attendance, to make their voices heard. U.S. financier Malcolm Glazer said he had raised his stake in Manchester United to over 75 percent, finally gaining full control in May 2005 of the club he had battled to acquire for more than two years.

PORTSMOUTH - Alexandre Gaydamak acquired full control of Portsmouth in July 2006 after he bought the remaining stake from chairman Milan Mandaric. Media reports suggested that Mandaric had sold his remaining shares to Gaydamak, a Russian-born French national, for about 32 million pounds ($58.46 million). Gaydamak's initial investment for a 50 percent stake in the club had been reported at 15 million pounds. Mandaric injected new life into Portsmouth after taking over the club in 1998, winning promotion from the second division in 2003. He has stayed on as a non-executive chairman.

WEST HAM - In November 2006 West Ham United agreed an 85 million pounds ($161.3 million) takeover from a consortium led by Iceland Football Association president and UEFA member Eggert Magnusson. Magnusson replaced Terry Brown as West Ham chairman and shortly after sacked coach Alan Pardew, replacing him with Alan Curbishley.

Manchester United Taste Their First Victory Against Portsmouth

Portsmouth 0-1 Manchester United

Manchester United picked up their first win of the season with a 1-0 triumph at Portsmouth.

It was only their second victory in the last six visits to Fratton Park and it was thanks to a scruffy 33rd-minute goal claimed by Darren Fletcher which will probably go down as a Sylvain Distin own-goal.

Patrice Evra's cross from the left struck both Sol Campbell and Fletcher - United's scorer in a 1-1 draw with Newcastle United last week - and was creeping past a stranded David James when Distin's frantic attempt to clear off the line sent the ball spiralling into the roof of the net.

Pompey were a little unlucky with a few near-misses but finished pointless after two matches having failed to really test goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.

"We played some excellent football. It's a difficult place to come. Last year we drew here, the year before we lost - so it's a bonus. We tried to get a system where the players were comfortable in their positions. We used the players in the right way."

- Sir Alex Ferguson

"I thought it was a very even game up until they scored. The way the first half went, I was well pleased. We have three or four players who haven't played for a while and missed a pre-season and I had to throw them in. The work rate was much better today and you couldn't fault the effort."

- Harry Redknapp

Chelsea Defeated Portsmouth 4 - 0

The era of Luiz Felipe Scolari exploded into life at Stamford Bridge today with the merciless dismantling of a Portsmouth side with European aspirations of their own. Scolari conveyed a message of attacking intent to the rest of the Barclays Premier League.



Scolari's first match in charge suggested he wants style as well as substance, and they continued to push forward after Cole opened the scoring in the 12th minute.

Nicolas Anelka, Scolari's only senior forward available, headed in his first goal at home for Chelsea - before Frank Lampard put the result beyond doubt approaching half-time, scoring a penalty just five days after sealing his new five-year contract at the club. Deco, making his debut, added a late fourth from long range.