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Grant to make decision on Pompey future 'very soon'

Avram Grant hopes Portsmouth Football Club has a future © Getty Images

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Avram Grant is unsure whether Saturday's FA Cup final against Chelsea will be his last match in charge of Portsmouth, but the Israeli manager insists he is keen to stay at Fratton Park so long as the club can reach some sort of financial stability.

Portsmouth's financial disaster has been one of the dark points in the Premier League season as they fell into administration and were relegated to the Championship, but the Grant-led dream run to the FA Cup decider has been a silver lining achieved against all the odds.

Grant admits he has fallen in love with the club but he wants assurances Portsmouth will be a going concern by the start of the new season before committing to stay on, with suggestions his contract was invalidated by non-payment of wages. West Ham are ready to offer the former Chelsea boss the chance to replace Gianfranco Zola. Grant, 55, is to continue talks with administrator Andrew Andronikou.

"I will have to make the decision very soon,'' Grant said. "Who knows what will happen at Portsmouth next season? I hope everything will be okay because we worked so hard this season just to secure the future of the club.''

Grant, though, maintains leaving would not be an easy decision.

"If you said to me one year before I would love this club like I do I would say I do not think so,'' he reflected. "I want to stay, but I don't want to see them like this again, not 50% or even 20%. We have to wait and see what will happen.''

Grant said everything about his time in charge of Portsmouth has been been surprising, and no shock has been more welcome than his side's unexpected run to Wembley.

"I was lawyer and a doctor as well as a football manager, so it was good for me,'' he quipped. "I didn't know what the club was going through. It was very difficult every day to come and not know what would happen - but it is like a dream to get to the cup final. When I went to Chelsea no one would put one pound that we would get to the Champions League final - here no one would put one penny we would get to the final. It is a big achievement.''

Pompey have already upset the odds at Wembley once this season, knocking out former manager Harry Redknapp - who had guided them to FA Cup glory just two years ago. Frederic Piquionne scored in the 2-0 win over Tottenham and is hoping his old friend Didier Drogba will have an off afternoon.

"Didier helped me because when he arrived it was also difficult for him to adapt,'' said the 11-goal Frenchman, on loan from Lyon. "He gave me advice and that helped me a lot - but this week he wants to win the cup and I want to win the cup.''

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