by Matt Morgan-Rawes

Created on: December 30, 2008   Last Updated: February 17, 2012

Atonement: To make amends or to otherwise compensate a wrong-doing. Not a word that I use solely for a meaningless pun, but rather a word that I think applies to all of the managerial and playing staff at Portsmouth F.C currently. Adams is certainly not a man who deserves the entirety of the blame for the current lapse in form that Portsmouth are displaying, but in the financially driven, cut-throat footballing climate that we are currently experiencing, it is he whose head will be the first to roll should Portsmouth be relegated this season. It is he who must lead by example and begin the process of atonement; to draw a line under the initial instability of the post-Redknapp era and to begin taking action to stop the decline of the club in what is surely the most volatile Premiership we have seen since its inception at the beginning of the 1990s.

It is fairly easy to sympathise with Adams, whose golden playing years were in the role as centre back and captain for a classy Arsenal side. The shoes of Harry Redknapp most likely a pair of Golche and Dobanna or another cheap knock-off are perhaps the hardest to fill in any managerial job in the world. The man dubbed by every sport journalist as Harry Houdini accounted for much of the success of Portsmouth Football Club in the past six years, guiding them to Premiership consolidation, a memorable F.A cup victory and a subsequent place in the lucrative UEFA Cup. To follow such an act equates to Brown living up to Blair's legacy; to have McFly try to out-perform Metallica; to drink White Star when one was previously drinking champagne.

What my inner cynic wishes me to believe, however, is that Portsmouth F.C should still be playing well regardless of the loss of the much-coveted Redknapp-factor. It is no secret that the man is a remarkable man-manager; he nurtured talent such as Joe Cole and Frank Lampard, he tamed Paulo Di Canio and he managed to defy all previous logic and physics by finding a role for Richard Hughes at a Premiership club. The influence of Arry cannot be understated. Theoretically, however, the squad that Adams has inherited should still be able to maintain their previous high standards.

Clearly this has not been the case. What was once one of the most secure defensive units in the league must now look sheepishly at the league table, which reveals that Portsmouth's goal difference of -11 is currently one of the worst in the league. Lassana Diarra has been sold to Real Madrid for an astronomical

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