Portsmouth are angry that they have been fined £15,000 by the FA for breaching rules over the transfer of Benjani Mwaruwari to and from the club. Willie McKay, the Zimbabwe forward’s agent, has been given a suspended ban for his part in brokering the deals. Benjani joined Portsmouth for £4.1 million from Auxerre in 2006, before moving to Manchester City in January for £3.8 million.
McKay represented the selling club in both cases, which is against FA rules. Agents are not allowed to represent two different clubs in two consecutive transactions involving the same player. “We are astounded that the FA have fined the club in respect of Benjani Mwaruwari’s transfers to and from the club,” a Portsmouth spokesman said. “We had no idea that Willie McKay received a fee when the player joined us from Auxerre and both the agent and club confirmed this to the FA — evidence they have clearly ignored.”
An independent commission chaired by Paul Gilroy, QC, ruled that McKay acted on behalf of Auxerre when Benjani moved to Portsmouth and the agent then acted for Portsmouth when the Zimbabwe striker moved to City.
McKay will be suspended from all deals involving English clubs during one transfer window if he breaches the FA’s agent regulations again and Portsmouth will be fined another £15,000 if they break any rules during the next two years.
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These are worrying times for Portsmouth supporters and not only because Harry Redknapp left Fratton Park in October. Since Redknapp moved to Tottenham Hotspur, Portsmouth have been knocked out of the Uefa Cup, won only twice in 11 games and Alexandre Gaydamak, the owner, has confirmed that he wants to sell the club. Gaydamak will listen to offers for the FA Cup holders because he wants to “spend more time with his family”. In the meantime, Tony Adams will have to balance the books by selling some of his best players during the transfer window next month.
Lassana Diarra, the France midfield player, is likely to join Manchester City for £16 million and Gaydamak and Peter Storrie, the executive chairman, may be tempted to cash in if they receive serious offers for England players such as Jermain Defoe, David James, Glen Johnson and Peter Crouch.
Storrie maintains that “the final decision on all players rests with Tony”, but Adams was aware of the financial situation when he replaced Redknapp as manager and knows that the ultimate responsibility for the club’s finances lies with the owner, not the manager.
“I trust my players,” Adams said. “I have good players, but my squad is a little bit thin on the ground. I’d like to add to it — a couple of players would be great. Against Newcastle I was down to my last 18 players. If you are fit at this club at the moment you will get a place on the bench.”
Portsmouth lost a top-flight game at home to Newcastle United for the first time since 1959 on Sunday and the visiting team were not flattered by the 3-0 scoreline. Without Diarra and Papa Bouba Diop, who was suspended, Adams’s makeshift midfield of Arnold Mvuemba, Sean Davis, Richard Hughes and Niko Kranjcar lacked power, pace and bite. Defoe could have scored a hat-trick but there was only going to be one winner when Michael Owen gave Newcastle the lead in the 51st minute. “I don’t like learning these kinds of lessons,” Adams said. “They are very painful lessons. I can’t let the lads get away with it. They have to learn from it and I have to learn from it. I have to find the right balance very quickly.”
Portsmouth players who read an interview that Adams gave to a national newspaper last month would not have learnt anything that they did not already know about the club’s former assistant manager.
Adams and Redknapp are chalk and cheese. One is an enigma who likes his own company and the other is a larger-than-life character who can be the life and soul of the party. Under Redknapp, Portsmouth won the FA Cup and broke the bank to sign players such as Defoe and Crouch, but now that the party is over, and without being disrespectful to Redknapp, Adams has been left to clear up the mess. “I don’t actually like people,” Adams said last month. “I’m a loner and if I had my way I’d just walk my dogs every day, never talk to anyone and then die.”
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