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Sunday Express
"City in for £20M Terry"
Manchester City will make a £20million move for John Terry in the summer – believing that the England skipper is becoming increasingly disillusioned with Chelsea.
There is a growing feeling within the corridors of power at wealthy City that any bid would be successful this time around.
City believe that Terry is now ready to move on as his love affair with Stamford Bridge fades.
Overtures were made to Chelsea and Terry’s advisers before the January transfer window but there was no chance of any deal being agreed.
At the time Chelsea were not prepared to sell and Terry did not want to leave.
But the latest upheaval – with Luiz Felipe Scolari being sacked and divisions appearing in the dressing room – has made him think about his future.
City – backed by Sheikh Mansour’s billions – would hand Chelsea a £20m cheque and make Terry the highest earning defender in the country on £150,000 a week.
Sunday Telegraph
"Paul Hart in the right place for Portsmouth"
It may not have been pretty, but that will matter not a jot to Portsmouth's long-suffering supporters. A traumatic week for the south coast club, which saw the removal of Tony Adams after just 16 games in charge and executive chairman Peter Storrie re-questioned as part of a police inquiry into suspected corruption in football, ended with a fully deserved win over Manchester City in the day's only Premier League fixture.
Second-half goals from defenders Glen Johnson and Hermann Hreidarsson lifted the beleaguered club further clear of the relegation zone and handed caretaker manager Paul Hart and his assistant Brian Kidd the perfect start.
Sven-Goran Eriksson may still be the preferred choice, but with money too tight to mention at Fratton Park, do not count the double-act out of the post full-time, particularly if results continue in this vein. Hart admitted it was something he would be interested in. "I was brought in to run the youth team - which I love - but there was a tingle in my stomach that I've not felt for a few years," he said. "Although I'm not looking that far ahead."
Hart must have thanked his lucky stars that City were the visitors yesterday. Mark Hughes's side may have won the reverse fixture 6-0 at Eastlands back in September, but with just one league victory away all season, they were never in any danger of repeating the trick. Portsmouth goalkeeper David James - on his record-breaking 536th Premier League appearance - hardly had a save to make.
Hart made two changes to Adams's final line-up; Jermaine Pennant and Nico Kranjcar coming in at the expense of Nadir Belhadj and Hayden Mullins.
For Manchester City, Richard Dunne was suspended and Micah Richards injured, so 20-year-old Shaleum Logan was handed a first Premier League start at right-back.
Elano was also given an increasingly rare chance to impress due to Shaun Wright-Phillips's suspension. The Brazilian - like his compatriot Robinho - fluffed his lines badly. It was almost impossible to reconcile their listless performances with those that lit up the Emirates in midweek when both were on the scoresheet.
"International friendlies are completely different from the Premier League," Hughes pointed out. "Today those two found it difficult to stamp their quality on proceedings. But it wasn't just them. There weren't really any positives today to be honest."
Portsmouth, playing with more purpose, had the better of the first half. After just eight minutes Peter Crouch shot straight at Shay Given following a surging run from the lively Pennant.
David Nugent, playing wide left, then raced through on goal from Kranjcar's ball over the top. Forced wide by Given, he managed to squirm the ball through the keeper's legs but wide of the target.
City's strike force of Robinho and Craig Bellamy wore matching fluorescent green boots but were otherwise strangers to one another. It was left to Elano to summon a couple of pot shots from distance, neither of which troubled James.
Instead it was Portsmouth showing the enterprise. On the half hour Johnson's cross from the right found Nugent who could not get enough purchase on his downward header.
The second half continued in much the same vein. Portsmouth showing industry and City a total lack of ambition. Nugent once again beat the offside trap from Kranjcar's slide rule pass but dragged a right-foot shot across goal There were shades of Antigua's Sir Vivian Richards stadium in the sandy playing surface and it was evidently not to the liking of Robinho who was substituted to a chorus of boos after 65 minutes.
It seemed to spark Portsmouth into action. Johnson, one of the few players to rise above the mediocrity, beat Wayne Bridge on the right byline, cut in and saw his left-foot shot parried by Given. He followed up with a cool finish into the top corner to send Fratton Park into ecstasy.
Five minutes later Portsmouth were 2-0 up, an outswinging corner from Pennant headed powerfully home by Hreidarsson for his second in two games.
Fittingly, though, it was the record breaker James who had the final word with a stunning fingertip save from Ched Evans's close-range header. Portsmouth, and James, deserved the clean sheet.
"He hadn't really had a save to make," Hart said. "So to pull that off at the end was special and just fantastic for him."
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