Days after the departure of Harry Redknapp to White Hart Lane, Portsmouth have appointed former Arsenal centre half Tony Adams as their new manager. Adams’s first game in charge of the South Coast club will be against league leaders Liverpool on Wednesday night. Adams has formerly managed Wycombe Wanderers and was assistant manager at Portsmouth for the past two years after taking over the position vacated by Kevin Bond in June 2006.
Premiership
Newcastle United 2-2 Manchester City
A late equaliser from Stephen Ireland broke Newcastle hearts as Manchester City escaped with a 2-2 draw at St.James Park.
Newcastle, playing without influential striker Michael Owen, received an early setback when defender Habib Beye was sent off in the 12th minute for a challenge on Robinho by referee Rob Styles. The former Real Madrid forward coolly converted from 12 yards to give City the lead. Styles was the referee who gave Manchester United and Cristiano Ronaldo a controversial penalty against Bolton Wanderers in September. Styles admitted to making a mistake in judging J Lloyd Samuel’s challenge, and television replays showed that Beye had a fair case too.
Ramos fears for future after Spurs lose to Stoke
Pressure is mounting on Tottenham’s Spanish manager Juande Ramos. In Sunday’s only Premiership clash, Spurs lost to Stoke City 2-1 to leave them alone at the bottom of the table with just two points from eight games. This is Spurs’ worst ever start to a league season, and if history is anything to go by, they are destined for relegation. Only one team has managed to avoid relegation after collecting two or lesser points from their first eight games- Southampton in the 1998-99 season.