Burnley manager, Brian Laws, has blasted talk of Portsmouth being allowed to sell their players outside of the transfer window.

Pompey have asked to sell players early in order to cure their mounting debts but Laws says that allowing them to do so would be a move backwards in football.

He does have a point because it has been Portsmouth’s own reckless handling through third parties that has led to them being in the current situation. Effectively letting them break the rules would set a standard and offer a ray of hope to many other clubs who have been spending money they do not have.

Laws said: “We all work within rules and regulations. That is the way the Football League or Premier League has worked for hundreds of years. Why should we have to change that for one particular club who are finding it very difficult with their finances?”

“Whilst we have every sympathy with a football club that has difficulties, the only ones they should be looking at are themselves. They should be looking in a mirror to find the answer. They got themselves into it, (they should) get themselves out of it.”

“I would hate to think the Premier League would allow them such a ridiculous thing beyond the transfer window. Allowing them to get a player out of the door, get some money and finances in, and then he goes and scores a goal against us that could be the goal that takes us down – that’s ridiculous.”

“I would think 100 per cent of the Premier League would be saying the same, so I don’t think they would get much support from the Premier League clubs.”

The problem for Portsmouth is being able to pay the interest on their spiralling debts to keep the club afloat. They constantly need money in order to stop the club being dissolved but as Laws has said, they got themselves into the situation.

There are many clubs in the Premier League who have to operate on a shoestring budget and scrap and save to make sure they can get by and not crank up any huge debts.

This is a very simple black and white way to look at this situation. If the matter is put out on the table and input is asked for from different clubs, the matter will be rejected out of hand.

If Pompey are granted an exception to normal rules then it would create a gap through which other financially troubled clubs would look to escape in the future.

It is for this reason that the matter will almost certainly not go any further than mere speculation. If Pompey were hoping for a bit of charity and a chance to be let off the hook then they will almost certainly have to go and find it elsewhere.

Laws has made the point that many smaller clubs in the Premier League are thinking. If the bandwagon starts to roll then it will be swamped immediately.

Wigan Athletic chairman, Dave Whelan, has called for the Football League to curb the current spending habits of top clubs in order to reduce the chances of debt.

Clubs all over the country, in the top and bottom leagues, are struggling financially and the situation has meant that many teams have gone into administration and been docked points.

Whelan is among the group that want the Football League to step in at an earlier stage and penalise clubs when they are clearly spending money that they do not have. This will reduce the risk of massive debts and point deductions.

He said: “I sent a letter to the Premier League, saying, ‘Can we have an agreement that we can only borrow 25 per cent of our individual club’s turnover?’ There should be a limit on borrowings — not as a set amount, but as a percentage of turnover. They have to do something about it.”

“What has gone on at Portsmouth United is a crying shame for football and for their loyal band of supporters. It just comes down to desperation to stay in the Premier League.”

“Some of the salaries I’ve read about — whether the figures are accurate or not — make you cringe. It’s not easy for clubs, but the ones that take the risks sometimes come a cropper.”

Needless to say but a salary cap would probably bring with it a tremendous amount of opposition from players and clubs alike. This move could see the best players left in the Premier League leave for the shores of Spain and the rest of Europe.

Add to this the fact that tax restricitions in other European countries are more relaxed and the chance to move could become very appealing to many players.

Too many clubs are on the verge of ruin and stand the chance of being run completely out of business. This would mean that their club and league position would become void. This would generate a whole host of problems for league organisers and it would reduce the quality of English leagues over the long run.

The simple solution is for a club to work out the budget they need and to stick to it. This budget should be used to keep the club in the black, any spending that would take the club into the red needs to be blocked by the football leagues.

Whelan is an experienced person in the game who just does not want to see clubs he admires go under. Portsmouth are one of the biggest and most traditional clubs in the country but they stand the chance of being dissolved. At current, Pompey have had more owners than centre forwards this season.

Limits will stop accumulating debts and this will keep more clubs afloat. This may annoy the big clubs but it is something that is going to happen at some point soon down the line whether they like it or not.

There was no dropping to the knees in jubilation this time, there was no place in an elite cup final as a reward, nor was there an epic fight-back attempt from the opposition, but on Saturday Avram Grant once again inflicted defeat upon Rafael Benitez.

The Portsmouth boss was at the helm of the Chelsea side which battled to an aggregate 4-3 win over Liverpool in the Champions League semi finals in April 2008 and Grant was the brains behind the Reds’ latest setback in a wretched season as Pompey strolled to a 2-0 win at Fratton Park at the weekend.

Despite not showing the same emotion as he did on that successful night at Stamford Bridge, the win will mean every bit as much as he sets about his task of saving the club from the drop after taking over from Paul Hart late last month.

It was a battle of the Premier League’s two biggest crisis clubs as financial worries and on-field performances have marred both Liverpool’s and Portsmouth’s seasons, with the latter deservedly coming out on top on this occasion.

But it is the former who continue to raise eyebrows throughout the country as there seems no end to Liverpool’s dreadful form, which has seen them lose 7 of their 18 games Premier League games.

Catastrophic, I think, is the best word to describe the job Benitez has done this season and, bearing in mind the club suffered an early Champions League exit this time around, any other manager would have been sacked for their sequence of results by now.

The Spaniard’s lucrative and lengthy contract has so far saved him the embarrassment of getting the chop, that’s if he isn’t embarrassed enough by sinking to the new low of losing to the league’s basement club.

However, Benitez is not the only figure for which to point the finger at after their latest defeat – Javier Mascherano’s first-half red card may have been harsh, but it is the little Argentine’s poor form this season which has gone widely unnoticed.

The Argentina captain’s head was turned in the summer when European Champions Barcelona made their interest known, with reports of a £30million bid in January resurfacing on the back pages as the January transfer window approaches.

Mashcherano’s heart just does not seem in it anymore in a red shirt and he has done little this season to suggest he is worth that price tag, and I for one would bite Pep Guardiola’s hand off if he came in with an offer in that region.

Perhaps his four-match ban (it was his second red card of the season) coupled with a spell on the treatment table as the clumsy challenge, which earned him his marching orders and ligament damage, will prove a blessing in disguise for Benitez, who will now surely give Alberto Aquilani the run in the side he deserves. Time will tell how important Mascherano’s absence really is to Liverpool over the busy Christmas schedule.

Regarding Benitez, if there is one thing we have learned about his managerial credentials this term, it’s that he does not possess the ability to win the Premier League, and even fans as patient as Liverpool ones would now be glad to see the back of his Spanish contingent should he quit amid his failings.

The Spanish Armada set sail with the intention of conquering England in 1588 and Benitez had similar ambitions in English football when he took over at Anfield in the summer of 2004.

Like the Armada, the Liverpool boss and his backroom staff of many compatriots have failed to triumph in the country by landing an elusive Premier League crown, and I for one would now encourage him to mirror that historical event further by accepting defeat, giving up and going home.

As for Grant’s Pompey side, they should not get too carried away by the win over an increasingly bland Liverpool side. After that creditable semi final win over Liverpool while at Chelsea, Grant went on to lose the final and ended up empty handed for the season, and I fear his Pompey side face similar disappointment come the end of the season.

After all, losing to one of the eventual relegation victims is a tradition of the Reds. Middlesborough last season, Reading the season before that – the list goes on and on, as does their tally of defeats this term.

Portsmouth have finally plucked up the courage to sack hapless manager Paul Hart after a series of defeats.

After a run of seven consecutive defeats the Pompey heirachy and Hart have parted company.

In March 2007 Hart was appointed director of youth operations at Portsmouth and quickly built a reputation for himself.

When the bumbling Tony Adams was given his marching orders tw years later he was rewarded for his endeavour by being appointed as caretaker manager at Fratton Park.

At the end of the 2009/10 Premier League season, having secured Premier League status the gentle spoken Lancastrian was handed a two-year contract as the club’s first team manager.

But that was as good as things were to get for likeable Englishman as it took nearly three months for Pompey to finally secure their first Premier League victory.

By then however, the damage had already been done after opening the new season with seven consecutive defeats.Today after nine months in charge, Hart was sacked by Portsmouth.

Portsmouth player Danny Webber commented,

“The news came as a massive shock,”

“The first I heard of it was when I saw it on Sky Sports News.

“Paul was at training today and everything was as normal as usual. I don’t think any of the players saw this coming at all.

“I am sad to hear Paul has gone as I myself and all the lads have been impressed with the work he was doing and how he conducted himself.

“I don’t think anyone would have any bad words to say about him.”

Former Peterborough United manager Darren Ferguson has been installed as the early favourite for the vacancy, with ex-Charlton and West Ham boss Alan Curbishley also a contender.