Israel's Avram Grant appointed Portsmouth manager

Israeli soccer coach Avram Grant was appointed manager of Portsmouth on Wednesday, taking over a team struggling to get out of the Premier League's relegation zone.

Due to work permit issues, Grant will officially remain the director of football when he leads the last-place team against Manchester United on Saturday.

The Israeli coach's last match in charge of a club was also against United. In May 2008, he coached Chelsea when the team lost the Champions League final on penalty kicks.

Grant, who is also a former Israel national team coach, was fired by Chelsea after less than a season as manager and didn't return to English football until Portsmouth hired him as director of football last month.

Now he is replacing manager Paul Hart, who was fired earlier this week after collecting just seven points from 13 matches.

"Avram is a very experienced and respected manager who has managed at the highest level. The board believes he is the man to help steer the club out of the relegation zone," Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie said. "He knows the club, the players and the setup at Fratton Park, so it was the logical move to make him the next manager."

Portsmouth said that securing a new work permit for the 54-year-old Grant involves a technical change to his status.

Portsmouth already has one Israeli team player, center-back Tal Ben Haim. Ben Haim played with Grant in Chelsea, but apparently didn't get along with the Israeli coach as he was kept on the bench for most of the season.