Portsmouth owner Sulaiman Al Fahim is convinced that the club's current precarious financial position isn't down to him - but the previous regime at Fratton Park.

The South Coast club are favourites for relegation back to the Championship, and after a terrible start to the season they remain rooted to the bottom of the table.

They are also in a dire financial state, and have avoided administration only narrowely on a number of occasions in the past few months. There have also been problems in players wages.

Former boss Paul Hart has been shown the door and Avram Grant is now aiming to steer the ship to safety. But current owner Sulaiman Al Fahim insists that the club's current position shouldn't be blamed on him. Instead the blame lies with former owner Sacha Gaydmamak.

"Gaydamak was allowing the management to do whatever they wanted," Al Fahim told The Sun.

"And they used to spend a lot of money on players, on wages and so when I came into the club it was in deep trouble.

"There was no proper budget, no proper policy on spending. So what we are doing now is cleaning up the mess."