SMITH TO JOIN BLUES?

Harry Redknapp has turned to experience to boost Pompey's chances of promotion next season and will soon confirm that Jim Smith is to be instated as his number two. It's a far cry from the youth and promise of Steve Cotterill, but it will be a good move in the eyes of many Pompey fans who see Smith as the best manager the club has ever had.

Smith arrives from Coventry where he held a similar position but will probably act more like an unofficial Director of Football - helping Redknapp when he needs to but with Harry still the main man when it comes to team selection and tactics.

Smith would provide a wealth of experience and would create quite possibly the most media friendly management team ever in the history of Portsmouth Football Club. More news on this story as it happens but it could be confirmed on www.pompeyfc.co.uk or on news updates on 107.4 The Quay.