Neville Dalton is a journalist and Portsmouth fan of more than 40 years.

Rarely has the sacking of a Pompey manager so divided the fans.

This site's message board has for weeks been evidence of how contrastingly we have seen the situation under Tony Adams.

Even a BBC vote on whether he should have been dismissed was split - though interestingly slightly in favour of giving him longer in the job.

Ultimately, we know professional football - especially at the highest level - is big business these days. And results mean money.

There was only so long the club could wait before seeking a change.

But as I suggested a week or two ago, what guarantee is there that another change in coach - with all the attendant upheaval and turmoil - will effect the transformation needed to preserve Pompey's Premier League status?

The manager may have changed, but the players; the spending limitations, on and off the field, and the uncertainty surrounding the future of the club remain.

When Harry Redknapp walked out on Pompey for the second time, I supported the appointment of Adams.

Given that it was clear Pompey no longer had the funds to build on the Redknapp legacy, our sights had to be lowered.

And better to appoint a man not only respected by players, but who had two years' worth of knowledge of the club.

I still have great respect for the former Arsenal captain's efforts in extremely trying circumstances.

But the fact is, whatever the reasons, he leaves Pompey in dire danger of relegation, having presided over the club's worst league run for years, and with an evident lack of confidence pervading the playing staff.

However, I don't think his sacking was by any means a foregone conclusion, and whatever your view of Sacha Gaydamak, Peter Storrie and the Pompey board, I don't think it would have been an easy decision for them to make.

I genuinely believe that unlike some clubs, they wanted to stand by Adams after entrusting Pompey's immediate future with him.

I believe that like we fans, they will have seen some signs that he was making progress: some decent football in each of our last two home games; at least two of the last three defeats probably undeserved, and evidence of desire and commitment among some of the players.

Unfortunately, those green shoots did not improve our points tally one iota - and for every player who appeared to be committed to the cause, there was another making a crucial blunder - or signs of disharmony among the ranks.

Unlucky

None the less, the performance against Liverpool - and the form of David Nugent, the promise of stability and class hinted at by Angelos Basinas' performance, plus the encouraging return of Niko Kranjcar - suggested that all-important corner might be about to be turned, perhaps against Manchester City at the weekend.

In many ways Adams can count himself unlucky to have got the chop. But then again, that shouldn't surprise any of us - it was perhaps his lack of luck that cost him his job in the first place.

So many leads squandered; so many last-minute goals conceded; the woodwork battered; penalties denied; injuries at crucial times.

What a difference we could have seen had some of those events not happened.

Yet some might argue managers and teams make their own luck, and there can be few better examples of that than Adams' predecessor, whose man-management skills, eye for quality, ability to attract big names - not to mention in more recent times a virtually open-ended cheque book - probably earned him the fortune that accompanied us, for example, on our FA Cup run last season.

Interesting to note that while Adams' first game in charge ended in defeat at Liverpool thanks to an inexplicable hand-ball in the penalty area, Harry was enjoying some incredible results, thanks in no small way to the sort of last-minute goals that were soon to be Adams' undoing.

No, where Adams was really unlucky was in managing the club in such turbulent times: key players, such as Kranjcar and Diarra, missing; uncertainty over the future ownership - and, of course, with precious little budget.

Where Adams maybe got it wrong was in appearing to believe that he would have the same financial support that Harry had had. I doubt it was coincidence that Mr Redknapp jumped ship when it surely had become clear that the tap marked cash (or should that be credit?) was turned off.

Hands tied

That Adams thought he would have comparable spending power looked naïve at the time, and looks incredibly so now.

His pronouncement at the sale of Diarra that he would have all the proceeds to spend in the January transfer window seemed extraordinary, given that Pompey were clearly trying to balance the books, with Sacha keen to offload what had become a huge financial burden.

The reality was that the Defoes and Diarras of the 2008 January transfer window were being replaced by an unknown Greek and journeyman midfielder who couldn't command a regular place in one of our rivals' midfields.

Tony Adams was managing Pompey with his hands tied behind his back.

Unfortunately, many of his players were performing in much the same way.

I now cling to the hope - as I'm sure Messrs Gaydamak and Storrie do - that a change of personnel, even a caretaker one, will signal a similar transformation in results.

The City and Stoke games are the sort Pompey should be winning if they are serious about avoiding relegation.

But we don't have a great record in caretaker successes. And I'm not at all sure that a change of manager (of the ilk that we can now attract) will make much difference (other than maybe enjoying a bit more luck than the previous incumbent did) - unless he can restore the confidence among the players that has been visibly ebbing away in recent weeks.

That lack of confidence - so evident in the home cup ties against Bristol City and Swansea City - actually makes some of their recent performances all the more admirable.

The Adams-Metgod axis that has presided over such a miserable decline is at least notable for its insistence on trying to play some decent football - usually the first trait to go out of the window when your confidence is shot.

Unfortunately, it doesn't change the results.

And for every instance of sympathy that I and so many other Pompey fans can show for Adams, we can point to events that justify his sacking.

With some notable exceptions, he appeared not to be able to motivate some of the players.

The squad was nowhere near as strong as last season's - even before the Messiah's departure, we had crashed 4-0 to Chelsea twice and 6-0 to Manchester City - but it still boasted some top-quality players.

Yet the team was under-performing week after week, and even when they did play well (AC Milan, Aston Villa, Liverpool), their hard work was being undone by glaring defensive mistakes.

Tony Adams: good; bad; committed; unlucky; open; eccentric.

For every positive a negative.

Let down

When Redders departed for Spurs (and I never blamed him for doing so), he left behind turmoil, upheaval - and some unsettled players.

Jermain Defoe appeared to be playing for himself; David James and Sylvain Distin were significantly below their normally high standards.

It disappoints me that highly-paid, highly-rated professionals should so easily be put off their game by off-the-field uncertainty over the club's ownership, new ground, new training facilities, or even just the fact that their favourite boss had been replaced.

While Tony Adams made some glaring tactical mistakes (the pinnacle surely the selection of Jermaine Pennant and David Nugent in their wrong positions), he was undoubtedly let down by the players.

Now we are to hope that more upheaval doesn't prompt more such uncertainty on the pitch.

The board showed faith in appointing Adams. But it was also the cheap option - a gamble to promote someone with no top-level managerial experience.

Sacha Gaydamak decided he could no longer afford to plough money into the club - or more to the point, borrow any more - and that he wanted to minimise investment, in players, management and off the field, until he could safely dispose of the club.

That decision undoubtedly played a part in costing Adams his job.

It is ironic that with Pompey hurtling towards the Championship, unless this latest act of desperation pays quick dividends, it may also have backfired on him.