The appointment of Avram Grant offers the Israeli the chance he craves: to build a successful team over a number of years

Avram Grant’s appointment as West Ham manager by David Gold and David Sullivan appears a bespoke fit for club and manager, though he may have to convince the hard-to-please constituency found among all football fans, a challenge the Israeli coasted through in his previous two appointments in England.

By taking Chelsea to within a John Terry penalty miss of claiming the 2008 Champions League, then following this up with the small miracle of leading Portsmouth to this season’s FA Cup final while the club imploded around him, Grant shrugged off the arriviste label unfairly stuck on him when succeeding José Mourinho at Stamford Bridge in September 2007.

Grant had only got that gig, the prevailing logic went, because he was big friends with Roman Abramovich, Chelsea’s billionaire owner. The English section of Grant’s CV now features trips to the FA Cup and Champions League finals, further runners-up spots in the 2008 Carling Cup and 2007-08 Premier League (both with Chelsea), plus evidence of sizeable reserves of tenacity and dignity displayed while steering Portsmouth through their annus horribilis.

Gold and Sullivan will have noted how four owners, a transfer embargo, the nine-point penalty for entering administration, subsequent relegation to the Championship and his players’ knowledge that most would not be performing at Fratton Park next season did not stop Grant from coming within another missed spot-kick (by Kevin-Prince Boateng) of giving Chelsea a major scare at Wembley in the Cup final.

Once the full extent of how he had been misled by the Portsmouth hierarchy became clear Grant’s mantra was that he could not care less if there had been £100 or £10m to spend. All that mattered was to be told the budget by his bosses, then know that this sum would not change each time he arrived for training.

Grant stated when deliberating over his Portsmouth future that his preference was for long-term residency at a club, so that he could have the opportunity to do what the 55-year-old craves: to build a successful team over a number of years.

All of this will be sweet-sounding to Sullivan and Gold. On taking over West Ham in January they declared that mammoth cuts were required to clear the mess left by the regime of Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, the Icelandic owner whose gift to the club was a £100m hole in the finances.

Will Grant’s appointment have the Boleyn Ground unconditionally swooning? It seems doubtful. A quick sample of West Ham supporters and neutrals suggests the naysayers feel a younger, more dynamic figure than Grant should be the man to push the club on. Or that the jury remains out regarding the true measure of his managerial smarts, despite his achievements at Portsmouth and Chelsea.

What all Hammers enthusiasts are certainly getting, though, is a man who is unfazed by Gold and Sullivan’s insistence so far in managing the team from the directors’ box, as Gianfranco Zola, Grant’s predecessor, endured. Who knows: the man known as “The Magician” in Israel could be the manager to silence the two Davids, while bringing stability and glory to a club whose last taste came 30 years ago, courtesy of Trevor Brooking’s header against Arsenal in the 1980 FA Cup final.

West Ham UnitedAvram GrantJamie Jacksonguardian.co.uk

Gianfranco Zola had described himself as “an optimistic” in the build-up to this game but he might concede that an ­opportunity was missed. West Ham had threatened to haul themselves away from the stragglers, only to surrender their advantage late on and then struggle to retain even a point.

Relegation remains disconcertingly close and it was Pompey who will cling to signs of recovery here. There was polite applause from the locals at the final whistle, perhaps a sign of cautious optimism, though a period of frantic recruitment awaits both clubs ahead of the closure of the transfer window on Monday. The ­cavalry cannot arrive soon enough.

West Ham’s new owners, David Sullivan and David Gold, may have brought relative financial security after last week’s takeover – assurance that contrasts markedly with the on-going uncertainty eating away at Portsmouth – but they remain embroiled in a struggle against relegation and fear of the drop has dictated their transfer policy. West Ham continue to compete with Tottenham Hotspur to sign the Monaco striker Eidur Gudjohnsen, who played with Gianfranco Zola at Chelsea before moving to Barcelona, on a free transfer. More certain is the arrival of the Blackburn forward Benni McCarthy. A fee of around £2.5m has been agreed for the South African, who leaves Ewood Park condemned as “selfish and unprofessional” by Sam Allardyce after missing training as he sought to secure the move.

West Ham need the pair’s bite. With Carlton Cole’s’ recovery from a knee injury sufficient only for a return to the bench, the youngster Frank Nouble started this match. His best efforts were blunted by the brilliance of Asmir Begovic in the hosts’ goal. The Bosnian’s double save from Nouble and Alessandro Diamanti was stunning, but it was soon surpassed by his spring and touch to deny Jack ­Collison.

Those chances had come midway through an otherwise stale half, with Portsmouth just as frustrated to see Rob Green react smartly, in front of the England general manager, Franco Baldini, to save Aaron Mokoena’s skimmed attempt from distance. The goalkeeper was bypassed by Younes Kaboul’s volley from the resulting corner, but Mark Noble scrambled the attempt from the goal-line.

The locals craved the first goal, wailing in frustration as Hermann Hreidarsson and Kevin-Prince Boateng fizzed centres across the six-yard box with Frédéric Piquionne failing to make contact in the middle. That agony merely intensified when Diamanti drifted over a fine cross from the right flank which prompted panic and Kaboul, under intense pressure from Matthew Upson, saw the ball loop into his the net with Begovic stranded.

Confidence is so brittle in these parts that chasing a deficit felt daunting. Marc Wilson should have converted Angelos Basinas’ corner and Boateng’s miss at the far post, steering a shot wide after Julien Faubert had slipped, had the home support aghast. Piquionne’s departure with what appeared to be a hand injury moments later might have drained hope of recovery yet further, only for the Frenchman’s replacement, Danny Webber, to sprint on to John Utaka’s pass and, once clear of the visitors’ back-line, steer a low shot beyond Green. Pompey had their point and, for Gold and Sullivan in the stands, here was first-hand evidence of the size of the task ahead.

Premier LeaguePortsmouthWest Ham UnitedDominic Fifieldguardian.co.uk