Strugglers Portsmouth & Hull thrown into turmoil

There was little joy at the foot of the Premier League yesterday for Hull and Portsmouth, the two pre-eminent teams likely to be relegated at the season. First the hapless south coasters had a transfer ban slapped on them by the Premier League, due to sums owed other clubs on signings of players. Then Hull City was forced to issue a statement denying that their under-fire boss Phil Brown had been given his marching orders.

The situation at Fratton Park has become increasingly farcical over recent months, as two Middle Eastern businessmen have owned the bottom-placed club in the space of less than two months. Yesterday's move by the Premier League was prompted after Pompey failed to meet payments due on the deals that brought Lassana Diarra, Glen Johnson and Tommy Smith to the club.

"The Premier League has confirmed that it has placed a player registration embargo on Portsmouth FC," a statement for the league's governing body read. "The embargo was imposed on 15 October 2009 and it means the club will be unable to bring any new players to Fratton Park until further notice. Premier League rules allow the board to act if a club has outstanding transfer fees due to other clubs."

The ban will move some to ask whether the latest chairman at Portsmouth, Ali Al Faraj, actually has the requisite finance to run the club. Despite claims by Faraj's representative Mark Jacob yesterday that the monies would be paid "within the next 24 to 48 hours", there is a growing sense of unease that the Saudi, who had to borrow money to buy the club, is not in it for the long term. Indeed, Faraj admitted as much in an interview with a Saudi newspaper last week, citing the desire to make short-term profits from his ownership of Portsmouth.

For Brown and Hull, yesterday's terse denial on the club's website - "Contrary to media speculation Phil Brown has not been sacked and remains the manager" - is surely a case of staving off the inevitable. The manager did wonders for the club in the first half of last season, when the promoted club recorded famous victories at Arsenal, Spurs and Hull.

But having missed relegation by one point after a barren second half that saw them win just once in 22 games, Brown was always on death row this season, and despite a couple of victories this season his time at the KC Stadium is drawing to a close, not least because the position of his key ally - club chairman Paul Duffen - is also under threat. ·