Axed Aaon Mokoena told he can't leave Portsmouth, they've only got ten players!

South Africa’s most capped international Aaron Mokoena has been told he cannot leave financially-challenged English championship Portsmouth.

Mokoena – who elicits the roar of “Axe” whenever he touches the ball at Fratton Park – has seen his career fall apart since his brave FA Cup final display against Chelsea in May last year.

Pompey were relegated from the Premier League after a points deduction for going in to administration just before Mokoena led the host nation through their World Cup campaign. Despite their troubles Portsmouth avoided relegation from the Championship last season but Mokoena, still only 30, found himself banished to the bench – and dropped by Bafana Bafana manager Pitso Mosimane despite his record 104 caps.

On Monday, his agent Dietmar Wendorff rocked Pompey supporters – perhaps the only British fans to understand the meaning of “Mbazo” – by saying: “Like any player, Aaron is not happy sitting on the bench because he wants to play. I know the basic transfer fee for Aaron and we will start negotiating at £1million."

But boss Cotterill, who has just 10 first team players signed up for next season due to Portsmouth’s financial problems, told the local newspaper yesterday: ““I’m not sure we would let anyone leave at this moment in time. That is purely down to our lack of numbers.

“Somebody rang me up and told me Aaron wanted to leave but I have not heard anything about that, certainly I have not heard anything from him. Then his advisor has come out and denied that he wants to leave.”

Wendorff claims he has had interest from Qatar, Russia, Turkey and Dubai for the battler from Boipatong but Cotterill laughed: “They are amazing these agents, I have never even heard of this one.

“I’ve said it before and I will say it again, a lot of these agents decide to do a bit of talking.

“The prime example was the agent of Hermann (Hreidarsson) earlier last season and then when I asked Hermann about it, he said he didn’t know anything about it.

“I am pretty sure if I bothered to ask that question to Aaron he would probably give the same answer.

“I don’t actually know what is going on with that. One thing for sure, though, if anybody wants to leave we are not pinning them down to stay here – but I haven’t had anybody coming up to me to say they want to leave.

“There will be a change around here. There has been a big change around after a year and probably after two years there will be a bigger change around. We can’t afford to let somebody go – unless they want to pay a decent fee.”

Mokoena found Ricardo Rocha picked ahead of him after injury problems midway through last season and Portsmouth have now signed Jason Pearce, another central defender from neighbours Bournemouth. Cotterill may also bring Greg Halford back from his impressive loan spell at Premier League club Wolves if the clubs fail to agree a price for the central defender.

This story appeared on the back page of The Star in Johannesburg this morning, www.thestar.co.za.

Portsmouth: The Road To Ruin (and I don't mean the roadwork infested A3 from London)

Time for a bit of Pomp and ceremony... lets back Portsmouth to beat Chelsea tonight. My boy and I will be there!

TONIGHT, while the rest of you Philistines are cosily nestled on your sofas or murdering people on your X-boxes, my son Kriss and I will be in Portsmouth, home of the worm-eaten HMS Victory and the saddest football club in Britain.

Destroyed by a succession of owners and profligate spending, Portsmouth FC are doomed to relegation following their nine-point deduction for going into administration.

The luckless Israeli coach Avram Grant must lead his hopeless side out against the biggest-spending club in Britain, Chelsea, backed by his old mate Roman Abramovich.

Yes, the billionaire Russian who dropped him despite the fact unloved Grant took Chelsea to within a John Terry penalty of winning the Champions League against Manchester United in Moscow. And he only fell two points short of the Premier League title.

Grant stood strong after Jose Mourinho's sacking and Big Phil Scolari's embarrassing departure. He left to be replaced by more fashionable men like Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti, who have not managed to get close to his heights.

Grant arrived at Portsmouth full of hope, replacing the popular Paul Hart... only to find the rug pulled from under his feet by banks and massage parlours.

Despite all this, Grant's men produced a stunning come-from-behind 3-2 win against Burnley on Saturday to keep hope alive, to keep the Pompey chimes clanging.

Without the nine-point deduction and despite a fine FA Cup run, they would only be five points off safety were it not for the cruel points deduction.

And tonight he must do it again, when he comes up against his former stars Didier Drobga, John Terry, Frank Lampard et al.

Kriss, 22, and I won't be the only ones shuffling up Frogmore Road to the dilapidated Fratton Park, capacity a measly 20,224, hoping for a miracle.

My father Bob, 77 this week, will be praying for them too. He watched them win the First Division title in 1949 and 1950 when they got crowds of over 50,000. He watches them every week on Supersport in South Africa hoping for a miracle, sending pleading texts hoping they will survive the current crisis.

As Arsenal fans, Kriss and I hope for a miracle too, as do the billions of Manchester United fans from Surrey to Salford.

And of course, for West Ham fans - still reeling after last night's emphatic defeat at the hands of fellow relegation candidates Wolves - there will be support for the hopelessly marooned club. Hope that they will carry on until the death, taking points off the others down the bottom.

It's so wrong what's happened at Portsmouth. FIFA's Sepp Blatter and UEFA's Michael Platini, not the most popular men in world football, have both warned against the massive borrowing behind England's Premier League clubs.

Manchester United and Chelsea themselves rely on a series of nifty accountants to keep afloat despite the spending. West Ham are suffering because Davids Gold and Sullivan have curtailed spending since they assumed ownership.

But for Portsmouth it's too late. The club can barely function. They've sacked half their staff... kit men, tea makers, bottle washers.

Too much money has been spent in hope rather than in expectation. Chief exec Peter Storrie (and a certain coach called Harry Redknapp) splashed the cash under a series of fly-by-night owners, leaving the historic dockyard club on the verge of sinking forever.

Victory - or even a point - for Portsmouth tonight won't just be a miracle. It would be a triumph for the ordinary football fan. The ones who care more about their clubs than the £40,000-a-week arrival of yet another foreign journeyman.

We travel in hope. A crusade from Buckinghamshire to Hampshire made without any real expectation of success.

But that's football. Real football. Forget the Glazers, Hicks & Gillett, Abramovich and the rest. If this nation has a footballing soul, everybody should back Portsmouth against Chelsea tonight in the battle of the Blues. For a billion reasons.