AS quickly as Harry Redknapp signed on as Spurs boss over the weekend, so Tony Adams has been installed as his successor at Portsmouth. And well done Pompey say I!

Not only have they promoted internally, they've also given a young English manager a chance to make his mark in the Premier League.

Just like Rovers did with Paul Ince, Pompey have elected to appoint a former England star with vast experience as the man to lead them into the future.

Sure Adams has had his well-publicised problems with alcohol, but he's a reformed character these days and his devotion to football is commendable. More over, he's a winner.

He has a degree in sports science and although his tenure as Wycombe's boss in his first stint as a number one didn't quite go to plan (the Chairboys were relegated), Adams has extended his coaching education onto the continent before taking the assistant's job under Redknapp.

Whether the gamble will pay-off is anyone's guess, but the fact that a club has sought to appoint from these shores rather than looking abroad is a welcome move.

It brings the number of English managers in the Premier League to nine and further widens the scope for a manager from England taking the national job one day.

And that in itself surely can't be a bad thing.