10 fascinating facts about the 2008-09 Premier League season

#3 Tony Adams' first and last games as Portsmouth manager were both against Liverpool

Tony Adams was a bust as Portsmouth's manager.

Portsmouth was in a great place heading into the 2008-09 season, fresh after their FA Cup victory and in possession of some really talented players like Jermain Defoe and Lassana Diarra. Harry Redknapp had taken Pompey to Europe and was set to embark on further success at Fratton Park.

However, as seen earlier, Redknapp moved to Tottenham in October and left a huge gap in the manager's seat at Portsmouth. It was up to his assistant, Tony Adams to do the job. Predictably, it did not turn out very well. The former Arsenal captain's first match in charge was at Anfield, as Portsmouth travelled to Liverpool.

They narrowly lost 1-0 but it all went downhill from there. All the momentum gained by Redknapp was lost, as both Diarra and Defoe left the club in January.

Adams managed 15 league games as Portsmouth manager and only won two of them. It was a poor run and it inevitably came to an end three and a half months after Adams' promotion, against the same club he faced in his first game in charge. Liverpool came from behind twice to win 3-2 and hand Pompey their seventh loss in eight league games.

Paul Hart was appointed as caretaker manager and, much like Guus Hiddink at Chelsea, steadied the ship for the time being. It is funny that Tony Adams' only spell of management in the Premier League lasted three and a half months, starting and ending with the same opponents.