West Ham United co-chairman David Gold says it took one meeting with Avram Grant to convince him the Israeli was the man for the job.

Mark Hughes, Slaven Bilic, and Sam Allardyce were all linked with the position, but Gold says he was convinced the former Chelsea boss, who took Pompey to the FA Cup final last season, was the right man for the job after just a few hours in his company.

"When you're searching for a manager the most important thing you look at is the chemistry," said Gold.

"By the time you meet them, you've done all the reading and you know what they look like because you've seen them on television hundreds of times.

"When you meet with the person, though, you have to have that camaraderie or that instant chemistry that makes you think 'I can work with this person' and that was the case with Avram.

"He was head and shoulders above everyone else. He was superb in his company, I felt comfortable with him.

"We talked football and a three-hour meeting with him just flew by and I knew that was our man."