Portsmouth have reacted with fury to a report that they were looking to replace under-fire manager Tony Adams with Alan Curbishley.
A report in the early editions of Friday morning's Daily Express suggested the Fratton Park club had approached the former Charlton and West Ham manager.
Adams has seen his position come under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks with last season's FA Cup winners dumped out of the competition by Swansea and the club sliding towards the Premier League relegation zone.
But Pompey have refuted the claims in the strongest possible terms and are planning legal action against the newspaper.
A statement on the club's official website read: "Portsmouth Football Club has instructed its lawyers to being legal proceedings against the Daily Express following an untrue story in today's newspaper that alleges Alan Curbishley has been approached to become the club's new manager.
"At no stage did the newspaper seek confirmation from the club that its facts were correct. The club will be seeking a full retraction from the newspaper.
"The club became aware of the story at around 9.30pm last night and immediately contacted the Daily Express.
"The newspaper was told that there was no truth in the allegation and that legal proceedings would begin if they continued to publish.
"We were told by the newspaper that the journalist's source was not prepared to stand up in a court of law should we take legal action and as a result the Daily Express changed their story in later editions."
A club spokesman added: "Tony Adams is the manager of Portsmouth Football Club and no-one else, including Alan Curbishley, has been approached to replace him.
"We are astounded that neither the journalist nor a representative from the newspaper chose to check their facts with the club before going ahead and publishing the story."
Curbishley also strongly refuted the report, which claimed he had met with Pompey chief executive Peter Storrie.
He said: "There is absolutely no truth in the story whatsoever and at no time have I spoken to Peter Storrie in conjunction with any position at Portsmouth.
"It must be degrading for Tony Adams to read such stories and I, for one, would not want to endorse them.
"What I do wish is all the best for Tony."
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