playing with two playmakers was continued in the Premiership but although City played well, results were not too favourable and Keegan subsequently decided to play with Berkovic as the only playmaker. Berkovic was voted as Manchester City's player of the season in 2002–03 in the club's magazine. Berkovic received abuse from some of the City support when he made a 'throat-slitting' gesture to a female fan during a League Cup tie at Maine Road against Crewe Alexandra. The FA investigated the incident. Portsmouth A fallout with manager Keegan saw him move to Portsmouth for £500,000 in January 2004. His first game for Pompey was against Manchester City, whom he helped beat 4–2. Berkovic soon established himself in the first team at Pompey where he was reunited with former West Ham United manager Redknapp, who described him as a "special footballer". Berkovic became a vital part of Portsmouth's drive for FA Premier League survival, scoring his first goal against Tottenham Hotspur. However, despite scoring against Fulham in the league and Leeds in the League Cup, he failed to hold down a regular starting place in the team for the 2004–05 season, and in January 2005 left Portsmouth. He had been linked with a move to Crystal Palace but instead decided to return to the country of his birth. He wanted to return to Maccabi Haifa but was rejected, leading him to a decision to sign for rivals Maccabi Tel Aviv. Maccabi Tel Aviv The return to Israel opened with promise as the 2005–06 season was the 100th anniversary for Maccabi Tel Aviv and the club wanted to celebrate with a championship. The club signed several more stars such as Avi Nimni, Giovani Rosso, Blessing Kaku, Avi Yehiel, and Eugen Trica. Berkovic announced at a press conference that the team would go all the way to win the Double. Although the team had a positive start to the season, they were not able to sustain good form and their chances of winning the title diminished, resulting in a sacking of the coach Nir Klinger, who was replaced with Ton Caanen. Berkovic announced his retirement from professional football on 7 May 2006. International career Berkovic gained 78 caps and scored 9 goals for the senior Israel national team. Management career In the summer of 2006 he was appointed as the general manager of Maccabi Netanya. However, he was manager only for two months