Zajec took over as manager, initially as caretaker, then on 20 December 2004 the club announced that he would manage the team for the remainder of the season. Their first game under Zajec was a 1–0 away win over Bolton in a hard-fought match where Portsmouth captain Arjan de Zeeuw and Bolton striker El Hadji Diouf had an on-pitch skirmish in the second-half that later prompted Diouf to spit in De Zeeuw's face. This victory lifted Portsmouth into the top half of the table for the first time since August. On 7 April 2005, however, after a poor run of results which saw Portsmouth fall away from as high as ninth place on Boxing Day to 15th position in the table by the end of March, Alain Perrin was appointed team manager, with Zajec reverting to his director's role.