December 3 - ‘Arry’s Return

Harry Redknapp’s arrest last week is not the first time the wheeler-dealer has been in the news. A few years ago ‘Arry risked the ire of two sets of rival fans as he swapped from one club to the other and back again with reckless abandon.

The friction between South coast neighbours Southampton and Portsmouth is as intense as any, as any of the chants you will hear at the home ground of either team will tell you.

Very few players, and even fewer managers have ever crossed the divide and played for both clubs. Alan Ball took charge of both teams with varying success but it was on this day in 2005 that Harry Redknapp quit as manager of Southampton paving the way for his return to Pompey.

Redknapp’s return to Portsmouth was the final bizarre twist in the most unlikely story of managerial musical chairs.

The crafty cockney (not the darts one obviously) had been in charge at Pompey for two years between 2002 and 2004 in which he got them promoted to the Premiership for the first time in their history, and kept them there the following season.

Meanwhile up the M27 Saints were going through a period of instability after the hugely successful reign of Gordon Strachan came to an abrupt end. Since the wee man left Saints had overlooked chairman Rupert Lowe’s choice of Glenn Hoddle in favour of Plymouth manager Paul Sturrock. ‘Luggy’ as he was known did not settle at St Mary’s and against a back-drop of bad relations with the players Saints’ form suffered.

Sturrock made way for reserve team coach Steve Wigley after only two games into the 2004 season. The Wigley experiment proved to be disastrous and after only one win in 14 games Rupert Lowe had to act, but what he did next stunned the world of football.

Back to Portsmouth, and despite ‘Arry’s success with the team he had begun to fall out with club owner Milan Madaric who wanted to appoint a director of football. Redknapp wasn’t having it and walked out of Fratton Park saying: “I’ll never go down the road. No chance,” when asked if he might take charge at Saints.

He was unveiled as Southampton boss just days later.

Harry couldn’t save the Saints from the dreaded drop however and they were relegated after 27 years in the top flight. Harry stayed on with a view to taking the club straight back the following season but by December the Saints were only in mid-table.

Over at Pompey life post-Harry hadn’t gone to plan for Mandaric after Alain Perrin’s tenure as manager was not successful and they were casting around looking for a new boss.

Once Harry knew Pompey were in the market for a new manager he quit his job at Saints, and after a compensation package was agreed he was back in charge at Fratton Park.

Not only that, he managed to save an almost doomed team from relegation on the last day of the season, exactly what he hadn’t managed to do with Saints.

Just to rub salt into Saints’ wounds Harry would later reveal he had never been happy at St Mary’s. He told the Sunday Mirror: “The last year has been the worst of my life and that is no exaggeration.

“I made a monumental mistake walking out of Fratton Park and a day hasn’t passed since I left the ground for the last time that I didn’t regret my decision.

“Events this season have simply increased my desire to get away (from Southampton) and once Portsmouth asked permission to speak to me this week I knew I had to go back.”

Here’s Harry giving some stick to one of his reserve players which is quite funny whoever you support and come back tomorrow to find out what is rarer that rocking horse fertiliser at Old Trafford.

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