Yesterday the inevitable (unless you read my article last week about how "unlikely" this was to happen) took place. Harry Redknapp and Milan Mandaric were re-united at Portsmouth FC (Which now probably stands for "Football Circus") in an attempt to save us from the very real threat of relegation. As un-suprising as it is this goes down as one of the most, if not the most acrimonius and controversial returns in the history of English football.
Among all this confusion I have attempted to analyse how good, if at all this return is for Portsmouth FC.
Now the main thing that worries me is that in the press conference yesterday things were said that I wasn't entirely convinced by. For example the fact that Harry has only signed a six month contract. Sure, if he manages to keep us up then it's all fine and dandy but should the worst happen and we do drop to The Championship next season will he just leave us in the lurch again? I certainly wouldn't rule it out.. what's worse is that if Harry leaves then that perhaps might prompt Mandaric to really consider his future and sell up. Then where does that leave us?
Secondly, I still don't believe all this "Spiritual Home" crap. How on earth can Portsmouth be his "home" when he spent most of his time as a player and manager at West Ham United? I seriously doubt coming back here has got anything to do with any cosy feelings and I'm suspicious that he's just looking for a job in the Premiership, hence only a six month contract being signed. I mean could you really see him returning to us if we were in our current predicament and Southampton were in the top half of the Premiership? I know I certainly couldn't.
I can't believe a word Redknapp says. He's said so many things in the past only to go back on his word. The famous "This will be my last job in football" comment is difficult to take seriously. I can only take what he says with a pinch of salt, but then he's always been like that in interviews, exaggerating everything, coming out with all these cliches. The bottom line is that as a Pompey fan I cannot trust Harry Redknapp as a man.
But this whole situation, as hard as it is to believe with all of what has gone on in the past week or so, is not about Redknapp. It's about keeping this club in the top flight and in our current position, we'll be "real fans" if you follow Coca-Cola's marketing bullshit by the time next August arrives. So it's absolutely key that Redknapp gets the job done as a manager. Has Milan made the right choice? Let's take a look at it.
For starters despite the comings and goings of the team he still knows the more influential players in the team. However, how well is a different story. Jamie Ashdown, current number one in the goalkeeping shirt was only played in a competitive game under Mr Redknapp and that was when Shaka Hislop was injured. If I am correct in my assumptions that makes it one game. A nasty 3-1 defeat at home to Manchester City in which if it wasn't for Ashdown that scoreline could have read 7-1. The game that was also Harry's final game in charge before he left. It makes you wonder if Redknapp will give Westerveld another chance despite his early season mistakes.
Harry also knows parts of the defence very well. Dejan, Matty Taylor and Linvoy were all key players for him and maybe we will see them all in a unit together along with Andy Griffin who was also one of Redknapp's signings. Midfield is a bit different however as I hear him cry "Zvonomir who? What about this Viafara guy?" The only midfield players he will know that could possibly command a first team berth are Richard Hughes; who rarely got a game for us back then and Gary O'Neil; arguably our best player currently was constantly shipped out on loan by Redknapp but even he must realise now that O'Neil must be played to have a positive effect on the team.
He does, however know our strikers pretty well and maybe he can get the best out of Lua Lua as well as get Toddy and the returning Pericard playing at their best again. He has also offered Laurent Robert a lifeline and if he takes it, perhaps we will also see the best that he has to offer because on his day he can change a match in an instant.
Now the main factor in us staying up or going down in my opinion is the personnel we will bring in during January. I'm sure I don't need to notify you of how good Harry is in the transfer market and he can bring in players that will be helpful to us, even if he also brings in a couple of "panic buys".
There's also the fact that when Harry was in charge Fratton park was a fortress, no team liked coming down here and we often saw far more positive results than negative results and the attacking football we played created a brilliant atmosphere which now seems to be non-existant so I hope that the atmosphere will return when the team need us. Of course there's a flip side. Away form in the Premiership under Harry was dire to say the least with only two wins during his time here against a struggling Blackburn and an even worse Leeds United.
The bottom line is that there probably isn't a better man for the job out of the candidates available. Harry has said himself that he owes the Pompey fans an apology and as far as I'm concerned it will be "apology accepted" if we are still in the Premiership next season. The main thing is that this embarassing debacle needs to be put behind us. Forget about Southampton FC and get behind our team regardless of your feelings about the whole situation, so let's all do our bit to help the team and get us out of this mess because if we don't I do not want to even think about the consequences.
Phew! Thanks to everyone who managed to read all of that! I promise a shorter article next time!