10 Years On - The Redknapp Retrospective

On This Day - Redknapp returned to Portsmouth in 2005

December 7th 2005: Harry Redknapp causes a South Coast earthquake, resigning from his role as Southampton boss to retake the reins at his former club Portsmouth. Although this was one of the most dramatic tales of the season, it would be impossible to envisage the impact it would have on Pompey. The fallout of Redknapp's decision fundamentally changed the course of history for the club. His reputation with the fans remains as characteristically divisive as ever, but a decade after his second appointment, just how does Redknapp's stature deserve to stand on the blue corner of Hampshire?

There number of different reactions within the Portsmouth stands was equivalent to the amount of voices belting out a pre-match 'Play Up Pompey'. Some were enraged. Some recognised the talent he brought with him. Some were suspicious of his motives. But even the most irate supporter recognised that Portsmouth stood a much better chance of avoiding relegation with Redknapp at the helm, following turgid performances from a calamitous mish-mash of a squad put together by Frenchman Alain Perrin. 

Redknapp patched things up with chairman Milan Mandaric

And so it was that Portsmouth achieved the impossible by battling to safety, although there are a few foreboding footnotes to add to this early Redknapp accomplishment. Russian businessman Sacha Gaydamak became co-owner and injected a hefty amount of money into the club in January, allowing Redknapp to spend £11.6m to bolster Portsmouth's paltry squad (not an enormous amount of money in the modern context, but for a relegation-bound side ten years ago, this was significant).

The gamble paid off, and this inspired Gaydamak, who soon assumed full control of the club from Milan Mandaric, and Redknapp to set their sights higher and spend more money on improving the team. Though transfer fees were kept relatively humble in the build-up to the 2006-2007 season (£3.5m for Niko Kranjcar was Portsmouth's top spend), it is understood that ample wages paid to the likes of Kanu and Sol Campbell began to change the dynamic of how the club was operating financially.

Nevertheless, the football undoubtedly became some of the best in Portsmouth's modern history. Fans were left purring by the tremendously solid back five, including the acrobatic athleticism of goalkeeper David  James, and were being treated to Kanu's sedately silky skills up front. Victories over Liverpool and Manchester United permeated a joyful campaign which was a cat's whisker away from bringing European football to Fratton Park for the first time in the club's history. 

Campbell and James brought international quality to Pompey.

At this point, things were probably running in a reasonable fashion. Money was being invested, but not to an overtly irresponsible degree. Transfer fees were low, wages were rising, but the players being signed were of fantastic reputation and quality, ensuring that the financial input was matched proportionately to on-field success. Redknapp's contribution was to ensure that a side of good players was producing the best football possible, and there was no doubt that he was achieving this.

However, after the 2006-2007 season, starry-eyed ambition took hold and things began to get out of hand. It may have been more prudent to give the squad another season of careful investment to see how things played out, but instead Gaydamak looked to capitalise on the club's upswing by investing heavily in both fees and wages. £24m was spent on new signings, including £6m for David Nugent and £7m for John Utaka, none of which was recuperated by any sales. 

Gaydamak (left) was rumoured to be plundering his father's fortune.

Considering Portsmouth's stature, this was never going to be a sustainable strategy. Fratton Park's 20,000 capacity would never offset the money spent, and although Redknapp was undoubtedly a talented manager, it is unclear quite how much success this team would have required to make this move financially sustainable.

It's depressing to talk about a manager's contribution with such a heavy emphasis on the financial impact of every season, but because we know how the story ends, it's impossible to ignore. Without the ultimate collapse of Portsmouth, these transfers could simply be seen as the clever squad strengthening that allowed for the club's first FA Cup in nearly 70 years. Instead, it is evidence of the foundations being laid for the complete dismantling of Pompey.

The fateful crescendo of Portsmouth's Premier League era.

The 2008 FA Cup win, propelled into reality by the quality of Redknapp's acquisitions, was perhaps the straw that broke the financial camel's back. Many of the subsequent reports of Portsmouth's demise cites the enormous bonuses paid to the players on the back of this trophy as one of the major factors. At the time, there were no murmurings of disaster afoot, and fans were in dreamland. By this point, most had forgiven Redknapp for his brief transgression across the county.

It's hard to know exactly when Redknapp became aware of the Portsmouth's crumbling reserves. It could be suggested that he knew things would be scaled back when he sold fan-favourite Benjani to fund Jermain Defoe's move to Portsmouth, but this belies the £9m he spent on Peter Crouch six months later. It certainly seems likely that Redknapp knew it was a good idea to jump ship to Tottenham early in the 2008-2009 season, as he had previously resisted the allure of Newcastle when they approached.

Redknapp joined Tottenham less than that 3 years after his 'second coming'.

His second departure disappointed fans again, and thrust the majority opinion of him back towards ambivalence. Just a few days after leaving Portsmouth, he accepted the freedom of the city for the team's FA Cup heroics. Some at the ceremony booed, but it seemed that most fans had begun to look at his tenure objectively, detaching themselves from any real emotive opinion of the man himself.

This arguably changed over the coming months when the true jeopardy of the financial plight began to grip the club. Gaydamak's outlandish, horrendous judgement of his own cash situation sparked the fateful succession of dodgy, dishonest and sometimes non-existent owners. There was a lot more antipathy towards Redknapp when Portsmouth met Tottenham in their unlikely FA Cup Semi-Final encounter at the end of the 2009-2010, with some feeling that his inept handling of the club's finances led to the crisis.

How much blame should be rightfully apportioned to Redknapp?

While it is a tempting prospect to pin the blame on Redknapp for the club's catastrophic money troubles, the evidence for this doesn't stack up. Gaydamak made it very clear that he was happy to run the club at a loss, doing so from the get-go and making suggestions that he was able to fund this out of his pocket. It wasn't unusual either - most clubs were operating at a loss during this period, well before financial fair-play rules were even considered.

Fans, and perhaps Harry Redknapp, were under the belief that Portsmouth had a small-scale Abramovich pumping undiminishable funds into the team. Further to this, chief executive Peter Storrie was handling a lot of negotiations. Some argue that Redknapp was probably demanding that these players were signed at any cost, but it seems unlikely that men like Storrie and Gaydamak would have run themselves into financial ruin on the say-so of the manager. 

Gaydamak's liberal spending racked up a reported £60m of debt.

Portsmouth shocked Tottenham in the FA Cup Semi-Final by winning 2-0, offering closure on the Redknapp story which ultimately defined the club's Premier League stay. The effects of Redknapp's spending are still being felt, as the club looks to recover from the string of unavoidable relegations that occurred almost incidentally as the fans looked to salvage the tattered remains of the finances.

It's difficult to really summarise the feeling towards Redknapp from my own perspective. Some of the most memorable, wonderful moments as a Portsmouth fan were entirely down to his managerial prowess: Winning the FA Cup, Pedro Mendes scoring against Man City, watching Pompey in Europe. But he inarguably had a hand in the darkest period of the club's history, a time which nearly destroyed my interest in the sport for good. 

Supporting Pompey became about despising irresponsible men, as opposed to football.

So, perhaps just as we all felt immediately after his move to Tottenham, I don't think I can feel anything emotively towards him and what he did. I can only really see his work objectively, and my conclusion is that if it was inevitable that Gaydamak would plunge the club into the financial abyss, perhaps it was lucky that we had someone who could get a trophy out of it. I want to feel more grateful for that, but I think the seasons that followed truly have dampened my take on our Premier League period.

Things will be more special when we succeed as a result of the fans' stewardship of the club, that's for sure.

Pompey must avoid premature panic

McNulty foiled on another difficult Fratton afternoon.

It was another lacklustre 0-0 draw for Portsmouth on Sunday, in which visitors Wimbledon were a little more than comfortable holding on for a point. 'Bereft of ideas', 'lacking in ambition' and 'toothless up front' were just some of the thoughts rattling around Fratton Park at the final whistle. It would seem that a run of four games without a win, along with a perhaps more disconcerting streak of only one victory in nine home fixtures, is threatening to take the wheels off what seemed like an unstoppable cruise to promotion. 

Paul Cook's tetchy post-match interview following the side's 2-1 victory over Macclesfield in the FA Cup suggested at his own dissatisfaction with the team's recent run of form, as a gritty victory did nothing to prevent Cook from openly criticising the way Portsmouth played. Though Cook was much more upbeat following the Wimbledon result, suggesting that Pompey had some good patches in the game and are still growing as a unit, it is hard to imagine that the former Chesterfield boss isn't at least concerned by the team's torrid home form.

Paul Cook has struggled to find a winning home formula.

Despite the tribulations at home, Pompey's away form has been outstanding so far. With five wins out of eight away ties, and only one defeat, Pompey have worked their way up to fourth in the table. Nevertheless, there are understandable worries that such excellent away pedigree may not last all season, with the recent defeat to Notts County potentially signifying a change in travelling fortunes.

Beyond the results, there is also a feeling that some of the players who seemed to have brought a refreshing sense of aptitude, glitz and efficiency early on in the season have started to wear a little thin as Pompey have had to dig deeper. Kyle Bennett has been unfairly singled out as a player who, having shown limitless promise on his debut, has tumbled below the lofty expectations of the Fratton crowd. He is one example of a few creative players who have come in for flack in recent weeks, with Portsmouth's inability to conjure up chances considered the main issue to have blighted recent games.

Bennett responded to his critics, saying it wouldn't affect him.

Bennett was dropped to the bench for Sunday's game against Wimbledon as Cook opted for a tactical shake-up, employing the terrace-touted 4-4-2. The uninspiring display gave instant indications that this wouldn't suit Pompey, as players seemed unable to find space or move the ball around comfortably, seeming stuck to their positions. The wing-backs, including architect left-back Enda Stevens, were neglecting to move forward, and the central midfield duo of Doyle and Hollands looked afraid to pass the ball into space.

The late introduction of Bennett brought a miniature revitalisation to the game, with the substitute creating one of the best opportunities of the game with a pass through for McNulty. However, the full-time whistle was met with resounding boos from the Portsmouth fans who, 17 games into the season, are beginning to fear the promotion push may fall apart before Christmas.

Time to worry?

Expectations are especially high this season.

 

Is there a cause for panic? I think the boos, concerns and general negative feeling may be a little premature, and it worries me more that this could snowball into having an effect on the team. It's been very frustrating to watch Portsmouth struggle at home, but it's key to hold on to perspective in these situations. The squad is three months into the season having been rebuilt by Paul Cook - a task that, as we know from many experiences in the past five years, requires a lot of learning, hard work and, ultimately, tough results. While we all got carried away by our early season form, it's important we set those delusions aside for the reality that getting promoted won't be a cakewalk.

Yet after 17 games, we find ourselves in fourth place and just two points from automatic promotion. Let's compare that with Andy Awford's Portsmouth last season, who went through pretty much the same process as Cook's squad. At this point last season, Pompey were 13th place and already nine points shy of the promotion spots, having just come off the back of a 3-0 hammering at Plymouth. The two starts are worlds apart, and this ought to be recognised as a minor miracle in itself.

Portsmouth seem a world away from last season's struggles.

Paul Cook said in his post-match interview that 'medals aren't handed out in October or November', and it's an extremely salient point. To be in the mix is the most crucial thing to maintain, whether that's in first or in fourth. The teams at the head of the table will trade punches all through the winter, but a strong run of form in April and May is what tends to make the biggest difference. If Pompey are still fourth mid-Spring, they will fancy their chances to make a late surge into the top three.

Performances at home have been poor, and that cannot be ignored. It is worrying that our creative players are drawing blanks, moreso that this has been the case for over a month now. However, one of the most frustrating aspects of this is the fact that we know we can do better, and in a strange way we should find that comforting. We have high expectations because there's a part of us that knows we're watching players capable of winning the league, and we're absolutely right. Even falling well short of their potential, we're still only a victory away from being in a promotion place.

Sheringham's Stevenage stole an unlikely draw against Pompey.

However, there is doubtlessly a confidence problem in addition to Cook's persistent search for the winning formula. Perhaps if we'd sneaked a goal against Accrington, or hadn't conceded a late equaliser to Stevenage, we'd see a very different Pompey side at home right now. However, things haven't swung our way, and the players seem to lack a little bit of belief. One thing that certainly won't help is fuelling a sense of negativity around Fratton Park.

I've never been one for booing the home side, but I feel that the fans' animosity towards the team at the final whistle on Sunday was, while an understandable showing of disappointment with the performance, potentially damaging. These are players who need a little encouragement and support right now. Look at Kyle Bennett - a player who has noted publically the criticism he has taken from fans. His name was chanted as he came on, and he responded by playing the most incisive pass of the game almost instantly.

Confidence to pass ambitiously and move around the pitch seems to have dissipated.

We're right to have high expectations this year, but we must also show a great deal of patience. Paul Cook is an excellent manager, and Portsmouth are already incomparable with the side that fell flat last season. Though the players are having a tough time at the moment, there is little chance that a squad with such talent will continue to come up short, and there will be better results down the line. The only thing that has the potential to seriously derail the campaign is if panic starts to settle in, so as fans I feel we have to play our part in keeping things cool. There's a long way to go yet, and we're still very much in the hunt for those oh-so-agonisingly-desired automatic promotion spots. Let's not replace the Pompey Chimes with alarm bells just yet.

Keep Jose, but give him a holiday

Just one of many back pages which have mounted the pressure on Mourinho.

Haven't we been here before? Yet another weekend's back pages are dominated by the crashing reputation of 2015's hero-to-zero fall guy. Jose Mourinho has been on the brink for some time - somehow squirming inches towards the precipice without the final push being delivered. Defeats continue to rain down on the Portuguese manager like a traditional English summer. 

The mercilessly awful form that Chelsea are exhibiting is compounded by Mourinho's antics, which are increasingly illustrating The Special One as a desperate, agitated character who has completely lost control. Far beyond the debasing rant against doctor Eva Carneiro, Mourinho shows no shame in ramping up his blame tactics to eleven. This weekend saw another display of irate flouncing and sardonic gestures on the touchline, before the inevitably bizarre post-match interview.

The familiar sarcastic laughter aimed at the referee.

It doesn't take a body language specialist to see that Jose Mourinho is under intense, inescapable pressure (although try telling that to the BBC, who decided to get a body language specialist to show that Jose Mourinho was under intense, inescapable pressure). The Chelsea boss is unlikely to have ever experienced anything close to this sort of scrutiny in his high-profile career, with the renowned hawkish behaviour of the British media coupling delightfully with one of the most surprisingly weak title defences in recent history.

It is precisely the nature of this pressure's ubiquity, coupled with the sensible truth that Jose Mourinho is a world-class manager capable of creating and directing a team that can challenge at the very highest level, that leads to my solution: Jose Mourinho needs a break.

Perhaps one or two months. Perhaps the rest of the season. A break from football, far away from the prying eyes of the tabloids and 24-hour sports news networks. A chance to forget about Chelsea, the referees, and the undiminished hunger to see Jose fail. 

Currently, every interview can only be another stage of hell for Jose.

My interpretation of Mourinho's recent antics are that he is trapped. It's never been uncommon for The Special One to deflect criticisms against his team towards all manner of outrageous targets. When things are going relatively smoothly, it's an effective tactic - Sir Alex Ferguson knew the value of protecting his players from the media too. 

However, Mourinho's most recent efforts are not a result of careful thought and deliberation - anyone with a clear head would have known that another animated touchline outburst, followed by a shirty interview, is a bad idea given the media whirlwind surrounding the club. It seems far more likely that Jose Mourinho is starting to freeze up under this pressure, returning to his most learned response as a coping mechanism.

The increased prevalence of 'the conspiracy theory' correlates directly to poor results.

Mourinho is stuck in a cycle. Chelsea lose, the pressure grows. The pressure grows, Mourinho reacts. Mourinho reacts, the team morale continues to fall. The team morale continues to fall, Chelsea lose. There was a stage earlier on in the season where a couple of favourable results, whether the fruit of good performances or lucky breaks, would have plugged the leak of seeping pressure. However, the job is now irreparable, and even a few victories would still leave Mourinho looking precarious, as it is extremely unlikely that Chelsea will reach their pre-season expectations of retaining the Premier League.

Many have commented that Mourinho has never had to lift a club out of this volume of mire before, and that this situation is test of The Special One's true resolve. Perhaps Mourinho feels he needs to prove something to these people, but it would be far more in his interests to admit he needs some help. Chelsea never hired The Special One to revive a failing squad, because that has never been what made him special. Mourinho should bite the bullet, ask Abramovich for a month or two off, allow an interim manager to get the team motivated again, and return to work in order to harness the relentless and clinical ability he has to win trophies.

Mourinho and trophies go hand-in-hand - could Chelsea afford to lose that?

It is most certainly an unorthodox approach, but Chelsea are facing a unique problem. No-one questioned Mourinho's managerial prowess before the season started, but it is clear that he is in no mental state to reach his own lofty standards. Chelsea would be foolish to let one of the world's top managers go, but to keep him will only do further damage. It might be a blot on his copy book, but if Mourinho could get past admitting that he's not the right manager in this specific situation, perhaps there is a solution that will benefit all parties beyond.

5 successful managers Liverpool's board would have sacked

Rodgers - deserving of more time?

Although Brendan Rodgers' 166 games (equating to three-and-a-bit years) of employment for Liverpool Football Club represents eons in modern footballing terms, there are many who believe the board have acted with disappointingly clichéd haste. While it can be argued that the demand for results is correlated to the amount of money currently being pumped into the game, one can't shake off the romanticism of a try-hard who struggles and toils before getting it right. With Rodgers robbed of such an opportunity, here are five managers who would have succumb to his fate in a similar time period had Fenway Sports been assessing their position... 

 

Alex Ferguson (Manchester United 1986-2013)

Mandatory Fergie mention whenever a manager is sacked.

OK, let's get the obvious one out of the way. Everybody is sick to death of seeing Fergie wheeled out every time a chairman makes a knee-jerk decision, but the timing of Rodgers sacking when compared to Ferguson is notably apt. Three-and-a-bit years in was slap-bang in the middle of Ferguson's darkest period as Manchester United manager. 

The club had just spent a good chunk of money on reinforcements, including the additions of Paul Ince, Gary Pallister and Mike Phelan (Whose fees don't quite reach the heights of £20million Dejan Lovren and the like...), and the results were extremely poor. United ended 1989 on the brink of the relegation zone, having suffered a humiliating 5-1 defeat to Manchester City in the process.

The rest, as they say, is history. The board kept faith with the scarlet-faced Scot, ignoring the grumblings of supporters, and Ferguson went on to become the most decorated manager in English football history. Yes, this is a worn-out example akin to losing an argument by Godwin's Law, but it builds an undeniably strong starting point for the defence case.

Dario Gradi (Crewe Alexandra 1983-2007)

Gradi - greatness without the glitz.

Dario Gradi's achievements may not be quite as sparkling at Sir Alex Ferguson's, but his legacy at Crewe Alexandra is just as huge. Gradi began his Crewe tenure as the club was teetering on Football League oblivion, with The Railwaymen having applied for re-election on more than one occasion. Gradi was able to haul the club from the very bottom of the Fourth Division, but the improvement was only marginal. Five years after his appointment, Crewe could still only manage 17th in the bottom tier.

Although one might argue that there is less pressure on a manager in the lower divisions, this is completely countered by the catastrophic effect of a club losing its place in the football league. The board had strong faith in Gradi, and the long-term rewards were huge. He led the team to multiple promotions, capping off with the club's highest ever finish of 14th in the second tier (2001). The Gradi era ensured Crewe Alexandra's status as a Football League mainstay. The story would have been very different without him.

Louis van Gaal (Ajax 1991-1997)

Ajax had an incredible period under van Gaal's management.

Had the knives been sharp enough, Louis van Gaal's excellent reign at Ajax may have been sliced to death before it hit full speed. Though van Gaal would go on to win three Eredivise titles, including an unbeaten season, success wasn't instant. The future Dutch national manager could only manage 2nd place in his first season, and Ajax fell to third the following year. Though this seems a world away from Liverpool's inability to challenge for the title, it's important to consider the context of Ajax's perpetual domination of the Dutch leagues (along with PSV and, to a lesser extent in this era, Feyenoord) and the resultant expectation to deliver. 

Perhaps the modern-day reaction to a slight decline in league performance would have been to find a new man, especially considering van Gaal was promoted from the assistant manager's position in the first place and therefore lacked the pedigree of a bigger name. However, it would be unfair for me to neglect mentioning the 1992 UEFA Cup win, which preceded van Gaal going one step further and winning the Champions League a few years later. So perhaps this would go down as a case in which the seeds of success were sewn, in contrast to the trophyless Rodgers.

Thomas Schaaf (Werder Bremen 1999-2013)

Schaaf worked wonders for Werder.

It was inevitable that Thomas Schaaf would end up managing Werder Bremen given his 17 years of service to the club as a player. When he was appointed in 1999, Werder Bremen were sliding uncomfortably towards relegation, so there is certainly an argument to say that Schaaf wouldn't necessarily have got the chop. His initial influence was to stabilise the club for the first few seasons, keeping them in-and-around mid-table. 

With consecutive finishes of 9th, 7th, 6th and 6th, it's unlikely that a reasonable board would have seen this as an issue that needed resolving. But perhaps if a manager with the prestige of Jurgen Klopp started making noises about finding a new club, a "business-minded" chairman would have taken the brave decision of cutting out a club-favourite for 'guaranteed success'.

As it was, Schaaf continued to enjoy his reign for many years, peaking with a league and cup double in 2004 - the first in the club's history.

Jurgen Klopp (Mainz 05 2001-2008)

Liverpool's next manager isn't a direct ticket to success...

Ah, the sucker punch! Although I must admit, in stretching this to cover the surface area of the argument, I am leaving quite enormous holes that I'm sure astute readers will be quick to point out. Jurgen Klopp's managerial career began at Mainz 05, with the club ambitious to secure promotion to the Bundesliga. After Klopp's second attempt fell just short, perhaps a panicky board would have looked elsewhere (although this would have been extremely harsh, even by modern standards).

Klopp led Mainz to 3rd place in 2004, snatching promotion and beginning the club's short stay in the top flight. He managed to keep Mainz in a comfortable mid-table hover for two seasons, before a disastrous 2007 plunged the club into relegation. Did Mainz sack him then? Not a chance, and if anything Klopp would enjoy the equivalent of a personal promotion by taking the Dortmund job in 2008.

So this is a bit of a clunky example, but how many managers have seen their club decline in such a way, only to be offered a massive position a year later? Let's hope Fenway Sports are aware that Klopp's record isn't entirely blotless, and that - whisper it - it might take a year or two before any strides towards progress are made...