Harry Redknapp has opened up on his move from Portsmouth to Southampton, labelling the move as “crazy”.
The veteran coach has also claimed that he had no idea about the intensity of the rivalry between the two south-coast sides.
Redknapp was subjected to a huge amount of abuse after the move in 2004 and when speaking to FourFourTwo, he said:
I fell out with Milan Mandaric at Portsmouth. I’d got into my car to drive home one day and suddenly I had four phone calls from the press saying, “I see you’ve got a director of football coming tomorrow?
I said, No chance, what are you going on about? I’ve just been with Milan and we haven’t got a director of football.
The next day, I got to the training ground and this guy was there, Velimir Zajec. I went back to Milan, who’d told me, No one’s coming in. We had a row and I quit.
Soon after, I got a call from Southampton.
I lived down here, so why shouldn’t I work? It was a crazy move. I didn’t realise the hate between them.
READ SOUTHAMPTON VERDICT
Surely Redknapp must have known the fierce rivalry between Portsmouth and Southampton? The two clubs have a genuine hatred for each other and only recently met in the Carabao Cup, with the Saints emerging as comfortable winners.
Maybe the abuse that he suffered opened his eyes to the reality of the rivalry between the clubs.
He failed to keep the Saints in the Premier League and was relegated to the Championship, where he remained in charge. He then returned back to Portsmouth in December 2005.
