The Portsmouth director of football Harry Redknapp says that he was convinced to remain at Fratton Park by none other than the former Pompey boss Steve Claridge when the East Londoner was thinking of leaving the club to manage one of Claridge's other former employers.
Earlier this season, the former West Ham United and Bournemouth manager had claimed that he was no longer being fulfilled in his role at Portsmouth, which he felt was more detached than the direct involvement with players he had been accustomed to.
But in an interview with Brian Viner in the Independent newspaper, Redknapp has said that he was talked into remaining at the Nationwide League club despite the temptation of the vacant position at Leicester City that was eventually filled by another affable Londoner, Dave Bassett.
Redknapp said he had stayed because of the duty he felt towards a club that has seen so many false dawns in recent seasons.
He said: "It seemed a liberty to walk out on Portsmouth. There's a great support here. We took 5,000 to Coventry the other week.
"I spotted Steve Claridge sneaking into the training ground to get his P45. I was his first manager. Anyway, he said: 'Harry, I've heard you're thinking of going to Leicester. Are you mad? There's miles more potential here if you can get it going'."
Pompey fans might want to dedicate a chant, like their Chelsea counterparts when Gianfranco Zola was convinced to stay by his wife, to Mrs.Redknapp.
Redknapp was prompted to think twice about the implications of leaving the club by Claridge's advice but other forces soon came into Redknapp's mind.
He said: "I didn't fancy racing back on a Saturday night from Leicester. I already did about 90,000 miles a year when I was at West Ham. If I didn't like my wife, it might be different. But I do," quipped the former Hammers boss."
Redknapp says he agrees with the idea that football management is a stressful profession, saying: "I couldn't sleep at night without a gulp of Night Nurse. Otherwise, even when things were going well, by one in the morning, I'd be awake, my mind racing.
"It's very difficult to explain … The stress didn't come from the board. Never, ever. Or from the fans. And I didn't have problems with the players. It's within, knowing that so many people care about the football club that you run, that you've got all those hopes on your shoulders."
And nevertheless, for Redknapp, there is only one end result of looking back on middle-of-the-night scenes like this: "I will get back into it."
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