Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp was pleased to complete the deal to bring former Pompey boss Jim Smith back to Fratton Park.
The former Hammers boss was forced to wait for a meeting with Smith, who could not get a flight to England due to the strike held by Spanish airport staff last week.
Having met to discuss terms, the two former Premiership rivals – who are good friends - were pleased to be able to announce that they will be working together at the First Division club.
The former Hammers boss said Smith's return to Fratton Park – where he spent four years as manager, from 1991 to 1995 - was "as good as a new signing".
Kevin Bond, who has also previously worked as assistant manager and caretaker boss at Fratton Park, has also been drafted back into the coaching team.
Smith, who worked as Roland Nilsson's assistant at Coventry City last season, after being sacked by Derby County, becomes Redknapp's number two, while Bond will be working as reserve team coach.
Redknapp said: "In Jim and Kevin I have the perfect people and I am really raring to go.
"Jim and I go back a long way and he has a tremendous record in management. He is a hero at Fratton Park and quite rightly so after what he achieved here."
The 'Bald Eagle' took Pompey to within a whisker of the Premiership in 1992/93 – his second season at the helm – when they finished in third in Divison One, missing out on promotion on goal difference, then losing to Leicester in the play-offs.
|
