HARRY REDKNAPP

Sadly Harry Redknapp has left Portsmouth Football Club for some time out of the game. Like many footballing folk, he was as well known for his gifts with the English language as he was for his gifts at management.

A few of his classic comments are below... (the comment on Samassi Abou's bout of food poisoning is a particular favourite of mine)

* On his former West Ham striker: "John Hartson's got more
previous than Jack the ripper"

* On the ignoble art of 'diving': "Abou retaliated but the
fellow went down as if he was dead, and then started rolling
around."

* On his relationship as Portsmouth's director of football with
the club's then-manager: "I shall not be interfering with Graham
Rix."

* On tactics: "I sorted out the team formation last night lying in
bed with the wife. When your husband's as ugly as me, you'd only
want to talk football in bed."

* On a training-ground scrap between Alvin Martin and Matthew
Rush: "I've seen better fights at a wedding."

* On Samassi Abou: "He don't speak the English too good."

* On a striker he subsequently signed who went on to score just
two goals for West Ham: "I look at Arsenal's bench and they have
Davor Suker sitting there. The man's a legend and would score goals by the
bucketload whoever he played for."

* On West Ham's Uefa Cup chances: "Where are we in relation to
Europe? Not too far from Dover."

* On a spurned chance against Chelsea: "Joe Cole missed an open
goal that my f*cking missus could have scored."

* On the crowd barracking Michael Carrick: "Everyone f***ing jumps
all over you. When Michael Carrick gave the ball away the other
week there was 20,000 people c*nting him off. He give a bad ball and they are
all f***ing 'wan**r.'"

* On new signings: "With the foreigners it's more difficult. Most of
them don't even bother with the golf, they don't want to go
racing. They don't even drink."

* On signing Portuguese winger Dani: "My missus fancies him. Even I don't
know whether to play him or f*ck him."

* On his playing career: "Even when we had Moore, Hurst and
Peters, West Ham's average finish was about 17th. Which just shows how
crap the other eight of us were."

* On Paolo Di Canio's one-fingered gesture to Aston Villa fans:
"From a still picture how does anybody know what Di Canio was doing?
He might have been signalling to a team-mate about a tactic from a corner.
He might have been gesturing a tactical change. He could have been showing
that the score was 1-0."

* On Samassi Abou's mystery ailment: "The lad went home to the
Ivory Coast and got a bit of food poisoning. He must have eaten a dodgy
missionary or something."

* And then there was his interview with Sportonair.com after Harry's
West Ham side had surrendered a first-half lead against Arsenal
and ultimately lost the match

Reporter: Harry, what message did you give the players
at half-time?

Redknapp: "Just 'play the same as we did first half.'
What do you f*cking think I said to them at half-time?"

Reporter: "Dunno."

Redknapp: "'Go and f*cking sit back and let them attack
us' or summink? Is that what you think I said? What a f*cking stupid
question."

He will be sorely missed