Football: 'Arry's game

Even when they had Moore, Hurst and Peters, West Ham's average finish was about 17th. It just shows how crap the other eight of us were." Ah, the pithy humour of 'Arry Redknapp, let's hope he's not out of the game too long.

'Arry is the original Cockney 'diamond geezer' from Poplar in the East End of London, a stone's throw from Upton Park. He signed professionally for the Hammers aged 17 in 1964 and played 149 games as a fairly lightweight winger, before moving to Bournemouth, later managing the club with some degree of success.

After a car accident at Italia '90, in which 'Arry reputedly lost his sense of taste and smell, he returned to West Ham as Billy Bonds's assistant manager in 1992. When Bonds left, 'Arry took over and held the reins for seven years. After getting the 'tin-tack' (as he'd put it) from West Ham, 'Arry became technical director at Portsmouth, under the wealthy but eccentric Milan Mandaric.

When Graham Rix was sacked as manager, 'Arry stepped in and over two seasons took Pompey from the bottom of Division 1 to mid-table security in the Premier League. He won the League Managers' Association's Manager of the Year for winning Division 1 and earning promotion in place of, ironically, West Ham.

So why did 'Arry quit on November 24 and, even more extraordinary, why was there a press conference six days later?

Over the years, as befits a good East End boy, 'Arry acquired a reputation as a bit of a wheeler-dealer in the transfer market. In his seven years at Upton Park he was involved in 134 transfers, which amounts to selling almost two teams every season. And some were misguided: Marco Boogers cost £1m ($2.7m), made four appearances as a sub; Florin Raducioiu, cost £2.4m ($6.5m), played 12 times; and Titi Camara's three appearances for the club cost £486,000 ($1.3m) apiece.

Milan Mandaric went public at the weekend with figures for transfer dealings under 'Arry at Portsmouth: 44 players brought in for £15m ($40.4m), plus £3.4m ($9.2m) paid to agents. So did 'Arry leave because there were suspicions about his transfer dealings?

Apparently not. The press conference was held for Mr. Mandaric to announce that: "At no time did I imply there was any wrongdoing. I was simply saying that agents take too much money out of the game."

Apparently 'Arry would identify players, then Mandaric, together with chief executive Peter Storrie, would negotiate. Cynics might observe that in choosing the players 'Arry was also choosing the agents but the reason for his departure seem to lie elsewhere.

The catalyst was the arrival of Velimir Zajec as technical director. Zajec, who captained Yugoslavia in the 1982 World Cup, was lured from Panathinaikos, where he had moved from team manager to the director's role. The term 'technical director' is something of a misnomer, implying technical responsibilities. In reality he is a buffer between the manager, who doesn't understand money, and the board, who don't understand football. On mainland Europe it is the standard arrangement. For example, Frank Rijkaard is team manager at Barcelona, while Joan Laporte and technical director Tkixi Beguiristain deal with transfers, wages, youth policy, scouting, etc.

Earlier in the season Spurs employed Frank Arnesen as technical director and Jacques Santini as manager. It didn't work, Santini quit in a huff. And now 'Arry has quit, telling BBC Sport: "You tell me one time in England when a manager and [technical] director combination has worked."

It is a myth to suggest that splitting the post between a manager and a director is a new development. In 1969 Sir Matt Busby moved upstairs at Old Trafford to allow Wilf McGuinness to take over as coach. It was a disaster ... Wilf lasted four months. Lawrie McMenemy, Kenny Dalglish and David Pleat have all filled the role of technical director, but none with any great success.

The secret of that failure is fairly obvious. All of the above had been managers themselves and inevitably had their own views on what the manager should do. McMenemy tells the story of taking Southampton, under Alan Ball, to Norwich, and having to leave the directors' box to bawl instructions. Ball, the squeaky-voiced 1966 World Cup winner, didn't suffer such interference for long.

So did 'Arry quit because he felt his position was undermined by the appointment of Zajec? Possibly. But problems at Fratton Park had already surfaced at the conclusion of last season.

Mandaric wanted to sack 'Arry's assistant, Jim Smith, and bring in a continental style coach. 'Arry fought it all the way, but the appointment of Zajec appears to have tipped the balance.

So it looks like 'Arry left because he'd become an anachronism. The days of the manager who ran the whole show, like Brian Clough, are long gone. But surely we haven't seen the last of 'Arry Redknapp. There's talk of him buying Bournemouth or a move to Southampton, maybe as technical director. As he said at the press conference: "If I rang any chairman up in the First Division and said 'look, for £10m I can get you out of the First Division and keep you in the Premiership for two years', I think I'd have a few offers." We've not seen the last of the East End wide boy.