Milan Mandaric on not tolerating failure, his Pompey managerial mistakes and the truth behind Harry Redknapp's shock return from Southampton

Alan Ball was already in charge upon the Serb’s June 1999 arrival, with Tony Pulis, Steve Claridge, Graham Rix, Velimir Zajec and Alain Perrin all serving as boss before shown the door when the chairman’s oft-fragile patience ruptured.

Then there was Redknapp.

In the 2020 book Pompey: The Island City With A Football Club For A Heart, Mandaric explores the pair's curious relationship, often combustible, occasionally toxic, yet essentially a close companionship which evolved into a lifelong association.

What’s more, Redknapp was also the only manager to escape Mandaric’s bloodied axe, walking out on Fratton Park for Southampton before later returning to outlast the chairman and subsequently claim the 2008 FA Cup.

‘I cannot tolerate failures,’ Mandaric told Pompey: The Island City With A Football Club For A Heart.

‘Maybe I have been accused by a lot of people of constantly changing managers, but when you are at the top you are responsible. You are responsible for your supporters and responsible for getting those results to move the club upwards.

‘When I was running the big factories and big manufacturing businesses, I always believed that if something works then you give support to them. If it doesn't work, you should try to correct it – if you cannot correct it, you must change it. It’s as simple as that. It is no different in football; it’s just another professional business.

‘Harry is the best manager I’ve ever worked with, but we had moved apart at the end of his first spell with us. In that period I wanted to do something different, change a few little pieces, but there were no serious arguments. Nobody did anything right or wrong, but for some reason we weren’t as close.

‘Then one day he told me: “Milan, I think I want to go and have some rest. I need time off football”. I was annoyed at him – he said he was going to take a vacation somewhere and then, all of a sudden, 15 days later he was at a press conference over there! I had no idea.

‘We all make mistakes, but you have to face it, correct it and move on. Nobody is bigger than the club. No player, no coach, no chairman, and when the chairman makes mistakes, you must recognise it. If I make mistakes then we are going to correct it – and we did.

‘Bringing in Velimir Zajec was a mistake as he didn’t have any experience or the personality required. You have to be hard and disciplined, and he didn’t have it. I recognised that quickly and made a change there.

‘Then we struggled with his replacement Perrin and I needed something serious to bring to the club, something different so people would say: “Wow, wait a moment, what is this now?”. Harry coming back was the answer.

‘So many were unsure over my decision, while a lot of people thought it was the right move later on. The time was perfect to bring him back.

‘Harry was ready. He was watching what was happening and knew he had made a mistake leaving. At one match I spoke in the boardroom to his brother-in-law, Frank Lampard Snr, and mentioned that I was thinking of making changes and bringing Harry back.

‘He responded: “If you approached Harry, he would walk to be with you”. That’s how it started.

‘I called him and he came very late at night to my apartment in Port Solent, so no-one could see him. We sat down, talked and shared a bottle of wine – we made up. Life was never boring with Harry!’

With Pompey languishing third from bottom in the Premier League in December 2005, three points adrift from safety, Mandaric recalled his former manager to replace Frenchman Perrin following an unsuccessful seven-and-a-half months.

Boosted by the January 2006 arrivals of Benjani Mwaruwari, Pedro Mendes, Sean Davis, Dean Kiely, Noe Pamarot and Andres D’Alessandro, Pompey embarked upon the ‘Great Escape’, earning a remarkable 20 points from a possible 27 from March onwards to avoid relegation with a game to spare.

Redknapp’s return, undeniably divisive among the Fratton faithful, had been a triumph.

Mandaric added: ‘We had personalities that fitted each other and knew one another very well, so it was no problem having him back. Harry has that charisma and knows football.

‘I remember when building the team to be promoted, he was bringing in all these old players, such as Shaka Hislop, Paul Merson, Tim Sherwood and Arjan De Zeeuw. I said: “Harry, our team is too old, we are never going to make it,” and he replied: “Don’t worry, we’ll do it”.

‘Every day he told me he needed two more players and eventually I was annoyed at him and said: “When are you going to say you need just one player?”.

‘He would always insist his squad was down to the bones – what bone was he talking about?’

Pompey: The Island City With A Football Club For A Heart is available from Waterstone’s, Pompey’s club shop and Amazon.

Played Up Pompey (paperback) and Played Pompey Up Three are also on sale from the above.

Alternatively, contact [email protected] for copies autographed by those in the books.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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