PAUL MERSON has lifted the lid on how Harry Redknapp convinced him to join his “f***ing s***” Portsmouth team.
The attacking midfielder had starred for Arsenal for 12 years between 1985 and 1997 before falling out of favour under Arsene Wenger.
He subsequently spent a year at Middlesbrough and four at Aston Villa, before being released by the Midlands club aged 34.
With his career seemingly winding down, Merse took a call from Redknapp in the summer of 2002.
Recounting their conversation while chatting with Jeff Stelling on Football’s Greatest Pod, he said: “I’d just been released by Villa, couldn’t get into Graham Taylor’s team.
“Harry Redknapp rang me up and said ‘is that Merse?’ I said ‘Yeah’.
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“He went ‘it’s Harry Redknapp.’ I’d never talked to him before, and he said ‘I’ll be interested in bringing you down here with me for a couple of years son.’
“And I just said ‘where are you Harry?’ And he went ‘I’m manager at Portsmouth now.’
“And I said ‘well what are they like?’ And he went ‘they’re f***ing s*** son.’ That’s exactly how it went.
“He went ‘I’ve gotten rid of every one of them. I’ve kept Nigel Quashie. I’ve got ten new players on free transfers’.
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“He said ‘I want you to come down, be the captain for a couple of years, we’ll give it a right effing go’.”
Merson, now 55, had reservations – before Redknapp found a way to talk him around.
He continued: “I said ‘Harry, I have to stop you there mate, I’m living up in the Midlands now.’
“I said ‘I’m not going to move down for two years and definitely not travelling down every day at my age, I had that at Middlesbrough.’
“He said ‘I’ll tell you what son, don’t work Mondays, don’t work Wednesdays, don’t work Fridays, but you f***ing make sure you turn it on on a Saturday.’
“And I went ‘I’ll be down in the morning Harry.’ And I loved it. Honestly I could not talk highly enough of the club, the players, the fans.”
Merson went on to excel at Fratton Park, helping his side win the league with 98 points, playing 48 times in all competitions and scoring 12 goals.
The 21-cap England international earned another crack at the Premier League, but opted to leave Portsmouth in order to be closer to his Midlands home – dropping back down to Division 1 with Walsall, where he eventually became player-manager.
Back in 2020, Merson made a huge claim about Redknapp.
He said on Sky Sports: “The thing that I get the hump with with Harry is when people say ‘he’s a wheeler and dealer’.
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“His knowledge of football is second to none – tactically he’s better than Arsene Wenger in my opinion.
“I’ve worked under both. Tactically, if I know a manager who wants to set up to not lose a game and stop the other team playing, for me Harry’s the man.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
