Harry Redknapp has been named the new manager of Birmingham City, following Gianfranco Zola’s resignation on Monday after the club’s 2-0 defeat to Burton Albion.
Blues are struggling in the Championship, sitting in 20th and just three points above the relegation zone with only three games left. One of these crucial matches is against bitter rivals Aston Villa, who they will play on Sunday.
Now 70-year-old Redknapp has been given the job of trying to keep the club safe with only a few games in hand, a big task but one that Blues fans believe he can pull off. Though he hasn’t managed in England since his tenure with QPR concluded in 2015, his hilarious antics away from the pitch have earned him a soft spot in UK football fans’ hearts, and it’s great to see him back in England once again.
With that being said, let’s take a look at some of the funniest moments from Redknapp’s lengthy career:
“I’m not a wheeler and dealer, f*** off”
During his spell as Tottenham manager, Redknapp reacted furiously to Sky reporter Rob Palmer’s description of him as a wheeler and dealer.
“No wonder he’s in the f***in’ reserves”
While managing Portsmouth, Redknapp appeared in an interview ahead of a crucial game but ended up chewing out one of his players for kicking a ball in his direction. After taking the unnamed player to task, Redknapp concludes: “No wonder he’s in the f***in’ reserves.” Brutal.
“What’s the game coming to?”
Redknapp took midfielder Adel Taarabt to task during a press conference for QPR back in 2014, branding the Moroccan “three stone overweight” and saying that he can’t keep protecting players who earn “60 to 70 grand a week and don’t train.” “What’s the game coming to?” he added.
Soaked at Spurs
Tottenham players celebrated Redknapp taking them to the Champions League by soaking the manager with a bucket of water. As you’d imagine, Redknapp looked unimpressed by the prank.
“I gotta be honest, he was better than Chapman”
One of Harry Redknapp’s favourite yarns to tell is the story of him enlisting a fan as a substitute for an injured West Ham player. Back in the mid-’90s, the then-West Ham manager responded to a fan giving him abuse from the stands by telling him to put on his boots and take to the pitch, with him playing up front after berating striker Lee Chapman. The fan, later identified as Steve Davies, went on to put the ball in the back of the net during the friendly (though the goal was disallowed) and seemed to earn Redknapp’s respect in the process.
His Paulo Di Canio Story
A team with both Harry Redknapp and Paulo Di Canio must have made for an interesting changing room to say the least, and this hilarious story detailing Di Canio’s reaction to a match against Bradford offers an insight into the relationship shared between the player and manager.
Here are the highlights of the match in question:
Image Credit: Clive Rose / Getty Images
