Howe has knack of boss Arry

BOURNEMOUTH could claim South Coast bragging rights over Southampton today – but it’s the club at the other end of the M27 that put Eddie Howe on the fast road to management.

Howe (above) was Harry Redknapp’s first signing after taking over the reins at Portsmouth, arriving at Fratton Park for a fee of £400,000 in March 2002.

The Bournemouth boss was a defender going places – but in his first game for the then Championship club Howe suffered an injury that changed his career for good.

It was a nightmare start, but, according to his former Pompey team-mate Linvoy Primus, it provided the perfect opportunity.

“There’s a lot of managers out there who didn’t achieve what they wanted in their playing careers,” said Primus.

“Eddie was a good footballer – he was always thinking about how the game could be played, he had a philosophy and you can see that at Bournemouth today.

“As a footballer, there’s always that thought in the back of your mind you’re only ever one injury away from your career ending.

“But when you’re 24 or 25, as Eddie was at the time, you live very much for the moment.

“When the moment happens, that’s when the thinking changes. While he was injured, he had a lot of time to learn from someone like Harry.”

Howe left Fratton Park in 2004 and headed back to Bournemouth – a club riddled by debt and focused on survival rather than Premier League glory.

Within three seasons, he had been forced to hang up his boots, admitting defeat in his battle against the knee injury that curtailed his time at Portsmouth.

Coaching appointments at Bournemouth followed before opportunity knocked when Jimmy Quinn was sacked as boss on New Year’s Eve 2008, with the club 17 points shy of relegation salvation.

It was the sort of position that Redknapp used to relish – and Primus sees flashes of his former boss in a man who has worked miracles ever since.

“Harry’s main strength was that he would trust the players,”added Primus.

“That’s why they wanted to play for him. You can see the same with Eddie, those Bournemouth players would do anything for him.”

The Cherries could topple Saints as the South Coast’s top dogs this afternoon – a suggestion that would have seemed barking when Howe left for Pompey all those years ago. TREATMENT ROOM Bournemouth:

Southampton:

SUSPENDED Bournemouth: Southampton: ODDS TO WIN Bournemouth: Southampton: Draw: