HARRY BACKS EDDIE’S BOYS
BOURNEMOUTH legend Harry Redknapp believes it will be a crime against football if Eddie Howe’s Cherries aren’t tasting the Premier League high-life next season.
The 68-year-old led the club to arguably their best-ever result in 1984 when then third division Bournemouth knocked holders Manchester United out of the FA Cup.
But now his old club can eclipse that, should they hold their nerve and secure promotion to the top flight for the first time in their his
tory.
Redknapp says Eddie Howe’s side not only deserve to go up but their easy-on-the-eye style and cut-throat attacking play merits the Championship title.
The former Tottenham Hotspur manager is well qualified to give his opinion on the race for the Premier League having taken Queen’s Park Rangers up via the play-offs against Derby County last May.
Outstanding
Redknapp has kept a close eye on the division and is unequivocal in his belief that Bournemouth are the strongest side he has seen by far.
He said: “They are the best team in the division, no doubt. Last year having played them twice when I was at QPR I knew that they were an outstanding team, that they would be there this year. I had absolutely no doubt that they would at least make the play-offs this season.
“I’ve seen a lot of games, and they are the best team in the league. They play football like every manager, like every coach in England would love to have their team play. They have got fantastic wingers, they play with two up front, they have got footballers in midfield and they have got great attacking fullbacks.They are a proper team. I just love watching them play. “For me they are the most exciting side around.
“There’s no-one playing better football than Bournemouth in this country at the moment.”
Redknapp, in charge at Dean Court from 1983 from 1992, believes the man who now sits in his old seat is set for the biggest stage.
“Eddie’s a great boy,” he added. “I signed him at Portsmouth and he picked up a bad injury when I had him. He’s done an amazing job. The whole club is well-run from top to bottom, it really is, from the owner and the chairman all the way down through the club.It’s a good club which is going only one way – and that’s up.” Redknapp will return to management on Sunday May 31 to lead a star-studded Men United XI against Leyton Orient legends, as O’s youth coach and Prostate Cancer UK ambassador Errol McKellar hosts a charity game at the Matchroom Stadium.