WOODGATE’S JUST SO WILD ABOUT HARRY

FORMER England star Jonathan Woodgate has turned to Harry Redknapp for guidance after taking charge of Bournemouth.

Redknapp (above) was in the Cherries hot-seat for a decade at the start of his managerial career and still lives in the upmarket Sandbanks area of the town

Interim boss Woodgate, who played under Redknapp at Spurs, said: “Harry has great experience in the game so I would be foolish if I didn’t pick his brains when he lives 10 minutes from the training ground. He’s a really good guy who I can trust. He is somebody I can ring and ask for advice. Without a shadow of a doubt it has been a help, but I cannot speak highly enough of my coaching team.”

After a year at the helm at Middlesbrough, Woodgate (below) agreed to return to academy coaching at Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium just days before Jason Tindall’s dismissal. “I came down here to help Jason out,” he said. “I am just the interim manager at Bournemouth and the next game is Burnley. That is all I am thinking about.”

Redknapp, who has been out of management since leaving Birmingham in

2017, said he was delighted to help out Woodgate.

“Jonathan played under me at Spurs and he’s a great lad,” said the former West Ham and Southampton boss. “He’s asked me to come in for a few days and watch them train, to just be around the place for a few days and help keep an eye on things.”

Woodgate might not have quite as tough a task on his hands tonight as he might have thought given the candid words of Sean Dyche.

The Burnley boss, whose team are only one place above the Premier League drop zone, says the FA Cup doesn’t matter unless you’re in the final. “No one really bothers with FA Cup quarter-finals, not even semifinals,” said Dyche. “If you get knocked out, it means nothing.

“You can argue a semi-final means something, but you’re not remembered for getting to a quarter-final.”

THIS Manchester City team has to win the Champions League, otherwise how can we continue to throw garlands, petals and superlatives at them?

They were arguably built to win the Champions League before the Premier League.

And, while domestic success has ultimately come first, with the prospect of a European Super League looming, they now need the credibility of having lifted the continent’s biggest cup competition.

AC Milan, Barcelona, Ajax, Real Madrid, Manchester United and Liverpool have all stamped their greatness on the tournament in one of its guises.

Now City must follow suit.