Source: Daily_Mail
Spurs boss Harry picks Wigan game as his 500-1 Premier League favourite
Securing Champions League football is firmly on Harry Redknapp's agenda this season but as he prepared to celebrate his 500th Premier League match today against Hull, it was a relegation scrap at unfashionable Wigan which ranked as his most memorable.[LNB] The Tottenham manager will reach that milestone at White Hart Lane this afternoon and his stand-out match is not a trip to Anfield or Old Trafford, or his first Premier League game - a 0-0 draw against Leeds in August 1994 - but a vital three points for Portsmouth at Wigan in April 2006.[LNB] Best of times: after 500 games Redknapp's favourite is beating Wigan to keep Portsmouth up[LNB] Portsmouth, with Redknapp back in charge after a 12-month spell with rivals Southampton, had looked to be heading for the Championship with 10 matches to go.[LNB] But Redknapp took 20 points from the final 30 on offer, sealing survival with a game to go thanks to a 2-1 win and goals from Benjani and Matthew Taylor.[LNB] Redknapp, who managed West Ham, Southampton and had two spells at Portsmouth before joining Spurs in October 2008, said: 'I would have to say winning at Wigan, to keep Portsmouth up after we had been dead and buried, was probably the most important match.[LNB] 'Benjani scored his first goal in 14 games and never again could I say to him that, if he had 10 shots as an executioner, the prisoner would still be alive.[LNB] 'That was the run which had started with us winning 2-1 against Manchester City, and the other teams around us had lost, and suddenly the 10-point gap was down to seven points and you realise the escape is possible.'[LNB] Redknapp has won 181, drawn 128 and lost 190 of his 499 Premier League matches.[LNB] Only Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger have overseen more top flight games since the Premier League began in 1992. He is also one of only 18 managers to have taken charge of 1,000 matches in his career.[LNB] Harry's 500-1 favourite: Redknapp (right) at Wigan[LNB] 'It's a lot of games, isn't it?' he said. 'You never know when your last one is going to arrive. You have to keep enjoying it, that's why I look forward to going to places like Liverpool because you never know if it's the last time you'll go there.[LNB] 'If I didn't enjoy this job, I wouldn't be doing it. Football isthe only interest I've got, apart from family, and I don't know what Iwould do with myself if I had to sit indoors all day.' Redknapp, 62,began his managerial career in the old Third Division with Bournemouthin 1982 and, after surviving a 9-0 drubbing by Lincoln in his firstgame in charge, stayed at Dean Court until July 1992.[LNB] 'I don't enjoy it more now than when I was at Bournemouth because they were great times,' he said. 'I had 10 great years.[LNB] 'I always thought I would end up managing at this level, but youneed the breaks. If you're a young manager starting out, you go to thewrong club lower down and you're not a success, that's the end of you.[LNB] 'But I worked hard at Bournemouth, did well and it's nice to seesome of the lads from my team there have become top managers in theirown right. Tony Pulis (Stoke City boss) and Sean O'Driscoll (Doncastermanager) were very influential players.[LNB] 'The years have flown by so quickly since then it's scary, and the older you get the quicker it seems to go.' [LNB] Redknapp's remarkable recordTeam..................................................................p.........w.......d.........l...........f..........a.......win.%West Ham (10-08-94 to 09-05-01)............269.......94....71.....104.. ...324.....359.....34.94Portsmouth (25-03-02 to 24-11-04).............51......16....12........23........64.......74.....31.37Southampton (8-12-04 to 2-12-05)..............22.........4......8........10.......30........42.....18.18Portsmouth (8-12-05 to 25-10-08).............107......42.....26.......39.....128......134.....39.25Tottenham (26-10-08 to present)..................50.....25.....11........14.......82.......55......50.00Total ..................................................................499...181....128....198....628.....664.....36.27[LNB] Tottenham v HULL: Midfielder Dean Marney set to feature as Tigers take to the capitalTOTTENHAM v Hull: Ledley King unlikely to face the TigersTHE FIRING LINE: Rafa Benitez should really be scared now - the Liverpool boss tops our table as the next for the chop![LNB] [LNB]
