Redknapp defection shocks de Zeeuw
Arjan de Zeeuw admits he still "can’t believe" former Pompey manager Harry Redknapp has taken over the helm at local rivals Southampton.
Redknapp left Fratton Park last month after a highly-successful spell in charge, taking Portsmouth from Division One obscurity to the Premiership.
And De Zeeuw revealed his former manager’s defection to St Mary’s was hard to take.
“When Harry left it was a big enough surprise but nobody saw this one coming. This is football, but there are some things you don’t expect and we didn’t expect this.
“When Harry went the feeling was he was going to have a break. That’s what he said and it seemed like he meant it.”
“Hayden Foxe came out the other day after watching television and told us that Harry was the new manager of Southampton,” De Zeeuw told the Portsmouth Evening News.
“We thought it was all rumours. He’s been gone from us only a couple of weeks but from our point of view he couldn’t have gone to a worse place.
“Sometimes when you are away from something you realise how much you miss it. I had a great time here with him and wish him all the best, but I still can’t believe it.”
Meanwhile Pompey’s Croatian executive director Velimir Zajec, whose arrival was seemingly the catalyst for Redknapp’s exit, is still not talking – despite taking charge of team affairs.
He seems to have won the respect of the Portsmouth players having been Yugoslavia’s World Cup captain during his playing days and director of football at Greek champions Panathinaikos before deciding on the switch to Fratton Park at the age of 47.
He now has only one coach in former Scotland star Joe Jordan after Pompey agreed to let Kevin Bond join Redknapp at St Mary’s but he has racked up two vital Premiership wins against Bolton and West Brom to take the heat out of a 3-0 Carling Cup humiliation at Watford.
Zajec takes the team to Newcastle on Saturday then faces a midweek trip to Liverpool followed by a home clash with champions Arsenal, and Christmas holiday games against Crystal Palace and Chelsea.
And he could be in charge of team affairs even longer, despite reports that chairman Milan Mandaric claims to have had around 30 applicants for the job of new coach and has whittled them down to a shortlist of four.
While Zajec is winning, though, Mandaric may be content to keep him at the helm for the rest of the season – even though his real brief is overseas scouting and the development of the stadium and youth academy.
