Soccer: Joining Southampton is no betrayal, says Redknapp

LONDON - Harry Redknapp said his decision to take the manager's job at Southampton a fortnight after resigning from arch-rivals Portsmouth had not been an act of betrayal against his former club.

The two Premier League south-coast clubs are separated by a 20-mile stretch of the M27 motorway and they enjoy a rivalry as fierce and intense as any among English teams.

Redknapp, who quit Portsmouth saying he needed to take a break from the game, signed an 18-month deal with Southampton on Wednesday.

Asked in a news conference at Southampton's St Mary's stadium how his decision would be viewed in Portsmouth, Redknapp said: "I don't see it as an act of betrayal.

"If the people of Portsmouth look at it realistically they should be thankful for the job I've done and I'm thankful for the fantastic support they gave me but that's in the past.

"I left Portsmouth a couple of weeks back. They were sitting halfway up the Premier League table...

"I had taken them from fourth from bottom in the first division to a mid-table Premiership team two years running but circumstances at the club changed," he added.

Redknapp, fearing he was being undermined, publicly criticised Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric last month for bringing Croat Velimir Zajec to the club as executive director.

When he quit Fratton Park the 57-year-old Redknapp said that Zajec's arrival had not influenced his decision to leave.

But on Wednesday the former West Ham manager made it quite clear he could not work with Zajec, a friend of Mandaric.

"I decided that what happened at the club did not suit the way I wanted to work. I decided to move on.

"A new chap came in -- a director of football. I felt it was the chairman's club, he could do whatever he wanted with the club but it wasn't a situation that suited me."

An increasingly flustered Redknapp told reporters that a two-week break from the game had not suited him either.

"I've sat at home for the last two weeks watching football on TV... and didn't enjoy it one little bit.

"I did say I could be back in week, two weeks or could be back in a year. I had two weeks at home... sat down on Saturday afternoon and felt myself in all honesty getting bitter and twisted.

"I got a phone call late on Monday from the (Southampton) chairman (Rupert Lowe) asking if I would meet him about the possibility of me joining this football club and it was too good a chance to refuse. It's a great move for me and a great club.

- REUTERS