Always Managing: My Autobiography Read Online Free PDF Page B

for driving a hard bargain at the best of times and, on this one, he had all of us over a barrel.
    If we go back to the start of the 2008–09 season, I was manager of Portsmouth and very happy. The tax investigation was rumbling on in the background but, professionally, life was great. I lived twenty-five minutes from our training ground near Southampton Airport, I loved the club and the club seemed to love me. We werein Europe and had just won the FA Cup. We had a good team, and a young Russian owner, Alexandre Gaydamak, whose father, people told me, was as wealthy as Roman Abramovich. Alexandre said he wanted to bring top players in, and we did. We bought Lassana Diarra and Glen Johnson. I took Sylvain Distin on a free from Manchester City. Portsmouth, at that time, had a really strong squad, and I think the success of the players that have moved on proves it. I am very proud of what we achieved in my time there.
    So it had not even crossed my mind to leave when I took the phone call to say that Daniel Levy wanted to meet me. I wasn’t even that keen, to be frank. It certainly didn’t feel like an ambitious move. Portsmouth were playing in the UEFA Cup and I thought the club was going places. Then Peter Storrie, our chief executive, rang to say that Tottenham had asked for permission to speak to me, and it had been granted. I was more than a little surprised. Still, if the club didn’t want to keep me, maybe I should hear what Spurs had to say. I arranged to meet Daniel Levy at his house, but was already having misgivings.
    All the way on the journey I was mulling it over in my mind. Did I really want to leave my lovely life at Portsmouth? Was this a good move for me? I was about fifteen minutes away when the phone rang again. It was Phil Smith, an agent I knew well and had worked with before. ‘I hear you’re going to speak to Daniel Levy,’ he said. ‘Who’s doing your deal?’ I told him nobody. I didn’t have an agent and, besides, there was no deal. In fact, I was just about to call Tottenham and tell them I wasn’t interested; I was going to turn the car around and go home. ‘Don’t do that,’ said Phil. ‘Just speak to Daniel. I’ll come along and we’ll all have a talk. I’m sure we can work something out.’
    I agreed, but something still didn’t feel right. I called Peter Storrie. ‘Peter, I’m not going to take it,’ I said. ‘I don’t know whether I want to get into this and I’m happy where I am.’
    Peter’s attitude surprised me. ‘You’re mad, Harry,’ he said. ‘Mad. It’s a great opportunity. You’ve always wanted to manage a big club and this is your chance. You’ll do great, you’ve got to take it.’
    Now I really didn’t know what to think. I’d felt sure he would be pleased that I was staying. ‘I’m just not so keen on it, Pete,’ I said. ‘Life’s good, I’m enjoying the football and even if they pay me more, the extra few quid isn’t going to change anything for me. I’ve done all right.’
    ‘No, you must take it,’ he said. He sounded quite insistent. ‘Look Harry, as a friend I’ll level with you. The truth is that Alexandre wants to sell the club. So he won’t be buying any new players in the short term and if he doesn’t find a buyer he might start to sell players.’
    ‘What does the owner say about me in all this?’ I asked him.
    ‘He said he thinks you should go, too,’ Peter replied. ‘He wants you to take it, Harry, he thinks it would be good for you.’
    I carried on to Daniel’s house. Despite what Peter had told me, I still couldn’t understand why Portsmouth were so happy to wave me goodbye but, once there, I soon found out. They had already agreed a fee of £5 million in compensation with Tottenham for me. They were obviously thinking, ‘Get Harry off the wage bill, get £5 million in, give the job to Tony Adams and we’re quids in.’ They would have pushed me out the door, if they could. It would have been so easy to keep