PEACE has broken out again at Portsmouth and manager Harry Redknapp insists he will still be around next August - but do NOT expect he and chairman Milan Mandaric to have a smooth relationship.
Last week it looked like Redknapp would be leaving Fratton Park after a major row with multi-millionaire Mandaric over, ostensibly, the future of number two Jim Smith.
Really it was all about budget, with Mandaric wanting an end to Redknapp's wheeling and dealing which has seen an influx of 19 players, a transfer fee outlay of only around £5million but an annual wage bill of up to £20million.
"More coaching, more producing our own players," was the Mandaric demand.
But that riled Redknapp who envisaged Smith, 63, being dumped on the scrapheap along with another younger coach Kevin Bond, the former Saints defender.
But after some alarmingly spiteful verbal exchanges, Redknapp and Mandaric came to an understanding before Saturday's last-day romp in which hungry Nigerian striker Aiyegbeni Yakubu grabbed four goals against soft-bellied Boro.
And the former West Ham boss, having seen his team safe from Premiership relegation two weeks ago, said: "It has been a bad week but it is over now and things are ok.
"Jim is not going anywhere and if Milan wants me to bring in another coach as well that's fine.
"But there is no denying we have bust-ups occasionally because Milan and I are very much the same type. If I have something to say I will say it and so will he.
"I may be different from any manager he has had before in the way I am, but this time things have been cleared up and that is the end of it. Deep down I believe he trusts me to do the job."
Redknapp, who like most managers in the Premiership, has consistently campaigned for a bigger budget to build his side, now accepts he will not get that at Pompey.
But the 57-year-old is convinced the club could have no better manager than himself with the identikit he presents.
"I'm out coaching on the field in my tracksuit every day," he said. "And I can put a team together. That is the main thing and you can talk about youth and youth academies but setting them up will cost you a fortune and you never know what the results will be.
"I just don't think there are the kids around any more - not at our level.
"I love working here and for these fans. They have got to be the fans of the year."
Redknapp added: "It takes all sorts. Alex Ferguson is not a coach. Sven-Goran Eriksson is not a coach. Have you ever seen him coach? Nobody has. He doesn't do any at all, but he employs people who do.
"But I go out and coach, Kevin Bond coaches but Jim (Smith) doesn't. He is better organiser of other things than I am and I need him there. He lifts me when I'm down and we all need that.
"The players and staff love him, too. There's nobody in the game you will find who hates Jim Smith."
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