Harry Redknapp has received buckets of praise from his Portsmouth chairman Sacha Gaydamak, who labelled the coach as 'a footballing genius'. Portsmouth are looking forward to the FA Cup Final with Cardiff City and hope to lift the trophy to guarantee European qualification.

Gaydamak told the Daily Mail: "Portsmouth were very close to relegation when I took over. Mr Redknapp saved the club and then made us an attractive club for players to come to; players of the stature of David James and Sol Campbell. It was genius, Harry's genius, to attract those players.

"It meant that Glen Johnson and Jermaine Defoe and Lassana Diarra would follow. For these athletes, it is not just about the salary you pay them, but the quality around them.

"Sometimes I go downstairs and sit in his room and there is Mr Redknapp, Tony Adams on the other side and Joe Jordan in the corner. It is like opening a football encyclopaedia."