Regaling Redknapp

ENGLAND - Before Jose Mourinho, there was Harry Redknapp.

English football's media darling, the Cockney Guv'nor, a proper East End geezer.

Now in charge of Championship side Queens Park Rangers, Redknapp met the media Friday morning at the club's training ground in Harlington, ahead of the team's clash with Blackpool at Loftus Road on Saturday.

Fashionably late, he sauntered into the press conference room with a cup of hot tea in his hand, and greeted the waiting press pack with a smile and a sprightly: "Morning, lads."

He pulled up a chair, put his cup and mobile phone on the table, and we were off.

Now, you can't say Redknapp is as handsome as Portuguese peacock Mourinho - not by a long way.

But the 67-year-old certainly has a similar charm over the media.

After the first 10 minutes of the press conference was carried out in front of a camera by the club's in-house reporters, he beckoned the other journalists in the room to pull our chairs up to his table to have a more intimate session.

There's no doubt Redknapp has entertained bigger audiences in the Premier League, when he was in charge of West Ham, Portsmouth, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur and QPR.

But, leaning back on his chair, the manager still thoughtfully answered every question thrown at him.

The topics discussed - "would left-back Clint Hill get a new contract at the end of the season" - were not exactly front-page news.

But one issue he spoke most passionately about was rising star Ravel Morrison.

The 21-year-old, who joined QPR on loan a month ago from Premier League side West Ham, has been on fire with five goals in eight games for the Championship side.

But, Morrison's off-the-pitch antics - he was involved in an assault charge on his girlfriend while at Manchester United, and was fined £7,000 ($15,000) by the Football Association for a homophobic tweet in 2012 - have threatened to derail a promising career.

So much so that even Sir Alex Ferguson, who once labelled Morrison the most talented player he had seen since Paul Scholes, gave up on him.

But, Redknapp, who has managed to get the best out of a madcap talent like Paolo Di Canio at West Ham, says Morrison can still reach the top of his game.

RAVING

Looking at each journalist in the eye, he said: "Everybody knows what Ravel can do (but) he's got to do it for himself, hasn't he?

"He's just got to keep his head down and work hard, play as he has at the moment, do it consistently and just concentrate on his football.

"If he does that, he's got the ability to be one of the best football players around, there's no doubt about that.

"He glides across the floor - almost doesn't touch it - and I haven't seen many people run like that.

"He's got an unbelievable ability to beat people and do special things, you know. He really is a top-class talent."

He added: "Ravel needs to push himself, but he also needs someone to believe in him. And, if you do that, and he works hard, he can be one of the best players in the Premier League, for sure.

"It'll be a real shame if, in three or four years' time, he's not a big star for England. It would be a real waste."

Make no mistake about it, Morrison is a special talent - judging by his wondergoal against Spurs for West Ham earlier in the season.

But, if you haven't seen him play before, Redknapp's comments would have you believe the kid is as good as Lionel Messi.

Talking up his players and getting the best out of them? Casting a spell over the media with his charm?

You would have thought Mourinho was the one at Harlington.

The Chelsea manager might be a rock star in his own right, but make no mistake about it, Redknapp was English football's original Special One.

*Sazali's trip was made possible by AirAsia

msazali@sph.com.sg

Get The New Paper for more stories.