Redknapp's mission improbable

Stiff task
Portsmouth, who have failed to score in each of their last four Premiership matches, will remain in the relegation zone even if they record a first victory at White Hart Lane in 17 years. And with Tottenham undefeated in six games at home, their task could not be much stiffer.

Mandaric decision
Rumours of Redknapp's imminent return to Portsmouth gathered pace when Pompey owner Milan Mandaric sacked Alain Perrin on 24 November. Two wins from his club's last 17 outings had left Mandaric desperate for a saviour to fill the manager's seat at Fratton Park - and in his mind there was only one man who fitted the bill.

Strong squad
In May 2003, Redknapp guided Portsmouth back to English football's top tier for the first time since the 1987/88 season but he caused a sensation when he walked out on the club 18 months later and took the manager's job at Pompey's struggling south-coast rivals Southampton FC. But, despite claiming Southampton had a strong squad, he proved unable to prevent the Saints from dropping out of the top flight for the first time since 1978.

'Traitor' returns
Perrin's departure sparked sparked the rumour mill into overdrive and, with Southampton looking unlikely to win promotion back to the Premiership, it took just 13 days for Redknapp - dubbed a traitor by Portsmouth supporters just 12 months earlier - to return to Fratton Park. The 58-year-old has 23 matches to preserve Portsmouth's status and history suggests he may have to amass a further 30 points from those fixtures to be successful.

New faces
The Portsmouth squad is vastly different to that which he left behind 12 months ago, notably shorn of Yakubu Ayegbeni, an €11.5m summer departure for UEFA Cup contenders Middlesbrough FC, and Nigel Quashie, the Scottish international Redknapp himself took to Southampton in January. But Quashie's Scotland team-mate Richard Hughes has been one of Redknapp's closest allies in the days since his dramatic return.

'One of the few'
Hughes, who grew up in Italy, also speaks French and Spanish and has been acting as a go-between for Redknapp and a list of non-English speaking players with whom the returning manager is unfamiliar, such as Uruguayan Dario Silva, Zvonimir Vukić of Serbia and Montenegro and Colombian John Viafara. "If we had to change our manager, then I'd say we've got the right one," said Hughes, back in the squad after recovering from tonsilitis. "A few names were up for it but at this stage I think Harry is one of the few who could do it."

Serious business
The manager has been dubbed 'Agent Redknapp' by some wry Portsmouth supporters convinced his defection to Saint Mary's was only a temporary measure to relegate Southampton - but this season's mission is serious business. Redknapp led Portsmouth to just two victories in 25 Premiership away games during his first stint and only picked up one away win in eleven matches while in charge at Southampton. And by a quirk of fate, the first of those eleven games was at Tottenham last December. Redknapp's team lost 5-1.