Redknapp has a job for life

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Redknapp has been told he can stay at Portsmouth for as long as he wants after masterminding the club's first FA Cup success for 69 years. (AFP)

Harry Redknapp has been told he can stay at Portsmouth for as long as he wants after masterminding the club's first FA Cup success for 69 years.

Redknapp has sealed his status as a Fratton Park legend thanks to Saturday's 1-0 victory over Cardiff at Wembley, which also booked the team's first ever European campaign.

Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie - who worked with Redknapp when they were both at West Ham - made it clear there is no chance of the manager being allowed to leave.

Storrie insisted reports Redknapp may quit in the close-season were wide of the mark and, asked if the former West Ham boss would be staying, he said: "Definitely. He absolutely loves it here, this is his home."

"He enjoys being manager of Portsmouth this is his team a team he put together and now he wants to go on."

"As far as (owner) Sacha Gaydamak is concerned Harry is here for as long as Harry wants to be here and let's hope that is for many, many years to come.

"Harry loves the job and you could see what Saturday meant for him."

Redknapp was given a rapturous reception by over 200,000 Portsmouth fans who swamped the city to see their heroes parade the Cup on Sunday.

He admitted he had never thought about quitting despite the strain of seeing his house raided by police as part of an investigation into transfer deals.

Redknapp has not been charged with any offence but the combination of that and the death of his wife's sister, Pat Lampard - the mother of Chelsea star Frank - could easily have taken its toll.

Instead Redknapp has vowed to stay on. "There's no way I'm going to pack up. It's never entered my mind," he said.

"I don't know what I would do without football and there's no way I am going to walk away from Portsmouth again. I've done that once and we all know what happened."

"It's been difficult. My wife has been so low and I suppose it's not been easy the last few weeks but it can happen to every family at any time."

"It's hard for me when she's like that but I wanted to win so badly to get a smile back on her face and she knew how much it meant and was so happy about how the day went."

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