Dominic Fifieldon how the future of Portsmouth looks thrilling while Harry Redknapp remains at the helm

IT IS a story Harry Redknapp has told before, though, as he glances along the line of those he leads out at Wembley today, he might shudder at the memories it conjures. In December 2005 the newly reappointed Portsmouth manager strode into the club's training ground with the team second bottom in the Premier League. "Dejan Stefanovic, who I'd brought here first time round, came up to me and said: 'Gaffer, you've got no chance here. This is the worst team I've ever seen. You must be mad'," recalled Redknapp. "After a morning's training I realised he was right."

If Pompey's position felt irretrievable then, it is unrecognisable now. There is no better example of the rejuvenation of a football team than that instigated by Redknapp. A 3-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur in the manager's first game back had left them languishing six points from safety, their plight worsening with only two league wins in his first 13 matches in charge. Yet this afternoon Portsmouth compete in their first FA Cup final in 69 years as an established top-10 Premier League side. It says everything that theirs was a sense of deflation after losing their last four games to finish the domestic campaign in only eighth. That was still a best league placing in 52 years.

None of the side that surrendered at White Hart Lane on Redknapp's return is expected to start today. Jamie Ashdown and Richard Hughes may make the bench, while Linvoy Primus is still a long-term injury absentee, but the rest have been moved on.

The manager's first spell at Fratton Park had hauled the club up from the Championship in 2003 before a very public falling-out with the then owner Milan Mandaric curtailed Redknapp's first spell. Alain Perrin, his successor, had secured only 10 points from the opening 13 matches of the subsequent season before the chairman wielded the axe. Redknapp, lured back from Southampton, inherited a squad swollen in numbers but shorn of the required quality to survive.

The roll call reads like a list of shame. Konstantinos Chalkias, Giannis Skopelitis and Emmanuel Olisadebe all joined from Greek football and made a combined 14 league starts. Aleksandar Rodic was signed from the Slovenian club ND Gorica and managed one. Of the others, Dario Silva, Zvonimir Vukic, Brian Priske and Collins Mbesuma's contributions were just as forgettable.

"When I came back here I took over the worst team you've ever seen, so it was some feat to keep them up," said Redknapp. "People call me a wheeler-dealer but I don't want to change people around. I've tended to do it because, when I've walked into a club, the players haven't been performing. It was the same when I came to Portsmouth in the Championship, and when I came back. I had to do something. I didn't think: 'The last manager must have been a poor coach, I'm going to go on to the ground, put my hand on their shoulders and turn them into better players because I'm God or something'. I'm not clever enough to do that.

"If a team isn't good enough, I try and improve it. When David James became available I thought: 'I want the best, so I'll get Jamo'. You've got to keep improving within the budget you've got."

The arrival on the scene of Alexandre Gaydamak, initially as Mandaric's co-owner, offered the club more clout in the market. The first thing Redknapp asked of the benefactor was "11 new players", and his prompt recruitment of Benjani Mwaruwari, Pedro Mendes, Sean Davis and Noe Pamarot was key to survival in that first season back. The summer cull of Perrin's recruits saw 11 players released.

The two top-10 finishes since have been conjured with a mixture of strong, athletic players largely from Africa, often arriving via France, and veterans steeped in Premier League pedigree.

Redknapp has managed to squeeze the best out of players many considered to be well past their sell-by date. "He creates the environment for us to play well in," reflected James, who arrived from Manchester City as a former England goalkeeper two years ago and, at 37, is now Fabio Capello's number one. "He has created something fantastic here and there is definite room for decent growth in the future . . . he has us at ease. I'd say this has been my happiest season in the game."

James, like Sol Campbell and Nwankwo Kanu, has enjoyed grander surroundings at previous clubs than Portsmouth's training complex or Fratton Park, yet the atmosphere created by Redknapp has reinvigorated ageing limbs. His man-management is underrated but second to none.

"Harry's been around and learned from guys like Ron Greenwood and John Lyall - football people," said his assistant, Tony Adams. "He has a reputation for being a little bit 'wa'ay'. But I'm experiencing a 61-year-old man near the end of his career, not an East End wide boy just starting out in the game. He knows exactly what he's doing. He's one of the best."

Gaydamak described him as "the dream manager" this week. "People laughed when we signed older players, and I didn't understand it myself either at first," he said. "Why are we signing semi-retired players? But it was Harry's genius to attract players like James and Campbell."

Excellent younger players have followed. Glen Johnson was plucked from Chelsea's reserves and is now back in the England set-up. Jermain Defoe, cup-tied today, is eager to put the frustrations at Tottenham behind him, while Lassana Diarra, a mid-winter arrival from Arsenal, is now recognised as one of the top flight's outstanding midfielders.

The core of Pompey's first-choice side must rank as one of the strongest physically in the division, with the rampaging energy of Sulley Muntari, John Utaka and Pape Bouba Diop complemented by Niko Kranjcar's clever invention on the left. Such players cost hefty fees, though already they appear coups.

The squad has outgrown the club's facilities. "But we're improving," added Redknapp. "I'm sure we're going to get the new training ground but, in the meantime, the owner knew our training pitches weren't up to Premier League standard and has said he's willing to spend £300,000 to do them up for the start of next season while we get the new training ground sorted."

Redknapp is contracted to Pompey until 2011. The supporters may bellow Gaydamak's name this afternoon but they will break away from hailing their manager to do so. The future of this club looks thrilling while Harry remains at the helm.