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Sport

18th Apr 2017

Harry Redknapp is the new Birmingham City manager and fans reckon they know who he’s signing first

Triffic player

Darragh Murphy

That didn’t take long.

Less than 24 hours since Gianfranco Zola’s four-month spell as Birmingham City manager came to an end, the club has announced the Italian’s successor.

And it’s a bloody triffic appointment.

Harry Redknapp was unveiled as the new Blues boss on Tuesday morning, with the club turning to the 70-year-old’s wealth of experience as they aim to improve on the lacklustre Championship campaign which fans endured this season.

Redknapp has been without a job since his bizarre two-game spell as Jordan manager last year, before which he was in charge of QPR for three seasons.

“The club is delighted to announce that Harry Redknapp is Blues new manager,” a Birmingham statement read.

“The vastly experienced Redknapp has agreed to replace Gianfranco Zola, who resigned on Monday.

“Redknapp has enjoyed notable success as a manager at AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United, Portsmouth, Tottenham Hotspur and QPR.

“Amongst his many achievements, he successfully guided Portsmouth and QPR to promotions to the Premier League and also secured an FA Cup victory with Portsmouth.

“He won a Premier League Manager of the Year award with Tottenham Hotspur and also qualified them for the Champions League.

“We believe that under the leadership of Redknapp, Blues will enhance their strength and create achievement.”

And the moment Redknapp’s name appeared across Sky Sports’ breaking news banner, Birmingham fans rushed to Twitter to make the exact same joke about his expected first signing.

Redknapp worked with Croatian midfielder Niko Kranjcar at Portsmouth, Spurs and QPR so why not add Birmingham to the list?

https://twitter.com/natashas1993/status/854246660209348608

https://twitter.com/sonikkicks/status/854247001541795841

https://twitter.com/SidArmstrong96/status/854247206978768897

https://twitter.com/MarcBazeleyNWEM/status/854247331885199361