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Look out ... QPR are in for one hell of a ride over the next two months. Source: Jonathan Brady / AAP
Can Harry do it? Can my old boss really conjure the impossible and lift Queens Park Rangers from the bottom of the drop-zone with nine games to play?
That's the hysteria at the moment in England, after a vital 3-1 win over Sunderland.
It's all thrilling for us from the sidelines – but let me tell you first hand, this is the worst time of year for a player. I've been there, staring down the final two months of the season, just like these teams are right now.
It's exciting. It's horrible. It's an extraordinary time.
I remember in 1996-1997, playing with Southampton under Graeme Souness. I'd just returned from playing a Socceroos game in the Terry Venables era. I got back to England and we were last on the table, just like QPR. We were travelling to Nottingham Forest, who were just above us – also a bit like Redknapp's side, who visit Aston Villa this weekend.
We were sitting around having our pre-match lunch and we were watching TV. I remember looking up and seeing host Mark Lawrenson say something like: "all we can say at the moment is it is Southampton and two others going down".
I remember the look on all our faces.
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The thing about relegation battles is they are incredibly tense. There are the odd blues at training or on the pitch.
There's anger. And there's denial. The first reaction is think 'we'll be right, we have next week'. Then, all of a sudden, you run out of games …
But there was no denying what the pundits were saying that day. That galvanised us. Souness used it in his pre-match talk: "you need to show your character, you need to show you're good enough".
We went out and smashed them 3-0, went on a run and saved ourselves. Boy, it was a bumpy ride – we won quite a few games, drew a few, there were times we thought we were out, then we were back. But we did have an extraordinary revival.
Matches like this weekend at Villa Park are just massive. Aston Villa's win last weekend at Reading, for example, was huge for them. And this weekend is your quintessential six-pointer: Villa can create brief daylight, or QPR can mount the pressure. It's extraordinary how fans react, too. There's both tension and fear in the stands.
I'll never forget the words Souness uttered after we blew a 2-0 lead at home against Coventry in the same scenario that season. A six pointer. We blew it. They got one back, then in the last minute Francis Benali hit a horror back-pass, gifting an equaliser.
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I will always remember this – Souness was filthy. He came into the dressing room and declared: "you've just cost us the premiership". It was harsh at the time and poor old Franny was distraught.
But we went on to play Sunderland at Roker Park with three games to, won 1-0, won the penultimate game of the season and were just about safe on the final day.
I played against the Big Boz that final day at Villa Park. We were unlikely to go down, but we were still at risk, so I said to Bosnich "if I hit one, let it go in".
He said: "no worries, I'll make sure I make it look good."
I enjoyed a pretty good spell in that two months and that day, hit a pearler - top corner. And what did the Bozza do? Plucked it out with the save of the week!
| P | W | D | L | GD | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man United | 28 | 23 | 2 | 3 | 37 | 71 |
| 2 | Man City | 28 | 17 | 8 | 3 | 27 | 59 |
| 3 | Tottenham | 29 | 16 | 6 | 7 | 15 | 54 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 28 | 15 | 7 | 6 | 26 | 52 |
| 5 | Arsenal | 28 | 13 | 8 | 7 | 21 | 47 |
| 6 | Liverpool | 29 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 20 | 45 |
| 7 | Everton | 28 | 11 | 12 | 5 | 9 | 45 |
| 8 | West Brom | 29 | 13 | 4 | 12 | 2 | 43 |
| 9 | Swansea | 29 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 4 | 40 |
| 10 | Fulham | 28 | 8 | 9 | 11 | -5 | 33 |
| 11 | Stoke | 29 | 7 | 12 | 10 | -8 | 33 |
| 12 | West Ham | 28 | 9 | 6 | 13 | -9 | 33 |
| 13 | Newcastle | 29 | 9 | 6 | 14 | -10 | 33 |
| 14 | Norwich | 29 | 7 | 12 | 10 | -18 | 33 |
| 15 | Sunderland | 29 | 7 | 9 | 13 | -9 | 30 |
| 16 | Southampton | 29 | 6 | 10 | 13 | -12 | 28 |
| 17 | Aston Villa | 29 | 6 | 9 | 14 | -26 | 27 |
| 18 | Wigan | 28 | 6 | 6 | 16 | -22 | 24 |
| 19 | Reading | 29 | 5 | 8 | 16 | -21 | 23 |
| 20 | QPR | 29 | 4 | 11 | 14 | -21 | 23 |
We lost 1-0, but stayed up.
How does it feel at the end of it?
Put it this way, I won a premiership with Blackburn Rovers two years before – and it was the same type of emotion. Nearly as good. It's a tremendous feeling when you escape. It truly marks you, and when you get through it, it gives you immense belief.
It lives with you: I can still picture winning at Roker Park; I can see Francis's back-pass; my goals against Blackburn and West Ham, my former clubs, are still all vivid like it was yesterday.
What will happen this year?
My old boss Harry has been involved in loads of battles before and those who have experience know it's an unforgettable experience.
He knows he took over in a hopeless situation – but the signs are there. His signings have been clever and he's starting to work his magic.
Despite back-to-back wins, they're still last, but they have momentum. Victory over Aston Villa, who are 17th, will cut the gap to Paul Lambert's side to a point.
This year, with the title all but run and won, the battle to avoid the drop will be absorbing. There are a heap of teams who still have some work to do reach the magical survival number. In fact, any team in the bottom half can slip back into the race if they're not careful.
It's an amazing time. Bring it on.
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