Harry Redknapp has confirmed Bournemouth caretaker manager Jonathan Woodgate has invited him to attend training, but insisted he is not part of the coaching staff.
The former Tottenham and West Ham boss was in charge of the south coast club between 1983 and 1992 and lives close to the Vitality Stadium.
Woodgate, ahead of Tuesday’s FA Cup fifth-round tie at Burnley, revealed he had gone to the 73-year-old for advice after he was put in interim charge only two days after he joined the Cherries as a first-team coach.
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And in a call hosted by Great British Racing, Redknapp said: “He played for me at Tottenham and he’s just asked me if I’ll pop in and keep an eye on training for a few days and I said I would so I’ll look forward to that. I’ll just watch, have a chat with him, he’s a smashing guy.”
Redknapp, who owns a horse called Shakem Up’Arry that will race in the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury on Saturday, added: “I’m not actually involved, Jonathan is in temporary charge.
“As I’ve always kept in touch with him he contacted me and said ‘gaffer, you live down here and if you want to come and watch a bit of training I’d love that’.
“If I can be any kind of help and if he had a good run hopefully he ends up with the job, that would be fantastic.”
Woodgate won his first game in charge on Saturday after the Cherries beat Birmingham by a 3-2 score to remain sixth in the Sky Bet Championship.
The 41-year-old insisted on Monday his only remit at Bournemouth was to focus on the next match, but the PA news agency understands he could take charge of this weekend’s fixture at Nottingham Forest.
Interviewing for Jason Tindall’s replacement is not set to begin until later this week and with the club board eager not to rush this appointment, Woodgate could continue in the post for the time being.
While the former Real Madrid defender was handed the reins soon after he joined on a deal until the end of the season, Bournemouth look set to hire an external candidate.
“The remit is to win the game against Burnley on Tuesday night and that is as far as it goes for me,” Woodgate said.
“It’s good to come to a different club and coach different players and be out of your comfort zone, but last week I didn’t enjoy one bit to be honest with you – apart from winning on the Saturday – because it was difficult.”
After numerous roles at Middlesbrough, including a year in charge, the one-time England international returned to the dugout when Tindall brought him in to replace Graeme Jones.
Woodgate maintained on Monday he had not had time to think about if he would like the job on a full-time basis, with his focus on restoring confidence after the Cherries ended a run of four straight league defeats last weekend.
He added: “Winning the last one, you want to win again and win again because it breeds confidence.
“It is important that we pay the FA Cup the full amount of respect and put a good side out ready to win the game. If you win one, then win two, who knows what can happen with that.”
During his time as Middlesbrough boss, Woodgate developed a good relationship with the Clarets manager Sean Dyche, but has never faced him before on the touchline.
“What he has done for Burnley is unbelievable but what he helped me with as a first-time manager was brilliant,” he said.
“He was someone I could ring when I wanted to, he would text me and I would speak to him on the phone, so I thought ‘fair play to him for doing that’.
“He has done an unbelievable job at Burnley. Sometimes he gets criticised but he just carries on and keeps Burnley in the Premier League.”
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