Redknapp can't wait for his Wembley debut

In five months he will never forget, Redknapp has rejected a multi-million pound contract to manage Newcastle, been promoted as the best Englishman to succeed Steve McClaren as England boss, and arrested by detectives on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and false accounting.

'It's been a rollercoaster season, that's for sure,' said Redknapp.

But the ride is far from over. On Saturday, if he can mastermind a win over West Bromwich Albion, he could become the first manager to take Portsmouth to the FA Cup final for 69 years.

But as he proudly leads out Portsmouth at the Wembley semi-final, he will still be on police bail, along with the club's chief executive, Peter Storrie, and with little prospect of the cloud being lifted before the end of the season. Redknapp has been advised, both by his club and his solicitors, to keep his counsel, but privately he maintains his innocence.

Neither his work nor his team have suffered since the day he drove himself to Chichester police station at the end of November.

Indeed, Portsmouth have flourished. As the only Premier League team left in the competition, the club are favourites to win their semifinal — with Cardiff meeting Barnsley in the other — but Redknapp preaches caution from experience, because Ipswich, Preston and Plymouth from the Championship all offered Portsmouth strong resistance in earlier rounds.

'Being in the semi-final at Wembley is a great occasion for the club, but it's not a day out,' said Redknapp. 'We have a great opportunity and we must make sure we don't waste it. West Brom have a good squad of players. If they'd been in the Premier League this season, they'd have survived.'

Redknapp, 61, has spent 46 years since his apprenticeship at West Ham trying to get to Wembley as something other than a spectator. After all that has happened to him these past five months, it would surely be poetic justice for him to take Portsmouth to the Cup final.

'I don't get carried away, to be honest,' he said. 'I've had a fantastic living from the game that's been my life since I was 15. If I'm lucky enough to take Portsmouth to the Cup final, that would be brilliant, but mostly it would be lovely for my family, for the fans and for the players here.

'But I'm realistic. We have no chance of winning the Premier League, but we've given ourselves a chance to win the Cup. And that's lovely, isn't it?'