For the two FA Cup finalists, the last few days before the big event are invariably pleasantly chaotic. At some point, though, Harry Redknapp will walk out of the gate of his house in Sandbanks, stroll down to the jetty with his two boxer dogs, board the little ferry which plies across the bay - and go walking along a deserted beach.

That time is precious to him, thinking time, silent moments to clear the head and make decisions.

It may be that, on one of those strolls along the beach near Poole, he would have decided on the Portsmouth team to play Cardiff at Wembley tomorrow.

He would have thought about the people who are closest to him and who will be in their Wembley seats tomorrow. Wife Sandra, sons Jamie and Mark, brother-in-law Frank Lampard and nephew, Frank, who has a final of his own next week in Moscow.

There would also have been time to think of others, his dad, also named Harry who, had he still been alive, would have been so proud to see his son lead out the Portsmouth team, Sandra's sister Pat [and wife of Frank] who died recently, and Bobby Moore, Redknapp's great pal, who lifted the Cup as West Ham captain in 1964.

He would have also thought about his future beyond tomorrow's big day, whether to carry on or call it a day. There is no doubt that his sister-in-law's sad passing and his arrest by the police as part of the investigation into corruption, have both left their mark.

"There's nothing I like better than a walk along the beach with my two dogs," says Redknapp.

"Sometimes I don't see another soul. People have this picture of me galivanting here, there and everywhere but that's not me. I don't do much really during the season, apart from taking training and going to games.

"I love to get home and spend time with Sandra. That's why I didn't take the Newcastle job. Sure it was tempting. It's a massive club. In the end, though, I didn't go. People can say what they want about me lacking ambition but my home life is so important to me. It didn't appeal to me to be up there away from Sandra and my home all week. There's not enough money in the world that would want to make me do that. We've got our two dogs, I didn't see them moving up there. I didn't want to move Sandra. My grandchildren are here. I love it at Portsmouth too. I enjoy coming in to training every day. I'll stay here until I'm not wanted."

That day is likely to be some way off for Redknapp, provided he still has the will to carry on. He could even become something of a rarity in recent years - an English manager of an FA Cup-winning team.

Tradition has always been important to Redknapp, which is why the FA Cup will always be special for him.

"The FA Cup is a great competition, always has been," he says. "I remember my dad taking me to watch West Ham play Huddersfield in the Cup one afternoon - I think Denis Law was playing for Huddersfield - and then on to see Arsenal play Colch-ester in the evening.

"I recall Stan Flashman was selling tickets outside Highbury. We were in a queue at the time to go and stand behind the goal because my dad couldn't afford the seat prices.

"My dad hated Stan. 'Look at that tout,' he would say. "Many years later, Stan invited me up into his box for a match and I remember thinking, 'my dad used to hate you and here I am in your box'.

"My first trip to Wembley to watch an FA Cup Final was back in 1964, when West Ham beat Preston.

"John Sissons, who was 18, played in that final for West Ham, as did Howard Kendall, who was even younger, for Preston and I had played with them that year in the England Youth team.

"Ron Greenwood took all the young players to the Final that year and we got invited back to the club 'do' afterwards."

Redknapp has been back to Wembley many times since as an interested spectator on Cup Final day but this time he will be down on the touchline, heavily involved.

"I have a good idea what my team will be but I've got some tough decisions to make," he admitted. "One or two players have played in every round but I might have to change it. A few of them are going to be very low.

"I feel for them. It's going to be so difficult for me to tell them. I was left out in my playing career but never from a Cup final. I'm not sure I would have handled it well. Imagine it."

Whatever the result tomorrow, Red-knapp has no intention of calling it a day and retreating to the beach for good.

"I don't feel any older, any different," he added. "I've got a good team here and the owner, Sasha Gaydamak, is a terrific young fella. He treats me well.

"He says to me 'Is there anything you want Mr Redknapp?' and I say 'No.'

"The only thing I've ever wanted was better players when I had a bad team. I was always trying to improve it, get someone else in.

"If he tells me there's some money this summer then great, we'll get two or three players in because we need to keep improving.

"While I'm enjoying it here, I wouldn't want to pack up. I don't know what I'd do all day anyway.

"You can only play golf so many days a week and I'm not that bloody good at golf anyway."

Redknapp fears, however, that the prospect of an Englishman guiding his team to Wembley glory could soon become a collectors' item.

"I think it will get worse," he said. "There will be more and more foreign owners coming in and they will bring in more and more foreign managers. I see they're already talking about Scolari coming in if Eriksson leaves Manchester City.

"What about someone like Tony Mowbray or Tony Pulis? They're probably not sexy enough. Is that the expression?

"It's rubbish really because a lot of the time they couldn't make the clubs any better than some of the English lads would do, given the chance.

"I think most people in this country, if they're honest, would like to see an Englishman manage England. I still haven't given up hope. It's a great opportunity. There's six players in that England squad who I signed as kids.

"Given the opportunity, I am sure I could do a job."

If you look at a map of the Poole area, there is a notable feature at the far end of Studland Bay, not far from Redknapp's home in Sandbanks.

And should Redknapp's Portsmouth beat Cardiff tomorrow, his admirers may well feel they need to add the prefix 'Good' to what is presently named 'Old Harry Rocks'.