Brooking: revenge not a motive

Trevor Brooking has denied suggestions that his friendship with fellow former West Ham manager Billy Bonds was a contributory factor in the decision to rule out Harry Redknapp as a potential England manager.

Some sections of the media went into meltdown following the appointment of Roy Hodgson as the new England boss instead of rent-a-quote Redknapp, since when a whispering campaign has begun suggesting that the Tottenham manager's fall-out with former friend Bonds was core to the decision.

As a result, Brooking has been forced to defend his corner - and last night he told the Daily Mail that the rumours were without foundation, whilst referring to them as "outrageous".

"I’ve heard the whispers and I’ve seen one or two things which have been written," he said. "It’s just outrageous. That business has got to be, what, nearly 20 years ago, hasn’t it?

"Sure, I wasn’t happy at the time, but I made my points then. To suggest I could be so petty is just absurd. I’ve met Harry many times since then and it doesn’t even cross my mind. I never give it a thought.

"If you can bear a grudge for nearly 20 years, then it’s time to take a look at yourself. There were a number of candidates discussed and I had no problems with any of them. It wasn’t an issue."

Bonds, who has never gone on record to reveal the real reasons for his dispute with Redknapp has not spoken with his former team mate since 1994, when Bonds was effectively replaced as West Ham boss by Redknapp.

Bonds walked out on a club with whom he had been employed since 1967 after he was told that the board wanted to replace him with Redknapp, who the former West Ham captain has brought in from Bournemouth as a coach in 1992.

Speaking to KUMB in a 2010 interview, Academy Director Tony Carr - who was a close friend to both Bonds and Redknapp - revealed that Harry had told the club prior to his appointment that he had been offered a return to former club Bournemouth.

"When it all happened we were pre-season training in Epping Forest, and I was with H," Carr revealed. "He said to me, "I've had a fantastic offer from Bournemouth. They want me to come back and be a Director of Football, to almost run the club. I'm really tempted and I don't know what to do."

"Then we went on pre-season to Scotland and it all blew up. I still don't know [what happened] to this day - Billy's never let on, Harry's always said it was out of his hands and I believe him, I really do believe him.

"But Bill's never said a word. The only thing I do know is that he's not spoken to Harry since."