A year before his January 2006 spending spree, Redknapp had found himself in very similar circumstances, hired mid-season by a floundering South coast club to save their Premier League status. Naturally, this meant a busy new year of transfer market activity with Redknapp bringing five new players into Southampton within the space of four weeks. Clumsy left back Olivier Bernard struggled even to justify his £400,000 price tag, but it's the £2.1 million spent on midfield journeyman Quashie that looks particularly poor business in hindsight. A solid if unspectacular performer under Redknapp for five years at Pompey, Quashie's contract was due to expire at the end of the season. Why that meant Saints, a club that had never spent over £4 million on a player, were willing to part with so much for him is unclear, but Redknapp insisted he was the man to keep Saints up and even made him the captain. Saints finished bottom of the Premier League, Redknapp departed the following winter with the club struggling in the Championship, swiftly followed by Quashie who only recouped half his original fee barely a year after arriving.
