There’s dishing the dirt …and then there’s really dishing the dirt which is precisely what former Hammer loanee Dani has decided to do with a certain Mr Harry Redknapp.
The former Sporting Lisbon player arrived on loan back in the 1996 season but claims the former Hammers boss wrecked his chances of playing in the Euros of that year.
Harry has long had a reputation as a ducker and diver in the transfer market before – perhaps appropriately becoming King of another jungle recently.
Dani managed nine games and two goals for the Irons before an alleged ‘ruck’ with Redknapp saw him disappear off the Irons scene.
He appears to have waited 22 years since leaving the east end to tell his story about the issues that he had under Redknapp’s management and they aren’t pretty in the telling.
The midfielder had arrived at Upton Park having represented Portugal at every level and completed 72 games for Ajax after leaving West Ham.
But there was no way back after attending a training camp in the south of Spain where he says the Irons squad spent the entire time drinking beer and playing golf.
He revealed to Tribuna Expresso.: “The manager, Harry Redknapp, had the nerve to tell me: ‘Now I’m going to take you off the team until the end of the season, so your price goes down and then we buy you.’
“I asked him not to do that since I had the chance of going to the Euros and without playing it would be unlikely. His answer was: ‘I don’t care. I couldn’t care less about the Euros and Portugal. I want to buy you so I can have you here next season, so you’re not playing anymore.’
“I tried fleeing to Portugal, but my agent and my father convinced me to return.
Dani then alleges: “Redknapp didn’t get along with me or with half of the players he managed – he has a terrible image. His son, Jamie Redknapp, is great, but he isn’t.
“We didn’t have a professional relationship anymore. He started saying I was a bad professional, that I smoked and other things.
“And then I misbehaved – angry at him for cutting my chances of going to the Euros as an 18-year-old. I’d go to practices just for the sake of being there, and wouldn’t respond if he talked to me or demanded anything during reserve team matches. If I had to arrive late or to skip practice, I’d do it. I lost all respect I had for him.”