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Article written early last year. He was shit for us but brilliant on every video game, Harry must have had a playstation.
‘Harvey Nichols? This story is not true.’ Florin Raducioiu on West Ham, trouble with Harry Redknapp and tea with East 17’s lead singer
It is 23 years since Florin Raducioiu left West Ham and he appears relieved that he finally has the opportunity to set the record straight about an infamous story that continues to cause him embarrassment.
When West Ham fans reflect on Raducioiu’s ill-fated six month spell at the club, it is not his goal against Manchester United they remember, or his determination to adapt to life in the Premier League — it is the anecdote by Harry Redknapp that he missed an FA Cup game to go shopping with his wife.
“You can imagine my mood the next day when a friend rang me and told me the previous evening he’d spotted Raducioiu out shopping with his wife in the Harvey Nichols store in London. I knew then I had to get rid of him but it wasn’t easy,” Redknapp said in his autobiography in 1998.
For many years, Raducioiu has been on the receiving end of endless jokes but he has had enough and now it is time for him to give his version of the story.
“’Memories’ by Elvis Presley is one of my favourite songs and I was listening to this song when I prepared notes for this question because now it’s my chance to speak the truth,” he says with exasperation. “West Ham, for me, was a very intense period but also short. Many things happened in that six months, so I want to apologise to the fans for failing to meet their expectations.
“I’m not one to criticise people but I didn’t learn anything under Redknapp. I played for a lot of managers during my career and he’s the only one I didn’t learn anything from, and this story about me shopping at Harvey Nichols is what upset me the most.
“This story is not true and I will tell you the facts. I had already decided to go back to Spain at the time because I was re-joining Espanyol, so I was no longer part of the team. I went back to London with my wife, who was pregnant at the time, to see friends. Then after, I went to the game to watch the team. Remember, I was no longer part of the team but I still watched them play. That story [by Redknapp] is nonsense. Redknapp wrote a book and said more bad things about me but I would’ve preferred if he wrote about me trying hard at West Ham and trying to adapt to English football. But in order to sell his book he, chose to say bad things instead. I’m still waiting for Harry to post this book to my address.
“I was always respectful during my time at West Ham, so I never would’ve allowed myself to be disrespectful and go shopping at this Harvey Nichols place. Me and my wife are currently going through a divorce but you can ask her and she will tell you the same thing. It seems like a lot of people keep hearing different versions of this silly story but mine is the truth.”
After featuring for Romania at Euro 96 and scoring their only goal of the tournament, Raducioiu joined West Ham that summer from Espanyol for £1.5 million. It was his international team-mate Ilie Dumitrescu, a forward for West Ham at the time, who convinced him to join.
But it proved to be an unsuccessful spell, bringing only three goals in 12 appearances. When asked to describe what it was like managing the former Romania striker, Redknapp said: “In his first two friendlies, Raducioiu did nothing but moan about the rough treatment he was getting from opposition centre-halves. He just couldn’t face being tackled in any shape or form. Dicksy [Julian Dicks] was anxious to get stuck in to him to see what he was made of but Raducioiu made it clear that he wouldn’t be challenging for anything.”
But Raducioiu, now 49, begs to differ and believes the lack of support he received from Redknapp was the issue.
“I signed a three-year contract at West Ham and everyone thought I was going to be a star,” he says. “So I have regrets about my experience at the club because I failed the fans. I should have fought harder and proved that the money invested in me was a fair investment because the fans loved me during my six months at the club.
“At that time, my wife was pregnant so when the opportunity came about to join West Ham, I said, ‘Let’s go and experience what life is like in England’. But the football there was very different to what I had experienced before. I had some problems with the way we trained and it just wasn’t fun. It was like long ball and pedalling football. So after about one month of moving to West Ham, I realised it was a mistake. I had a big discussion with Redknapp and that’s what started my problems at West Ham until around December of that year when I moved back to Espanyol.
“Harry didn’t try to help me. When I was at Espanyol, we played technical football and then, when I signed for West Ham, the football was completely different. No one tried to help me adapt quicker to English football.”
When asked to reflect on happier times at West Ham, there is one moment that will always stand out. “The goal I scored against Man United [in December 1996] was a fantastic goal. The atmosphere for that game was incredible and I remember that goal so well because I scored past Peter Schmeichel. Sometimes I go on YouTube to watch it back. That’s how much I love that goal.”
In his role as a pundit for Telekom Sport in Romania, Raducioiu watches a lot of Premier League games and always keeps a close eye on West Ham’s performances. Despite recently getting knocked out of the FA Cup and their precarious league position, he still thinks they can turn it around, although he would like one player in particular to rediscover his form.
“I think it can be a great period under David Moyes,” he says. “OK, the position in the league table doesn’t look good but he can turn it around. The owners made a good decision when they appointed him as manager because he has good experience of managing in this league. West Ham is a club with great history and they’re a Premier League side, so it would be a disaster if they went down.
“Key players need to return to form and I know he is currently injured but I think Felipe Anderson must try to play better. When he was at Lazio, he was a very good player but we need him to become consistent again. He would always give defenders a tough time in Italy, hence why West Ham signed him. With the club currently in a bad position in the league, the fans need players to make them excited again.”
During an hour-long interview, Raducioiu repeatedly apologises for not being able to meet fans’ expectations at West Ham. But there were happy moments, too.
“When I was at West Ham, I lived in Loughton and my first child was born in London. I had a very nice house and my neighbour was Brian Harvey, who used to be the lead singer of East 17. My house was in front of his, so I would see him in the morning when I was on my way to training and he would be on his way to the studio. I’m pretty sure he was a West Ham fan. He would play his music to me and make me tea sometimes but he would always add too much milk.
“He had a young kid and we would just talk about football and he would ask me how I was finding it at the club and what I thought of England. He was a really nice guy.
“But I must talk about our captain at that time, Julian Dicks. He was an extravagant guy. Sometimes, before a game, the players would go out to warm up and Julian would still be in the bathtub listening to music. It’s funny looking back now but I think that was his way of preparing for a match. He was probably the best player I played with at West Ham.”
Barring his spell at Dinamo Bucharest, Raducioiu never played for a club for more than two years. He is one of the two professional football players (alongside Christian Poulsen) to have plied his trade in the top five European leagues (England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France) — and the only player to have scored in those five leagues.
“I enjoyed travelling and getting to know different countries and cultures,” he says. “When I was a child, I wasn’t able to go abroad so when I became an adult, I always had my luggage ready to travel. It wasn’t like I won the Ballon d’Or but I’m happy with what I achieved and if I had the opportunity to repeat my career in another life, I would.”
Raducioiu plans on visiting London in March to celebrate his 50th birthday but you get the impression shopping at Harvey Nichols won’t sit high on his list of priorities.
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