'A 5ft 7in teenager? We need men Harry' – Redknapp had to convince Cherries that Defoe was exactly what they needed 17 years ago

Cherries’ season was in danger of imploding before the clocks went back and director of football Machin was scratching around for inspiration.

He got on the phone to Redknapp, then in charge of West Ham, to ask if his old pal could spare a player who might come down to Dean Court and resuscitate a stagnant campaign.

Given Redknapp had previously let Cherries borrow Rio Ferdinand – by this time the world’s most expensive defender – Machin would have expected the club’s former boss to have a crackerjack up his sleeve.

He was rather nonplussed, then, when Redknapp declared he had just the man – Jermain Defoe, a teenager with 13 minutes of first-team football under his belt.

Mild confusion became downright bewilderment when Redknapp added that the player he fancied to thrive in the rough and tumble of Second Division football stood at a Lilliputian 5ft 7in.

Redknapp, speaking to the Daily Echo, takes up the story: “It doesn’t seem 10 minutes ago that I was loaning him to Bournemouth from West Ham. Mel Machin and Sean O’Driscoll were there at the time.

“I remember Mel ringing one morning and asking if I had a striker they could borrow because they were struggling to stay in the league.

“I told him I had a kid they could have and said he was different class.

“Mel asked me how old he was and I said 17. Mel said something along the lines of ‘Harry, you know this league, it’s a men’s league’.

“He then asked me how tall he was and I said 5ft 7ins! They thought he was too young and too small.”

“I told them to take him for a couple of days and let him train with them. I said I would tell Jermain he was just coming to get a bit of experience.”

Beggars cannot be choosers. Cherries had won two of their opening 15 games and Machin, in tandem with manager O’Driscoll, was boxed into a corner. He had no option but to trust his friend’s instincts.

“After the first day, my phone went at around two o’clock and it was Mel,” says Redknapp. “He said they wanted to loan Jermain for the rest of the season.

“I think he had scored five goals in a full-scale practice match or something ridiculous like that. The rest is history.”

Defoe, of course, would score in each of his first 10 Football League matches for Cherries. Strike partner Steve Fletcher, however, recalls neither he nor his team-mates being instantly blown away by the young Londoner’s talents.

“In his first week of training he didn’t show any signs of what he was going to achieve in the rest of his career.” Fletcher once told this paper. “He scored in his first game when we got beaten 2-1 at Stoke but I thought nothing of it.”

Nevertheless, the Daily Echo reported that Defoe had given the Potters a “torrid time with his electrifying pace”. He scored a “stunning” goal and hit the woodwork twice.

O’Driscoll swiftly had designs on turning an initial one-month loan into something more enduring. The manager went so far as to issue a call to arms to supporters ahead of Defoe’s home debut.

“There are a lot of things for him to consider and we want him to get a feel for the place, which is where the supporters come in, because they have a big part to play in making him feel welcome,” said O’Driscoll.

For Defoe’s part, he had already demonstrated a nice line in diplomacy when it came to winning his new supporters’ hearts.

“Although there weren’t many Bournemouth fans at Stoke, you could certainly hear the ones who were there and I appreciated the reception they gave me during the warm-up,” he said, following his first outing in a Cherries shirt.

“I am really looking forward to making my debut in front of the home crowd and I just hope I can score again and we win.”

Defoe’s hopes became reality when he struck in a 2-1 victory over Peterborough.

Suddenly, Cherries had the wind at their backs. By the time Defoe was scoring for the 10th game in a row, on a filthy January night at Cambridge, his team had won seven of nine matches since losing at Stoke.

Inevitably, Defoe couldn’t maintain his otherworldly strike-rate. But he kept chipping in – and Cherries kept chipping away at the teams above them. O’Driscoll’s formerly directionless troops ultimately finished only two points shy of a play-off spot.

Current boss Eddie Howe was a member of the 2000-01 side and last year told the Daily Echo that Defoe was the “catalyst” for the turnaround.

“When we started winning games with him in the team and he was scoring goals, our confidence levels went through the roof,” said Howe. “We felt we could beat anybody.”

Now Defoe is back, with Howe having had no need to call on Redknapp for a reference. It is glowing nonetheless.

“I first saw him when he was a 14-year-old and he was banging in goals every Saturday for Charlton in the South East Counties League,” continued Redknapp. “I managed to sign him for West Ham when he was 16.

“He has been an amazing player. He is a top pro and a top bloke and he will do very well for Bournemouth.”