club AFC Bournemouth being prepared to offer him a position, the West Ham board and their managing director, Peter Storrie, made a controversial move. The board were anxious not to lose Redknapp's services and offered Bonds a place away from the day-to-day affairs of the club—on the West Ham board. This would have allowed them to appoint Redknapp as manager. Bonds refused the post offered and walked away from the club. His accusations of deceit and manipulation by the board and by Redknapp have continued to cause ill-feeling. Peter Storrie claimed that they had handled the situation correctly, saying, "If Harry had gone to Bournemouth, there was a good chance Bill would have resigned anyway, so we were in a no-win situation. We're sad that Bill is going, and it's a big blow but it's time to move on and we have appointed a great manager." Redknapp became manager on 10 August 1994. Redknapp's time at West Ham was notable for the turnover of players during his tenure and for the level of attractive football and success which had not been seen since the managership of John Lyall. Over 134 players passed through the club while he was manager, producing a net transfer fee deficit of £16 million, despite the £18 million sale of Rio Ferdinand to Leeds United. Some were notably successful, such as the signings of Stuart Pearce, Trevor Sinclair, Paolo Di Canio, John Hartson, Eyal Berkovic and Ian Wright. Meanwhile, some were expensive, international players who failed at West Ham, such as Florin Raducioiu; Davor Šuker, who earned as much in wages as the revenue gained from one entire stand and yet made only eight appearances; Christian Bassila, who cost £720,000 and played only 86 minutes of football; Titi Camara; Gary Charles, whose wages amounted to £4.4 million but made only three starts for the club; Rigobert Song; Paulo Futre; and Marco Boogers, a player often quoted as one of the biggest failures in the Premier League. His first season in charge saw West Ham fighting the threat of relegation until the last few weeks, while his third season would also see another relegation battle. Always willing to enter the transfer market, Redknapp bought in the winter transfer window John Hartson and Paul Kitson who added the impetus needed at the season's end. In 1999, West Ham finished fifth, their highest position in the top flight since