It began with the man who had led Pompey to FA Cup glory and a place in European competition for the first time in their history.
It ended with the club's director of youth operations presiding over a period of the worst-quality football since promotion to the Premier League.
And in between was a spell of 21 games that brought hope of a new beginning, frustration at leads thrown away, embarrassment at FA Cup humiliation - and eventually a touch of revisionism.
Tony Adams, the man touted by the majority of fans to succeed Harry Redknapp after his defection, should never have been given the job, some say. What were they doing appointing a man with no top-level management experience?
It was never going to work…
But was he really as bad as everybody is saying?
Was Harry as good as we all think he was, or - as with Alain Perrin - did his successors just make him look good?
And Paul Hart - success or failure? He kept us up with a bit to spare, steadfastly ignoring the groundswell of criticism of the playing methods he employed, and regardless of the potential consequent impact on season-ticket sales at such a crucial financial point in the club's history.
So who was Pompey's best manager this season, and who was the worst?
Under whom did we score the most goals? Who tightened up our defence?
And - perhaps more intriguingly - which manager got the team playing for him? Who shone under which boss?
Did one man really "lose the dressing room"?
I have analysed the results and performances under Redknapp, Adams and Hart and come up with some interesting results.
In the first of this two-part analysis I focus on the less arguable elements of the season - the results.
And in the second, I take a look at those elements more open to subjectivity - the team's - and players' - performances.
I draw my own conclusions, but you will draw yours - and they may or may not be the same. Happy reading.
Overall
A largely disappointing season, relieved in some small measure by eventual survival in the Premier League - a result that would appear to have been absolutely crucial in the light of Pompey's precarious financial position.
They may now be on the verge of being rescued, but if they hadn't stayed up, the chances of that would have been far slimmer - and that would undoubtedly have led to the release of key players.
Relegation would have cost the club millions of pounds and presumably significantly have affected the quality of player it could recruit in the close season, when so many of the current squad are out of contract.
It would also, surely, have made it more difficult to find a buyer to absorb the club's debts and inject much-needed financial muscle into its ailing coffers. It would certainly have affected the price - and therefore possibly whether Gaydamak accepted any offer.
So the ends surely justify the means with which Paul Hart "rescued" Pompey from the brink of oblivion?
Whatever your view on that, for many of us, a new season with the same owner (and therefore no money to maintain - let alone strengthen - the squad) can mean only one thing - relegation.
Premier League record 2008-9
P W D L F A PTS POSN
38 10 11 17 38 57 41 14th
FA Cup
P W D L F A
3 1 1 1 2 2
Carling Cup
P W D L F A
1 0 0 1 0 4
Uefa Cup
P W D L F A
6 2 2 2 11 10
Total
P W D L F A
48 13 14 21 51 73
Premier League comparisons
Comparing Pompey's three managers for 37 of the 38 games (I've excluded the home game against Fulham, when we're told
They presided over different numbers of games, in different parts of the season, with different players at their disposal, and with different distractions.
Redknapp was in charge for just the first eight games - less than a quarter of the season. He had at his disposal the likes of Lassana Diarra and Jermain Defoe - both of whose services were denied Paul Hart.
But he also had a Carling Cup tie with
And he presided over three of our six Uefa Cup matches - our very first in
It can't have been easy, but he appeared to have the loyal backing of the board and just about every Pompey fan (even if you can't find many admitting to it now).
Yes, Pompey appeared to be in a healthy league position when he took charge, but cracks had begun to show. As well as losing heavily twice to
And a 3-0 loss in Braga had made qualification to the next stages of the Uefa Cup all the more difficult, with games against AC Milan and Wolfsburg (the eventual German league champions) still to come.
His tenure - for 15 league games - was a bizarre mixture of gung-ho performances more in keeping with the Redknapp brand of football and an unsuccessful attempt to shut up shop, where the quality level plummeted, but unfortunately the goals-against tally kept rising.
Some say he was clueless; others that he was unlucky. Many suggest the players lost faith in him and ultimately cost him his job.
His 15 league games offer plenty of evidence for each of those arguments, although conceivably it was a match not included in that tally that did the most to sully
After struggling to dispose of mid-table Championship side
On the day, the Welshmen completely outplayed Tony's boys, although much of the damage was done before kick-off.
Still smarting from successive home losses against
What's more, having seemingly solved Pompey's right-wing problem by signing Jermaine Pennant on loan from
The three cup ties were conspicuous for a clear lack of confidence among the players - as were most of the league fixtures either side of those games.
And yet finally it all appeared to be coming together when Pompey built on an impressive - if unsuccessful - performance against Aston Villa by twice taking the lead against an under-strength
But in keeping with the rest of his tenure, Pompey snatched defeat from the jaws of victory - and
In came Paul Hart, and there was instant success when, in his first match in charge, Pompey won for the first time in 10 league games against an out-of-sorts Manchester City so different from the one that humbled Harry's men earlier in the season.
Now, why couldn't Tony have faced them?
A brave narrow defeat at home to
But hang on - a win against a poor City, followed by a last-ditch draw at mighty Stoke - and then a defeat (OK, a decent performance, but none the less a defeat) at home to
For one thing, there were many parallels between Pompey's single-goal home defeats against Liverpool and Chelsea, less than a month apart, but one under a manager who got sacked on the back of it; the other under a boss who was suddenly being hailed as a Messiah.
As it happens, most of the charm and acclaim associated with Hart had worn off within a few more games, as his absolute obsession with one up front - home or away - coupled with the most negative of midfields - even against lowly Hull and West Brom - began to irk even his most loyal supporters.
It was a regime studded with inexplicable decisions that he was never pushed to justify to the media - and ultimately, the paying fans: why the limited Hayden Mullins - especially alongside his Scottish clone, Richard Hughes, and latterly side-by-side with a third one-paced defensive midfielder, Sean Davis?
Especially when the Greek international captain, Angelos Basinas, had shown more than a few glimpses of composure, passing ability and creativity in the minuscule amount of time he had had on the pitch since signing for the club in January.
And why was Basinas' goalscoring international team-mate, Theofanis Gekas, not given a chance when the team was struggling for goals - and facing the limited likes of Stoke,
The fact was, Pompey stayed up when at the time of his appointment many feared they would be relegated.
Paul Hart does not believe he owes answers to anyone other than Gaydamak, Peter Storrie and the Pompey board.
It's an achievement that looks likely to secure him the manager's job full-time, unless a new owner, armed with a king's ransom, arrives and opts for a big-name manager.
But it's one that has left him with some work to do to win over many of the fans - particularly those who expect some entertainment as well as decent results - but with the prospect of doing it with a bunch of players no better (and possibly rather worse) than those at his disposal during his tenure so far.
Premier League only
P W D L F A PTS Pts/game Gls/game (for) Gls/game (ag)
Redknapp: 8 4 1 3 9 13 13 1.625 1.125 1.625
Hart: 14 4 5 5 13 16 17 1.214 0.929 1.143
q Redknapp and Hart enjoyed twice as many wins as
q
q Hart's teams failed to average a goal a game;
q Redknapp's record includes an away game at
q
q Hart lost 0-1 at home to Chelsea; 0-2 away to Manchester United and 0-3 at home to Arsenal.
q 2008-9 is the first Premier League season in which Pompey have lost every single game against the big four.
q It's the third in which they have failed to win at least one of those fixtures.
After 8 games
Harry Redknapp was in charge for only eight league games. Here is how each manager's record looked after their first eight league games in charge:
P W D L F A PTS Pts/game Gls/game (for) Gls/game (ag)
Redknapp: 8 4 1 3 9 13 13 1.625 1.125 1.625
Adams : 8 2 3 3 9 12 9 1.125 1.125 1.5
Hart: 8 3 4 1 10 7 13 1.625 1.25 0.875
q Redknapp and Hart each secured the same number of points.
q Hart's teams were marginally the best scorers.
q Hart's was still the most miserly defence.
q Hart was the only one achieving a superior goals scored vs conceded record.
q Redknapp and Adams each lost the same number of games - and scored the same number of goals.
Biggest win
Redknapp: 3-0 Everton (away)
Hart: 3-1
Biggest defeat
Redknapp: 0-6
Hart: 0-3 Arsenal (home)
Best result
Obviously this is subjective, but I have taken into account the quality of the opposition at the time and Pompey's own situation.
Redknapp: 3-0 Everton (away)
Hart: 2-1 Everton (home)
Worst result
As above
Redknapp: 0-6
Hart: 2-2 West Bromwich Albion (home)
Best decisions
Redknapp: Playing two up front; signing Peter Crouch, Nadir Belhadj
Hart: Playing Younes Kaboul at right-back and Niko Kranjcar in a free role behind a lone forward
Worst decisions
Redknapp: Playing Kaboul in midfield; signing/playing Jerome Thomas and Glenn Little
Hart: Playing Hayden Mullins, especially alongside Hughes and Davis; refusing to select Angelos Basinas and Theofanis Gekas
Conclusions
Paul Hart had the best and Tony
Harry Redknapp's record was heavily tainted by heavy defeats against
Tony Adams' record was indeed as bad as most remember it.
But as always, the statistics don't tell the whole story. Redknapp's replacements were both undermined, not least by the departures of Diarra (who was also injured for much of the time under
Redknapp had the additional distractions of Carling Cup and Uefa Cup games;
Hart had no distractions outside the Premier League.
Hart's played the worst - almost from day one. But they, too, suffered with the woodwork (and also conceded crucial late goals, it must be said).
Hart also inherited a squad of players he neither knew very well nor had chosen. He was also arguably under the most pressure, given their alarming decline in the weeks before his appointment.
He also came under heavy criticism from fans in particular for the style of football played by his teams and his apparently stubborn team selections.
Despite the pressure, he stuck to his beliefs and ends the season still manager of a Premier League club.
The club is grateful; most of the fans are grateful.
But most of us also know that his achievement - like so many of the statistics above - does not tell the whole story about a season notable for featuring some of the poorest Premier League teams I have ever seen.
Next: Who were the star performers? Who played best for which manager? Did Tony Adams really "lose the dressing room"?