Harry Redknapp. Thank you and goodbye.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at 10:27PM Two points. Eight games. We'll never forget the ride. Run out of gas in the end.
I thought it would be apt to go back in time to when Harry Redknapp was appointed Spurs boss and quote some choice paragraphs from a 2008 article (following on from a 2-0 home win against Bolton before we played Arsenal away). Times have changed in the space of four or so years. Our expectations have shifted. Interestingly, some of us forget (ignore) what that catalyst for the shift was. We didn't consider it at the time that a few seasons after his appointment we'd be gutted about missing out on 3rd spot in the league. Gutted and ironically disappointed at the very same catalyst that led to said progress.
And in comes the media whore that is Harry Redknapp. A manager with little integrity. Sorry 'arry, but it's true. His Pompey/Soton merry-go round will tell you all you need to know. Levy claims that he's had conversations with Harry in the past, suggesting that 'he almost got here' before. Shudder.
Yeah, he saved Pompey from almost certain relegation. But couldn't save Soton and also relegated West Ham. What exactly is so great about his CV? Have we now lowered our ambitions? Have we accepted a place alongside the likes of Blackburn and co?
Well firstly, scrap ambitions and comparisons, because that's what has got us into this mess in the first place - believing the hype.
We are now behind the likes of Villa and City. As they develop and progress, our work has to begin again. Maybe not quite from ground zero, but we are limping at the minute. Although in modern day football 5th - 8th spot tends to shift about every season so all we need to do is regain a bit of pride and form. And no matter the progression you make (that goes for Villa and City at the minute) - you still need to depend on one of the Top 4 having an off season if you. Which is rare. And even if it does happen, you might find hotel food conspire against you. So we are not that far behind if you go on recent Prem records.
The simple fact of the matter is - at present - we are bottom. The players were not playing for Ramos. Levy had to do something drastic. Sacking Ramos and co was the first part. Appointing Redknapp was the second. Because for the moment, the only thing that's important is remaining in the Prem.
Survival. That's it. That should be the mission statement for this season. And having tried every type of manager, we've now gone for the 'not really done anything, loves his money a bit, Sky and the tabloids love him a lot' type of appointment.
We've stopped acting like the 'big club' and just taken stock of our current predicament.
So, am I happy? Nope, unsurprisingly, I'm not.
Levy, for all his little boy lost innocence, is knee-deep in damage limitation and blame deflection. The players, having performed today well enough to claim 3 points are questionable commitment wise if you look at some of our prior performances (although, I'm happy to agree that Ramos wasn't helping himself with selection and tactics). New manager usually gets a reaction from the players, but I still can't get rid of this feeling that Spurs will never push on until they get rid of the vanity at the club. £15M+ for Bentleys hair is proving to be a hard pill to swallow.
Harry himself paid money for Kaboul and does select players out of position. Sometimes has three DM's in his team and still gets bullied by the opposition and generally isn't the most astute tactically. So, I would guess, it's down to his man-management to get things going again.
It's worked one game in. And come Jan, we might see the return of Defoe and one or two other players - including some very un-Tottenham like signings that might have some of us question wtf is going on (BRING BACK THE DOF!!!!!1111) but that's what we want isn't it? Players we NEED - and not superfluous signings. So, there is a positive, one hopes in his appointment. Although getting rid of the DoF and letting Jol sign his own players would have worked fine too.
So, is Harry an interim manager for the club? I hope so. Am I know being a hypocrite for suggesting we are too big for Harry? Call me that if you want. What I'm saying is, Harry isn't a great manager and has limits which will become apparent in a couple of seasons. But this all serves a purpose. A recovery period, washing off any remaining residue of the DoF era. It's the consequence, not of Comolli but of Levy. The buck does stop with him, and this I feel is the final sorry chapter of mismanagement. He's admitted it hasn't worked, so he has gained a final encore. And this is it. Harry will take us so far, and then Levy (if he's still around) will no doubt appoint someone new. We'll see how it all pans out. No point dwelling on this at the minute. If Levy suggests that Harry is the one to reclaim GLORY - then Daniel will be leaving us in the very close future.
If (there's that magic word again) Harry performs a miracle and is still knocking around with us in 4 years time then Levy will be deemed a genius and I'll have to eat a hat (preferably made of bagel).
In the mean time, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt (that's Harry). And do what any fan would do: Support the team with all my heart......and cry uncontrollably when it goes tits up. Again.
Well, I guess I got certain aspects of it correct. The main point that should be made and will probably be drowned out by a fair few is that regardless of Redknapp's inability to control his mouth and his lack of articulation and timing (and his contradictory statements that are based around reacting to the moment in hand rather than fitting into a more robust consistent bigger picture) - with all his faults he's achieved measurable success at Spurs. It's just that from that success we - he - could have achieved so much more.
When you look at the competition at the top of the table and the managers there, was there anyone else that could have done what Harry did? At that time, no. In the end, he's only guilty of being Harry Redknapp. That's Harry with all the good things and the bad. Much like I predicted he would be, even if he did prove me wrong along the way. The bad for me was not his media persona and love for car windows but his lack of cutting edge on the pitch when the chips were down. His man-mangagemnt skills don't always work when they're required the most. Harry is reactive to making sure he looks good at all times and walking slowly away from any blame. You've got to be accountable. So do we. We (the fans) have hardly covered ourselves in consistency either. Much like Harry, we've struggled to get to grips with the expectations that have continued to evolve over the past two seasons.
He was actually likeable when we were having success on the pitch. But then people tend to smile more when their team is winning and only point, complain and accuse when things go wrong. There was even a connection during his court case battle and during the immediate aftermath. But in the end, Harry looks after Harry and for the most part - we as a collective remain fickle but equally so ambitious and in love with our club. Something Redknapp was never likely to ever have.
Positives from all this? We've lost a manager but we're not 'in trouble'. Not unless in trouble is finishing 4th spot and akin to our past mid-table mediocrity (regardless of the fact we could have finished higher). We're not dizzy or confused or punched in the gut in tears on the ground. We've just sat down for a moments rest and a re-think. We have stability. There will be no mass change transitional season to follow. Not if Levy appoints quickly and appoints the right man and we go marching on.
(I'm sure that 'right man' comment will come back to haunt all of us, as most are already arguing the merits of certain potential appointments and disagreeing about them already).
Harry came in, fixed us up, got us playing like a team and got all the assembled quality playing to their potential (well, not all of them, the ones he didn't like he disowned to the detriment of the squad). The stats don't lie. And in that is the crux of the issue. We grew stronger and with others lagging around us, the opportunity was there to take advantage. We messed it up. Perhaps if Harry was younger or more willing to adapt. Perhaps if he saw eye to eye with Levy on the long term rather than short-term season-to-season moneyball strategies...perhaps if he was a little more shy in front of the camera. Who knows? He'd have got another crack at it next season. But alas, no. His lack of focus has seen to a not so surprising ending.
I should also cite the lack of investment into 'long term' signings in recent seasons. We'll soon find out if this was largely down to manager and chairman disagreeing on targets based on whatever the new man achieves in the transfer market.
In the end, that rather fragmented disassociated relationship he appeared to have with Levy dissolved into nothingness. Levy pricing out Redknapp from getting his dream job, a different catalyst to the one that started this journey. Redknapp then seeking a contract extenstion, with some irony. From the outside looking in. Harry voicing his position from tv interviews, the club remaining silent. The England debacle, the slump in league form...it's the right time for change. We would have moved on had the FA given him the job so this doesn't change much. I'm not going to knee-jerk and concern myself about whether this will impact transfers. Levy will have a contingency. So, all that's left to say is...thank you Harry Redknapp. When we were good, we were very good. We made it to the promised land people! We had our adventure. We wanted more. We might still get more but it will be with another leader. So thanks for the memories. It's a shame that you couldn't quite find the balance of team selection and contain the pressure to guide us just that little bit further forwards (and upwards). It's a shame you couldn't be completely committed to the Cockerel or at the very least disguise your true intentions.
Football, is a funny game, because had that margin of a point been two in our favour, had Chelsea not beaten Bayern...this blog article would never have been written.
Onwards.
Reader Comments (70)
The media wants to make that clown out to be the victim!? Were they not watching us between Feb and May? Cunts, all of them. Glad to see him gone. Whatever happens from here will happen (not massively profound but it is what it is). Pretty certain I wanted him out the same season we got Champions League, I was a cunt then and I am one now, however a happy one with that other cunt gone.
I can still see the bastard sitting their idly by, while we lost it all to Ar***al - who by the way think we're idiots to get rid of the man this article is about. If they like him so much, they should have him. - I can't be bothered to list off all the events that drove me to the brink of insanity right now but his regular sound bites didn't help in any way.
If there's a mass player exodus because Knap is gone - well I'm not sure they'd have stayed because they like him it would probably been on the cards already. I say this calmly because we as fans can't do anything to sway them to stay and so it goes - I don't like the idea much but I've reserved myself for disappointment from early.
Martinez is tactically astute, he just worked with what he had. Which given he was at Wigan, not a whole lot. If you look at his tactics, turn of the year you'd see. I don't think he'd be a bad shout. You could check this article out, it was actually about Martinez when he was within a shout of the scouse recently - http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1195564-liverpool-new-manager-how-would-roberto-martinezs-tactics-fit-around-the-reds - I don't know but I think it could apply to us also.
Anyway's enough of that.
Meh. We know he did a good job turning us around from being utterly unbalanced as a squad, we know he bored up the side with some astute short term buys, gave his key players confidence and freedom, and we know he took a decent side into Europe where they punched above their weight and treated us to some memorable nights. We also know he left the squad just as unbalanced, that he marginalised good players to the extent that they'd openly talk about leaving when clearly we'd have good use for them, and we know that he flirted with the FA like a cheap tart while what threatened to be our best season in half a century crumbled to ashes. This isn't the ugly and shameful sacking of Jol, nor is it the pragmatic parting wih Ramos: it's somewhere in between.
We've things to thank Harry for, and just as many things we could put in a sock and beat him to death with. He gave us our Tottenham back, but he also gave us the frustration of watching eleven Tottenham players run themselves into an ignominious failure when they ought to have been standing proud above the Arse. It's a shame it ended this way, and I'm grateful for the good times, but it had to come to an end, and this summer was the obvious time to end the chapter.
Moyes - could be good, he's clearly a wily fellow. Martinez, not so much. All well and good getting your team to perform brilliantly at the end of a season, but it's consistency we're lacking, not madcap moments of brilliance. Wouldn't mind seeing Pardew - if we could persuade him, his coaches and the scouting staff to jump ship. Perhaps that's too greedy, though.
Please, please...appoint someone to move forward with. Moyes is a sideways selection...would love to see AVB at WHL.
Spooky, often times I am in full agreement with your articles but on this I am completely against. It is easy to say 'Arry took us as far as he could but the truth is he still had a large reservoir in his tank. We were chasing the title up until the early part of the year when a run of poor results set us back. Can we really blame him? Fact is Levy refused to support 'Arry in the transfer market. We had the chance to bring in some excellent strikers yet he brought in Saha who is past his prime. Levy should have brought in cover for the CB yet he brought Neilson and extended old leg Gallas's contract. Which serious ambitious club does that? 'Arry cannot go out on his own to buy players he can only make recommendations.
Spurs, to the delight of fans and casual football lovers around the world, began to play the most entertaining football in the whole of England and perhaps Europe. 'Arry brought Spurs back to the limelight and I must say added new fans around the world. Our exploit in Milan is not to be sniffed at. We played with swagger and intimidated the opposition. Can you forget the 9-1 win? If Levy had any self respect and cared for the ambition of Spurs he would have brought in 2 or 3 key players in the critical part of the season instead of sitting on pile of gold Lewis gave him to manage Spurs with.
Is 'Arry an eccentric media whore? Sure. Did he lose focus slightly when the England job became open? Debatable. Fact is 'Arry used the media to his own advantage and shielded the club and players from media scrutiny. Great managers do that a lot. Just look at the great Jose Mourinho. If you are about to finally see your life long dream come true, would you not be distracted on your present job? Of course you will be. Levy knew 'Arry's ambition and could have managed the situation better by offering 'Arry a hard to resist package to get his head back in the game, instead Levy made the situation worse by playing along. Now 'Arry lost the England job yet he refused to extend the poor gizzer's contract. It is a shame. A total shame on us.
This is going to be another season of let downs and back to Spur's usual mediocrity. I am going to no longer expect the best but anticipate the worst again from this Spurs side. I am going to gear up for the usual taunts from my goner rivals. Oh the shame.
Spooky, do me 1 favor. Please start advocating for Levy's ouster. Enough of this midget. He has consistently found a way to reduce us to the laughing stock of the world. Let him depart so we can find a chairman who genuinely wants what is best for Spurs, not what will compensate for him being vertically challenged.
this is ridiculous. Im 26, have been going to spurs all my life, never have played such good football or had such a talented group of players in that time and now some of you are happy to see the arcitect of that success leave to be replaced by one of the most boring managers in the league. sometimes i hate following this club and the morons who run it....
Good post - the last line of 'It's a shame you couldn't be completely committed to the Cockerel or at the very least disguise your true intentions.' sums it up for me, I have no time for lack of loyalty, thank you Harry but you are not bigger than the club.
I am personally very happy to see the back of Harry although I understand the reasoning of those who support him. He picked us up at a very low point in our history and for that we should be grateful...but...he had a damn good team to work with that was just coming together after a series of injuries and poor performances under a manager who didn't get the EPL or his players at all. ANY decent manager could have turned that situation around. And he did, because he is a 'decent' manager. I have other problems with Harry. I always thought that his reluctance to rotate players and substitute players during games cost us dearly. He is reluctant to change his game plan no matter what happens on the pitch. And he plays the odds trying not to lose instead of risking all to try and win. The debacle at Villa is a perfect example.
We need someone who will inspire and use the entire squad. Someone who will take what is still a damn good team and make them break their necks for the shirt. I think Moyes can do that. He's has mediocre players to work with at Everton and he consistently does well. His players will run through walls for him. I think he could be brilliant if given really good players and a decent budget.
I don't know who Levy has in mind, but I'm looking forward to a positive change for the better. And, who knows, if Levy has someone really good up his sleeve Modric and Bale may want to stay, and Vertonghen might be easier to land?! Levy is a cunning SOB. He screwed-up with Ramos, but I don't see him doing it again.
So Harry underarchived getting us to 4th, and so was sacked...... Holy fcukin jehovah... So, no pressure then for our new manager!
The bible says... John 317 'give me fucking strength'
Get ready for a backlash from Harry's friends (sorry I mean the media!).
Ultimately replacing a manager is not just one decision, it is making 2 good decisions, first is to decide to sack the manager (in this instance I think that is a good decision) the second is to decide who to replace him. Moyes is not for me, Martinez yes.
I just hope we have someone already so sorted so we can get them in asap
Funny how we all see things differently and still have the same goal - win the league....
Could be an obscure sound bite but Fellani said he wanted champions league football now the quote is European or champs league?.. Has he been cuddling in a corner with David Moyes perhaps???
Previous posts about Harrry inheriting a team and not recognising talent ( Bale, Dos Santos) is true. My favourite modern day Spurs manager is Yol. He started the job and had to come in as a sub from that judas who pissed off to Chelsea.... I miss his passion and commitment to us. No one can deny the fact that Harry not only created his own hype through the media using the sun and self promotion but worse he believed it.....
Not saying I could have finished 4th but how much was down to quality individuals rather than tactics. Every big game he got to he fucked up. Against Milan the bale hat trick saved our tactical blushes and in the 2nd Milan game Sandro put in the worlds best performance and was then sent back down the pecking order for Parker.
I like parker but surely a mix of two would preserve fitness and build for the future. On reflection to my post last night I feel all candidates I would like to see are not going to happen so maybe Jurgen ( the Dortmund coach) is achievable..
I don`t understand those on here slating Moyes. Whether he`s our next man or not he has genuinely worked miracles with what he`s had at everton and has stuck at it for a decade - real commitment. At PNE he had a different squad and had them playing great football, moving the ball quickly way and above anyone else in the championship. He deserves some respect from true football fans, whether he comes to Spurs or not.
As for Redkrapp - love him or loathe him you have to see that it was pointless offering him a new contract.
He was only out for his pension and Levy was right at this stage to look ahead to a new man to hopefully commit long term, a man capable of feeling passionate about the club with some tactical nous and man management skills.
Plus Redkrapp`s ticker was shot to bits - what if it pegged out again mid season? He`d done nothing to groom anyone from within the club to take over. In a nutshell, arry was not interested in creating a legacy, so if we continued finishing 4th 5th 4th 5th 4th blah blah blah, then whenever a new man came in he would have to start from scratch.
Whoever ended up in charge next season, we have to be realistic and accept that a top 4 finish is unlikely. When judging last season, we should review the results as a yard stick rather than 4th place. It was freakish that we finished 4th considering our below par results. In other words, the new man could well achieve better results next season and finish lower than 4th.
In other words, for all the normal human beings visiting this site - THANK F***K THE WHORE IS OUT OF HERE!
Harry wasn't committed to Spurs. Can the Harry lovers not see that. He courted England when a new contract was there for the signing. England shagged him and suddenly he wanted to sign a contract. Not any old contract, but a contract with big assurances and , obviously, a big pay off. Instead it's Poole Town FC and walking dogs with bank accounts.
Let's move on with a great chairman and a new manager with some decorum.
I find it odd that so many appear to want to be loyal to Harry for doing well (at times) over the last few seasons. However the fact is he would have gladly jumped ship and taken the England job if offered. So where was his loyalty to us? He thought he was going and took his eye off the ball and that's cost us massively. He should have snapped Levy's hand off to stay on whatever terms were offered instead of getting Stretford in to try to bully Levy.
I don't think Levy is entirely blameless though as our transfer spending in recent times has been less than Everton's! Maybe that's why Moyes is the favouritre ;)
The right decision but only if the succession is worked out properly. No one seems to know who the right man for the job actually is. Wary of Moyes but remembering my jaw hitting the floor when Redknapp was announced. Scared of appointing another Ramos. AVB failed at a club with more resources. Martinez a big risk. Capello too dull. Help?
There is no magic ball to look into when appointing managers. The only manager that comes to my mind who can more or less guarantee success is Mourinho. But on the other side he has since leaving Porto always had unlimited funds to play with. AVB was successful at Porto, but a tragedy at CFC. He could easily be a huge success with us - You never know. We brought in Ramos(one of the top european managers with recent success), everyone expected him to take us to glory but he did not. We then hired Redknapp, a man without ever experiencing success, who actually did make us a top 4 side.
My point is: The managers who we have expected nothing from is actually the managers who have taken our club forward. I had huge expectations to Santini, no expectations to Jol, Huge expectations to Ramos, no expectations to Redknapp, high expectations to Hoddle etc...
@555 - Moyes - with barely a squad of players finished 7th and FA cup semi. Despite tempting offers has remained committed to his current club until now, but it must be wearing a bit thin on him. Previously at PNE - promoted from league 1, next season beaten by w**t h*m in championship playoff final.
Martinez - avoided relegation with modest squad who he insisted continued to play football the right way. Dragged his team off the floor to inspire them to some massive results - and then refused to take one bit of credit, heaping praise on his players.
Redkrapp - despite managing what was widely regarded as his club`s best squad in over two decades, failed to win 18 games. Yes, 18 - that`s very nearly half the season`s fixtures. Spawny twat, so managed to finish fourth, which is all the blind keep banging on about.
Hahahahahahahahaha 'Harry wasn't committed to spurs' ..... And who is?? Apart from us, ..... Noone!! They're just COMMITED to the bottom line. MONEY!
Have to say I'm amazed at some of the sweeping statements re Moyes.
Now, he'd not be my first choice for manager (Capello if you're asking) but people claim he's "not ready" or it's "too big a step up" or that we'd "play boring long ball football"...
Well, he's had a number of top 6 finishes at Everton, including one 4th at the height of the Sky4 with a squad of journeymen and solid pros, has spent next to nothing (as there is nothing to spend) to achieve that consistency. If managing the 7th best team in the country (who have generally been between 5th and 8th for the last 5 years) is not the previous step to managing the 4th best team then I don't know what is?
Re negative/long-ball football - look at the players he has got, that he can afford. If he tried to play like Barca, even when he had Arteta, they wouldn't finish top half. Surely there is a merit in recognising your limitations and your strengths within that and playing to it? Also having a Plan B - changing your gameplan to suit different scenarios? Isn't that what management is?
He also appreciates the long-term, building a club and it's structure over time and that should not be underestimated.
Anyway, as I said he's not my first choice, not even my top 3, but I think he warrants a bit more respect, and if it is to be Moyes he'd be no disaster and migth just be rather better than many seem to give him credit for.
As for Martinez, well he probably isn't ready and needs to take an "in-between" step before landing a "big" job.
How about that sun burnt bollock head Alex McLeish?
The man failed to win anything with one of the best squads we've had for years and targeted having the opportunity of Champions League failure over winning trophies. Being at WHL in 28 years ago when we won the UEFA Cup is a treasured memory and our last European success. But HR, rather than actually trying to win the Europa League, saw it as an inconvenience to winning 4th place. He did the same with the League Cup and the Chelsea semi-final in the FAC was symbolic of his inability to adjust his tactics to win something - Five fucking one, five fucking one! What has he ever won btw. Oh the Fairs Cup possibly (I can't be arsed to Wiki him) and Pompey beat Cardiff City, in the FAC anything else? Winning relegation for So'ton was good though, I'll give him that.
I think, once the slump set in in March following Bale's request to be given a free-role to play like Ronaldo (or a headless chicken), he was in a position where Levy, under normal circumstance would have booted him out. Capello's throwing his toys out of the pram because of John Terry, put $$$ in front of Levy's eyes and I think he was holding out for the 3 or 4 million compensation - peanuts really which is why I do not think that compensation is why the FA didn't give him the job. I think it's because he a complete twat.