This is Redknapp
Tuesday, June 5, 2012 at 11:07PM I see a number of you have misunderstood (misinterpreted) Redknapp's CL quote. Either that or simply taken it out of context and stretched it as far as you can for further ammunition aimed at the target on his back. Any excuse, right? Not sure why considering the amount of gold you can so easily find in his back catalogue.
It's Redknapp, he's hardly the most articulate. He has all the elegance of a brick through the window. If you've not seen it, I'm referring to the interview on SNN earlier today. He cited Champions League football, which included the utterance 'it's over-rated'. He was talking about money/contracts and how players use the 'ambition' of CL football as an excuse to earn ridiculous wages elsewhere (reality is players will move to where the money is). Don't even think this is the first time I've heard him say this. And yes, CL does equate to money...but say we had CL, would that see us compete against City and Chelsea for players? No, probably not based on what's already happened this summer with the Hazard whoring.
And yes, Redknapp is always going to deflect in some way, he's done it all season long. In this instance, his vocabulary sets him up to look dismissive more so than the actual point he was attempting to make. Although haters will hate and say that he's only hooking himself onto excuses rather than perhaps attempting to highlight positives. This is Redknapp, it's the way he's built. People need to stop berating him over a trait he will never lose. He's never going to change. Stick a microphone in front of him, if he needs 10 words to make a point, he'll use 100 and the point he makes will protect his own agenda. He'll always protect himself, whether he does it consciously or subconsciously. Get this...all managers do it. Harry just isn't very good at it. What he is good at is contradicting.
Save your energy for the excuses during the season, not outside of it, and not the soundbites used to entertain presenters of Sky Sports News.
Just my opinion.
The bigger questioning (re: the interview) should be over his contract and ye golden contradiction (told you he was good at it) regarding his one remaining year left and the impact it would have on our players (and our transfer targets). That and the fact he can't contain such matters for private consumption between himself and Levy. That was by far the more 'damaging' of his soundbites. But this is also of no surprise. Harry continues to bask in detachment and disassociation.
Watch the video here.
Nothing has changed from the opinions I outlined in my Regression series (click here, scroll down a little). He remains about the short term and about self-serving. Like most people involved in modern football. If he retains focus and if he and Levy work together during the course of the summer then we'll easily compete next season. Again.
Reader Comments (58)
This is what he said about how the players would react if he left to take the England job. This was on the 23rd March 2012. QUOTE; “Absolute nonsense. That is the biggest load of nonsense I have ever heard in my life,” he said. “They don’t care whether I’m the manager next year. They wouldn’t lose any sleep over that. That’s football.
“Footballers play the game, they come in every day and train. Someone else walks in here tomorrow – the king is dead long live the king! They don’t worry. They don’t think ‘Harry is going to England’ or ‘he is going to go somewhere else’.
He's an absolute liar and tailors his quotes to suit the situation.
His appointment of Stretford as his agent will have Daniel Levy rubbing his hands with glee. He should have hired Kofi Annan, thats how big his job of convincing Levy to extend his contract.
He is blackmailing Levy publically saying that the players will get effected if they know he only has a year left, but he said that the whole England manager stuff didnt affect them!
Ironically last week people were thinking that Levy had had a word with Redknapp due to him not saying anything in the press for a blissful week odd. Well his gob is back.
It is bordering on pathetic how many blogs have jumped on the headline and not read the context.
Redknapp is a fine manager. His teams consistently over-perform - always have. When he has no funds he's canny in the transfer market. He's been the best manager we've had in decades. I think people find it hard to stomach that we lost 10 points on Arsenal at the end of the season. I'd say this: under which manager did we gain the 10 points? And given a heart operation, a high profile court-case and the speculation about the England job who wouldn't get distracted?
You and your anti-redknapp drivel propaganda is what's wrong about the modern day spurs 'fan'. Loyalty left football years ago. Get over it! Fact is, in the last 3 seasons, he's delivered 4th, 5th and 4th. We are not the massive club we once were (before all sestet stadiums), we are an above average club in terms of finance, which is what ultimately what's it's all about these days. By slating redknapp, you are slating the team and the squad, as well as the people that work around him, and in some cases, the real fans and this that truly appreciate what this man has done for us. Football is a results based business. If, before the season had started, someone offered us 4th after holding 3rd for most of the season, I for one would've bitten off an arm and a leg. Chelsea winning doesn't matter anymore. The only way we'll keep hold of our star names, ie adebayor, van der vaart, bale, modric etc is if this core of players know their manager will stay for longer and show his commitment, which is turn should come from the top. Levy must show his commitment as I'm sick of changing managers, only for the new man to have new ideas, new players which need time to gel and so on. We need stability. Give redknapp a 5 year deal! If his quotes piss u off, don't listen to them or read them. Again, let the football do the talking. As it has done. Levy needs to take a few more plunges too. He is the man the buck should stop at, not Arry! COYS TTiD
He gets more annoying with ever syllable!
This is the guy who said a few short months ago - "I would rather qualify for the Champions League then win the FA Cup if I'm honest..."
then a few later said - "I dont want to finish 4th, I want to finish 3rd..."
and then said, "4th is a fantastic achievement and Champion League football is very important for this club..."
And now...? Champions League is overrated!
What a total fool!
Sack him Levy. Sack him now and don't let him spend another penny! He'll only convince you to sign the likes of Anelka and Del Pierro and Michael Owen. The man is a dinosaur!
Never read such cobblers in my life. Redknapp should be judged on his acheivements since Capello resigned until the last game. He is being £3.5m per year to keep the team concentrated and he could'nt hack it. Anyway, I have no doubt that Levy will apply fairness and not allow this 'gun to the head' TV interviews and scaremongery that Harry thinks will get him a new contract. The sooner he clears his desk and walks the sooner we can have a Moyes or a Martinez in there properly managing the team.
Moyes or Martinez???!!! Are you serious??!!
The Stretford appointment is ugly.
I for one will be backing Redknapp all the way, Yeah he has not delievered the trophies yet but the point is with stability and the right signings they will come. For god sake in Sir Alex's first six league seasons he finished 11th 2nd 11th 13th 6th 2nd. We finish 4th 5th 4th and he is incompetent grow up FFS!
This squad of players we have at Spurs, are good enough to challenge for the prem title. H Redknapp can only get this squad to scrap for 4th. Get rid a.s.a.p
Mr Yid spot on! Some Spurs fans talk utter nonsense! Do they want another Manager to come in and take us backwards...? I don't!
I was all for getting rid of redknapp, the guy has no class and is irritating as hell.
That said I think we should suck it up and offer him a year extension and around 25m to spend plus any money from sales. We should also put in the contract no certain rules regarding his interviews etc. limit them.
Unless of course pep is coming ;)
COYS
Harry is the most stable manager we ever had on missing golden opportunities to finish higher than we expected. He has shown also great stability on failing to win key games. He is the most stable manager of Spurs on failing to address important shortcomings of the team (see set pieces). He has shown an excellent stability on using players in wrong positions and making the wrong substitutions. Finally, his most important stable attitude was his inability to follow the right for every game tactics. Failing to guide and motivate the team to win the two most important games of the season and in particular the game against the worst team of the PL at that moment, a game so important for Spurs, he has proved that he is the most stable loser of the game.
We should keep Harry and continue to enjoy the benefits of his stable inability.
Hamish,it would happen every year with Redknapp we could be 20 points above Woolwich and not finish in front of them with him in charge.He is a joke,what is his record against the top coaches??fergie? Mourinho when he was here? He spouts nonsense continually and let us down at the back end of the season after all the support from the club in his tax evasion case.What I find particularly galling is his criticism of the Spurs fans he has made in the past,this guy thinks he's flameproof,and he's not that good.Martinez is the answer,he is young and hungry,tactically astute and articulate,he keeps Wigan in the PL every season with hardly any budget at all.
there i sa big problem with us spurs fans, i dont think we know what we really want.
yeah harry messed up big time over this england thing, but levy is not stupid, he knows, he knows what the score is, he knows what harry should have done during the period but he didnt want to come out and make it look like "the chairman overmiming the manager".
im sure levy has told harry whats what and harry aint happy i guarentee it.
i agree with the comment about harry going back on what he says to the press one month and another thing the next, but if we wake in the morning with sky sports news saying harry is sacked would we be happy about it really???
lets see how levy plays this one cos he knows harry was about to jump ship at a shot to england and now that aint happening hes going on about contract rubbish.
in levy we must trust.
Those on here who still believe that 'Arry will bring trophies to us need to remember some facts! This geezer has relegated more teams than trophies he's won in 3 decades of management! And the FA Cup he did win, was by bankrupting the club to do it and look at the state they are in now. Seriously, wake up and stop falling for this bullshitter! This is the same guy that had a team full of the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Joe Cole, Carrick, etc., and still got them relegated. The guy is a schyster!
@s_p_u_r_s - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHH!
`FOOTBALL IS A RESULTS BUSINESS` ......`WOULD`VE BITTEN ARM AND LEG OFF FOR FOURTH PLACE`. I`LL BITE MY OWN ARM OFF IF I HAVE TO ASK THIS QUESTION ONCE MORE. REVIEW OUR RESULTS LAST SEASON AND TELL ME ONE WIN THAT YOU WOULDN`T HAVE EXPECTED US TO ACHIEVE?????????????????????????????????? COS `I``LL POINT OUT SEVERAL GAMES I WOULD HAVE EXPECTED US TO WIN THAT WE DIDN`T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just because Arsenal were shite, doesn`t mean we have to excercise our god given right to be just a bit worse than them. None of us expected 4th at the start of the season - doesn`t mean we have to swallow it though, we should have finished 3rd and it`s Redkrapp`s doing that we didn`t, pure and simple desplite all the excuses.
LoanX i disagree with you point about failing to win the key games when we qualified for the CL not only did he/we manage a win against the scum a week later we went on to repeat the result and beat chavksi before the ultimate qualifier at Eastlands which we also won to cement forth.. Or do you not class them a Key High Pressure Games? What makes me happy is to know we ended up having a pretty average season and still finishing in the Top 4. Which is Exactly what Man U Chavski The Scum have all done on there average seasons.
Come off it Moe. at least two to 3 games towards the end of the season we outplayed teams and simple failed to score.. Chelsea away is a good example in the second half we took control didn't score. QPR away we played better than them but did not take chances and ended up losing to a free kick! And even at Ten men We should have beaten Villa but again players did not take chances. Harry granted should have maybe brought defoe on but the point being it can't always be put on the manager!
Mr Yid - think you`ve just said exactly what Loanx said but in slightly different words. Norwich, Wolves, Stoke home/ Modric on the left Bale on the right? Undefensible nonsense from a manager who, rather than being distracted by the england job in fact used Tottenham to try and shop window himself by showing how clever he is - blew up in his face and ours.
Nope he said Harry couldnt win the key games i said is Beating Arsenal Chelsea And Man City not three bigger more high profile key games which i think he won?? We got CL and i said this season the PLAYERS didnt perform in front of goal even though the team harry put out was good so your wrong :S
Harry lovers are so fucking deluded. Spurs had a top 5 squad BEFORE Redknapp arrived. Jol managed that 2 seasons running with a significantly inferior squad and with the old sky 4 cartel at the hight of their powers. Redknapp has been lucky that he joined when we were in a position when it couldn't really get any worse after the Ramos debacle and that we inherited a top 4 spot after Liverpools implosion. Redknapp is nothing more than a recipient of positive circumstances. Sure, Man city have now come to the fore but Liverpool are still a midtable shambles (8th ffs) and Chelsea gave the league up well before the end of the year(6th...behind Newcastle) Inertia has seen us finish 4th, it has nothing to do with Redknapp. If he had anything about him we would have finished 3rd at a canter. (A 3rd place by the way, that Redknapp sacrificed in order to secure 4th, despite knowing full well 4th might not be enough)
Mr Yid - yes two seasons ago he achieved that. The argument is whatever he`s done is he the man to take us forwards? The latest evidence would suggest not. Loanx referred to key games. I can think of none more key than QPR and Villa last season.
`Simply couldn`t score`.................what`s your point? I would add that we outplayed United twice, Stoke away and City for part of the game - but lost all those games and the opponents won by scoring goals. Many from set pieces. With the amount of possession we have and therefore the large number of corners and free kicks we win - did you know that before scoring against Swansea we had gone 133 corners without success? That`s just pure negligence on the part of the manager. We all knew we never score from corners, why didn`t he for his 3 million odd a year? Nothing about bad luck there, purely failing to see something as simple as practicing set pieces more so that all the hard work may actually pay off.
I still can't work out how after this season of such sublime football at times left us with nothing to show :(
Football can be so cruel and you can bet that we'll be the only team EVER to finish 4th and not get CL - just our luck!
We were amazing at times last season but as ever with Harry's teams, we still couldn't take as many points (than we prob should have) against the big boys and nosedived at Easter. He took his eye off the ball big time and we were punished big time. Boy were we punished!!
So what do we do now?? We're kinda stuck with him whether we like it or not so we may as well embrace it as we all love Spurs and want them to actually get CL next seasonl.
Yes he is tactically inept but changing managers poses many risks and whilst i've never been a big fan, HR is actually the only manager to achieve what we have wanted in nearly 30 years. Yeah sure if Cappello or Mourinho want a job for life, the door is always open but we must begrudgingly admit that managers of this quality are not exactly queueing up!
All I can say is that if it must be Harry then lets all get behind him and the boys - let bygones be bygones and start afresh next season with the title in our sites. We all start on 0 points don't forget!! ;)
COYS!!!
Yid4Life - I agree that we should get behind the boys but not mickey the spiv HR.
We have the best team for 30 years at our disposal - honestly, my mum could have got us to 4th!!
He is an over-rated wally of a man and he is making our great club look cheap and tacky.
Get rid I say - AVB, Laurent Blanc, Conte, Capello, De Boer, Deschamps, Van Gaal, there are loads of potentially great managers out there who could make our team stronger and get them to perform every week AND for the entire season!!
COYS!!
Spooky, my hat's off to you!
I agree with everything you said in this post. Those people that try to pin down HR for what he said at one time or another make my day. Those little rumor-mill souls are wasting their precious time and energy on something that has absolutely no impact on the game itself. I don’t fucking care what HR says to Levy or some provocative journo who knows how easy is to turn the conversation with HR in whichever direction he/she chooses. So, what is wrong if HR talks himself up at the expense of whomever? Nobody would stand for him but himself.
Those poor gossip souls that are religiously dissecting everything that comes out of one of his holes should better get a life and smell the roses rather than uselessly digging through pile of media dung.
Once again, thank you for this article, which seems to be a nice and safe lending spot for all those high circling and lost in space HR's “gotcha” army.
HR drew far too many games that we should have won. If we can't convert chances into goals, what's wrong with changing the tactics or personnel. If you dominate games, week in and week out, and don't get the 3 points something is wrong. That's what HR if there for, to change the system or personnel. HR relied far too much on the natural ability of the squad. When injuries and tiredness crept in we had players playing out of position. His handling of the squad in the 2nd. half of the season was evidence that he could do good things with a fully fit squad, but lacked the tactical nouse to turn things around when the going got tough. I don't really think he has the ability to take Spurs to a higher level.
Some of you so called 'fans' make me want to vomit.
You ought to be ashamed of yourselves.
Redknapp is openly taking the piss out of the club, and some of you total fools want to extend his contract.
Get shot of the prick now.
It's got fuck all to do with that CL quote, but everything to do with trying to blackmail the club.
"Give me lots of money or the players leave" is what his idiot comments come down.
Levy will be in no mood for that type of shit what with his old girl passing away this week.
How some of you can't see through this wanker for the scumbag that he is is beyond me.
some of the "fans" are evidently childish little morons that for some reason (probably the success 'arry and the players have bought us) believe we are automatically entitled to win the league. bale, modric, van der vaart, adebayor, walker.... the list goes on. ALL of these players love working under HR and a few would very likely push for moves if he was to leave. need i say more? probably, for those that are completely braindead... since when have we been such a presence in the league? never. who would we replace him with? any reason to believe that moyes and martinez know what it takes to win a league? simple answer - no.
wake up all of you who think 'arry should be sacked. if you thought our success at the beginning of the season represented the immediate future of spurs, that we were destined for a title, you were living in fantasia. you clearly know nothing about our team and nothing about football because if you did you would understand and appreciate the value he's brought to the club, the players and the stability of the squad.
now, i'll leave you to go and dream about the moves for hazard, tevez and cavani that would have been nailed on had we got champions league football.
^^Yet another pillock who can't understand that the club is bigger than Redknapp's overblown ego.
Hope you choke on your chopsticks, retard.
hk_yid. Never has some one made such a fool of themselves in such a short space of time. Your post is so full of inaccuracies,opinion passed off as fact and simple utter bollocks i doubt you're even a spurs fan.
My sentiments are similar to cookieburn. When the England job came up, then suddenly there was no instability and players just went on with the job. Now it does affect them. Well what is it- Harry? I think Levy is properly wondering what Harry's commitment levels are. If Roy has a terrible Euro, and gets thrown out - will Harry decline if they come calling? It works both ways harry. You could have come out quickly like Pardew and said you are not interested in the England job. Instead the usual rubbish or "I love Spurs' followed by "You cannot say no to your country". Having said that, I do think that the manager position needs to be clarified asap - as I do think it affects players. Modric himself admitted he came to Spurs due to Ramos.
Hkyid - and you know the players so well how?
@hk_yid - some of the "fans" are evidently childish little morons that for some reason (probably the success 'arry and the players have bought us) believe we are automatically entitled to win the league. bale, modric, van der vaart, adebayor, walker.... the list goes on. ALL of these players love working under HR and a few would very likely push for moves if he was to leave. need i say more?
No you needent say any more, because what you have said is such rubbish it doesnt deserve printing. You're the deluded one. The players don't give a hoot about Harry and TMWNN says it all for me.
Redknapp pretty much epitomize's football today looking after number one, he has said this himself on numerous occasions.
I can understand totally why a lot of fans want him gone the excuses, self preservation and during the england business lack of any loyalty whatsoever, as much as i'm not keen on the fella i think spurs need to stick with him stability is key to lasting success this is the first time tottenham have progressed in each of the season's he's been in charge. As usual with Redknapp this is his way of trying to force the issue with his contract, realizing he's made a boo boo over england he's worried about his future Levy just needs to use this to his advantage which is why i'm sure he's making Harry sweat.
Stability is the way forward sometimes it's a case of better the (dodgy wheeler dealer) devil you know
Arry should be in court on charges of losing Spurs £30 million through miss-management of his portfolio. Any other job and this would have happened.
His mouth is so so big it beggers belief.
How dare he blackmail the club and drag the players into his argument. What other manager has ever done this??
The man is a disgrace to the game, not only to Spurs
Tottenham are a club who have had gentlemen as their managers and who were successful in Bill Nick and Keith Burkinshaw. They don't need or deserve dodgy wheeler dealers like Harry Redknapp. Had Arsenal, Chelsea or Liverpool been at their 'near' best last season they would have blown Tottenham out of the water. Martin Jol acheived as much with a lesser team. Lets get this straight, Redknapp has gone and hired a hard negotating agent in Paul Stretford, he has said the players who matter will want away unless he gets a new extended contract (76 days ago he said the players did'nt give a fuck who managed the club) and he's serving all this 'ultamatum style' senario up publicy to a chairman who is probably as shrewd, astute and sharp as any in the EPL. I sincerely beleive that Levy won't be fooled by either Redknapp or Stretford's threats and understand he is in a very, very strong position. Personally I would pay up the last year in his contract and get either Moyes or Martinez in there. Both good managers with Premiership experience and both utter Gentlemen.
@abe
It's interesting you mention Pardew immediately ruling himself out of the job. I vividly remember Redknapp, in one of his many media love-ins, sardonically talking about managers ruling themselves out of the England job without even being offered it. The ironic fact that during this time he was ruling himself in without being offered it completely flew over his nasty little head.
He was so cock-sure it was his, that it must have been a massive blow to his massive ego that he didn't get it. I just hope Levy gets rid soon.
@hotspurs
Spot on. Can you imagine trying to negotiate your contract at work by mouthing off in the media?
@Cookiebun
You're completely right; it's gone beyond whether Redknapp is capable of pushing the club on (he isn't), but is now about allowing some jumped up egotistical clown to continue taking the piss.
Does he even want to continue? I've got a feeling he's almost daring Levy to pay him off. It would be a bitter pill to swallow for Levy but worth every last penny.
Feb 26th to April 29th - 12 games we had 16 points from 36 points at the business part of the season. What went wrong Harry?
Please remind me ... Loic Remy said he would only come to Spurs if who stayed?
Please remind me ... did we improve or worsen our form when Hodgson was named England manager and it became clear that Harry was staying? I remember us starting to look much better. Of course there were banana skins but that's Spurs. The players seemed to play with much more confidence when they realized their manager was staying.
It seems reasonable to me to conclude that despite whatever eloquent and insightful observations a bunch of us football experts have to say here or on GG regarding HR, the players (with some notable exceptions) actually might just seem to actually like Harry.
Call me a Harry lover but for me that's reason enough to give Redknapp the benefit of the doubt.
On the other hand, I do see that Levy has a tough decision to make. We need to start thinking long term. HR is upping the ante of course and he is incredibly irritating in the way he is doing it, but that's Arry.
By thinking long term I mean--we need to start thinking beyond Harry. It's a tough decision to make because though I am grateful for what Redknapp is done I don't believe he can ever take us any further. If we are to push on we have to step up a level. I just don't know if we should be doing that right now in a critical transitional summer when it seems to me that some key players might be tempted to leave if Harry leaves.
Though I think he's a little too clever for his own good and he pisses me off in his tendency to dither, I do trust DL to make the right call regarding Arry.
If the players will only play for Redknapp, then they too can fuck off. It's almost as though you're saying that Redknapp is bigger than the club.
Harry got this team playing the way it does, Harry allowed Bale to become the winger we see today, Harry gave the team confidence to play with no fear, like Walker. So this team that's the best we've had in 30 years, isn't it down to Harry. After all many many managers before him couldn't get it right. Harry didn't sign Modric or Benny or King or Bale etc, so, if any manager with these players could get into the top 4, why weren't these players achieving 4th before Harry came in? Your talking crap! The additions to our squad since Harry arrived have mostly done a fantastic job to jel the team together, Van Der Vaart, Parker, Friedel, Sandro etc. The fact is regardless of what you think Harry has done, he is the best we can get with the budget we have, no-one else that's been mentioned within our budget capabilities can guarantee top 4!!!! I think people forget, it wasn't long ago that Man U surrendered a 10 point lead at the top of the table, to finish 2nd I think,if I can remember rightly. This happened without court cases, Heart ops or the FA calling out.
Tottenham is eating itself
Not saying that at all TMWNN. I'm just trying to be practical. Reality is reality. Though we wish it were otherwise the fact is probably that most of the players don't care very much about the club at all. Their loyalty is to making money and advancing their careers so in my estimation if anything/anyone can keep the ones we need we should at least think about it.
The alternative is that we could have a loyalty test where we weed out the glory seekers from true yiddoes and anyone who doesn't care about the club can f*ck off. Piss off Bale, Modric, and all you other pr*cks. Not sure we'd have anyone left other than Ledley King and that's not going to do us much good.
I don't expect them to be as loyal as the fans, but they're employed by THFC not Redknapp. If they want to play for Redknapp and not Spurs, then they can all clear off for all I care, regardless of the consequences. Besides, players will just use Redknapp going as a convenient excuse to want to leave anyway. I'm pretty sick of the lot of 'em, from Joe Lewis down.
cant underatand really , what the fuk have spurs achieved in last 20 yrs or when was the last time this looser club even came close to winning the league , that these spuds are bitching around even when they have finished , i shud say overachieved 4th position in epl , ask any neutral spurs are not that good as u guys think even swansea and newcastle or everton can play with more quality than u guys , so b thankful to harry he took as high u cud b with this squad ..its not wrong u bunch are regarded as delusionals...