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Tottenham fans beginning to question Redknapp?

Graham Fisher in Editorial, English Premier League 23 Jan 2009

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It seems incredible but I truly believe that Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp could just be coming under a bit of pressure. When he took over the Tottenham job they were in a total mess. Now he seems to have developed the club so that they are in, well, a total mess!

His first few weeks at the club were a great success. He seemed to have waved a magic wand and worked a miracle. Before he arrived Tottenham were bottom of the league with two points from eight games. Then he took the team to relative safety with five wins in nine games. Now, again, they have slipped deep into trouble with no win in five games. Wednesday night very nearly saw them embarrassingly lose a 4-1 lead to Burnley in the Carling Cup semi-final.

The one thing that has become a constant in Redknapp’s after match interviews and comments is his very negative comments about his own players and the criticism of the previous manager. His attack on his players seems a very strange way to try to motivate his team and develop a good spirit, which are surely a major part of his job.

Now, in my opinion, Redknapp has launched an attack on the club’s fans. He says that he has little interest in their FA Cup game at Manchester United and will field a very weak team (some would say, ‘no change there!‘)

The reason I say this is an attack on the fans is that thousands of them will have paid a great deal of money to buy tickets for the game and arrange travel and possibly accommodation as well. These are real fans. These are the people who really matter in the game. These are the people who are completely disregarded in circumstances like this.

Redknapp says about the Cup game at Old Trafford,

“We’ve got some tough games, we’ve a game at Man United that really is so secondary to me now. We’re in a relegation battle and I can’t risk Jamie O’Hara, Jonathan Woodgate and Michael Dawson at Old Trafford. I have to go to Old Trafford with that group of players that we had tonight. If Alex (Ferguson) is listening, I’m really going to send a real mish-mash team up there. I hope it doesn’t upset the fans, but we played extra time and we’re out on our feet a little bit. The lads who didn’t play tonight will play and I’m going to rest the key players who played tonight because I can’t afford to lose any more to injuries.”

His latest rant about the quality of his squad included these comments,

“We need stronger players in here because we’re not mentally or physically strong enough. It’s a challenge and it can’t get any worse. When I took over we had two points from eight games but Stoke (on Tuesday) is a massive game for us. This is a football club that has been put together by I don’t know who and I don’t know how. It’s a mish-mash of players with people playing where they want to play. It’s scary.”

About some of the players who had a rare outing at Burnley he said,

“I had to play a few lads who hadn’t played too much and they didn’t do themselves a lot of good really to be honest with you. The players should be fighting for their lives to stay at a great football club like this. Their future is on the line, they need to perform to stay at the club.”

I wondered if it was only me who found the words and actions of Harry Redknapp a little surprising. I mean, did he accept no responsibility whatever for the tactical plan he produced for his team at Burnley?

A look at the BBC message board showed that I am not alone. Of the hundreds of comments it was difficult to find any in defence of the manager. Yes, the Tottenham fans are all upset with some of the players, but they cannot understand the constant criticism in public coming from the boss.

The following are just a few examples of the type of comments.

“I’ve always been a Harry Redknapp fan but recently he’s started to get on my nerves. He never seems to stop talking about bringing in new players. Surely one of the main roles of a manager is to manage what you’ve got. That should be the first job – to work with the team and make them a better unit by motivation, training, etc. There’s some good young players in that Spurs side and all they need is some self believe. They aren’t going to get that if Harry is constantly harping on about bringing in other players to replace them. Your a manager for gods sake – now manage.”

“As far as Harry Redknapp goes, I am surprised he is so overly critical of his team. Considering how he developed Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Michael Carrick, Jermaine Defoe, Rio Ferdinand and co at West Ham, he is not being more supportive to the likes of Bale, Huddlestone, Alnwick, Gunter and O’Hara.”

“I do not think Harry is helping sort the problem out by criticising Darren ‘my missus could score that’ Bent and constantly saying the team is not good enough. True, he may have a point, but he needs to stand up for these players.”

“I have to say I agree with the criticisms of Redknapp on this post. I was thrilled to see him in and Ramos out, but recently I think he’s proven a bit out-of-his depth with Spurs. The over-the-top criticisms of the players cant be doing the team any good. He is doing nothing to build morale at the club and he’s starting to feel like a loser to me.”

“Is anyone else getting a bit tired of Redknapp bemoaning his squad? Nobody forced him to up sticks and join Spurs, and he knew exactly what was there when he joined. He’s had three weeks to bring people in yet all he seems to do it complain about how it’s not his fault and the previous managers are to blame for leaving him a weak squad to inherit. I didn’t hear any of these complains when Spurs starting winning a few games immediately after he joined, but now he is losing, it’s someone else’s fault entirely.”

“Redknapp is getting on my nerves too. I’m also fed up of people (and Redknapp) saying spurs aren’t where they “should be.” What does that mean? They are exactly where a disorganised side with players who can’t play together should be – in a relegation fight! True, he does have one or two world class players but they need to stand up and be counted but, at the moment, they don’t.”

“It would be nice to see Harry Redknapp take a share of the responsibility for that performance last night. If his tactics were just to hold what you’ve got for 90 minutes (and it certainly appeared that way), then maybe he was a little at fault. Publicly criticising his players while refusing to take his share of the blame isn’t doing anyone any good but then this is Harry Redknapp- he can do no wrong.”

It seems that at least some of the fans are very unhappy. I would guess that several of the players are also pretty unhappy about the way they are being criticised by the boss. In private, yes, the manager should make his feelings very clear. In public? No. You don’t often hear any of the managers currently in the top half of the table criticising their own players do you?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Graham Fisher


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  • Kenedy-lagos

    0 0

    Redknap just wrk like magic and of a truth he has transformed the Spurs!

  • Anthony

    0 0

    Well, i do not blame him in a way. I mean I am pretty sure that he has a certain strategy with every game, but maybe the players are just not playing to their potential or giving it their all. I mean think about..thanks to these same crappy players, a good manager like Juande Ramos was fired. People have to realize sometimes that sometimes its just not the managers, but the players that should be blamed for terrible games. These losers are being payed huge amounts of money and got in this club with high high expectations such as Bentley,that mexican kid etc and wt r d results??dey r not even playin in the startn 11 as dey fail to impress even in training.

  • Jon

    0 0

    Harry spends all week working with these players and sees alot more than just 90mins of a game, Harry is a football manager and a dam good one at that, if Harry is coming out after each game and criticizing his players surely we should respect his experience rather than question it. We have a small squad and we need every player to step up, if they arent what do they expect – a pat on the back and well done? Come on Harry…

  • Graham Fisher

    0 0

    I accept many of the points in these responses but the comments made in the article are taken from the BBC 606 message board and are certainly not written by me.

    All I am trying to portray is what ‘Ol git’ says in his comment about the amazing transformation in Redknapp’s demeanour since they started struggling again.

  • spurs muaythai

    0 0

    read the so called coments made by spurs fans again.. they have been written by who ever wrote this piece of shit that i stupidly have just wasted my time reading. the overpaid and protected tossers who put our shirt on each week and play 80% max need a good kick in the arse.

    well done harry…………………….best manager since terry venables imo at spurs, although jol was not given a fair crack!

  • Ol'Git

    0 0

    It was made clear when he was appointed that Harry’s brief was to keep us in the Premiership and anything else is a bonus. Well we’ve got one bonus, a second visit to Wembley in two years. ow we should focus on the main job at hand Premiership survival. Even our ‘strongest’ available team would, almost certainly, not be enough to topple ManU at Old Trafford and then 3 days later we have to take on fellow strugglers Stoke. This right on top of a grueling extra time tussle at Burnley. What Harry is likely to do in sending a second string team to Manchester is spot on the right thing to do. It will also give him a great insight into the make up of a few of our fringe players.
    Having made that point, Harry’s negative demeanor I find confusing and worrying. The metamorphosis from ‘Appy ‘Arry full of praise and encouragement to this scowling ultra critical harbinger of doom is baffling. I only hope there’s a method in there somewhere.
    Meanwhile we have to have faith and hope that we can find that bit of form that will see us play somewhere near our potential which will be good enough to keep us in the top flight. We will all have our opinions as to whether we believe that’s possible.

  • Macco

    0 0

    I’m sorry but this article is WAY off the mark. The vast majority of Tottenham supporters know that Harry is a very good coach and that chopping and changing managers isn’t going to help anything. Like Redknapp, we want the players to knuckle down and start getting results. We’re on the exact same page as Harry.

    You’re just trying to stir it with this piece.

  • maybe juande

    0 0

    You are barking up the wrong tree mate. He has to do a job with an inherited side. I for one love his honest and up front approach. Go try and someone elses manager

  • Jon

    0 0

    i dont agree that Harry has attacked the fans with his comments about the FA cup game with Man U, the reason he said that was coz he values the fans, We have to put priority on the league, we never beat Man U anyway and the Stoke game 3days later is far more important.

    As for attacking the players in the media well they deserve it if they play like Hudd on wed night, he has far more ability than he showed that night, simply no passion there. Harry has been in top flight management for years and knows what he’s doing, thats his job, We NEED to get behind Harry this season and back him all the way!!

  • Paul

    0 0

    What a load of tosh! People like you are the reason that Paul Ince only got 5 months…. Did you actually watch Spurs in the first month or so of the season? We were bloody awful (Chelsea game apart), no-one had any passion or confidence and I think if we hadn’t sacked Ramos and brought in Redknapp we would be adrift at the bottom.

    The guy has worked miracles with some of the guys we have there, he inherited a team with 1 real GK how had 0 confidence, 2 right wingers and no left, Didier Zokora as the only defensive midfielder and no-one to score goals.

    He is trying to rectify that at the moment, although I dont think we will see the full extent of his changes until the summer.

    I, as a seson ticket holder, have full confidence in Harry – as do all my friends who are Spurs supports, plus the people who I sit with week in and week out at Spurs as do all Spurs supporters that I speak to.

    Do I agree with every decision he makes? Of course not, but that doesnt mean that Harry Redknapp doesnt have my full support, my full confidence and that of most Spurs fans.

    So do yourself a favour and go and cause trouble up the scum, I think their fans are fed up with Arsene Whinger!!!

    COYS!!

  • norman

    0 0

    Redknapp is not the problem. Spurs is the problem! They are always making the same mistakes over and over again. New manager + new team and when it doesn’t work they bring in a new manager who also brings in a new team. They made a huge mistake by getting rid of Martin Jol. Now I hope they pay for it and go down. This constant overspending on second rate players is not helping the other football clubs in the transfer market. IF spurs go down they will go bankrupt and start playing in the division that is best suited for them. League 1.

  • Rivett

    0 0

    Actually, I and a lot of other Spurs fans couldn’t have been happier to hear Harry say he’d field a weak team in the FA Cup. A lot of us feel that there are players at the club who deserve more of a go: Adel Taraabt, Giovani Dos Santos, John Bostock and Jonothan Obika being the main players we’d love to be seeing more of. To be frank, a full strength Tottenham side (not possible anyhow due to injuries) would still be more than likely no match for the Red Devils so for Harry to take this chance to give some fringe players a run is good management. And at least the fringe players have something to prove, and might actually give their all – unlike 90% of the players in the first team proper.

  • Rivett

    0 0

    Actually, I and a lot of other Spurs fans couldn’t have been happier to hear Harry say he’d field a weak team in the FA Cup. A lot of us feel that there are players at the club who deserve more of a go: Adel Taraabt, Giovani Dos Santos, John Bostock and Jonothan Obika being the main players we’d love to be seeing more of. To be frank, a full strength Tottenham side (not possible anyhow due to injuries) would still be more than likely no match for the Red Devils so for Harry to take this chance to give some fringe players a run is good management. And at least the fringe players have something to prove, and might actually give their all – unlike 90% of the players in the first team proper.

  • norman

    0 0

    Redknapp is not the problem. Spurs is the problem! They are always making the same mistakes over and over again. New manager + new team and when it doesn’t work they bring in a new manager who also brings in a new team. They made a huge mistake by getting rid of Martin Jol. Now I hope they pay for it and go down. This constant overspending on second rate players is not helping the other football clubs in the transfer market. IF spurs go down they will go bankrupt and start playing in the division that is best suited for them. League 1.

  • Paul

    0 0

    What a load of tosh! People like you are the reason that Paul Ince only got 5 months…. Did you actually watch Spurs in the first month or so of the season? We were bloody awful (Chelsea game apart), no-one had any passion or confidence and I think if we hadn’t sacked Ramos and brought in Redknapp we would be adrift at the bottom.

    The guy has worked miracles with some of the guys we have there, he inherited a team with 1 real GK how had 0 confidence, 2 right wingers and no left, Didier Zokora as the only defensive midfielder and no-one to score goals.

    He is trying to rectify that at the moment, although I dont think we will see the full extent of his changes until the summer.

    I, as a seson ticket holder, have full confidence in Harry – as do all my friends who are Spurs supports, plus the people who I sit with week in and week out at Spurs as do all Spurs supporters that I speak to.

    Do I agree with every decision he makes? Of course not, but that doesnt mean that Harry Redknapp doesnt have my full support, my full confidence and that of most Spurs fans.

    So do yourself a favour and go and cause trouble up the scum, I think their fans are fed up with Arsene Whinger!!!

    COYS!!

  • Jon

    0 0

    i dont agree that Harry has attacked the fans with his comments about the FA cup game with Man U, the reason he said that was coz he values the fans, We have to put priority on the league, we never beat Man U anyway and the Stoke game 3days later is far more important.

    As for attacking the players in the media well they deserve it if they play like Hudd on wed night, he has far more ability than he showed that night, simply no passion there. Harry has been in top flight management for years and knows what he’s doing, thats his job, We NEED to get behind Harry this season and back him all the way!!

  • maybe juande

    0 0

    You are barking up the wrong tree mate. He has to do a job with an inherited side. I for one love his honest and up front approach. Go try and someone elses manager

  • Macco

    0 0

    I’m sorry but this article is WAY off the mark. The vast majority of Tottenham supporters know that Harry is a very good coach and that chopping and changing managers isn’t going to help anything. Like Redknapp, we want the players to knuckle down and start getting results. We’re on the exact same page as Harry.

    You’re just trying to stir it with this piece.

  • Ol'Git

    0 0

    It was made clear when he was appointed that Harry’s brief was to keep us in the Premiership and anything else is a bonus. Well we’ve got one bonus, a second visit to Wembley in two years. ow we should focus on the main job at hand Premiership survival. Even our ‘strongest’ available team would, almost certainly, not be enough to topple ManU at Old Trafford and then 3 days later we have to take on fellow strugglers Stoke. This right on top of a grueling extra time tussle at Burnley. What Harry is likely to do in sending a second string team to Manchester is spot on the right thing to do. It will also give him a great insight into the make up of a few of our fringe players.
    Having made that point, Harry’s negative demeanor I find confusing and worrying. The metamorphosis from ‘Appy ‘Arry full of praise and encouragement to this scowling ultra critical harbinger of doom is baffling. I only hope there’s a method in there somewhere.
    Meanwhile we have to have faith and hope that we can find that bit of form that will see us play somewhere near our potential which will be good enough to keep us in the top flight. We will all have our opinions as to whether we believe that’s possible.

  • spurs muaythai

    0 0

    read the so called coments made by spurs fans again.. they have been written by who ever wrote this piece of shit that i stupidly have just wasted my time reading. the overpaid and protected tossers who put our shirt on each week and play 80% max need a good kick in the arse.

    well done harry…………………….best manager since terry venables imo at spurs, although jol was not given a fair crack!

  • Graham Fisher

    0 0

    I accept many of the points in these responses but the comments made in the article are taken from the BBC 606 message board and are certainly not written by me.

    All I am trying to portray is what ‘Ol git’ says in his comment about the amazing transformation in Redknapp’s demeanour since they started struggling again.

  • Jon

    0 0

    Harry spends all week working with these players and sees alot more than just 90mins of a game, Harry is a football manager and a dam good one at that, if Harry is coming out after each game and criticizing his players surely we should respect his experience rather than question it. We have a small squad and we need every player to step up, if they arent what do they expect – a pat on the back and well done? Come on Harry…

  • Anthony

    0 0

    Well, i do not blame him in a way. I mean I am pretty sure that he has a certain strategy with every game, but maybe the players are just not playing to their potential or giving it their all. I mean think about..thanks to these same crappy players, a good manager like Juande Ramos was fired. People have to realize sometimes that sometimes its just not the managers, but the players that should be blamed for terrible games. These losers are being payed huge amounts of money and got in this club with high high expectations such as Bentley,that mexican kid etc and wt r d results??dey r not even playin in the startn 11 as dey fail to impress even in training.

  • Kenedy-lagos

    0 0

    Redknap just wrk like magic and of a truth he has transformed the Spurs!

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