Redknapp leaves Spurs, whats next?

I was half way through writing a blog a couple of weeks ago on Spurs, stating how this summer is potentially the most crucial time Spurs have every faced. One of the biggest decisions they needed to decide on was Harry Redknapp’s future at the club. Now they release a statement at 4am saying he has left the club.

I am still sticking with this being the most crucial summer for Spurs, because it is the potential turning point. We could either push on to bigger things or we could fall back into mid table.

With Harry Redknapp, I think there must have been a lot more going on behind the scenes than we would know. Yes the results were not great towards the end of the season and I always blamed the players, but at the end of the day I guess the blame lies with the man in charge. Its tough but Harry has been through it before.

There is a couple of issues, which I reckon made this departure happen.

A: He hired Paul Stretford to negotiate him a new contract. Why? He’s done it himself or through his solicitor on many occasions in the past. Why has he suddenly employed one of the big football agents to do it for him?

B: I am sure his rant about being in the last year of his contract was a catalyst to him not staying on at the club. As much as Daniel Levy may have liked Harry, seeing that in the papers would have worn him very thin. Plus I believe a member of Daniel Levys family had just passed away, so having pressure on him to negotiate his employees new contract would not have gone down well.

I expect Paul Stretford was behind this little rant and I expect it will get Harry Redknapp his millions at his next club which will most likely be in Quata or one of the other mega rich nations.

As for Spurs, well it needs to be a clever appointment. We need a manager who will come in and steady the ship and continue the good work. You must remember that with Harry leaving, so will most of the backroom staff. Kevin Bond and Joe Jordan were very important to the set up, but being Harrys best and loyal mates, they will go too.

 

What Spurs do not need is some manager from a different country who has won the cup in their home nation and is ‘well regarded’ as the next Man Utd Manager. This will not work. They will cost millions, come with loads of pressure and change everything at the club.

The basic principles of the club work, hence why we have finished in the top 5 so many times in the past few seasons.

Harry brought in only exceptional foreign talent, but mainly brought in experienced Premier League players and this has worked wonders on the club. I suggest the club does the same when picking the new manager. There is only one name that can be touted and that’s David Moyes.

I am a bit fan of David Moyes, but you have to remember that his success is also down to having a very understanding and supportive boss in Bill Kenwright. Everton have had their ups and downs, yet David Moyes job had never been on the line.

Should he take over Spurs and by December the club be 12th in the league, I doubt Daniel Levy will keep him on that much longer. Expectations at Spurs are now that we must challenge for the title or atleast be sitting in the top 4.

So it’s a MASSIVE summer for Spurs. I am hoping the board do the right thing. The more I think about it, the more I get the whole Redknapp leaving this. I was angry at first but we all know it was going to end sooner or later, I am just happy its ended at a time when a new regime can come in and actually make a difference instead of half way through October when we are battling relegation.

Dont worry fellow Spurs fans, we will find out Arsene Wenger or Sir Alex Ferguson eventually…

And sorry Everton if we steal your manager and you get relegated.

The Downward Spiral know as Spurs

My reaction to seeing the score from the QPR vs Spurs match really sums up the season for Tottenham. I was not annoyed, I just let out a sigh and switched my phone off to continue drinking at the engagement party I was at.

The last 2 months have really made me frustrated being a Spurs fan, not because of the whole Harry Redknapp

to England fiasco, but because the players are letting everyone down after all the hard work that has been put in.

Rewind to when Harry took over, bottom of the table with some of the best players in the league. Fast forward to November 2011 and those players are challenging for the title in the same Spurs shirt that saw them rooted to the bottom of the table. Harry didn’t make wholesale changes to the squad, just added a little experience.

Harry Redknapp got them playing a way that the league had not seen. It was 100 mph for 90 mins and no one could handle it. The last two months however, something has changed and no one seems to know what it is.

After last weeks defeat in the FA Cup Semi Final, I amazingly read on twitter some spurs fans saying Harry Redknapp should get the sack. What else could Harry have done? He has played that team, that system, that way all season long and it seemed to work. It’s the players that are to blame.

I have a feeling Spurs have hit the peak and are back on the way down. The players have tasted the highs of the Premier League and a sense of arrogance is coming in. Dare I say it, but now people expect this high tempo from Spurs, the pressure hits and the egos come out.

Whats more worrying is that this whole situation leaves no reason for Harry to turn down the England job. Do you want to represent your country and attempt the impossible job, or do you fancy playing in Poland on a Thursday night for the sake of ITV 4? If we had Champions League, it might be a different story but I cannot see that happening now.

Some of Spurs best players will be on their way, Van Der Vaart I predicted at the start of the season would be on his way at the end of this season and I still think that will happen. Adeybayor will probably find a pay day else where. Modric will have his pick of sides to go win the league with and suddenly Spurs lose the spine of the team. This in turn will see Gareth Bale tempted to go else where.

This will then trigger a panic in the Spurs Board Room. They will go out and get the biggest name manager money can buy, they will change the way spurs play and suddenly we are in the same position we found ourselves in before Harry came to save the day.

Sorry Spurs fans, but we have hit the peak, its time for another midtable battle with Aston Villa and Sunderland until someone like Bredan Rogers comes along and picks the team up again. Hey, it was fun while it lasted.

The FA Cock Up

This time last week we were asking ‘will Harry go to jail?’ Now we find ourselves asking whether he will stick around his current job to finish off what could be his biggest achievement to date.

This has been brought about by the most bizarre collection of events over the past few days and I will do my best to make sense in this blog.

The Culprits

John Terry: he believes he innocent in the racism abuse case. Fair play to him, it does not look good in my opinion but I can understand in his mind resigning as captain would suggest his guilt in the case.

The FA: should have put more pressure on Terry to resign as captain. The media frenzy around him is what has worried them and rightly so but they then undermined their manager.

Capello: perhaps not bothered about England anymore? I totally back his feelings on the FA going behind his back. As an Italian he was never going to go back on his feelings towards the matter. Bit stupid slagging your bosses off on TV though, even if it is in Italy. If they can pay you £6 Million a year, they can certainly afford a subscription to sky Italia and a half decent translator.

My theory on what will happen next:
Harry Redknapp will not take the job until after Euro 2012. Let Stuart Peace steady the ship and let Harry start afresh.

All spurs fans are reserved to the fact that Harry will go if England came calling this summer. If anything it’s nice for spurs to have a manager in demand rather than sacking them.

But I cannot see Harry leaving his job at sours unfinished.

Next spurs manager? Someone with premier league experience, not some random foreigner. David Moyes or Brendan Rogers would make me happy.

And another Transfer Window Closes

Around about the 31st of Jan and August each year I have the same arguments at home about why its important for me to watch Sky Sports News all the way up to midnight. Every time it seems to work. What I do not understand is why clubs leave it so late to buy these players. What has really inspired me to write this post is a comment I just read regarding my beloved Spurs.

“Harry Redknapp has always been a big fan of Ryan (Nelson)”

SO WHY DID YOU LEAVE IT TO 10PM ON TRANSFER DEADLINE DAY IN 2012 TO ADMIT THIS?! Hes 34 years old, has a knee injury which has meant he’s not actually played in nearly a year and makes Ledley King look like a stranger to the physio room.

Harry said a similar thing about Louis Saha as he purchased him yesterday too. Are we going to be having the same conversation in 15 years time regarding Christiano Ronaldo and Messi?

I can only assume deals like this happen because of Agents making a silly amount of phone calls and Tottenham appears to be the only club who actually take any of these calls seriously. Either that or Harry seems to be under an immense amount of pressure to perform. In previous windows, White Hart Lane has been the place to be for the last-minute action, so all the journalists will camp out there in the freezing cold in the hope. Harry seems these people suffering, so to give em what they want, he signs Louis Saha.

I am not criticising Tottenham either just to make it clear because I can see a continued theme in all our transfers this season, they all have vast amounts of Premier League experience and most know what its like to win leagues and trophies (even Saha has a Premier League Medal).

Earlier in the day it seemed that very little was going to happen during the transfer window. Andy Carroll had his backpack and packed lunch ready just incase someone had £35 million ready to lure him away from Anfield and King Kenny had to motor running for that last-minute lift, but in the end the excitement boiled down to Lous Saha going to Spurs on Loan.

I find it really fascinating sometimes to think how strange it would be if all jobs worked with a transfer window. Your about to finish up for the week at work in say Brighton when suddenly a call comes in at 4.50pm. “Would you like to come work for us in Manchester?”… Erm…can I think about it over the weekend?… No, the deadline is 5, we need a decision NOW!

Finally can we all spare a thought for the poor Arsenal fans. Arsene Wenger still needs a cuddle and had he been ‘Tonked’ again this weekend I reckon he would have snapped and tried to sign Andre Santos again only to find he already owns him.