Redknapp the Stopgap

[scat1620]

My worry about Capello was that with the exception of Roma he's only managed top sides with the pick of Europe's best players. We don't exactly fit that bill, do we? When Jol said that Wenger and Mourinho would have done no better than him if they'd taken over Spurs when he did he was almost certainly right. What he did with a squad that no-one had huge expectations of at the start of 2005-2006 is very much underestimated by some, and because of that success too many people (including, unfortunately, the board, it would seem) got completely carried away and decided that because of his previous modest success with small Dutch clubs he wasn't good enough to 'take us to the next level'; we needed a big-name manager to match our big-time ambitions. Sadly, no-one checked out Ramos' pre-Sevilla CV.

Under that carefully cultivated, 'Well, I just put my feet up, check out the gee-gees and let them get on with it' exterior there's a very shrewd football mind. Harry gets underestimated because that's what he wants people to do. There seems to be this notion that anyone who hasn't managed a big club and big players can't possibly be good enough for Spurs, forgetting that of our three most successful managers two were assistants to their predecessors and the third came from Chelmsford City. 'Big-name' managers haven't had too happy a history at Spurs. Some people would doubtless have turned their noses up at Moyes ('What?! He's only managed Preston! Are you kidding?'). Just be thankful that we've actually got a manager who knows what he's doing.

Best post by anyone this year on SC by a country mile. :clap:

 

[Midostouch]

I didn't see him as a stop gap and I don't now - he knows what he's doing and has organised our squad into one that is rock solid at home and somewhat better than they were away. He has always punched above his weight in terms of the players he manages to get to a club and what he gets out of them.

 

[Lilbaz]

I remember when he signed for us some of the posters on here were disgusted. I couldn't understand why, he has more PL experience than almost anyone (Fergie noted) and knows what is needed to win in this league. He has done triffic so far and like one poster said we have to keep behind him even if he has a rough patch.

 

[Rackybear]

I think your post sums up most spurs fans views, certainly mine.

I was less the impressed by his signing as our manager, but over his spell at the club he has proven to me he is not a "lucky" manager, and with the aid of some fantastic signings our results have shown that.

Heres to a succesfull 2009/10 season under Harry:up:

 

[DC_Boy]

Harry has a great ppg record with us, and took us to a final in less than a season, what's not to like?

yes keane and defoe doesn't work, and that's a problem that might yet sink Harry, but let's see how he deals with it.

 

[Hoowl]

A few sample posts from the time Harry was appointed

Get Roy Keane in!!

I would love it [Keane coming], but I seriously doubt he would leave Sunderland at this moment in time.

Heard it's redknapp???

More like you have read the paper just like everyone else.

Redknapp has just slagged our fan's off for the past three weeks and he is west ham.

Another bloody Gooner! :roll: He's supported them since he was a boy. God forbid his son comes back to coach after slagging us off on Sultana all the time!

Another WRONG choice IMO. It should've been Roy Keane. :-|

Is he gonna bring Adams?!

Would be happy with Harry Redknapp. But the manager I really want is Roy Keane! His contract is up in the summer!

No, please no to redknapp, he'll bring back kaboul.

Redkanpp for me, is capped by the fact that he likes autonomy and he loves to be a big fish in a small pond. I sincerely hope the bright lights of a big club in distress, doesn't overwhelm him.

and please not Redknapp, reckon he will take the job though, bring diarra and defoe then with him at least.

Well if people weren't laughing at us earlier.........they'll start now

In my heart of hearts, i have to say i think Redknapp is the wrong choice. Someone's already mentioned the big fish in a small pond scenario and that suits him best. He has previous for getting clubs out of trouble though (Soton aside) so that may be a bonus. I think he'll be overwhelmed by it all. Hope i'm wrong. We had a chance to go for someone massive, we have the money, someon elike Hiddink or a hard **** like Keane.

Hope i'm wrong. Just don't feel great about it. Although bringing Diara with him may help me a bit.

he got west ham relegated with joe cole, frank the fat and carrick as well as defoe in the team. its 2nd string footie for us soon.

I dont know how i can support a team managed by harry redknapp. He has spent his career being disloyal, dishonest and most of all, a crook. Add that to the fact that he has been slagging us off for about a year because of all the Sol Campbell stuff and its just another clear example that Levy doesnt give a shit about the fans/have a clue what he is doing. If the chance comes in to sell my season ticket this year then i would jump at the chance-this is one step too far.

Fuck! Fuck fuckkkkkkkkkkk

I'm still very much undecided. My initial reaction was nooooooo but I realise he could possibly be good for us.

Stupidest thing Levy has EVER done. Spurs are a joke and Levy can lick my balls with his green toads tounge.

WOW! Didn't even sound like Harry wanted to come to us. Until yesterday morning he was perfectly happy at Pompey, but they wanted the money, and accepted Levy's cash! Un-be-lieve-able!! Eek

It's his last job before Retirement. Is he hungry? Ofcourse not!

We NEEDED a young thrusting manager, we needed Roy Keane.

We flashed the cash again......and probably got the wrong Manager....AGAIN! :roll:

What the fuck and what the fuck. I don't want Harry Redknapp, bring in Roy Keane.

What a joke.

Harry fucking Redknapp. Totally mediocre. The twitcy **** will take us down.

We might even get his spastic son in as assistant manager. Great.

Harry is a good manager and will get us away from the bottom, however I do not think that he can take us into the top four.

and a great one from tottenham_til_i_die:

and here we are again, in danger of falling into the same old trap that we always fall into. making assumptions about the future and the managers ability to take us to "the next level". It is utterly futile to begin to think about top 10 or top 4 finishes bcos what it does is set unrealistic levels of expectation. As soon as we start setting unrealistic goals we are doomed to failure.

This is exactly what happened with Martin Jol. At the moment what the club needs more than anything is stability - that has to be the goal for now. Obviously there has to be a certain minimum standard, and at the moment, top 10, possibly 8 should be it. Even if we were to finish there for the next three seasons with the same manager that would bring the much needed stability that the club needs - and that [stability] should be our measure of success now.

This is a common flaw in the human psyche, the need to project into the future and imagine how future events will unfold. It is a tendency away from reality that ultimately leads to failure and unhappiness as it sets pre-conditions for success and happiness. Lets deal with reality for a while. We are still in the relegation zone and have a long way to go in the season. We are not safe yet, so any talk about top 10 or top 4 finishes is completely unrealistic.

Harry Redknapp may be the man to take us into the top 4, or he may not be. He is the man though that is in charge at the moment though, can we please just focus on this.

 

[TheBigMatch]

I think the CL is a bit of a pipe dream tbh. ...Let's face it, other than Sir Bill's legends that's pretty much what Spurs do - we're a cup side.

:clap: Too much talk of Champions League. Who remembers our top 4 finishes in the past. Nobody. Unless the top clubs have a major financial collapse we are not going to win the Premier League.

In a choice between a cup and 4th place, I'd take the cup, even if it meant l'arse taking 4th. Looking back in a few years time it will be Spurs that are seen as the winners.

Harry had to take a pragmatic approach and go for the League Cup ahead of the UEFA Cup but it was such a pity. We were serious contenders and need to win in Europe again.

 

[Jaispurs]

:clap: Too much talk of Champions League. Who remembers our top 4 finishes in the past. Nobody. Unless the top clubs have a major financial collapse we are not going to win the Premier League.

In a choice between a cup and 4th place, I'd take the cup, even if it meant l'arse taking 4th. Looking back in a few years time it will be Spurs that are seen as the winners.

Harry had to take a pragmatic approach and go for the League Cup ahead of the UEFA Cup but it was such a pity. We were serious contenders and need to win in Europe again.

I remember us finishing 3rd, 3 times. Now I am a bit older than many on the site but just mid 30's. 1984/5, 86/7 and then 89/90. Three times in 5 years.... under Burkinshaw, Pleat and Venables.

Rednapp is definately the man. I was made up when we got him as all the dross I watching Ramos & Poyet spilling out had me screaming for blood. The team was all over the place and needed a firm but simple hand to just get the right players playing in their right positions.

'Arry definately has my support and just wish more of us will sing his name at the Lane.

 

[SelbYido]

Redknapp stays. Do we really want another 'season of transition'? I wouldn't mind so much if we ever left it long enough to find out what exactly we're making the transition to...

 

[tommyt]

Best post by anyone this year on SC by a country mile. :clap:

So true, and it makes me sad

 

[rags2riches]

He can stay as long as he likes if he changes his name to Harry Never-Redknapp lol

 

[Spursking]

I remember I said in a thread when we were looking for a new manager in the previous seasons that I wanted Redknapp. I remember many people here disagreed with me.

I am very happy with Redknapp. I just hope he keep up the good signings he used to have at his previous Clubs.

 

[Gilzeanking]

Howl ...don't start me off with this 'Spurs fans are fickle' bollox .

Many were unsure of 'Arry at the start...this is understandable given his record . He has done well and people are generally happy now .

This has nothing to do with your imagined 'fickle Spurs fans'...but everything to do with people warming to good results .

In case this isn't clear , Spurs fans are exactly as fickle as Barcodes ,WHam, Manc ,Pool, Barca etc etc fans . So shut it with this pathetic stereotype .

 

[Mullers]

I think everyone was surprised when Redknapp joined us last year. We'd sacked a man touted to be coach at Real Madrid and Chelsea. The previous coach we had was being linked to jobs at Ajax and Bayern yet we hadn't hired an up and coming manager or a manager with a European pedigree. We went for the safe option. Someone who knew the league inside out and could get us out of the relegation zone back into the comfort of mid table.

Almost everyone seemed to view Harry as a stop gap. Someone to take charge, ensure our premiership safety and then step aside when the club was stable enough to bring in a more fashionable name who could help take us to the next level. Maybe this is even what Levy thought at the time, Relegation was unthinkable and there were few available managers better equipt to help us.

Harry's team started well but then our form dipped again before we turned the corner with an away win at Hull and fnshed the season challenging for a European slot. Under Harry, spurs surpassed almost all the expectations formed when he joined us and we only had two points from eight games.

Now the summer in upon us and Harry has been linked with a move back to Portsmouth. It may just be paper talk and Chinese whispers but he does have previous. Okay, he's said in interviews that he won't be going anywhere but you have to take what Harry says with more salt than most pieces of ITK information. Irrespective of whether there is any truth in the rumours, it's only six months ago that a large number of us would have definately wanted Harry to leave us after securing our league status.

After our performances under Harry, opinions about him have changed and the general concensus seems to be that we should definately stick with him and see what he can achieve given a full season and a change to sign a couple more players. Does this lend further evidence to the fact that Spurs fans are described as fickle? Does the fact that we've warmed to Redknapp suggest we're willing to give new players and managers a fair chance and Does anyone still view Redknapp as a stopgap who we should get rid of?

My own feelings is that he is a stopgap and was a panic signing I said this when he was first appointed. He has done very well and I think we should stick with him, however he himself said that we would be his last club. So once his contract is up he will very likely retire.

I think there are problems for him on the horizon, for starters I think it we will be very hard to qualify for Europe next season. If we don't qualify the board will not be happy with that, that puts him under immediate pressure. If Hiddink becomes available they might well look to him.

I also think players such as Modric, Gomes and Corluka won't be happy to stick around either. I am not really liking the ITK I have been hearing, I hope a lot of that won't come true for Redknapp's sake.

I am not trying to be pessimistic, I am just being a realist.

 

[Ironskull]

I remember us finishing 3rd, 3 times. Now I am a bit older than many on the site but just mid 30's. 1984/5, 86/7 and then 89/90. Three times in 5 years.... under Burkinshaw, Pleat and Venables.

Rednapp is definately the man. I was made up when we got him as all the dross I watching Ramos & Poyet spilling out had me screaming for blood. The team was all over the place and needed a firm but simple hand to just get the right players playing in their right positions.

'Arry definately has my support and just wish more of us will sing his name at the Lane.

Sorry to be picky but wasn't 84/85 Shreeves?