Tag Archives: harry redknapp - Page 2

What a day to be a Spurs fan

Posted by on April 19, 2010 9 comments

After our disappointing FA Cup Semi Final exit at the hands of Portsmouth, I don’t think anyone could have predicted that Tottenham would bounce back in such dramatic fashion. With our run of fixtures, I honestly thought a top 4 finish was very unlikely, but after two incredible victories, Spurs are now favourites to take the last Champions League spot.

Being the pessimist that I am, I’m still expecting something to go wrong somewhere! Obviously the big one looks to be on May 5th at the City of Manchester Stadium but I think Bolton at home in two Saturday’s time could be key. The best I can see us getting at Old Trafford this weekend is a draw, and even that is unlikely. Man City go to Arsenal for Saturday’s late kick off in a match where we need a favour from the Gunners. I know a number of their supporters would rather lose than help Spurs out, but Wenger will be seething after losing to both Tottenham and especially Wigan, and will expect a serious reaction from his players.

All credit to Harry Redknapp. While opposition supporters continue to knock our gaffer, their can be no denying his ability as a manager. We are now just a point away from our best ever Premier League total and it is no small coincidence that Redknapp achieved the same feat with both West Ham and Portsmouth. Maybe he owed Pompey one and maybe we were never destined to reach this year’s FA Cup Final. However, maybe we are destined to upset the Liverpool’s and Man City’s of the world instead.

If we are going to finally achieve reach the Holy Grail of Europe’s elite competition, I don’t think we will ever get a better opportunity than we have now. Man City are likely to be even better next season, improve year on year and keep spending year on year until they find success. I also can’t see Liverpool’s decline continuing beyond next season. This is our chance, the majority of our squad are ready for the next step and they way they have performed this week tell me they could cope with the top teams from around the globe.

The way we knocked the ball around and completely dominated Chelsea was a pleasure to watch. If we can take that new found confidence into the game against Manchester Utd, who knows what might happen.

The Facebook supporters are the reason we won’t win tonight

Posted by on April 14, 2010 14 comments

I’m happy with the way things have gone this season. I never honestly expected to win anything or manage a 4th place finish. Top 6 was always what I realistically thought Spurs would achieve and that still looks like being the case. There has been some good and some bad but overall you’d have to be happy with the strong squad Harry Redknapp has managed to build in a relatively short time.

What has really got to me this season is the new breed of Facebook supporters. Status updates such as ‘The Cup’s coming home to the Lane’ and ‘Top 4 is in the bag’ only ensures the FA Cup will be coming nowhere near the Lane for the foreseeable future, neither will top class European football. I know you are going to have to deal with dickheads whatever club you support but we seem to have more than our fair share at Tottenham. I’m sure any real Millwall fans will be feeling the same pain currently. Their surge in Facebook support the last few weeks has been spectacular and the majority aren’t real wall but will paint their faces and get the big foam fingers out because they have won a few games.

Don’t get me wrong, I went to town when we beat A5ena1 and again when we won the League Cup because we had actually achieved something. As soon as these cocks open their mouths, I’m convinced it puts the mockers on us. What makes it worse is as soon as the inevitable happens, every other football fan is ready to pounce. The amount of status’ on Sunday digging Spurs out was unreal. Even people that have never watched a game of football before and are only interested in Eastenders and M Dubz as lesuire activities were having a pop.

I’m not confident about tonight and I’ll be very surprised if we win but please can we keep the big talk to a minimum until after the game. I hope we can make North London Derby Day a time when real Spurs Supporters unite in denouncing Facebook Tossers and their status updates because they have destroyed our season.

Why does everyone but Harry love Pavlyuchenko?

Posted by on March 2, 2010 35 comments

Although Roman Pavlyuchenko seems to be the current favourite among the Spurs faithful on the back of his goal scoring exploits, manager Harry Redknapp doesn’t appear to be a massive fan of the Russian.

Regarding Pavlyuchenko, Redknapp has been quoted as saying, “when he wants to play and wants to work he’s great.” He has been a bit more positive about the striker since those comments but I still feel like it’s painful for the Spurs boss to say anything complimentary where Pav is concerned.

I don’t know what’s gone on during training, maybe he is lazy, but generally when Pavlychenko has been given a chance to play, he has scored. While I’m a bit unsure about the rest of his game, you can’t argue with a striker that gets in good positions and puts the ball in the back of the net.

I think you can understand the reasons why Pav would have got disheartened and perhaps a little lazy since Harry’s arrival. When a player signs for that type of money, he would expect to be getting regular football. Not even making it onto the Tottenham bench at times must have hurt. Maybe he didn’t handle himself in the best possible way but a lot of this can be put down to his agent and them trying to get a move away from the Lane during the transfer window.

It must have been even more frustrating seeing Robbie Keane be allowed out on loan as well as Eidur Gudjohnsen’s arrival. Pav probably thought that he would be in the exact same position before the transfer window opened, sitting on the bench if he was lucky. With no World Cup to showcase his talents in, it was looking like being an awful season for the Russian.

Luckily, he took the opportunity of a twenty minute window against Wigan to turn things around. His sudden appearance in the team has made the season more interesting at a time when it was becoming a bit stale and will hopefully give our other strikers something to think about.

I’m not totally convinced by Pav’s overall play but he’s scoring for fun and you can’t help but love him! Why doesn’t Harry?

Let’s keep our fingers crossed for Harry and for Sol

Posted by on January 15, 2010 11 comments

Last time I commented about Harry Redknapp’s tax problems and shady past I was told in no uncertain terms I was in the wrong. Last time I commented on Sol Campbell I was accused of being all kinds of prejudice. Therefore, I thought why not get them both involved today and you can really go to town on me!

A few weeks ago I said Harry’s tax issues could have an adverse affect on our season. Thus far, you couldn’t say this ongoing issue has been bothering the players at all. It does however put the club in the press for all the wrong reasons. Personally, I don’t really care what he did elsewhere but it’s obviously not a positive thing having his boat on the front page of the tabloids every other day for non football reasons.

I don’t know what the process is from here, if it’s just a case of paying back what he owes or if there is a possible prison term but we can well do without any of it now Man City have a new manager who has managed to teach them how to defend a bit in a matter of weeks. Our top four push is looking a lot tougher now so we need the manager to be able to focus fully on doing some decent business in the transfer window, not stuck in meetings with his brief.

As for our old friend Sol, it’s so nice to see him back at Arsenal. I’m very much keeping my fingers crossed for the lad in the hope he doesn’t have a nervous breakdown during a match this time around. It’s sad that we are no longer treated to pictures of Sol in the tabloids with various females and I find it disgusting that anyone would suggest this has anything to do with the fact he could no longer afford to weigh out Max Clifford. All the best for the season Sol.

Harry needs to get his own house in order

Posted by on December 21, 2009 14 comments

Before I start I’d like to say I have no problem with what Harry has got out of the players on the pitch. He’s done wonders to get Spurs to the standard they are playing at currently and I hope he’s at the helm for the foreseeable future.

What I think is a problem is when our players pick up the tabloids and find yet another Harry exclusive. His reputation has always been a little bit shady but his likeable personality and good managerial record has allowed him to get away with it over the years.

Today is meant to be telling off time for the naughty Christmas party boys. Robbie Keane and company were very stupid and ended up being caught out by The Sun but I’d imagine it’s difficult for Harry to give them too much of a dressing down when he’s in the papers more than them.

Redknapp’s current tax problems may be unrelated to his position as Spurs manager but it still undermines his authority. A bit of rule bending isn’t a bad thing but this is the second scandal he’s been a part of in recent times. There are also unanswered questions about the betting coup landed when he left Southampton for Portsmouth.

While I believe Harry will be whiter than white during his reign as Spurs boss, I hope his previous indiscretions don’t upset our season.

Harry’s not worried

Posted by on November 6, 2009 2 comments

fosters manager tableJust when Rafa Benitez thought things couldn’t get any worse, a study published by Foster’s today reveals the Liverpool manager is officially one of the most worried managers in the Premiership.

The leading Aussie beer brand analysed the interviews and statements from every Premiership manager since the beginning of the season using its Ozometer, an algorithm developed specifically to analyse language and word sequences to determine how worried or carefree a person is. More than a thousand different quotes were assessed enabling Foster’s to create a league table of the most and least worried football managers in the top flight.

Villa’s Martin O’Neill ranked as the least worried of manager in the Premiership, topping Fosters’ league table. The research found that, over the course of the season so far, he has been almost one quarter (24.7%) No Worries. He was at his least worried during weeks four and eight of the season, when he was 56% and 53% worry free, coinciding with wins against Birmingham City and Chelsea. He is currently enjoying another stress free week with the Ozometer showing him to be 48% no worries, despite the fact his side only managed a draw against Everton at the weekend.

Hull City manager Phil Brown ranked as the most worried. Analysis of his interviews shows that he is 30% more worried than Martin O’Neill, with a no worries percentage of minus nine. He was at his most anxious after losing at Burnley in week 5, with his score plummeting to minus 53%. Bolton Wanderers’ Gary Megson, Birmingham City’s Alex McLeish and Blackburn Rovers’ Sam Allardyce join Brown in propping up the table with scores of minus 8%, minus 5% and minus 3%respectively.

However, this trio was only marginally more worried than Benitez who scored minus 2%, making the Liverpool boss the 6th most worried gaffer in the Premiership. Rafa’s outlook improved visibly after his team’s recent win against Manchester United, but dropped to minus 14% after the dramatic loss to Fulham last Saturday when the referee’s red cards reduced his team to nine men. His score is likely to drop further this week as Liverpool’s Champion League dreams hang in the balance.

Alongside Martin O’Neill at the top of the table are Chelsea’s Carlo Ancelotti and Arsene Wenger closely followed by Spurs boss Harry Redknapp.

Despite being second in the Premier League, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson sits just mid-table in the league table of worriers, weighed down perhaps by the loss of Ronaldo and his obsession with referees. Fergie can muster no more than a disappointing 11th place in Foster’s No Worries league and has even displayed negative scores after winning games.

Sports psychologist and ex-Sporting Partnerships presenter Dr David Lewis comments: “Psychologically, worries are most likely to rise in situations where there is high pressure of us to succeed but uncertainty about whether we will do so. Therefore it is hardly surprising that managers like Benitez have been plagued by worries throughout the season. He should be careful not to fall into the common trap of Denial – refusing to accept any problems exist when it is obvious to fans that they do. An optimistic approach to life would help him see opportunities where others see only setbacks, and to look forward with confidence.”

Foster’s brand manager Natalie Clearie said: “It’s good to see Martin O’Neill setting an example to his Premiership peers. No Worries is an attitude. It’s about having a positive, Aussie-like spirit no matter what life throws at you, not just when you’re doing well. It seems most of the managers in the Premiership need to ‘get some Australian in them’.”

Foster’s will be keeping football fans entertained with the latest no worries news and views, and its pick of the best of the web, via its Twitter feed. To join and have your say, please follow us at twitter.com/FostersUK

Was Harry right?

Posted by on October 19, 2009 12 comments

Harry Redknapp gave Jermain Defoe a dressing down in front of his team mates after his sending off against Pompey on Saturday. Nothing wrong with that as far as I’m concerned, especially when he already warned him to cool it at half time.

Redknapp said: “Yes. He’s sorry for what’s done. For sure. I gave him a rollicking in front of all the lads, to be fair.”

“He can be a bit like that,”

“At times, he has to learn to curb that. I couldn’t have told him more. I sat him down at half-time and said to him ‘don’t do anything silly. We can’t afford to go down to 10 men here. We have to have 11 on the pitch. Don’t let us down’.

“He let himself down, he let us down as well. He could have cost us the game. The way he reacted, it was disappointing.”

The only problem I have with it is the fact Harry felt the need to tell the press. These things should be kept in house; disciplining players isn’t a matter that needs to be discussed in The Sun. I appreciate Harry being straight with us but all he needed to say was Defoe had been stupid and he’s told him as much or the matter is being dealt with by the club, not that he told him off in front of his team mates.

Doing things this way makes Defoe look like a naughty little kid. He doesn’t need any help looking stupid. Suing the police for being racist and going out with some shocking women springs to mind.

The fact is Jermain got the winner. Yes he was impetuous stamping on Mokoena but I like that he has a bit of fire in his game and he was obviously very wound up from the treatment he’d been getting from the Portsmouth players. There’s no excuse for it but there’s also no excuse for telling the world he got a telling off in front of his team mates.

Can we prep for Utd in a day?

Posted by on September 7, 2009 9 comments

With a number of players not returning to training until Friday, it means we only have one day to prepare for Saturday’s crunch clash with Manchester United. Harry Redknapp isn’t happy about this situation;

“I have no idea in my head of what team I will be able to play against United because of these internationals and because many of them won’t be back at the club until next Friday. They are returning from all over the world.”

Obviously, Utd are in the same boat but their squad is arguably better equipped to deal with any injuries or fatigue that the players pick up during the International break. With Modric already out, we can’t afford to have any more players get injured or not be at their peak for that matter against a Utd side sure to be buoyed by victory over Arsenal.

Redknapp is suggesting teams shouldn’t play until the following Saturday when players return from International duty to give them a week to recover. I can understand his point but I very much doubt the powers that be would consider his proposal and I also can’t see any way it would be possible, especially in a World Cup year. They struggle to fit all the fixtures in now as things stand now.

As much as I miss the Premiership action during the summer break, I don’t think the players get enough time off. If there were two weeks between League games after each International get-together, it would have to impact negatively on the length of time off for both players and coaching staff in the summer.

With Keane and Defoe being in the thick of things both on and off the pitch for their respective countries this week, they are likely to be slightly drained both physically and mentally. On a positive note however, their confidence will be high after both scoring at the weekend. If they can carry this into Saturday’s game, hopefully adrenaline can do the rest.

Who should start?

Posted by on August 28, 2009 13 comments

The Tottenham team has pretty much been picking itself in the league since the opening game of season, but after some good performances from the fringe players at Doncaster on Wednesday, do any of them deserve to start at the Lane against Birmingham tomorrow?

It’s a hard one for Harry Redknapp because on paper, Birmingham at home should be an easy 3 points. Obviously nothing should be taken for granted but it must be tempting for him to give Crouch, Pavlyuchenko or Bentley a game. Is it worth tinkering with a winning league side though? Other than having to shuffle the defence when Ledley needed a rest against Hull, it has been the same set of players in all three league victories.

Personally, I’d struggle to know what to do if I were in the manager’s shoes. The only real obvious one would be starting Crouch in place of Keane but even that’s a difficult move with Keane having started the season very confidently and being team captain. Bentley’s been in the dock today so I’m not sure it’s the right time for him to be starting and Pavlychenko has just enlightened us on his desire to leave.

The fact we don’t have another game for two weeks when Man Utd visit the Lane means Harry doesn’t need to rest anyone but he may choose to give those who are likely to feature for their country next weekend a breather.

Not exactly sticking my neck out but whatever the eleven Redknapp decides on, I’m confident of all three points tomorrow. Let’s hope Steven Carr doesn’t come back to haunt us!

Poor Pavlyuchenko and Well Done West Ham

Posted by on August 26, 2009 68 comments

He certainly appears to be the 4th choice striker as far as Harry Redknapp is concerned and now Roman Pavlychenko has decided 4th place isn’t good enough and he wants to leave Tottenham because of his lack of first team chances.

‘No footballer likes being on the bench game after game,’ said the 27-year-old.

‘I could lose my place in the Russian squad for the 2010 World Cup.

‘I’m ready now to listen to offers from other clubs. But I can’t say anything concrete right now.’

I’m not surprised by the fact he wants to move on but I am a little surprised at the timing of his decision. Surely it would have made more sense to try and get a move before the season started and not after just three games and on the eve of a Carling Cup tie he is likely to start against Doncaster.

Pavlyuchenko must have realised he would be spending a significant amount of time on the bench this season, especially after the arrival of Peter Crouch, but he has a chance to impress tonight and put some pressure on the manager. If he didn’t start tonight, then I would have understood a decision of this nature after the game but to come out publicly beforehand makes little sense to me. He would have been far better off waiting until January. It only needs one of our other strikers to pick up an injury, and things could change completely for the Russian.

In other news, West Ham fans have likely ruined our chances of hosting a World Cup in the near future. Some of their comments on my post from Monday speak for themselves but their actions last night were a disgrace. Hopefully they get the punishment they deserve but I can’t think of a punishment severe enough for taking away the 2018 World Cup.

Well done West Ham, I hope you are proud of yourselves.