Showing posts with label Harry Redknapp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Harry Redknapp. Show all posts
Oct 10, 2010
Harry Redknapp and Danny Murphy: Misguided Or Malicious?
May 8, 2010
Manchester City vs. Tottenham Hotspur: Bigger Than the Champions League Final
Spurs travel to the Eastlands tomorrow to take on the financial might of Manchester City in a match that promises to be one of the highlights of the season, and is almost certainly more important than the Champions League Final for a number of reasons.
When the two teams met last December it was Spurs who triumphed after a brace from Niko Krancjar and a neat finish from Jermaine Defoe gave the White Hart Lane outfit full points. The 3-0 defeat signalled the end of Mark Hughes' time in charge at City, and he was soon replaced by Italian schemer and fashionable scarf wearer Roberto Mancini.
The former Inter boss has continued the early good work set in motion by Hughes and, now, as expected, City stand on the brink of Champions League qualification.
Only Harry Redknapp's over achieving Tottenham team stand in their way of a potential £60 million, European and Premier League domination.
For those of you who think that will hardly be the case think again.
In the space of just 24 months Manchester City have spent something in the region of £200 million and trebled their wage bill. That has guaranteed them a challenge at the top four, should they progress one further then they will consolidate their position and spend again.
This game represents a turning point in many futures, for not only Tottenham or City, but for the other challenging teams in the league.
Victory for Spurs will push City's master plan back a year or two, while the money they could gain should take them further ahead of rivals Everton, Aston Villa, and maybe even Liverpool.
Champions League qualification for Manchester City would almost certainly see them sign better players and it is conceivable that they would surpass Arsenal and become viable title challengers with Chelsea and Manchester United.
It is a game with many destiny's on the line, but back to the match.
Both teams have goalkeeping problems.
Shay Given is out with a dislocated shoulder, which will see the Donegalman return to action next September or October. Huerelho Gomes damaged his groin, with only one minute remaining in the 1-0 win over Bolton at the weekend, and is a major doubt for the clash.
It means that both sides could potentially have reserve team goalkeepers between the posts in the biggest match either club has had in years. City's problems saw them bring in former Spurs 'keeper Martin Fulop on loan from Sunderland after they exploited a loop hole in the FA's rules governing goalkeepers, while Tottenham will probably have to make do with young Ben Alnwick.
The ex-Sunderland shotstopper joined the Lilywhites in January 2007 and has yet to make his first team debut at Spurs.
At the back both teams are likely to be without influential defenders. Jolean Lescott is out with a hamstring injury while Spurs will be without Vedran Corluka, long term absentee Johnathan Woodgate, and most probably Ledley King.
One of the best defenders in the league, King suffers from acute knee problems and can only play every six days. Whether he will take the pain and suffer through the City match remains to be seen, but it would be the ideal calling card to Fabio Capello who is sure to be in attendance.
City are at full strength in midfield where as Spurs will miss their infulential Croatian Kranjcar.
Tottenham will have the advantage as far as defence and midfield is concerned. They are a better unit at the back—Youness Kaboul has come in for Corluka without breaking stride, Michael Dawson has progressed into a real candidate for South Africa, and Benoit Assou-Ekotto is the only real weak link at left full.
Roberto Mancini's men have lacked a certain creative spark through the middle this year, and it is likely that he will bring Shaun Wright-Phillips in at right midfield in an effort to expose the Cameroonian.
However, that could be tempered by the fact that Gareth Bale is certain to start in left midfield for Spurs, and one would think that Mancini's Italian mentality might take over and go with a defensive player instead of the nippy winger.
The middle of the park is where the battle will be won and lost. Patrick Vieira will almost certainly start with Gareth Barry and possibly Nigel De-Jong.
It will be interesting to see if Redknapp starts with Aaron Lennon or if he'll keep the winger on the bench. It might be a gamble worth taking as there will be no point worrying about the match on Sunday if City win, however if Spurs can keep it tight and take a draw the advantage swings to them.
Harry Redknapp should counter City's midfield by dropping Luka Modric to the bench and starting with the highly combative duo of Tom Huddlestone and Wilson Palacios. If Spurs do go with this midfield pairing then expect City to hit their forward line early and quickly.
At the moment City have one of the most formidable strike-forces in the league with Carlos Tevez in fantastic form. He will be making his 100th Premier League start and needs just one goal to reach the magical 50 milestone. Craig Bellamy is ample backup to the Argentinian and is a handful for any defence, while Emmanuel Adebayor is a brilliant as he is contrary. If all three are on form then City can blow any team away.
Contrast their form with the attacking players of Spurs who seem to have gone off the boil at the most important time for the club.
Peter Crouch has been in and out all year, Roman Pavlyuchenko seems to be playing at a good level, but his finishing boots have deserted him, and Jermaine Defoe looks bereft of confidence.
Add everything together and it makes for a highly intriguing and entertaining match.
Both sides like to play football and the game will boil down to the individual battles all over the pitch.
Both teams will look to exploit each others defences. Bellamy and Pavlyuchenko will drop deep giving problems to the centre halves and centre midfielders causing confusion as to who should pick up who.
If Spurs can push on from the middle with Huddlestone, who can shoot from anywhere, this will make City's defenders follow their counterparts leaving gaps for the lightning quick Defoe to expose. The exact same can be said for City and Tevez, but Dawson is a better defender than Toure and the difference between winning and losing could be a fine line.
The game is almost too tight to call, but Spurs have that little bit extra through their team that could make the difference.
It is worth noting that of Spurs eight trips to the top eight teams in the league they have yet to win. However, Spurs have won 11 of the last 12 fixtures between the two clubs.
Home advantage for such a huge game cannot be underestimated and City will start as slight favourites for a match that will award the winning team more money than the Champions League Final and will shape the league for years to come.
When the two teams met last December it was Spurs who triumphed after a brace from Niko Krancjar and a neat finish from Jermaine Defoe gave the White Hart Lane outfit full points. The 3-0 defeat signalled the end of Mark Hughes' time in charge at City, and he was soon replaced by Italian schemer and fashionable scarf wearer Roberto Mancini.
The former Inter boss has continued the early good work set in motion by Hughes and, now, as expected, City stand on the brink of Champions League qualification.
Only Harry Redknapp's over achieving Tottenham team stand in their way of a potential £60 million, European and Premier League domination.
For those of you who think that will hardly be the case think again.
In the space of just 24 months Manchester City have spent something in the region of £200 million and trebled their wage bill. That has guaranteed them a challenge at the top four, should they progress one further then they will consolidate their position and spend again.
This game represents a turning point in many futures, for not only Tottenham or City, but for the other challenging teams in the league.
Victory for Spurs will push City's master plan back a year or two, while the money they could gain should take them further ahead of rivals Everton, Aston Villa, and maybe even Liverpool.
Champions League qualification for Manchester City would almost certainly see them sign better players and it is conceivable that they would surpass Arsenal and become viable title challengers with Chelsea and Manchester United.
It is a game with many destiny's on the line, but back to the match.
Both teams have goalkeeping problems.
Shay Given is out with a dislocated shoulder, which will see the Donegalman return to action next September or October. Huerelho Gomes damaged his groin, with only one minute remaining in the 1-0 win over Bolton at the weekend, and is a major doubt for the clash.
It means that both sides could potentially have reserve team goalkeepers between the posts in the biggest match either club has had in years. City's problems saw them bring in former Spurs 'keeper Martin Fulop on loan from Sunderland after they exploited a loop hole in the FA's rules governing goalkeepers, while Tottenham will probably have to make do with young Ben Alnwick.
The ex-Sunderland shotstopper joined the Lilywhites in January 2007 and has yet to make his first team debut at Spurs.
At the back both teams are likely to be without influential defenders. Jolean Lescott is out with a hamstring injury while Spurs will be without Vedran Corluka, long term absentee Johnathan Woodgate, and most probably Ledley King.
One of the best defenders in the league, King suffers from acute knee problems and can only play every six days. Whether he will take the pain and suffer through the City match remains to be seen, but it would be the ideal calling card to Fabio Capello who is sure to be in attendance.
City are at full strength in midfield where as Spurs will miss their infulential Croatian Kranjcar.
Tottenham will have the advantage as far as defence and midfield is concerned. They are a better unit at the back—Youness Kaboul has come in for Corluka without breaking stride, Michael Dawson has progressed into a real candidate for South Africa, and Benoit Assou-Ekotto is the only real weak link at left full.
Roberto Mancini's men have lacked a certain creative spark through the middle this year, and it is likely that he will bring Shaun Wright-Phillips in at right midfield in an effort to expose the Cameroonian.
However, that could be tempered by the fact that Gareth Bale is certain to start in left midfield for Spurs, and one would think that Mancini's Italian mentality might take over and go with a defensive player instead of the nippy winger.
The middle of the park is where the battle will be won and lost. Patrick Vieira will almost certainly start with Gareth Barry and possibly Nigel De-Jong.
It will be interesting to see if Redknapp starts with Aaron Lennon or if he'll keep the winger on the bench. It might be a gamble worth taking as there will be no point worrying about the match on Sunday if City win, however if Spurs can keep it tight and take a draw the advantage swings to them.
Harry Redknapp should counter City's midfield by dropping Luka Modric to the bench and starting with the highly combative duo of Tom Huddlestone and Wilson Palacios. If Spurs do go with this midfield pairing then expect City to hit their forward line early and quickly.
At the moment City have one of the most formidable strike-forces in the league with Carlos Tevez in fantastic form. He will be making his 100th Premier League start and needs just one goal to reach the magical 50 milestone. Craig Bellamy is ample backup to the Argentinian and is a handful for any defence, while Emmanuel Adebayor is a brilliant as he is contrary. If all three are on form then City can blow any team away.
Contrast their form with the attacking players of Spurs who seem to have gone off the boil at the most important time for the club.
Peter Crouch has been in and out all year, Roman Pavlyuchenko seems to be playing at a good level, but his finishing boots have deserted him, and Jermaine Defoe looks bereft of confidence.
Add everything together and it makes for a highly intriguing and entertaining match.
Both sides like to play football and the game will boil down to the individual battles all over the pitch.
Both teams will look to exploit each others defences. Bellamy and Pavlyuchenko will drop deep giving problems to the centre halves and centre midfielders causing confusion as to who should pick up who.
If Spurs can push on from the middle with Huddlestone, who can shoot from anywhere, this will make City's defenders follow their counterparts leaving gaps for the lightning quick Defoe to expose. The exact same can be said for City and Tevez, but Dawson is a better defender than Toure and the difference between winning and losing could be a fine line.
The game is almost too tight to call, but Spurs have that little bit extra through their team that could make the difference.
It is worth noting that of Spurs eight trips to the top eight teams in the league they have yet to win. However, Spurs have won 11 of the last 12 fixtures between the two clubs.
Home advantage for such a huge game cannot be underestimated and City will start as slight favourites for a match that will award the winning team more money than the Champions League Final and will shape the league for years to come.
Apr 14, 2010
Redknapp's Gamble Comes Off As Spurs End Arsenal's Season with 2-1Win Over North London Rivals
Arsenal's title challenge was ended at White Hart Lane tonight as a superb Tottenham Hotspur side beat the Gunners 2-1. A wonder goal from Danny Rose and a slide rule finish by Gareth Bale were enough for Spurs with Niklas Bendtner scoring an 85th minute goal that was a real case of two little too late for Arsene Wenger's side.
With the two teams both coming off the back of devastating defeats within the last week the opening 15 minutes were always going to be key.
Arsenal were thoroughly brushed aside and embarrassed by Barcelona in the Quarter Finals of the Champions League while Spurs suffered an equally demoralising defeat at the hands of Portsmouth in the FA Cup Semi Finals.
Having a longer break, Arsenal were the fresher side, but it was Spurs who set the early tempo. As in every North London Derby, the play was fractious, every tackle was merciless, and the game moved at 100 miles an hour.
The Gunners almost took the lead in the first minute through the returning Sol Campbell, whose every touch was booed, after he latched onto Samir Nasri's corner with his knee but Heurelho Gomes was equal to the effort.
The pace was being set by the home side who closed down every Arsenal player whenever they even came near to the ball. Harry Redknapp taking a leaf from Pep Guardiola's coaching manual of closing down as high up the pitch as possible.
Tottenham began to get on top and forced a succession of corners, all taken with supreme venom by Gareth Bale, his vicious whipped crosses caused all kinds of problems in the heart of the Arsenal defence.
One of his inswingers forced Manuel Almunia off his line and the Spanish 'keeper did brilliantly to meet the ball with a fist to clear.
However, Broadway Danny Rose, making his first appearance of the season met the clearance with a volley of incredible beauty and the ball tore into the Arsenal net past the despairing Almunia to give Spurs a much deserved lead. It was a wonder-goal that comes but once a season, similar to David Bentley's famous effort against the same opposition last year.
This match is always one of the Premier Leagues jewels of the season and it has been many a year since both side had so much on the line. Arsenal's feint title hopes were dependant upon a win, while Tottenham's outside chance of making it into fourth place was in threat of becoming another let down in a season that had threatened to be so successful only two days before.
However, it was Spurs who looked the fresher side and they pushed Arsenal away from any area of danger through brilliant high tempo defending and closing down.
One of Arsenal's biggest criticism's this season is their penchant to overplay the ball, and they were guilty of the same crime on more than one occasion tonight.
Ledley King, making his return to the Spurs lineup for the first time since the middle of February was immense as he marshaled his back four superbly in the first half. How his lack of fitness was going to tell in the second half when Robin van Persie would make his expected entrance would be anyones guess.
But while he was at his best the Gunners were powder-puff up front and lacked any sort of cutting edge.
Arsenal on the other hand lost their best defender, Thomas Vermaelen through injury and all of a sudden the Gunners two central defenders were Mikael Silvestre and Sol Campbell, neither the greatest of defenders at this late stage of their career or endowed with any kind of pace.
Rose made way for ex-Arsenal youth David Bentley as the second half got under way. The game following the same pattern as the first as Spurs closed down the Gunners at every chance.
Barely a minute into the second period and the excellent Gareth Bale added Tottenham's second goal of the game with a cool finish into the bottom right hand corner of the goal after Jermain Defoe had put him through.
Arsenal's title chances were gone unless Arsene Wenger made immediate changes and Theo Walcott made his way onto the pitch in place of the anonymous Bacary Sagna.
His first action of the game was to cross tamely as David Bentley cleared.
The game moved towards the hour mark, with Spurs still enjoying their deserved two goal lead. Roman Pavlyuchenko and Defoe provided the out-balls for Tottenham time and time again and Walcott's introduction was negligible at best, much like the rest of the Arsenal team.
Amazingly, the Gunners had yet to force Gomes into a save, such was Spurs superb defence.
Jermain Defoe made way for Eidur Gudjohnsen as Spurs went 4-5-1 leaving Pavlyuchenko to force the tempo as the lone striker. At the same time Robin van Persie made his much anticipated entrance, the Dutchman having 20 minutes to save the Gunners' season.
He was struggling to get the ball though as the quite brilliant Luka Modric was dictating the ebb and flow of the game despite Samir Nasri enjoying far more possession. Time and time again the Gunners build up was too slow and the little Frenchman was the main culprit, always needing to make an extra pass where swift penetration was needed.
His choice of passes were questionable throughout the entire night, and if the ball did not seem to pass through the eye of a needle he was not happy with a simple out. The Gunners had just far too many similar type players in midfield and badly missed the influential Cesc Fabregas.
With ten minutes to go Heurelho Gomes was forced to make his first real save of the game when he reacted brilliantly to van Persie's superb scissors kick after he had controlled the ball with his chest. From the resulting corner Tomas Rosicky fired at goal but a severe deflection took the ball wide.
Arsenal finally beginning to look like title challengers.
Gomes was forced into action moments later as he saved brilliantly yet again from van Persie.
Spurs' goal was living a charmed life as Arsenal finally kicked into life and with only five minutes to go Niklas Bendtner forced the ball home from Theo Walcott's cross after van Persie put the winger into space.
A quick break from Pavlyuchenko could have wrapped the game up as his through ball found Modric in the centre of the Arsenal 18 yard box but a brilliant intervention by Sol Campbell forced the little Croatian to fire wide.
Campbell and King were both superb as they stifled the oppositions attacks and it is a crime of time that the two players never got the chance to partner each other in the same team.
As the game moved into time added on Arsenal were striving for a goal that would leave their title tilt still breathing while Spurs reached for the crash cart and tried to force an extra ounce of energy into their sapped legs.
The Gunners were to have no reprieve though as Spurs saw the game out with a superb defensive display that was built on the foundation of Ledley King and Michael Dawson.
The match was a real case of one manager who gambled on a key players fitness, King, and one manager who took the game for granted and refused to gamble on his key player, van Persie.
Spurs were by far and away the better side until the Dutchman was introduced to the party and his influence was there for all to see.
When push came to shove Harry Redknapp recognised that this match was a make or break game and gambled on it, there was no point in worrying about Chelsea on Saturday if his team did not take full points from Arsenal.
While Arsene Wenger thought the result was a foregone conclusion. Leaving his beat available player on the bench in preparation for the trip to Wigan on Saturday which has been made meaningless by this defeat.
Arsenal's season is over.
Spurs, Manchester City, and Liverpool will now battle it out for the right to finish fourth, and this win against all the odds has set up a great end to the season for the white and blue half of North London.
With the two teams both coming off the back of devastating defeats within the last week the opening 15 minutes were always going to be key.
Arsenal were thoroughly brushed aside and embarrassed by Barcelona in the Quarter Finals of the Champions League while Spurs suffered an equally demoralising defeat at the hands of Portsmouth in the FA Cup Semi Finals.
Having a longer break, Arsenal were the fresher side, but it was Spurs who set the early tempo. As in every North London Derby, the play was fractious, every tackle was merciless, and the game moved at 100 miles an hour.
The Gunners almost took the lead in the first minute through the returning Sol Campbell, whose every touch was booed, after he latched onto Samir Nasri's corner with his knee but Heurelho Gomes was equal to the effort.
The pace was being set by the home side who closed down every Arsenal player whenever they even came near to the ball. Harry Redknapp taking a leaf from Pep Guardiola's coaching manual of closing down as high up the pitch as possible.
Tottenham began to get on top and forced a succession of corners, all taken with supreme venom by Gareth Bale, his vicious whipped crosses caused all kinds of problems in the heart of the Arsenal defence.
One of his inswingers forced Manuel Almunia off his line and the Spanish 'keeper did brilliantly to meet the ball with a fist to clear.
However, Broadway Danny Rose, making his first appearance of the season met the clearance with a volley of incredible beauty and the ball tore into the Arsenal net past the despairing Almunia to give Spurs a much deserved lead. It was a wonder-goal that comes but once a season, similar to David Bentley's famous effort against the same opposition last year.
This match is always one of the Premier Leagues jewels of the season and it has been many a year since both side had so much on the line. Arsenal's feint title hopes were dependant upon a win, while Tottenham's outside chance of making it into fourth place was in threat of becoming another let down in a season that had threatened to be so successful only two days before.
However, it was Spurs who looked the fresher side and they pushed Arsenal away from any area of danger through brilliant high tempo defending and closing down.
One of Arsenal's biggest criticism's this season is their penchant to overplay the ball, and they were guilty of the same crime on more than one occasion tonight.
Ledley King, making his return to the Spurs lineup for the first time since the middle of February was immense as he marshaled his back four superbly in the first half. How his lack of fitness was going to tell in the second half when Robin van Persie would make his expected entrance would be anyones guess.
But while he was at his best the Gunners were powder-puff up front and lacked any sort of cutting edge.
Arsenal on the other hand lost their best defender, Thomas Vermaelen through injury and all of a sudden the Gunners two central defenders were Mikael Silvestre and Sol Campbell, neither the greatest of defenders at this late stage of their career or endowed with any kind of pace.
Rose made way for ex-Arsenal youth David Bentley as the second half got under way. The game following the same pattern as the first as Spurs closed down the Gunners at every chance.
Barely a minute into the second period and the excellent Gareth Bale added Tottenham's second goal of the game with a cool finish into the bottom right hand corner of the goal after Jermain Defoe had put him through.
Arsenal's title chances were gone unless Arsene Wenger made immediate changes and Theo Walcott made his way onto the pitch in place of the anonymous Bacary Sagna.
His first action of the game was to cross tamely as David Bentley cleared.
The game moved towards the hour mark, with Spurs still enjoying their deserved two goal lead. Roman Pavlyuchenko and Defoe provided the out-balls for Tottenham time and time again and Walcott's introduction was negligible at best, much like the rest of the Arsenal team.
Amazingly, the Gunners had yet to force Gomes into a save, such was Spurs superb defence.
Jermain Defoe made way for Eidur Gudjohnsen as Spurs went 4-5-1 leaving Pavlyuchenko to force the tempo as the lone striker. At the same time Robin van Persie made his much anticipated entrance, the Dutchman having 20 minutes to save the Gunners' season.
He was struggling to get the ball though as the quite brilliant Luka Modric was dictating the ebb and flow of the game despite Samir Nasri enjoying far more possession. Time and time again the Gunners build up was too slow and the little Frenchman was the main culprit, always needing to make an extra pass where swift penetration was needed.
His choice of passes were questionable throughout the entire night, and if the ball did not seem to pass through the eye of a needle he was not happy with a simple out. The Gunners had just far too many similar type players in midfield and badly missed the influential Cesc Fabregas.
With ten minutes to go Heurelho Gomes was forced to make his first real save of the game when he reacted brilliantly to van Persie's superb scissors kick after he had controlled the ball with his chest. From the resulting corner Tomas Rosicky fired at goal but a severe deflection took the ball wide.
Arsenal finally beginning to look like title challengers.
Gomes was forced into action moments later as he saved brilliantly yet again from van Persie.
Spurs' goal was living a charmed life as Arsenal finally kicked into life and with only five minutes to go Niklas Bendtner forced the ball home from Theo Walcott's cross after van Persie put the winger into space.
A quick break from Pavlyuchenko could have wrapped the game up as his through ball found Modric in the centre of the Arsenal 18 yard box but a brilliant intervention by Sol Campbell forced the little Croatian to fire wide.
Campbell and King were both superb as they stifled the oppositions attacks and it is a crime of time that the two players never got the chance to partner each other in the same team.
As the game moved into time added on Arsenal were striving for a goal that would leave their title tilt still breathing while Spurs reached for the crash cart and tried to force an extra ounce of energy into their sapped legs.
The Gunners were to have no reprieve though as Spurs saw the game out with a superb defensive display that was built on the foundation of Ledley King and Michael Dawson.
The match was a real case of one manager who gambled on a key players fitness, King, and one manager who took the game for granted and refused to gamble on his key player, van Persie.
Spurs were by far and away the better side until the Dutchman was introduced to the party and his influence was there for all to see.
When push came to shove Harry Redknapp recognised that this match was a make or break game and gambled on it, there was no point in worrying about Chelsea on Saturday if his team did not take full points from Arsenal.
While Arsene Wenger thought the result was a foregone conclusion. Leaving his beat available player on the bench in preparation for the trip to Wigan on Saturday which has been made meaningless by this defeat.
Arsenal's season is over.
Spurs, Manchester City, and Liverpool will now battle it out for the right to finish fourth, and this win against all the odds has set up a great end to the season for the white and blue half of North London.
Apr 11, 2010
Relegated Portsmouth Beat Spurs, Set Up Fairytale Cup Final With Chelsea
Just over 24 hours after being relegated to the Championship, Portsmouth pulled off the most unlikely of results and beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 at Wembley after extra time, goals coming from Frederic Piquionne and ex-Spurs star Kevin Prince-Boateng.
It was fitting that the winning goal came Boateng's right foot as the young German fired home the final nail in the coffin of Harry Redknapp and Spurs from the penalty spot with just three minutes to go from a pulsating 120.
Piquionne had put Pompey into the lead after he latched onto Boateng's lofted free kick, following Michael Dawson's inopportune slip in the six yard box.
It was a fully deserved win for Avram Grant's side as they Spurs all the way in a real end-to-end game that brought the best from both 'keepers. While Spurs tore into Pompey from the off, the recently relegated side fought back to leave their ex-managers side on the ropes as the sides headed towards halftime.
The second half was almost a mirrored image of the first with Portsmouth dominating the early exchanges before Spurs came strongly back into the game.
With nothing between the two sides as the game headed towards extra time, it took the wrong footing of one of Spurs' best players on the day, Michael Dawson, to gift Piquionne with a goal-scoring chance. The French striker had received close attention all day from the defender chasing a ticket on the plane to South Africa and it was a cruel way to lose the lead.
Portsmouth's fans had cheered every pass, every tackle, every run, and every block that their team made on the day and they took every opportunity they had to boo their ex-players, of which there is a sizeable contingent at Spurs.
Not only is the current Spurs boss, Harry Redknapp, the man who brought Portsmouth to FA Cup glory in 2008, there. But he has also raided the South Coast club for some of their best players. Jermaine Defoe, Peter Crouch, Niko Krancjar, and Younnes Kaboul have all joined Redknapp at Tottenham over the last 18 months.
It was therefore somewhat ironic that the man that Redknapp deemed as little more than a troubled makeweight scored what was effectively the winning goal.
Kevin Prince-Boateng did not enjoy the best of times under Juande Ramos or Harry Redknapp, and when the Spurs boss sold him to Portsmouth he would have never figured in his wildest dreams that he would be the player to ruin Tottenham's chances of getting to the final.
The attacking midfielder has been one of Portsmouth's best players in a disastrous season for the club. He has maintained a high standard while many of Pompey's players have struggled under the weight of administration. When Avram Grant took over the full running of the club he signalled that hope way the key.
To Read Portsmouth's FA Cup Shawshank Redemption, click the link.
Stating that the fear of relegation was holding them prisoner but that the hope of an FA Cup Final appearance could set them free.
To win the game in the manner that they did is the stuff of dreams, to win it over your ex-manager and ex-players is right out of a fairytale.
As the final whistle blew, Portsmouth's fans literally turned the air blue as Pompey jerseys and scarves soared high into the Wembley sky. By that stage there were precious few Tottenham fans left in the arena, and as Harry Redknapp choked back his disappointment and hugged his friend Avram Grant, it was Pompey who could look forward to the final.
To have the game against Chelsea, Grant's ex-employers who sacked him after losing the Champions League Final to Manchester United, is just another chapter in a season like no other.
Karma?
It was fitting that the winning goal came Boateng's right foot as the young German fired home the final nail in the coffin of Harry Redknapp and Spurs from the penalty spot with just three minutes to go from a pulsating 120.
Piquionne had put Pompey into the lead after he latched onto Boateng's lofted free kick, following Michael Dawson's inopportune slip in the six yard box.
It was a fully deserved win for Avram Grant's side as they Spurs all the way in a real end-to-end game that brought the best from both 'keepers. While Spurs tore into Pompey from the off, the recently relegated side fought back to leave their ex-managers side on the ropes as the sides headed towards halftime.
The second half was almost a mirrored image of the first with Portsmouth dominating the early exchanges before Spurs came strongly back into the game.
With nothing between the two sides as the game headed towards extra time, it took the wrong footing of one of Spurs' best players on the day, Michael Dawson, to gift Piquionne with a goal-scoring chance. The French striker had received close attention all day from the defender chasing a ticket on the plane to South Africa and it was a cruel way to lose the lead.
Portsmouth's fans had cheered every pass, every tackle, every run, and every block that their team made on the day and they took every opportunity they had to boo their ex-players, of which there is a sizeable contingent at Spurs.
Not only is the current Spurs boss, Harry Redknapp, the man who brought Portsmouth to FA Cup glory in 2008, there. But he has also raided the South Coast club for some of their best players. Jermaine Defoe, Peter Crouch, Niko Krancjar, and Younnes Kaboul have all joined Redknapp at Tottenham over the last 18 months.
It was therefore somewhat ironic that the man that Redknapp deemed as little more than a troubled makeweight scored what was effectively the winning goal.
Kevin Prince-Boateng did not enjoy the best of times under Juande Ramos or Harry Redknapp, and when the Spurs boss sold him to Portsmouth he would have never figured in his wildest dreams that he would be the player to ruin Tottenham's chances of getting to the final.
The attacking midfielder has been one of Portsmouth's best players in a disastrous season for the club. He has maintained a high standard while many of Pompey's players have struggled under the weight of administration. When Avram Grant took over the full running of the club he signalled that hope way the key.
To Read Portsmouth's FA Cup Shawshank Redemption, click the link.
Stating that the fear of relegation was holding them prisoner but that the hope of an FA Cup Final appearance could set them free.
To win the game in the manner that they did is the stuff of dreams, to win it over your ex-manager and ex-players is right out of a fairytale.
As the final whistle blew, Portsmouth's fans literally turned the air blue as Pompey jerseys and scarves soared high into the Wembley sky. By that stage there were precious few Tottenham fans left in the arena, and as Harry Redknapp choked back his disappointment and hugged his friend Avram Grant, it was Pompey who could look forward to the final.
To have the game against Chelsea, Grant's ex-employers who sacked him after losing the Champions League Final to Manchester United, is just another chapter in a season like no other.
Karma?
Mar 29, 2010
Tottenham Cruise Past Pompey, as Redknapp Takes a Subtle Pop at Rafa, Man City
Tottenham Hotspur cantered to an easy 2-0 win over Portsmouth in their FA Cup dress rehersal yesterday, giving Spurs a five-point advantage over their nearest rivals in the battle for fourth.
However, on the eve of the game, Harry Redknapp, the Lilywhites' manager, had a subtle dig at Rafael Benitez and Manchester City over their extravagant spending.
The result was never in doubt. It was always going to be a case of by how many Spurs were going to win by. In the end, the affair was settled by two first-half goals, first from Peter Crouch and then from Niko Krancjar.
For their part, Tottenham never had to get out of first gear and after the first goal went in, the game took on something of a procession. Pompey were abject and one begins to wonder if the slow dawning of relegation and all it entails has finally hit them.
It only compounded matters for Portsmouth that two of their ex-players scored while the win for Champions League chasing Spurs was orchestrated by their old manager.
Redknapp left Pompey for relegation-threatened Tottenham in October 2008, and has since turned them into one of the best sides in the league.
On the eve of the match, Harry Redknapp had a very subtle dig at Rafael Benitez and Manchester City for their garish spending over the last five years and this season, respectively.
Under Benitez, Liverpool have spent £210 million in six seasons while Manchester City have spent almost that figure alone since Sheik Mansour took over in 2008.
In his 26 years as a manager across almost every division and six clubs, Harry Redknapp has spent £208 million and re-couped an incredible £230 million. To read his transfer and career history click here .
The Spurs boss maintains that there are real bargains out there and that all clubs and managers have to do is take a little time and analyse the transfer market properly.
His adroit dealings certainly make Redknapp look like one of the better managers operating today.
Redknapp said: “You can find players. There are some out there. I took Kanu off the park when I was at Portsmouth. He was not playing. He was training on his own.
“He didn’t have a club four days before the league started. I didn’t have a second forward.
“I am sitting there and thinking ‘Where has he gone after he was a free at West Brom? They said that he had gone nowhere, so I tracked him down and got him in.”
“Its not about spending lots of money. Its about spending the money on the right players," he added.
“And there are players. When I took Kanu, people who worked with me said ‘He’s finished Harry, you can’t take him. I said ‘no’ and I took him and he did fantastic for us.”
Niko Kranjcar is a prime example of Redknapp's eye for a bargain. Less than a year after Portsmouth turned down £13.5 million for him from Arsenal, Spurs were able to sign the player for just £2 million after he refused to sign a new contract at the South Coast club.
He has gone on to become on of Tottenham's most important players this season, and has been instrumental in their climb towards fourth place.
As the league stands, Spurs are five points ahead of Manchester City who have a game in hand, and seven points clear of Liverpool.
The two Northern clubs remain favourites to finish in fourth as Tottenham have the hardest possible run in, including three games against Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester United in the space of 10 days.
By firing the most elusive of opening shots, Redknapp is indicating to his team that they will have to fight against everybody and that everything is against them as they strive to finish as high as possible.
There is also the small matter of an upcoming FA Cup Semi-Final against Portsmouth at Wembley to deal with, and should Tottenham overcome them they will be all set for one of the greatest finales to their season in a long time.
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However, on the eve of the game, Harry Redknapp, the Lilywhites' manager, had a subtle dig at Rafael Benitez and Manchester City over their extravagant spending.
The result was never in doubt. It was always going to be a case of by how many Spurs were going to win by. In the end, the affair was settled by two first-half goals, first from Peter Crouch and then from Niko Krancjar.
For their part, Tottenham never had to get out of first gear and after the first goal went in, the game took on something of a procession. Pompey were abject and one begins to wonder if the slow dawning of relegation and all it entails has finally hit them.
It only compounded matters for Portsmouth that two of their ex-players scored while the win for Champions League chasing Spurs was orchestrated by their old manager.
Redknapp left Pompey for relegation-threatened Tottenham in October 2008, and has since turned them into one of the best sides in the league.
On the eve of the match, Harry Redknapp had a very subtle dig at Rafael Benitez and Manchester City for their garish spending over the last five years and this season, respectively.
Under Benitez, Liverpool have spent £210 million in six seasons while Manchester City have spent almost that figure alone since Sheik Mansour took over in 2008.
In his 26 years as a manager across almost every division and six clubs, Harry Redknapp has spent £208 million and re-couped an incredible £230 million. To read his transfer and career history click here .
The Spurs boss maintains that there are real bargains out there and that all clubs and managers have to do is take a little time and analyse the transfer market properly.
His adroit dealings certainly make Redknapp look like one of the better managers operating today.
Redknapp said: “You can find players. There are some out there. I took Kanu off the park when I was at Portsmouth. He was not playing. He was training on his own.
“He didn’t have a club four days before the league started. I didn’t have a second forward.
“I am sitting there and thinking ‘Where has he gone after he was a free at West Brom? They said that he had gone nowhere, so I tracked him down and got him in.”
“Its not about spending lots of money. Its about spending the money on the right players," he added.
“And there are players. When I took Kanu, people who worked with me said ‘He’s finished Harry, you can’t take him. I said ‘no’ and I took him and he did fantastic for us.”
Niko Kranjcar is a prime example of Redknapp's eye for a bargain. Less than a year after Portsmouth turned down £13.5 million for him from Arsenal, Spurs were able to sign the player for just £2 million after he refused to sign a new contract at the South Coast club.
He has gone on to become on of Tottenham's most important players this season, and has been instrumental in their climb towards fourth place.
As the league stands, Spurs are five points ahead of Manchester City who have a game in hand, and seven points clear of Liverpool.
The two Northern clubs remain favourites to finish in fourth as Tottenham have the hardest possible run in, including three games against Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester United in the space of 10 days.
By firing the most elusive of opening shots, Redknapp is indicating to his team that they will have to fight against everybody and that everything is against them as they strive to finish as high as possible.
There is also the small matter of an upcoming FA Cup Semi-Final against Portsmouth at Wembley to deal with, and should Tottenham overcome them they will be all set for one of the greatest finales to their season in a long time.
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Harry Redknapp's Transfer History, 1984 to 2010: The Best Record in Football?
Harry Redknapp is recognised as being the best English manager in the game today. He has always had a reputation of being a wheeler dealer. However, does he have the best transfer record in English football?
Between playing and managing, 'Arry's career has lasted over 40 years. With a playing career that lasted for 15 years and 276 games combined and a managerial career that has seen him manage in almost every division, Redknapp has seen everything the game has to offer.
Now in the twilight of his career, 'Arry is managing the biggest club of his career, Tottenham Hotspur, one of the great sleeping giants of English football.
Strangely enough, Redknapp began his career at the Spurs when, as an 11-year-old, he was brought to the club by chief scout, Dickie Walker. The love affair didn't last too long though, as West Ham snapped the promising youngster up at 15 and away from Bill Nicholson, who was just beginning to mould one of English football's greatest sides.
For the vast majority of his career, Redknapp was employed as a winger. An honest, skillful, industrious player, he played 149 times for the Hammers after making his debut at 17. From there he moved to Bournemouth for four years before a one game pit stop at Brentford, and then finally on to the NASL and the Seattle Sounders.
It was here in Seattle that Harry found the taste for management, acting as assistant manager for three years before becoming Bobby Moore's right hand man at Oxford United.
His first job in management was at Bournemouth, but he only got the job at the second attempt. Despite being the clubs assistant manager, he was overlooked when David Webb moved on to Torquay.
However, with the team floundering at the bottom of Division III under the new manager, Don Megson, the club was forced to act and they sacked their new manager handing the inexperienced Redknapp the task of saving the club.
Not only did 'Arry save the Cherries, but Bournemouth pulled off the biggest shock of the FA Cup when they dumped Manchester United out.
Redknapp had pulled off two major coups in only his first season as a manager.
Even then he had an eye for a player, and his very first signing was to offer one of the game's great journey men an in road into football, Steve Claridge.
Amazingly, between 1984 and 1992, Harry Redknapp only signed 19 players for Bournemouth and spent a massive £1.12million, but earned £1.77m during the same period.
Many of the players he signed were making their first forays into professional football. Looking back we can see that Redknapp had a keen eye for potential.
Steve Claridge, Sean Teale, Gavin Peacock, Efan Ekoku, Jamie Redknapp, Vince Bartram, and Jimmy Quinn are just a few names who all went on to bigger and better things after Bournemouth.
In 1987 the Cherries romped home as Division III Champions, but only lasted in Division II until 1989, when they were relegated.
In the summer of 1990, Redknapp was in Italy, watching the World Cup with friends when he was involved in a car accident which killed five people. A passenger in the vehicle, Redknapp was badly shaken and escaped relatively unscathed, only losing his sense of smell. He decided to take a break from football in 1992.
However, sometime later he returned to the fold in the guise of Head of Youth Development at West Ham.
In 1994 he was coaxed back into football with West Ham, who were struggling in the newly formed Premier League. Redknapp and Frank Lampard Sr. had been working tirelessly in the youth ranks at the Hammers and following Billy Bonds' resignation in August, they were promoted to first team affairs.
Again Redknapp went to work in the transfer market, except this time he augmented his work there with the internal promotion of some of the brightest talents in English football.
Between 1994 and 2001 at West Ham, he signed 58 players for the Hammers, spending £52.09 million, bringing £77.01 million into the club.
Again his work in the market can be judged by looking back at some of the 58 players he signed in that seven-year period.
Mark Rieper, John Hartson, Eyal Berkovic, Stan Laziridis, Steve Lomas, David Unsworth, Paulo Di Canio, Marc Vivien-Foe, Jermaine Defoe, and Igor Stimac are all prime examples of good signings during his West Ham years.
Young players like Mike Marsh, Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick, Rio Ferdinand, and Joey Beauchamp all broke into the team under Redknapp too.
Of course there were some spectacular failures too, but they were few and far between. The two worst signings are Paulo Futre, who barely kicked a ball in anger for a whole season as one of the highest paid players in the league, and Florin Raduiciou.
It is worth knowing that at this time both of these players had huge reputations and initially looked like great deals for the club, however, the reverse was to be the case.
Both players commanded wages of something like £2.5 million a season on top of huge signing on fees, and are real examples of foreign signings that just did not work in England.
Those five-and-a-half years in charge at the Irons, Redknapp guided them to finish 14th, 10th, 14th, eighth, and a brilliant fifth.
Considering the resources available to him at West Ham these results were superb, but again Redknapp was vilified with being a wheeler dealer and a risk taker; it is only now that we can look back and see how much of a profit he actually made in his dealings.
He was unceremoniously sacked in May 2001 after he spoke to a fanzine over the signing of a new contract with the club, the club's chairman was extremely unhappy over comments Redknapp made at the time.
He was not out of work for long and he moved to Portsmouth as Director of Football in the summer of 2001.
Ironically, Redknapp took over as manager of the Division I club and guided them into the Premiership as Champions in 2002, replacing West Ham.
In just two years at Fratton Park, 'Arry signed 41 players for £7.65 million and sold 41 players for £5.4 million.
Redknapp resigned as manager of Portsmouth in November 2004 in dispute over the owner, Milan Mandaric, bringing in a Director of Football to the club.
Even though Redknapp only spent two years at the club, he did manage to bring in some real quality, namely Dejan Stefanovic, Lomano Lua Lua, and Yakubu.
He then made the controversial move down the coast to local rivals Southampton. Redknapp had been brought in as a fire fighter, with the job to save the club from almost certain relegation, which he was unable to do.
In just one season at the club he signed eight players for £2.57 million, but sold 18 players for £16 million as he began a clear out at the club.
That did not last too long though as Harry resigned after Southampton brought in England rugby manager Clive Woodward in a technical role at the club. Many felt that the rugby supremo was being lined up to learn from the wily old manager before replacing him.
A couple of weeks later, Redknapp was back in charge of Pompey who were hurtling out of control towards the second tier of English football.
However, there was to be a big difference at Portsmouth this time around. Alexandre Gaydamak, had just taken over, had made huge sums of money available to Harry in an effort to establish Portsmouth as a force in the Premiership.
Pompey finished four points above relegation that season ('05-'06), but the next ('06-'07) they finished a club record ninth. That was followed up the following season with another record season when Pompey finished eighth ('07-'08)
The club was on the crest of a wave and also won the FA Cup in 2008.
That was the beginning of the end, though, as Alexandre Gaydamak stepped down from the board and withdrew his backing, and all of a sudden Portsmouth were in trouble.
Backed up with Gaydamak's money, Redknapp was given permission to spend, and spend he did. £68.3 million left the club in just two seasons with only £29.07 million coming in while Redknapp held the reins.
As with his previous record, players of a high standard were brought to the club for cheap prices.
Niko Krancjar, Sulley Muntari, Glen Johnsen, Papa Bouba-Diop, and Jermaine Defoe are very good examples of Premiership players who were brought in to aid Portsmouth's cause.
It is worth noting that although Redknapp's time in charge of Portsmouth ended in a deficit of some £40 million, the club has since gone on to sell many of the players he signed while he was there, giving the club a staggering £103,940,000 million in sales in just three years. A massive profit of around £30 million for the struggling club.
In October 2008 Harry Redknapp took over relegation bound Tottenham Hotspur after Juande Ramos' ill fated reign.
Again 'Arry was quick out of the blocks as far as the transfer market is concerned, and re-signed Jermaine Defoe and Robbie Keane as well as bringing in Wilson Palacios to bolster midfield.
The new signings worked a treat as the Spurs roared up the league and only missed out on Europe on the final day of the season following a defeat at Anfield to Liverpool.
Last summer saw Tottenham strengthen their squad substantially by adding Peter Crouch, Niko Kranjcar, Sebastian Bassong, and Kyle Naughton to their ranks giving the Spurs a squad depth capable of challenging for Champions League positions.
As it stands, Tottenham are in a four-way fight to the death with Liverpool, Manchester City, and Aston Villa for the last Champions League qualifying position.
Harry Redknapp has had a remarkable career, over 1,000 games as manager, placing him in an elite band of men to achieve that rare milestone. While he has never managed a club that has challenged for trophies, he has become one of the best managers in the game through sheer hard work.
One thing that has really stuck with him throughout his career is his reputation for spotting a bargain.
Certain parts of his reputation are unfair, as he has had more successes than failures, and when you sit down and look at his transfer record over his 26 years as a boss you find that he has spent £208.23 million and recouped £230.37 million.
A quick comparison with Rafael Benitez has the Liverpool manager spending £210 million since 2004 and only accruing £125 million in the same period.
While in almost 24 years at Old Trafford, Alex Ferguson has spent £392.44 million on 89 players and made some £244 million by selling 216 players in that same time.
Arsene Wenger's record is quite impressive given the rewards he has managed to bring the club during his 13 years in charge.
Le Prof has brought 86 players to Arsenal at a cost of £220 million, and he has sold 162 for £194 million. A brilliant record, you'll agree, to almost break even after 13 long years.
Given the resources available to Ferguson, Wenger, and Benitez, it is little wonder that the three clubs are constantly challenging for the top three positions in the league.
Redknapp's record stands up for itself, a quite excellent record in the transfer market since 1984. He has never had the opportunity to manage a club with the resources to challenge for the title, but with Daniel Levy's backing you get the feeling the club would rather challenge than sit in mid-table.
Spurs' fans will be hoping that Redknapp manages to work some magic in the transfer market. He'll have to if they are going to make that huge step up and actually challenge for the Champions League positions, and maybe even the league someday.
Tottenham Hotspur Dispatch Stoke, Take Vital Lead in Race for Fourth
Tottenham Hotspur traveled to the Britannia Stadium, a graveyard for many teams, and after a professional display, beat Stoke City 2-1 to cement their place in fourth with eight games to go.
Spurs had set down a marker in August, signaling their Champions League ambitions by winning their first four games of the season. That was the last time that Spurs had taken maximum points four games in a row...
Now that the race for fourth is entering its final straight, a win over Stoke at the Britannia was going to be vital if they wanted to have a say. Win and Spurs would move four points ahead of rivals Liverpool, and five ahead of Aston Villa.
Looking at Tottenham's fixture list with games to play against Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Arsenal coming up and anything less than a win would leave Spurs' hopes of finishing fourth an uphill challenge.
As expected, Stoke's main weapon was Rory Delap's long throws, and all of their forward attacks in the first half were from the arms of the Irishman.
However, this Spurs side are extremely big, and led by the excellent Michael Dawson, they dealt with these set pieces quite easily.
Tottenham for the most part were very patient, keeping the ball for long periods of play, forcing the home crowd to boo every pass in an effort at putting Spurs' players' concentration off.
Roman Pavlyuchenko was forced off midway through the first half after jarring his knee in a tackle with Abdoulaye Faye.
The Russian forward is the most in-form striker in the English Premier League at the moment, and it was a real blow to Harry Redknapp when he limped off, to be replaced with Eidur Gudjohnsen.
A professional Spurs saw out the half despite a set-piece flurry from Stoke, and then started the second half in spectacular fashion.
Peter Crouch's perfect lobbed pass found Gudjohnsen in yards of space as he raced into the Stoke box and he fired high into the net to put Tottenham in front.
It was Gudjohnsen's first Premiership goal in over four years. And it meant that Stoke now had a large hill to climb if they wanted to have a say in this match.
That hill became a mountain for Stoke minutes later, when Dean Whitehead was unluckily sent off after receiving a second yellow card.
Luka Modric had flicked the ball past the ex-Sunderland midfielder who could not get out of the way and the little Croatian smashed into him.
Stoke have always been linked with a physical approach to the game, and it is something that many struggle to understand.
While some feel that it only encompasses the Potters kicking teams, it is in reality as scientific as any other approach to the game.
Under Tony Pulis, Stoke have become an incredibly tough team to beat. They harry every player, mark supremely tightly, and generally choose their challenges well. The exception to the rule being Ryan Shawcross' poor challenge on Aaron Ramsey.
Spurs went in search of a second and really pressured Stoke, but all that good work was undone when Benoit Assou-Ekotto pulled Dave Kitson over in the box and gave away a penalty.
Ex-Tottenham player Matthew Etherington, doing his late call up chances for England no harm,fired in the equalizer from the spot.
Minutes earlier, Spurs had been wondering how many goals they were going to win the game by, and in the blink of an eye they were level, battling a fervent Stoke.
It summed their season up perfectly. While Spurs have improved leaps and bounds under Redknapp, they still have that incredibly soft underbelly and lack concentration when it is needed most.
All of a sudden, ten man Stoke were on top and all of Tottenham's frailties looked like being exposed.
Just when Harry Redknapp and Spurs fans everywhere began to scratch their heads at what looked like another one of those days, Niko Kranjcar popped in to score a fantastic goal.
The goal combined everything that has always been associated with Tottenham over the year. Power, pace, pin point passing, and intelligence.
Benoit Assou Ekotto made amends for his dreadful defending by powering down the left, his run left the Stoke defence very flat-footed, and his pin point pass to Gudjohnsen was laser like in precision.
But just as everyone expected the Icelandic international to latch onto the ball, he dummied it perfectly and left it for the onrushing Kranjcar to score.
The dummy caught every Stoke player out and made the job of scoring all the easier for the brilliant Croatian.
For the first half of the season, Spurs were overreliant on Aaron Lennon. The phenomenally quick right-sided midfielder was in the form of his life before a groin injury robbed Tottenham and England of his services.
His importance and the lack of penetration on the left, had left Spurs as an easy team to neutralise. But a combination of injuries has all of a sudden left Spurs with possibly the best left-side combination in the Premier League.
For all too long, Gareth Bale was a player who threatened to become a good one. He is blessed with every attribute a leading player would want, but lacked that vital spark. However, since Christmas, something has changed.
With Assou-Ekotto and Bale on the left, Spurs possess two players who are excellent defenders, but who are also brilliant going forward.
Today, Bale and his Cameroonian teammate caused Stoke all kinds of problems, leaving many to wonder what Spurs will be like when Lennon eventually returns from injury?
In the end, Spurs had to endure a late onslaught, and you know what? They actually knew how to handle the situation. It was a very important win for Spurs, who have the toughest of remaining fixtures when it comes to all the teams going for fourth place.
A fourth win in a row for the first time since August and Spurs are now in the driving seat to finish fourth.
This win leaves them four points ahead of Liverpool who travel to United tomorrow, five points ahead of Villa and Manchester City, who they have yet to play.
Are Spurs finally growing into a good team? We will see in eight weeks' time...
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Spurs had set down a marker in August, signaling their Champions League ambitions by winning their first four games of the season. That was the last time that Spurs had taken maximum points four games in a row...
Now that the race for fourth is entering its final straight, a win over Stoke at the Britannia was going to be vital if they wanted to have a say. Win and Spurs would move four points ahead of rivals Liverpool, and five ahead of Aston Villa.
Looking at Tottenham's fixture list with games to play against Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Arsenal coming up and anything less than a win would leave Spurs' hopes of finishing fourth an uphill challenge.
As expected, Stoke's main weapon was Rory Delap's long throws, and all of their forward attacks in the first half were from the arms of the Irishman.
However, this Spurs side are extremely big, and led by the excellent Michael Dawson, they dealt with these set pieces quite easily.
Tottenham for the most part were very patient, keeping the ball for long periods of play, forcing the home crowd to boo every pass in an effort at putting Spurs' players' concentration off.
Roman Pavlyuchenko was forced off midway through the first half after jarring his knee in a tackle with Abdoulaye Faye.
The Russian forward is the most in-form striker in the English Premier League at the moment, and it was a real blow to Harry Redknapp when he limped off, to be replaced with Eidur Gudjohnsen.
A professional Spurs saw out the half despite a set-piece flurry from Stoke, and then started the second half in spectacular fashion.
Peter Crouch's perfect lobbed pass found Gudjohnsen in yards of space as he raced into the Stoke box and he fired high into the net to put Tottenham in front.
It was Gudjohnsen's first Premiership goal in over four years. And it meant that Stoke now had a large hill to climb if they wanted to have a say in this match.
That hill became a mountain for Stoke minutes later, when Dean Whitehead was unluckily sent off after receiving a second yellow card.
Luka Modric had flicked the ball past the ex-Sunderland midfielder who could not get out of the way and the little Croatian smashed into him.
Stoke have always been linked with a physical approach to the game, and it is something that many struggle to understand.
While some feel that it only encompasses the Potters kicking teams, it is in reality as scientific as any other approach to the game.
Under Tony Pulis, Stoke have become an incredibly tough team to beat. They harry every player, mark supremely tightly, and generally choose their challenges well. The exception to the rule being Ryan Shawcross' poor challenge on Aaron Ramsey.
Spurs went in search of a second and really pressured Stoke, but all that good work was undone when Benoit Assou-Ekotto pulled Dave Kitson over in the box and gave away a penalty.
Ex-Tottenham player Matthew Etherington, doing his late call up chances for England no harm,fired in the equalizer from the spot.
Minutes earlier, Spurs had been wondering how many goals they were going to win the game by, and in the blink of an eye they were level, battling a fervent Stoke.
It summed their season up perfectly. While Spurs have improved leaps and bounds under Redknapp, they still have that incredibly soft underbelly and lack concentration when it is needed most.
All of a sudden, ten man Stoke were on top and all of Tottenham's frailties looked like being exposed.
Just when Harry Redknapp and Spurs fans everywhere began to scratch their heads at what looked like another one of those days, Niko Kranjcar popped in to score a fantastic goal.
The goal combined everything that has always been associated with Tottenham over the year. Power, pace, pin point passing, and intelligence.
Benoit Assou Ekotto made amends for his dreadful defending by powering down the left, his run left the Stoke defence very flat-footed, and his pin point pass to Gudjohnsen was laser like in precision.
But just as everyone expected the Icelandic international to latch onto the ball, he dummied it perfectly and left it for the onrushing Kranjcar to score.
The dummy caught every Stoke player out and made the job of scoring all the easier for the brilliant Croatian.
For the first half of the season, Spurs were overreliant on Aaron Lennon. The phenomenally quick right-sided midfielder was in the form of his life before a groin injury robbed Tottenham and England of his services.
His importance and the lack of penetration on the left, had left Spurs as an easy team to neutralise. But a combination of injuries has all of a sudden left Spurs with possibly the best left-side combination in the Premier League.
For all too long, Gareth Bale was a player who threatened to become a good one. He is blessed with every attribute a leading player would want, but lacked that vital spark. However, since Christmas, something has changed.
With Assou-Ekotto and Bale on the left, Spurs possess two players who are excellent defenders, but who are also brilliant going forward.
Today, Bale and his Cameroonian teammate caused Stoke all kinds of problems, leaving many to wonder what Spurs will be like when Lennon eventually returns from injury?
In the end, Spurs had to endure a late onslaught, and you know what? They actually knew how to handle the situation. It was a very important win for Spurs, who have the toughest of remaining fixtures when it comes to all the teams going for fourth place.
A fourth win in a row for the first time since August and Spurs are now in the driving seat to finish fourth.
This win leaves them four points ahead of Liverpool who travel to United tomorrow, five points ahead of Villa and Manchester City, who they have yet to play.
Are Spurs finally growing into a good team? We will see in eight weeks' time...
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Mar 13, 2010
Can Spurs Catch Arsenal And Finish 3rd In The Premier League?
Spurs strengthened their grip on fourth place in the English Premier League with their 3-1 win over Blackburn Rovers. But is it too late for the Lilywhites to launch a bid to catch Arsenal and finish third?
Looking at the gap between the two teams at the moment you would have to say that the chances of Spurs pulling off a third placed finish were unlikely. However, the two teams have yet to meet and given a swing of two results it is perceivable that the White Hart Lane outfit could achieve the impossible.
Currently the Gunners find themselves in a slightly similar position to their North London rivals in that they need the two teams above them to drop points if they are to win the title. With that being said, what is to stop Arsenal from dropping the same number of points?
Arsenal as has been well documented have, on paper, an easier run in than their two title rivals. But there are a few tricky fixtures as many of the teams they are yet to play are in the middle of the battle to avoid relegation.
They also take on two teams who are chasing the Champions League positions in Spurs and before they take on Manchester City in what promises to be a spicy game considering what happened at the Eastlands earlier in the season.
The Gunners coasted into the Quarter Finals of the Champions League after demolishing a poor Porto team at the Emirates. You can only ever beat what is put in front of you and Arsenal cruelly exposed the difference in class between them and their Portuguese opponents.
Given the right opponent, they could progress to the Semi Finals, but a lot depends on the luck of the draw and avoiding Manchester United, Chelsea, and Barcelona.
As far as their league run is concerned, they have Hull, tonight, (a), West Ham (h), Birmingham (a), Wolves (h), Spurs (a), Wigan (a), Man City (h), Blackburn (a), and Fulham at home on the last day of the season.
One thing to factor in at this stage is that if Spurs beat Fulham in their FA Cup replay at White Hart Lane then the Spurs fixture will be moved to the final week of the season.
Looking at these games in a worst case scenario for the Gunners and they could take between 16 and 19 points, and that is being generous. Best case scenario and they will go unbeaten, claiming between 19 and 21 points.
Spurs need them to lose at least three games, before beating Arsenal too. Meaning that Tottenham will need the Gunners to lose four times from nine games. A distinct impossibility at this late stage.
Spurs also have a good run in, but they do have three huge fixtures in the space of three weeks right in the middle of their run in.
Stoke (a), Portsmouth (h), Sunderland (a), Arsenal (h), Chelsea (h), Manchester United (a), Bolton (h), and finally Burnley away.
From those games it is easy to see Spurs win every game bar the ones against the big three. Their record away to the big four is abysmal, having not won since 1993 against Liverpool, United, Chelsea, or Arsenal.
Their home record is better and given the right conditions, full points are attainable against the Gunners and the Blues, but it would be a tough ask.
Best case scenario has Spurs taking at least 19 points from 24.
Do the math and even with Spurs doing as well as you would hope and Arsenal doing as bad as could be expected, they will not catch the Gunners for third.
The race for fourth though, is very much in their own hands. Games in hand mean very little at this stage of the season and points on the table are all that count, so Aston Villa's and Manchester City's excess of matches to play should not be over estimated.
Looking at Tottenham the club has over achieved so far this season. While many expected them to be fourth placed contenders, few actually expect them to finish there and as the league table stands Spurs are four to six points ahead of their predicted points tally at this stage of the season.
Bookmakers had Spurs down to finish the season on between 55 and 59 points, currently they sit fourth on 52 with eight games to play, five of them highly winnable.
Before the win over Blackburn Harry Redknapp had set his team a target of 19 points to finish fourth. An achievable target.
Third place is out of bounds for this season, but fourth is very much in their own hands.
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Looking at the gap between the two teams at the moment you would have to say that the chances of Spurs pulling off a third placed finish were unlikely. However, the two teams have yet to meet and given a swing of two results it is perceivable that the White Hart Lane outfit could achieve the impossible.
Currently the Gunners find themselves in a slightly similar position to their North London rivals in that they need the two teams above them to drop points if they are to win the title. With that being said, what is to stop Arsenal from dropping the same number of points?
Arsenal as has been well documented have, on paper, an easier run in than their two title rivals. But there are a few tricky fixtures as many of the teams they are yet to play are in the middle of the battle to avoid relegation.
They also take on two teams who are chasing the Champions League positions in Spurs and before they take on Manchester City in what promises to be a spicy game considering what happened at the Eastlands earlier in the season.
The Gunners coasted into the Quarter Finals of the Champions League after demolishing a poor Porto team at the Emirates. You can only ever beat what is put in front of you and Arsenal cruelly exposed the difference in class between them and their Portuguese opponents.
Given the right opponent, they could progress to the Semi Finals, but a lot depends on the luck of the draw and avoiding Manchester United, Chelsea, and Barcelona.
As far as their league run is concerned, they have Hull, tonight, (a), West Ham (h), Birmingham (a), Wolves (h), Spurs (a), Wigan (a), Man City (h), Blackburn (a), and Fulham at home on the last day of the season.
One thing to factor in at this stage is that if Spurs beat Fulham in their FA Cup replay at White Hart Lane then the Spurs fixture will be moved to the final week of the season.
Looking at these games in a worst case scenario for the Gunners and they could take between 16 and 19 points, and that is being generous. Best case scenario and they will go unbeaten, claiming between 19 and 21 points.
Spurs need them to lose at least three games, before beating Arsenal too. Meaning that Tottenham will need the Gunners to lose four times from nine games. A distinct impossibility at this late stage.
Spurs also have a good run in, but they do have three huge fixtures in the space of three weeks right in the middle of their run in.
Stoke (a), Portsmouth (h), Sunderland (a), Arsenal (h), Chelsea (h), Manchester United (a), Bolton (h), and finally Burnley away.
From those games it is easy to see Spurs win every game bar the ones against the big three. Their record away to the big four is abysmal, having not won since 1993 against Liverpool, United, Chelsea, or Arsenal.
Their home record is better and given the right conditions, full points are attainable against the Gunners and the Blues, but it would be a tough ask.
Best case scenario has Spurs taking at least 19 points from 24.
Do the math and even with Spurs doing as well as you would hope and Arsenal doing as bad as could be expected, they will not catch the Gunners for third.
The race for fourth though, is very much in their own hands. Games in hand mean very little at this stage of the season and points on the table are all that count, so Aston Villa's and Manchester City's excess of matches to play should not be over estimated.
Looking at Tottenham the club has over achieved so far this season. While many expected them to be fourth placed contenders, few actually expect them to finish there and as the league table stands Spurs are four to six points ahead of their predicted points tally at this stage of the season.
Bookmakers had Spurs down to finish the season on between 55 and 59 points, currently they sit fourth on 52 with eight games to play, five of them highly winnable.
Before the win over Blackburn Harry Redknapp had set his team a target of 19 points to finish fourth. An achievable target.
Third place is out of bounds for this season, but fourth is very much in their own hands.
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Mar 10, 2010
Harry Redknapp: His Transfer History 1984 to 2010, The Best Record In Football?
Harry Redknapp is recognised as being the best English manager in the game today. He has always had a reputation as being a wheeler dealer. However, does he have the best transfer record in English football?
Between playing and managing, 'Arry's career has lasted over 40 years. With a playing career that lasted over 15 years and 276 games combined with a managerial career that has seen him manage in almost every division, Redknapp has seen everything the game has to offer.
Now in the twilight of his career, Redknapp is managing the biggest club of his career, Tottenham Hotspur, one of the great sleeping giants of English football.
Strangely enough, Redknapp began his career at Spurs as an 11 year old when their Chief Scout, Dickie Walker, brought him to the club. The love affair didn't last too long though as West Ham snapped the promising youngster up at 15 and away from Bill Nicholson who was just beginning to mould one of English football's greatest sides.
For the vast majority of his career, Redknapp was employed as a winger. An honest, skillful, industrious player, he played 149 times for the Hammers after making his debut at 17. From there he moved to Bournemouth for four years before a one game pit stop at Brentford, and then finally on to the NASL and the Seattle Sounders.
It was here in Seattle that Harry found the taste for management, acting as Assistant Manager for three years before becoming Bobby Moore's right hand man at Oxford United.
His first job in management was at Bournemouth, but he only got the job at the second attempt. Despite being the clubs Assistant Manager, he was overlooked when David Webb moved on to Torquay.
However, with the team floundering at the bottom of Division 3 under the new manager, Don Megson, the club were forced to act and they sacked their new manager handing the inexperienced Redknapp the task of saving the club.
Not only did 'Arry save the Cherries, but Bournemouth pulled off the biggest shock of the FA Cup when they dumped Manchester United out.
Redknapp had pulled off two major coup's in only his first season as a manager.
Even then he had an eye for a player, and his very first signing was to offer one of the games great journey men an in road into football, Steve Claridge.
Amazingly, between 1984 and 1992, Harry Redknapp only signed 19 players for Bournemouth. Spending a massive £1.12million, but earning £1.77m during the same period.
Many of the players he signed were making their first forays into professional football. Looking back we can see that Redknapp had a keen eye for potential.
Steve Claridge, Sean Teale, Gavin Peacock, Efan Ekoku, Jamie Redknapp, Vince Bartram, and Jimmy Quinn are just a few names who all went on to bigger and better things after Bournemouth.
In 1987 the Cherries romped home as Division 3 Champions, but only lasted in Division 2 until 1989, when they were relegated.
In the Summer of 1990, Redknapp was in Italy, watching the World Cup, with friends when he was involved in a car accident which killed five people. A passenger in the vehicle, Redknapp was badly shaken and escaped reletively unscathed, only losing his sense of smell. He decided to take a break from football after the '91-'92 season.
In 1994 he was coaxed back into football with West Ham who were struggling in the newly formed Premier League. Redknapp and Frank Lampard Sr. had been working tirelessly in the youth ranks at the Hammers and following Billy Bonds' resignation in August, they were promoted to first team affairs.
Again Redknapp went to work in the transfer market, except this time he augmented his work there with the internal promotion of some of the brightest talents in English football.
Between 1994 and 2001 at West Ham, he signed 58 players for the Hammers, spending £52.09 million, bringing £77.01 million into the club.
Again his work in the market can be judged by looking back at some of the 58 players he signed in that seven year period.
Mark Rieper, John Hartson, Eyal Berkovic, Stan Laziridis, Steve Lomas, David Unsworth, Paulo Di Canio, Marc Vivien-Foe, Jermaine Defoe, and Igor Stimac are all prime examples of good signings during his West Ham years.
Young players like Mike Marsh, Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick, Rio Ferdinand, and Joey Beauchamp all broke into the team under Redknapp too.
Of course there were some spectacular failures too, but they were few and far between. The two worst signings being Paulo Futre who barely kicked a ball in anger for a whole season as one of the highest paid players in the league, and Florin Raduiciou.
It is worth knowing that at this time both of these players had huge reputations and initially looked like great deals for the club, however, the reverse was to be the case.
Those five and a half years in charge at the Irons, Redknapp guided them to finish 14th, 10th, 14th, 8th, and a brilliant 5th.
Considering the resources available to him at West Ham these results were superb, but again Redknapp was villified with being a wheeler dealer and a risk taker and it is only now that we can look back and see how much of a profit he actually made in his dealings.
He was unceremoniously sacked in May 2001 after he spoke to a fanzine over the signing of a new contract with the club, the clubs chairman extremely unhappy over comments Redknapp made at the time.
He was not out of work for long and he moved to Portsmouth as Director of Football in the summer of 2001.
Ironically, Redknapp took over as manager of the Division 1 club and guided them into the Premiership as Champions in 2002, replacing West Ham.
In just two years at Fratton Park, 'Arry signed 41 players for £7.65 million and sold 41 players for £5.4 million.
Redknapp resigned as manager of Portsmouth in November 2004 in dispute over the owner, Milan Mandaric, bringing in a Director of Football to the club.
Even though Redknapp only spent two years at the club, he did manage to bring in some real quality, namely Dejan Stefanovic, Lomano Lua Lua, and Yakubu.
He then made the contoversial move down the coast to local rivals Southampton. Redknapp had been brought in as a Fire Fighter with the job to save the club from almost certain relegation, which he was unable to do.
In just one season at the club he signed eight players for £2.57 million, but sold 18 players for £16 million as he began a clear out at the club.
That did not last too long though as Harry resigned after Southampton brought in England Rugby manager Clive Woodward in a Technical Role at the club, many felt that the Rugby supremo was being lined up to learn from the wily old manager before replacing him.
A couple of weeks later and Redknapp was back in charge of Pompey who were hurtling out of control towards the second tier of English football.
However, there was a to be a big difference at Portsmouth this time around. Alexandre Gaydamak had just taken over and made huge sums of money available to Harry in an effort to establish Portsmouth as a force in the Premiership.
Pompey finished four points above relegation that season ('05-'06), but the next ('06-'07) they finished a club record 9th. That was followed up the following season with another record season when Pompey finished 8th ('07-'08)
The club was on the crest of a wave and also won the FA Cup in 2008.
That was the beginning of the end though as Alexandre Gaydamak stepped down from the board and withdrew his backing, and all of a sudden Portsmouth were in trouble.
Backed up with Gaydamak's money, Redknapp was given permission to spend, and spend he did. £68.3 million left the club in just two seasons with only £29.07 million coming in while Redknapp held the reigns.
As with his previous record, players of a high standard were brought to the club for cheap prices.
Niko Krancjar, Sulley Muntari, Glen Johnsen, Papa Bouba-Diop, and Jermaine Defoe are very good examples of Premiership players who were brought in to aid Portsmout's cause.
It is worth noting that although Redknapp's time in charge of Portsmouth ended in a deficit of some £40 million, the club has since gone on to sell many of the players he signed while he was there, giving the club a staggering £103,940,000 million in sales in just three years. A massive profit of around £30 million for the struggling club.
In October 2008 Harry Redknapp took over relegation bound Tottenham Hotspur after Juande Ramos' ill fated reign.
Again 'Arry was quick out of the blocks as far as the transfer market is concerned, and re-signed Jermaine Defoe and Robbie Keane as well as bringing in Wilson Palacios to bolster midfield.
The new signings worked a treat as Spurs roared up the league and only missed out on Europe on the final day of the season following a defeat at Anfield to Liverpool.
Last summer saw Tottenham strengthen their squad substantially by adding Peter Crouch, Niko Kranjcar, Sebastian Bassong, and Kyle Naughton to their ranks giving Spurs a squad depth capable of challenging for the Champions League positions.
As it stands, Tottenham are in a four way fight to the death with Liverpool, Manchester City, and Aston Villa for the last Champions League qualifying position.
Harry Redknapp has had a remarkable career, over 1,000 games as manager, placing him in an elite band of men to achieve that rare milestone. While he has never managed a club that have challenged for trophies, he has become one of the best managers in the game through sheer hard work.
One thing that has really stuck with him through out his career is his reputation for spotting a bargain. Certain parts of this reputation are unfair as he has had more successes than failures and when you sit doen and look at his transfer record over his 26 years as a boss you find that he has spent £208.23 million and re-coupled £230.37 million.
A quick comparison with Rafael Benitez has the Liverpool manager spending £210 million since 2004 and only accruing £125 million in the same period.
While in almost 24 years at Old Trafford, Alex Ferguson has spent £392.44 million on 89 players and made some £244 million by selling 216 players in that same time.
Arsene Wenger's record is quite impressive given the rewards he has managed to bring the club during his 13 years in charge.
Le Prof has brought 86 players to Arsenal at a cost of £220 million, and he has sold 162 for £194 million. A brilliant record you'll agree, almost break even after 13 long years.
Given the resources available to Ferguson, Wenger, and Benitez, it is little wonder that the three clubs are constantly challenging for the top three positions in the league.
Redknapp's record stands up for itself, a quite excellent record in the transfer market since 1984. He has never had the oppurtunity to manage a club with the resources to challenge for the title, but with Daniel Levy's backing you get the feeling the club would rather challenge than sit in mid table.
Spurs' fans will be hoping that Redknapp manages to work some magic in the transfer market. He'll have to if they are going to make that huge step up and actually challenge for the Champions League positions.
Share
Between playing and managing, 'Arry's career has lasted over 40 years. With a playing career that lasted over 15 years and 276 games combined with a managerial career that has seen him manage in almost every division, Redknapp has seen everything the game has to offer.
Now in the twilight of his career, Redknapp is managing the biggest club of his career, Tottenham Hotspur, one of the great sleeping giants of English football.
Strangely enough, Redknapp began his career at Spurs as an 11 year old when their Chief Scout, Dickie Walker, brought him to the club. The love affair didn't last too long though as West Ham snapped the promising youngster up at 15 and away from Bill Nicholson who was just beginning to mould one of English football's greatest sides.
For the vast majority of his career, Redknapp was employed as a winger. An honest, skillful, industrious player, he played 149 times for the Hammers after making his debut at 17. From there he moved to Bournemouth for four years before a one game pit stop at Brentford, and then finally on to the NASL and the Seattle Sounders.
It was here in Seattle that Harry found the taste for management, acting as Assistant Manager for three years before becoming Bobby Moore's right hand man at Oxford United.
His first job in management was at Bournemouth, but he only got the job at the second attempt. Despite being the clubs Assistant Manager, he was overlooked when David Webb moved on to Torquay.
However, with the team floundering at the bottom of Division 3 under the new manager, Don Megson, the club were forced to act and they sacked their new manager handing the inexperienced Redknapp the task of saving the club.
Not only did 'Arry save the Cherries, but Bournemouth pulled off the biggest shock of the FA Cup when they dumped Manchester United out.
Redknapp had pulled off two major coup's in only his first season as a manager.
Even then he had an eye for a player, and his very first signing was to offer one of the games great journey men an in road into football, Steve Claridge.
Amazingly, between 1984 and 1992, Harry Redknapp only signed 19 players for Bournemouth. Spending a massive £1.12million, but earning £1.77m during the same period.
Many of the players he signed were making their first forays into professional football. Looking back we can see that Redknapp had a keen eye for potential.
Steve Claridge, Sean Teale, Gavin Peacock, Efan Ekoku, Jamie Redknapp, Vince Bartram, and Jimmy Quinn are just a few names who all went on to bigger and better things after Bournemouth.
In 1987 the Cherries romped home as Division 3 Champions, but only lasted in Division 2 until 1989, when they were relegated.
In the Summer of 1990, Redknapp was in Italy, watching the World Cup, with friends when he was involved in a car accident which killed five people. A passenger in the vehicle, Redknapp was badly shaken and escaped reletively unscathed, only losing his sense of smell. He decided to take a break from football after the '91-'92 season.
In 1994 he was coaxed back into football with West Ham who were struggling in the newly formed Premier League. Redknapp and Frank Lampard Sr. had been working tirelessly in the youth ranks at the Hammers and following Billy Bonds' resignation in August, they were promoted to first team affairs.
Again Redknapp went to work in the transfer market, except this time he augmented his work there with the internal promotion of some of the brightest talents in English football.
Between 1994 and 2001 at West Ham, he signed 58 players for the Hammers, spending £52.09 million, bringing £77.01 million into the club.
Again his work in the market can be judged by looking back at some of the 58 players he signed in that seven year period.
Mark Rieper, John Hartson, Eyal Berkovic, Stan Laziridis, Steve Lomas, David Unsworth, Paulo Di Canio, Marc Vivien-Foe, Jermaine Defoe, and Igor Stimac are all prime examples of good signings during his West Ham years.
Young players like Mike Marsh, Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick, Rio Ferdinand, and Joey Beauchamp all broke into the team under Redknapp too.
Of course there were some spectacular failures too, but they were few and far between. The two worst signings being Paulo Futre who barely kicked a ball in anger for a whole season as one of the highest paid players in the league, and Florin Raduiciou.
It is worth knowing that at this time both of these players had huge reputations and initially looked like great deals for the club, however, the reverse was to be the case.
Those five and a half years in charge at the Irons, Redknapp guided them to finish 14th, 10th, 14th, 8th, and a brilliant 5th.
Considering the resources available to him at West Ham these results were superb, but again Redknapp was villified with being a wheeler dealer and a risk taker and it is only now that we can look back and see how much of a profit he actually made in his dealings.
He was unceremoniously sacked in May 2001 after he spoke to a fanzine over the signing of a new contract with the club, the clubs chairman extremely unhappy over comments Redknapp made at the time.
He was not out of work for long and he moved to Portsmouth as Director of Football in the summer of 2001.
Ironically, Redknapp took over as manager of the Division 1 club and guided them into the Premiership as Champions in 2002, replacing West Ham.
In just two years at Fratton Park, 'Arry signed 41 players for £7.65 million and sold 41 players for £5.4 million.
Redknapp resigned as manager of Portsmouth in November 2004 in dispute over the owner, Milan Mandaric, bringing in a Director of Football to the club.
Even though Redknapp only spent two years at the club, he did manage to bring in some real quality, namely Dejan Stefanovic, Lomano Lua Lua, and Yakubu.
He then made the contoversial move down the coast to local rivals Southampton. Redknapp had been brought in as a Fire Fighter with the job to save the club from almost certain relegation, which he was unable to do.
In just one season at the club he signed eight players for £2.57 million, but sold 18 players for £16 million as he began a clear out at the club.
That did not last too long though as Harry resigned after Southampton brought in England Rugby manager Clive Woodward in a Technical Role at the club, many felt that the Rugby supremo was being lined up to learn from the wily old manager before replacing him.
A couple of weeks later and Redknapp was back in charge of Pompey who were hurtling out of control towards the second tier of English football.
However, there was a to be a big difference at Portsmouth this time around. Alexandre Gaydamak had just taken over and made huge sums of money available to Harry in an effort to establish Portsmouth as a force in the Premiership.
Pompey finished four points above relegation that season ('05-'06), but the next ('06-'07) they finished a club record 9th. That was followed up the following season with another record season when Pompey finished 8th ('07-'08)
The club was on the crest of a wave and also won the FA Cup in 2008.
That was the beginning of the end though as Alexandre Gaydamak stepped down from the board and withdrew his backing, and all of a sudden Portsmouth were in trouble.
Backed up with Gaydamak's money, Redknapp was given permission to spend, and spend he did. £68.3 million left the club in just two seasons with only £29.07 million coming in while Redknapp held the reigns.
As with his previous record, players of a high standard were brought to the club for cheap prices.
Niko Krancjar, Sulley Muntari, Glen Johnsen, Papa Bouba-Diop, and Jermaine Defoe are very good examples of Premiership players who were brought in to aid Portsmout's cause.
It is worth noting that although Redknapp's time in charge of Portsmouth ended in a deficit of some £40 million, the club has since gone on to sell many of the players he signed while he was there, giving the club a staggering £103,940,000 million in sales in just three years. A massive profit of around £30 million for the struggling club.
In October 2008 Harry Redknapp took over relegation bound Tottenham Hotspur after Juande Ramos' ill fated reign.
Again 'Arry was quick out of the blocks as far as the transfer market is concerned, and re-signed Jermaine Defoe and Robbie Keane as well as bringing in Wilson Palacios to bolster midfield.
The new signings worked a treat as Spurs roared up the league and only missed out on Europe on the final day of the season following a defeat at Anfield to Liverpool.
Last summer saw Tottenham strengthen their squad substantially by adding Peter Crouch, Niko Kranjcar, Sebastian Bassong, and Kyle Naughton to their ranks giving Spurs a squad depth capable of challenging for the Champions League positions.
As it stands, Tottenham are in a four way fight to the death with Liverpool, Manchester City, and Aston Villa for the last Champions League qualifying position.
Harry Redknapp has had a remarkable career, over 1,000 games as manager, placing him in an elite band of men to achieve that rare milestone. While he has never managed a club that have challenged for trophies, he has become one of the best managers in the game through sheer hard work.
One thing that has really stuck with him through out his career is his reputation for spotting a bargain. Certain parts of this reputation are unfair as he has had more successes than failures and when you sit doen and look at his transfer record over his 26 years as a boss you find that he has spent £208.23 million and re-coupled £230.37 million.
A quick comparison with Rafael Benitez has the Liverpool manager spending £210 million since 2004 and only accruing £125 million in the same period.
While in almost 24 years at Old Trafford, Alex Ferguson has spent £392.44 million on 89 players and made some £244 million by selling 216 players in that same time.
Arsene Wenger's record is quite impressive given the rewards he has managed to bring the club during his 13 years in charge.
Le Prof has brought 86 players to Arsenal at a cost of £220 million, and he has sold 162 for £194 million. A brilliant record you'll agree, almost break even after 13 long years.
Given the resources available to Ferguson, Wenger, and Benitez, it is little wonder that the three clubs are constantly challenging for the top three positions in the league.
Redknapp's record stands up for itself, a quite excellent record in the transfer market since 1984. He has never had the oppurtunity to manage a club with the resources to challenge for the title, but with Daniel Levy's backing you get the feeling the club would rather challenge than sit in mid table.
Spurs' fans will be hoping that Redknapp manages to work some magic in the transfer market. He'll have to if they are going to make that huge step up and actually challenge for the Champions League positions.
Share
Feb 12, 2010
The Question Nobody Asked. Is Harry Redknapp a Jinx? Every Club He Has Ever Managed Goes Into Administration
Harry Redknapp is one of the most likable managers in football, and like it or not, he is the top English manager in the game today. However, one stat links them all. At one stage or another they have all gone into administration. Bad news for Spurs?
Starting with Bournemouth in 1983-1992, to West Ham 1994-2001, to Portsmouth 2002-2004, before moving to arch rivals Southampton 2004-2005, and back to Pompey again 2005-2008, before finally ending up at his most profile club to date, Tottenham Hotspur 2008-present.
While his career may not be as littered with as many trophies as someone like Alex Ferguson, it does command respect as Redknapp was never in charge of a team who were realistic title contenders and had to make do with reduced budgets.
Now at Spurs, he is with a team who really do have the finances to challenge for trophies, but will 'Arry continue with his "wheeler-dealer" image? Or will he go for heavily priced players who are guaranteed to produce?
Either way, it is worth pointing out that Redknapp appears to be something of a jinx.
This won't make good reading for Spurs fans...
Bournemouth went into administration in 2008.
West Ham currently owe £100million and have asked every staff member, players included, to take a 25 percent pay cut from next season.
Portsmouth are as close to going into administration as you can get and are expected to receive their £20million relegation parachute payment early to pay off debts to the inland revenue.
And Southampton went into administration in 2009.
Of course, 'Arry was nowhere near any of these clubs when their financial bubbles burst, and he shares little blame as Chairmen spent way over their budgets, but he is the one concrete link between all the clubs.
So it begs the question...
Will Harry lead Spurs into the "Top Four", or administration...
Dec 31, 2009
Pavlyuchenko Nears the Exit at Spurs After Accusing Redknapp of Mocking Him
Roman Pavlyuchenko's miserable stay at Spurs seems to be at an end, after the Russian international launched an amazing tirade in which he accused his manager, Harry Redknapp, of "mocking him."
Dec 20, 2009
Harry Redknapp Dismisses Latest Tax Investigation as Farcical
A statement issued last night by Redknapp's solicitors BCL Burton Copeland read: "Harry Redknapp is extremely surprised and disappointed to have been informed that HMRC intend to institute proceedings against him in the week commencing 11 January, 2010.
"We believe that the decision to commence proceedings will, in due course, be shown to have been totally misconceived."
Dec 12, 2009
Spurs to Go For Pandev, Micah Richards, Sandro, Mensah, Van Nistelrooy?
Harry Redknapp's January shopping list is beginning to take shape. Spurs are looking to take advantage of Lazio's current strife with Goran Pandev, then move for Micah Richards with David Bentley as bait, while talks with Sandro and Sissoko continue.
Winter Wolves Beat Weak Minded Summer Spurs
The term "summer footballer" can mean many things, for Spurs defeat to Mick McCarthy's Wolves, read "a team who weren't prepared to match the spirit of their opponent." All too often there's a damning indictment of Tottenham throughout the ages...
Dec 5, 2009
Everton vs. Spurs Preview: Redknapp Pushes For The Top Four
Spurs travel to an injury ravaged Everton for a match that will go very in determining each teams season. For Tottenham, it will be a game they are expected to win, while Everton need the points to avoid being sucked into the relegation zone...
Nov 30, 2009
Wilson Palacios' Brother Murdered By Kidnappers
Bill Shankly once said “Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that.”
It's something he eventually became quite ashamed with, and after the recent death of Wilson Palacios' brother, football can be seen for what it really is for many, a simple distraction.
Wilson Palacios left Spurs hotel in Liverpool at 07.00am an Saturday as his team prepared to meet Everton in a crucial match for the club. He received a phone call from his mother at 01.00am, telling him about the death of his 16-year-old brother Edwin.
He calmly packed his bags and then went down to the lobby to wait for his team to wake for their early morning meeting. He did not want to wake anyone, in case they did not get their required rest or in case they became distracted.
After meeting Harry Redknapp and then explaining his situation, he then asked permission to travel back to London so he could go home to Honduras.
Redknapp immediately contacted club officials and they organised as quick a departure as they could, giving Palacios an unlimited time off so that he can grieve with his family.
Kidnapping of sports-stars family members has become all too often a facet of life in South America. The kidnapping business has become a huge income earner for gangs and para-militaries over the past couple of years, and Colombia is now recognised as the kidnap capital of the world.
Kidnappings involving soccer players number at around 10 a year at the moment, and perhaps the highest profile one so far has been the kidnap and release of Robinho's mother in 2004.
In August 2007, Wilson Palacios, one of Honduras' most well known faces, travelled to England for a trial with Arsenal. His family had kept the move secret for fear of what might happen, but the ploy backfired somewhat after newspapers actually began reporting that Wilson Palacios had been kidnapped.
In the end his father had to contact the relevant papers and tell them where his son was, and this probably tipped off some members of the local 18th Street Gang that Wilson was looking for a big money move to Europe.
Steve Bruce then snapped him up for Birmingham City after Arsene Wenger's glowing reference, but then left for Wigan.
Unfortunately for Palacios, it was in October of 2007, that Edwin was kidnapped after five armed men broke into the family home and tied his parents up. With the kidnappers demanding ransom money, the Palacios family handed over £125,000 but Edwin was never released.
Wilson left Birmingham during this period and stayed with his family, but news that Steve Bruce wanted to sign him for Wigan meant that he had to go back to England.
It wa around this time that many false stories about Edwin's release began to surface. None of them true.
With Wilson impressing during his time with Wigan, it only became a matter of time before a bigger team came in for him. In January 2009, Tottenham under the guidance of Harry Redknapp payed £14m for the midfielders services.
In an attempt to seek Edwin's release, his mother Orfilia went on national television begging for her sons release, in case the impending transfer of his older brother strengthened their resolve.
They never received any more communications from the kidnappers or from Edwin who had been allowed the occasional phone call to reassure his parents, but hope remained.
Last week, Police in El Paraiso arrested two members of the 18th Street Gang, and following a confession, they unearthed the body of a young boy.
The body had been there for some time so it will have to undergo forensic tests before the identity is confirmed, but the body is believed to be Edwin's after his older brothers recognised his clothing.
The news will come as heart breaking for the family, Ofilia had only left London on Friday, after her first visit to England, and her family had been unable to contact her with the tragic news.
Bill Shankly's famous saying is used often. But when it really comes down to it, sport is far from being all important.
Moments like this bring home the truth, that life and family matter, and that sport should be treated in the manner for what it actually is. An un-important distraction.
Nov 19, 2009
Harry Redknapp Launches Scathing Attack on Spurs Squad Players
Spurs sit in fourth place after getting off to their best start to a league campaign in some time. But Harry Redknapp has indicated to his team that he is not prepared to sit on his laurels by lashing out at certain squad members for complaining to the clubs Chairman about not playing enough.
Nov 13, 2009
Carlo Cudicini's Misfortune Opens The Door For Pompey's David James To Move To Spurs
Carlo Cudicini's career hangs in the balance this weekend after a horrific motorcycle crash that saw him fracture both his wrists and badly injure his pelvis. The 36-year-old Tottenham Hotspur 'keeper was pulled from the mangled remains of his BMW motorbike after a collision with a Ford Fiesta.
Oct 31, 2009
Arsenal Slaughter Spurs 3-0 as Harry and Robbie Eat Their Words...
Arsenal gave Spurs a taste of what is expected of a title-chasing team by ripping them to shreds at the Emirates today.
Two first-half goals in the space of 50 seconds put the Gunners firmly in the driving seat before Robin van Persie added his second and Arsenal's third to kill the game off.
Oct 11, 2009
Tottenham Hotspur's Luka Modric To Replace Paul Scholes at Manchester United?
Luka Modric has a growing set of admirers, his performances for Tottenham Hotspur since signing from Dynamo Zagreb for £16.5 million, have set him apart at White Hart Lane as perhaps their only potential world class player. And just as Harry Redknapp has the team humming, it seems that the little maestro from Zaton could be a transfer target for Manchester United.
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