If you spend any amount of time in the company of other Spurs fans eventually the Harry Redknapp discussion will surface. Probably never has a manager split opinions so much, especially one that’s been relatively successful in his short term. Below is an article written by one of our forum members, YidetteKels. Kelly attends every Spurs home game even though she’s been patiently waiting for her season ticket and manages to also get to quite a few away games including European trips. I should also point out she never wanted Redknapp in charge and has stuck to her guns admirably.
As I write this it’s on the back of a quite positive champions league result in our first champions league match proper of all time, so its not clouded with the disappointment and frustrations of a few days prior to that and a terrible performance away to west brom, but it is from my heart and not my head.
What you are about to read is my view about our manager Harry Redknapp, Harry Houdini, Bent Arry, or whatever you want to call him. My view is not the common one, or so I’m led to believe. I’m constantly being told I should respect him, after all look where he took us, he took us to the champion’s league. I’m always being questioned about why I don’t like the ‘best manager we’ve had in decades’, and of course I’m told every week ‘in Harry we trust’. This is not me justifying why I don’t like Harry, this is me being totally honest about things as I see it. So let me go back to the start.
To say I was less than happy when we were first linked to HR after the sacking of Ramos is an understatement. There is something about HR that I just don’t like, well maybe a few things, but more importantly I don’t trust him. I don’t think he is here to make spurs successful, I think he’s here to have his name associated with success and a club with a colourful history, a club with foundations already laid, therefore making himself successful. If he was that good why isn’t he lined up as Fergis replacement at Manchester United? He had the foundations of a good team when he joined us. After all it wasn’t that long before that we lifted the carling cup after giving the multi million pound stars of Chelsea a lesson in football.
At about this point, if this was a conversation, I’d expect ‘2 points in 8 games’ to be rolled out. That’s fair comment and unless you where living under a rock I’m sure everyone knew that. I don’t for one minute take away the fact that he turned that season around for us, or that he has guided us into champions league football, something I’ve wanted for so long for spurs for many reasons, but he didn’t do it alone did he? If you want to give sole praise to the manager when things go right then you must attribute sole blame when it all goes pete tong as well. Securing that 4th spot against city was a fantastic moment for us, however we then travel to Burnley and put in one of the most laughable performances I’ve ever witnessed. People will say it didn’t matter because we had 4th place and the lads knew at half time that Arsenal where winning comfortably so we didn’t need to achieve anything. Really? What about those of us who travelled to see that? Don’t we deserve to see a decent performance?
For me I’ve always associated HR as someone who is a ‘little bit whoa, little bit whey’, a wheeler dealer (although don’t tell him that he might get the hump!), a man with a few tricks up his sleeve. I associate him with West Ham, a collective I just cant get along with. I know before anyone comments, that he started off in our youth team but his first goal for them was against us. I
associate him with Portsmouth, leaving them for Southampton and then going back to Pompey again. Even now I feel like he thinks he still owes them. Sometimes I feel like it’s a big give generous to pompey charity event with spurs leading the campaign. After all pompey is his ‘spiritual home’. Don’t get me wrong I love a bit of a cockney wide-boy, hell that’s one of the things that enticed me to London (from Newcastle) in the first place, but I don’t really want one as the manager of my football club, there’s enough controversy in the game to start with, players losing their way and bonking anything that moves. Managers are supposed to be older and wiser and lead by example not be linked with tax evasion or bung dealings.
Then of course my biggest issue with Redknapp is his mouth. As a manager you should know when to run your mouth and when to keep it shut. This is something that evades Redkapp and always has done, even by his own admission. Lets cast your mind back to his West Ham days as manager….
“The chairman Terry Brown had offered me a new four-year contract. What I did was talk to a fanzine, made some comments, and sometimes I should be a bit more careful. I sat down with these guys from the fanzine and they started asking me questions and I spoke to them in the way I’d talk to someone in a pub. I said a few things I shouldn’t have said. He read it and got very upset. I walked into his office expecting to sign the contract and walked out without a job!”
It seems he hasn’t really learned much from this either, just before coming to spurs while still in charge at Pompey, I’m sure we recall the incident regarding Sol Campbell and the comments about us being homophobic, racist scum after that match and a song that the press took delight in jumping on the bandwagon with instead of seeing it for what it really was/is, a set of fans 
passionate about their club and a feeling of betrayal by a man who said one thing and did another all for his own financial gain. Then Harry pleaded with us, via the press, to lay off Judas when we played Arsenal at the lane last season. Even now he can’t seem to grasp why most spurs fans have a deep hatred for that man.
Other incidents include slating his own players in the press, we all know Sandra could have sunk Darren Bent’s goal, I’m sure that does a lot for moral. By all means say the performance was poor, we should have scored, but don’t single out players for individual roastings, save that for the dressing room and let the fans and press be the cynical voices being heard publically. Don’t shit on your own doorstep Harry.
Then that leads me to present day and the England job. Why do you feel the need to publically put your hat in the ring? Speculation is one thing, coming out and saying you would take the job is another. We all speculate that any English manager in the history of managing would take that job without fail, you don’t have to make your desire public.
My other issue with Harry is a bit of a 2 part thing contributing to my dislike for the man. Team selection and transfer targets. The one transfer that got tongues waging on the final day was our signing of VdV. Strangely enough all that was done by Levy, not Redknapp as his targets seemed to be the likes Parker and Bellamy. Parker is never going to set the world on fire and is mediocre at best, not someone who you feel is the next level for spurs and as for Bellamy, I don’t have the space to give you 100 reasons why he would have been a disaster signing and one you can bet we will be linked with again while Harry is still here. Then the signing of Gallas, controversial for obvious reasons but my main issue was I thought he was too old and a bit of a sulky nut job. The jury is still out on that one, but to publically say to the press he might be given the captaincy on his debut just screams to me that HR is on a wind up, is it the press or the fans he’s trying to get a reaction from? I’m not sure. Like his team selections and his insistency on starting players in positions that are not their best. As much as Harry wills it, Gareth Bale’s strength at present is left midfield, not left back, so why keep on playing him there, you start to think its just to prove a point.
Remember this is my opinion and I don’t represent all fans by any stretch of the imagination but I can’t like someone just because he got us playing champions league football and he is the manager of our club.
Harry Redknapp – Part II: The Lovers, will come later. To discuss this please join our forum HERE
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i will proceed to rip your arguments to shreds my dear boy.
“I think he’s here to have his name associated with success and a club with a colourful history, a club with foundations already laid, therefore making himself successful”
This is the reason why most managers and players would join any club. Do you think VDV would have joined Blackpool? As a manager Harry had never had the chance to associate himself with a squad the likes spurs had when he joined. What manager would turn down the chance to do that and why is that a bad thing? Would you rather another Glen Hoddle, proud spurs player but shite coach?
“If he was that good why isn’t he lined up as Fergis replacement at Manchester United?”
Irrelevant, Fergie is still at United. Plus he is unproven in showing what he can do with a big boys team. Spurs, at the time of his joining, were not a big boy team.
“After all it wasn’t that long before that we lifted the carling cup after giving the multi million pound stars of Chelsea a lesson in football.”
True, but now, under harry, we have beaten Chelsea again, and again, Arsenal, again and again and Liverpool, so another irrelevant point. All you have done there is proven that Harry is as good as, and now, better than our previous managers.
“People will say it didn’t matter because we had 4th place and the lads knew at half time that Arsenal where winning comfortably so we didn’t need to achieve anything. Really? What about those of us who travelled to see that? Don’t we deserve to see a decent performance?”
Of course you deserve a good performance. But you cant just blame the manager for the players not turning up on the last day of the season. The same way i dont think any fan soley holds Harry responsible for us winning. Both players and manager need to take responsibility at all times.
“Don’t get me wrong I love a bit of a cockney wide-boy, hell that’s one of the things that enticed me to London (from Newcastle) in the first place, but I don’t really want one as the manager of my football club, there’s enough controversy in the game to start with, players losing their way and bonking anything that moves. Managers are supposed to be older and wiser and lead by example not be linked with tax evasion or bung dealings.”
all hearsay, Managers are also to be judged by their ability to manage, and it was the owners of Pompy at the time that ruined them. It wasnt Harrys money, and he didnt spend it.
” the press took delight in jumping on the bandwagon with instead of seeing it for what it really was/is, a set of fans passionate about their club and a feeling of betrayal by a man who said one thing and did another all for his own financial gain. Then Harry pleaded with us, via the press, to lay off Judas when we played Arsenal at the lane last season. Even now he can’t seem to grasp why most spurs fans have a deep hatred for that man.”
It was a rascist homophobic chant. Full stop. It was embarrassing as a spurs fan. And what manager would not come out and try and support one of their players. I wouldnt want a manager who stood there and said “well, the guy was a cunt, i hope the opposition fans roast him and slur him with racist chants, thats what football is all about iniit”
since you wrote this article a lot has happened that basically has seen you eat your words. I know it was ages ago but reading it i felt compelled to reply as i have never read such nonsense in all my life.
peace.
COYS
absolute joke artical! thanks dudu for ripping it to shreds! you have giving a bad name to woman football fans! Its like watching monkeys playing tennis!
this article is the biggest load of cobblers i’ve ever read actually. You’ve basically just outlined why he’s such a good manager….and you don’t like him? Hmm….maybe you want to read what you write before you post it.