Yes! I have repeatedly asked what is meant by all this "flirting with the FA" that people go on about. And I have not received one sensible, coherent response (as indeed you didn't with this post). It is now, in some people's minds, a story that became an opinion that then became a fact and a stick to beat Harry with. It's ridiculous, naive and tedious. I've read people talking about how "Harry'd be willing to jump ship for any other better offer". What. Utter. Bullshit. And self-pitying and totally fantastical. He did not deny that he would be interested in what, to him, is the biggest job in football. Not another club, not just a bigger pay packet but the England job which, for him, is a massive, career-peak sort of job. If people refuse to see that then they just want to fill the internet with whining and drivel.
From our Chairmans's point of view you have to understand why he is being so dogged about any new contract negotiations. Earlier this year he showed great support for Harry and gave him all the time he needed to get well and have his heart operation. Then came the big court case alongside his old mate Milan Mandaric, which meant we were without our manager for several games. Yet Levy stuck by him, backed him 100% and gave him the time he needed to clear his name.... As fate would have it, Capello walked the day Harry was cleared and what happened next... The Press cried "Harry for England It's perfectly understandable and reasonable for Levy to expect the loyalty and dedication he showed Harry in return. It wasn't forthcoming. If it was, Harry would have declared his 100% dedication to Spurs. Instead he left the door open which is why so many of us are riled on here.
Notso - you are so totally, 100% right abut this. How people can have a problem with a manager saying one thing in one situation and another in a different situation is utterly beyond me. I mean, are these people five years old or something? Seriously, there are some posters here who are really coming down in my opinion cos they're talking like a manager's first responsibility is to tell the 100% whole, objective truth to the press (and by implication themeselves) the whole time. Do you think Fergie does that? Do you think Wenger does that? Do you think Martinez or Ancellotti or Hoddle or AVB or Donald Duck or whoever the hell anyone has bizarre, utterly unsubstantiated fantasies about, would do that? Yes - Harry says too much to the press sometimes. It is his major flaw. But the examples being pulled out on this thread are ridiculous to the point where I think that the people bringing them up must know, deep down, that they are spurious.
Once again. It patently ISN't utter bullshit as you term it. If it were, then I'm sure Levy himself would have come out and said so. With all due respect, he knows a hell of a lot more about what went down, than you. He is clearly extremely pissed off with Mr Redknapp. Now, unless you can think of another good reason why that should be, I think that we'll all assume that we know the reason.
VDV - £8m (bargain) Friedel - Free Parker - £5m Adebayor - loan Saha - free Pienaar - £2m Gallas - free Kaboul - £5m Gudjohnsen - free Krancjar - £2.5m Sandro - £8m -------------- (and now we're beyond the "couple of years" that Sidney Fiddler mentioned) Crouch - £10m Kyles £8m And that is your list that you chose to write. Jeee-sus... I just...I have no idea if some of the people on this thread are just WUMMING fellow Spurs fans. How can anyone POSSIBLY say, using the list above as proof, that Harry has been well-backed in the transfer market? I mean - I'm not complaining about it but to pull up those names as some sort of proof of how Levy has backed Harry with big-money signings is just...so obviously, clearly, almost self-parodyingly, totally WRONG.
Why? Does Levy ever come out in the press to wash his dirty linen in public? True. And this applies to everyone on this forum. This is at the heart of my point. Why do you say that? This is pure hearsay. There may be many reasons why he'd hesitating over a new contract. The fact that the England thing might come up again, the fact that Harry is in his 60s, the fact that his health has been an issue. You never know, maybe Levy isn't pissed off with him at all but STILL wants him out. Maybe, juuust maybe it is for footballing reasons as Levy was worried by our bad patch. WHO KNOWS? Hey - is Levy being a ball-breaker over contract negotiations? You don't say! That is SO out of character! We'd better start inventing reasons and theories! Yes - some will do this. And it is pointless and people are only doing it to further embed their current opinions and prejudices.
This is pointless, as you just see what you want to see - not what is so blindingly obvious. There WAS a shiny new three year contract ON THE TABLE waiting for Harry to sign it. It now has been withdrawn. Now, once again, why is that? You may choose to believe that this is purely conincidence, or Levy playing hardball etc. To use your phrase, " bullshit" it has been withdrawn for one reason, and one reason only.
Might change my name to LennysDisciple . Agree with all this totally. Was beginning to think I held these opinions on my own!
I think we can afford to keep him for another year, the damage on the pitch is hopefully in the past and it's difficult to forsee problems of the magnitude of last season's happening again. Barring something big and unexpected coming up I think Harry can do well with us next year. Some of the players may well have a slightly dimmer view of him given his courtship of the England job, granted. But has VdV not recently come out and said that it is vital Harry stays? (http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11675/7796504/Van-der-Vaart-Harry-stay-key) Unfortunately the reality of modern football is that most players and managers have very little loyalty to clubs. Those players at Spurs today who really care about the club will get their heads down and play no matter who is in charge. I think we're highly unlikely to see Harry lose the dressing room in the same way AVB did at Chelsea though, if that's what you're saying.
The thing is that I don't believe that it is Levy playing hardball and I don't believe that it is cos he's pissed off with him and I don't believe that it's cos he wants to get a new man in. I just don't know. This seems like the only sensible position to take. Trawling through blogs on Newsnow or reading forums adds nothing to the amount of actual information and facts at my disposal. I absolutely, 100% am not "seeing what I want to see". Only those who claim strong knowledge on things they have no evidence of are doing that. Even if you don't agree with my defence of Harry you must be able to see that, no? I do not know why Harry was offered the new contract when he was. I am not even sure that one was on offer (Harry was directly quoted in March as saying there wasn't). I do not know why the offer seems to have been withdrawn. I do not know how Daniel Levy feels about Redknapp. It's not me that is so certain of everything. The dangerous, untrustworthy voices are often the ones that claim most certainty. Not knowing. Hardly a favourite among football fans but a very healthy, useful and solid basis to begin, I always think.
Lenny...people are allowed to have their grievences if justified. im surprised you dont seem to think that people have cause for their concerns. plus i hope those that are pro Harry dont come out with 'we told you so' if he leaves and the replacement is not up to it. nobody says the replacement guarantees top 3...but many feel as though a change is reqd for many reasons,spread over many months...highlighted on many threads. its speculation from both views......and its good to debate..
I don't think Lenny is opposed to people having views, it is the apparent certainty they have that Levy thinks this or Harry thinks that. And I agree, you have to accept it is just opinion beyond that. As for having a view whether Redknapp is the best man for the job, opine away.
the highlighted bit makes you look very precious. you are actually seeing exactly what you want to see..its just that you see it from your angle which is opositte to many other angles..but you have no more hard evidence than those that are unhappy with Harry. 'only those who claim strong knowledge of things they have no evidence of are doing that'...and you do have evidence Lenny? its a forum for debate...dont be coming on like nobody can say anything is wrong...i dont live my life like that..im not going to behave on a forum like that..people are allowed to say when they are unhappy..your allowed to say your happy..but you cant say that those against you need evidence..when you clearly dont have any for your point of view...plus many of us have lived a little and im more than happy to give my instincts some credit and believe them.
HD its all speculation....it always is, 70% of what we discuss probably is....i dont think its far fetched so im good with it....and we are all in the same boat...wether its Lenny or me or you or the rest..we can just try to put pieces together in order to create debate.
I just think there is more than one way of analysing the info we have. I tend more towards giving Harry the benefit of the doubt (and surely everyone admits there is doubt) than you and that is fine. It seems Lenny does also, but it would be dull on here if we all thought the same way. Maybe it is the season, but we seem to be losing respect for each others arguments and views and that will be sad if that continues to happen.
If justified. Yes indeed. And many of the complaints/theories/narratives about Redknapp are utterly unjustified. And I will take no pleasure whatsoever if we replace Redknapp and the replacement fails. None at all. But I think I will have every right to say "I told you so". That anyone who has supported Spurs for any amount of time over, say, five years, can say that changing manager is likely to fix a situation which, by the way, does not need fixing is beyond me. Do I really need to list every failed manager this club has had over the last few decades? All the ones who spent money that was much more comparable to the top teams of the day and yet got 8th, 10th, whatever? I'm glad no-one is saying that a replacement guarantees top 3! How about the fact that a replacement does not guarantee top half? How about that a replacement is much, much more likely to fail than to succeed? This judgement is based on facts, on statistics, on experience. Harry's first season we come fourth - everyone is delighted. Beating Man City to that spot is rightly seen as a massive achievement. Harry's second season we have a great CL campaign and finish fifth. Everyone appreciates the cup run but is disappointed to finish fifth. Harry's third season - we finish fourth and loads of people are gutted. That all looks like progress to me. People are moaning about finishing fourth. At the end of the day we have to judge Harry on two things: results and performances. And on both of those things the cold, hard facts he is the only successful manager we've had for at least 20 years. When you ignore all the soap opera crap that people invent and gossip about you realise that we would need some very, very good reasons to get rid. And no-one has shown me any. All they've shown me is that Harry has faults. And since everyone has faults and since not everyone can get Spurs consistently challenging up the top of the table I just can't see what everyone's moaning about.
i got no problems with Lenny...i believe its healthy to have a few people that are optimistic...as it can make others see things once the red mist has settled...and on this HR thing i seem to be stuck on what i want as i think both arguments are valid..i just needed to brin it up that Lenny says the anti HR brigade dont have evidence...i believe nobody has concrete evidence..either side is speculating. i think me and you are trying to say the same thing in a round about way HD. Lenny....your positive rants have a place here lol. i say...let the great debate continue..(it is great its been going on since January)
From February to May, a good third of the season, we hit relegation form. Had the Chavs and Liverpool not been so dire this season, we could easily have finished 6th. Even the Toon gave us a fright. I can assure you, I am judging Rednapp on results and performances.
I have three and a half years' worth of evidence to indicate that Harry Redknapp would be a good manager for Spurs for the 2012/13 season. Those who say AVB would be a better choice have, um, slightly less. Those who think Klinsmann would do better have even less than that. Much of what I have said does not require evidence because I am pointing out that the burden of proof lies with those that say "Harry was trying to get the England job" or "Levy's pissed off with Harry" or "Martinez would do better". I have been fairly modest with my claims. I don't want to annoy people or close down debate. But I honestly think that we can have excellent debate and have people like me saying "Hey! Why you saying that? You sure it's justified? Where are your quotes? Where are your facts?". For instance I would love to have a debate about the pros/cons of Harry staying. I think there are cons. I think he has serious flaws. But if the topic of debate is something along the line of "Will spurs do better with Hoddle or Moyes or AVB at the helm next year?" then I'm gonna have a very clear opinion that those who believe those guys will do better than Harry are likely doing more hoping and praying and playing FIFA than they are considering the actual facts. Cos their facts (so far) are just so poor. Sorry - but they are.
Good. So you're happy that we once again got the highest position in the history of the EPL then? And Newcastle were bloody good this year, weren't they?
