Great post Yorkshire. Regarding the stick being dished out by Mr Damage, think he just got the wrong end of the stick regarding what this thread is about. And in truth I am horribly fussy about managers. The last one I was totally happy with was Venables, and before that Sexton and Jago. Stock was just before my time. Doesn't mean I won't hope for the best and give credit where it's due - even managed this with Warnock, who I thoroughly detest. And I expect things to improve with Harry (not a massive challenge), hopefully quickly. I need to see this team win very soon.
The only time he didnt survive was at Saints and they had Lowe in charge who wouldnt give him funds. Im sure TF will give him enough to buy a top CB and CF.
'arry, I guess I'm a little nervous but I'll give him a chance. One of my colleagues at work was very relieved at the decision to partways with Hughes but felt a younger guy like Di Matteo might have been a better choice. My guess is that when they came to terms with Redknapp, Di Matteo was still gainfully employed else where.
you have to back him now but he is there for the big pay day,,,He wont keep you from relegation though. big ego that gets him sacked and well overrated as the clubs that got rid of him will tell you.....he could do no wrong at spurs with the self selection team but took the credit. he wont do that at qpr except earn him and his dog Rosie big bucks.....could have and should have done better even though i dont think anyone will get qpr safe this season...
As a Saints fan I will watch this development with double interest! Our performance last week convinced many Saints fans that we could stay up and , as a rule, everyone was happy that Nigel Adkins job seemed not to be threatened. Even if we had lost, the lazy suggestions in the press had Redknapp waiting in the wings for both clubs. Had we lost, Harry would have been a hugely unpopular choice for a second spell at St. Mary's where he effectively took over a struggling club and ensured that the moral of the players was sufficiently dented to ensure that they never had the motivation to improve their game. Whilst Southampton have had their share of useless managers over the last 20-25 years, by and large, the worst offenders have been coaching staff promoted above their ability. Harry is an exception. Redknapp was one of our most high profile appointments and initially welcomed with some amusement infosar that he appeared to have been poached from under the noses of bitter rivals Portsmouth where he had assembled a stellar squad for sums of money that effectively crippled PFC some years later. Whilst Redknapp effectively worked wonders with this club and saw the team achieve the kind of success that truly befitted one of football's genuine "sleeping giants," placed at the helm of a more modern club like Southampton he proved to be a total disaster. From a motivational point of view, he alienated his playing staff, fell out with the Chairman (admittedly the ludicrous Rupert Lowe) and distanced himself from the supporters who were quickly fed up with his comments to the press where he publically expressed his doubts about the quality of the squad. Probably only Ian Branfoot is more vilified than Redknapp amongst former Saints managers and whilst our team was abject during the season we were relegated from the Premiership, Redknapp's professionalism and abilties were called in to doubt by most supporters as well as the local media. Utlimately, he returned to Portsmouth before swapping them for Spurs. I always think it is odd how much the London-based media lauds Redknapp. Whilst he was initially feted by the Portsmouth press, I think the fact that such a significant proportion of the financial problems can be pinned on the player contracts agreed by Redknapp has meant that his stock has crumbled amongst supporters of that club too. There have been times where Harry has been hugely successful yet I think the saga of Southampton has shown that when it goes wrong the blame will quickly be passed on to the players. Redknapp's appalling record for Saints never gets mentioned by the media despite being such a disaster. When his name was mentioned as a potential (and unlikely) successor to Adkins, many fans threatened to return their season tickets the feelings against him are so high. I have a bit of a soft post for QPR as they were one of the most exciting teams in the mid-late 1870's when I was a school and one of my most memorable matches was seeing Saints play QPR in the Mick Channon testamonial several days after we won the FA Cup in 1976. I was pleased for you to get promoted a few seasons back but I would have to saw that I don't necessarily think that Redknapp will be the saviour you are looking for. Good luck for the rest of the season - but obviously not at our expense!! Cheers Ian
Nice post Ian. Very interesting and well made points. Typo 4 lines from the bottom is a bit misleading though. Makes you 90 to 100 years older than me!
Great, intelligent and interesting post, thank you. Being a resident of the Southampton area myself, however, I have to say that the consensus amongst the many Saints fans of my acquaintance was that they'd have welcomed Redknapp back had Adkins been given the boot. For them, the story of your relegation year seemed strangely forgotten, and would have been more so if he kept you up. I've said on a previous thread on this board that people need to start thinking for themselves and stop trotting out the conventional wisdom that somehow Redknapp had full authority to not only identify transfer targets for Portsmouth Football Club, but also to personally negotiate contract terms and exclusively sign the cheques. Surely, surely, surely it was the executive management/ownership of Pompey that should be blamed for their stricken plight? Weren't they the guys with the final say-so on transfers, wages and so forth? If you have the hots for a pretty young thing and bankrupt yourself by buying everything she wants to make her love you, is that her fault or yours?
I think, on balance I agree with most of that. Not sure about the Championship winning side not playing good football though? I think Harry would be the best person to try to get us out of the **** we're in. It's a tough ask and I'm not convinced anyone would keep us up from here, but I'm confident that Harry will get us playing better football and that the players will be "advised" to try their hardest for the club. As for the long term, I really don't know....nor care! I just want to see us survive this season, as unlikely as that may be.
I personally think Harry Redknapp and QPR are made for each other. As David McIntyre pointed out, QPR need a personality....a flamboyant character that gets everybody listening. Everysingle QPR manager thats been successful has been like that...Holloway....Warnock etc; thats why Hughes was such a failure as he was such a wet puddle. I trully believe Redknapp will be perfect match for QPR and get us climbing the table......not a long term solution.....but a good appointment, that was neeeded to keep us in the Prem this season.
I've gone on record more than once before to state that our NPC winning season was among the worst football I'd ever seen QPR play. But it didn't matter as we achieved our aims.
Think this is pretty much nailed it, but I am hoping for a miricle he did it with Portsmouth a few years back. But I agree that he is not the long term solution simply because of his age but we need someone next to him that he can groom as a future manager which would go a long way in giving us the stability we crave.
these are my feelings too. I've never been impressed by Arry's treatment of Southampton / Portsmouth, where i believe he showed his true colours, but i will obviously turn a total blind eye to everything i dislike about him if he keeps us up. I also feel a bit of regret about Hughes - at the time i was convinced he was the right man, i liked the sound of everything he was doing at the club and i wanted it to work out for him. That performance against Saints spoke volumes though - it was the first time i truly realised that Sparky was never going to get us there. Come on Arry - show us you're the decent manager they say you are.
No ST, I'm afraid. Too many commitments to get up there anywhere near often enough. Still working out how to get one without Mrs Uber leaving me.
There was many a time when Kenny by-passed the entire midfield with long punt after long punt upfield in the hope that HH or somebody would get it, even at home. Very seldom build-ups from the back. I agree that a lot of what Taarabt did, aided by the likes of Faurlin, Walker and Routledge, was sublime. Just my opinion, Col.
I often have a spare ticket and it could work out well for the both of us if you wanted to buy it, for example Im selling a spare for the 1st home game of the new manager against Villa. Let me know if youre interested, start buttering up the misses now!
