I've never understood why every thinks old 'arry is such a great manager. What actually is his success record. I'm aware of him getting West Ham and Southampton relegated (and probably a big factor in Pompey going down too), as well as leaving the clubs when they are not in too good a financial state... From what I recall of his time at Saints, he was tactically inept. I hope he takes QPR down and people (ie the media) realise just how unremarkable an individual Redknapp is... PS - QPR loss to West Brom was all the ref's fault. Nothing to do with old 'arry himself.
But trixy, you are his number one fan, whereas we just say it how it is. Take off the rose tinted spec's mate, he's a shockingly bad manager who has a out-dated method that puts clubs in real financial peril. Other than that he's good.
Why? West Brom's 2nd goal was perfectly fair. But QPR should have had a penalty. Redknapp was spouting bollocks about West Brom's 2nd goal though.
He didn't get Saints relegated, a number of factors did and they were mostly monetary. We were a lost cause by the time he took over, and the same goes for QPR. As for Pompey, he was a pretty good tactician and did well there for a decent amount of time. The insane unsustainable spending was ultimately the fault of the various clueless suits behind the scenes, rather than Redknapp. He had a great record at Spurs and got them into the Champions League. I know you want to hate him because he left us for Pompey, blah blah blah, but his ability to get the best out of the players at his disposal can't be ignored. He's not the best manager in the game, but he's a pretty good one.
Very well said Sir. He also didn't "take West Ham down". We were in good shape when he left and didnt go down until 2 seasons after.
I don't personally know a single Saints fan who hates him for leaving us for Pompey. Yes for some that probably adds to the issue, but for me and other people I know, I don't give a damm that he left us for them. I dislike him because he got us relegated, and has refused to take any responsibility since. You might think we were a lost cause, but we really weren't. Im amazed any knowledgeable Saints fan would think that. The fact that we went into the final day of the season with a chance of surviving shows that. But this is all in the past. I'm not getting into it all over again.
Lets face it he isn't everyone's favorite manager. I happen to believe on the whole he is a lucky manager. If he is allowed to bring his own players in as he did at spurs he will do ok for any club. I am not so sure regarding QPR.....he doesn't seem to have his type of players around him there. His open criticism of his players is not exactly going to endear him to them either. They do have some useful talent there not sure why they are not performing.
His tactics were hardly brilliant. We fluked our way to the FA Cup after getting completely outplayed by Ipswich, Preston, Man U (no shame in that to be fair), Cardiff and possibly Plymouth. He also spent a shed-load which makes his achievements not as impressive. While he may not have been completely in charge of transfers, he certainly would have a say on who is signed and what to pay, especially considering his matey-relationship with Storrie. We signed lots of rubbish players on huge wages like Andy Cole (not rubbish in his heyday but did **** all for us), Lauren (same as Cole), Djimi Traore, Glenn Little, David Thompson, David Nugent, etc. He's seen as being some sort of wheeler-dealer who can find great players on a bargain but if you sign as many players as he did, you're bound to find some good ones. He's also seen as being some kind of brilliant man-motivator, but if you're not in his clique, then he's a right dick and often bitches to the media about players, because clearly that's the professional thing to do. He seems to dislike playing players who he didn't signed unless he has to regardless of how good they are, combined with his disdain for youth players means often highly rated players are given no chance and shipped out as soon as possible (i.e. most of Portsmouth's players). It was only under Paul Hart that Asmir Begovic was given a chance to show his abilities for example. Also, the list of players at Tottenham: Giovanni Dos Santos, Andros Townsend, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, not even given a chance. He's massively overrated and he's considered a media darling even though he's as corrupt as a £4 coin. He's got an ego the size of your average Jovian gas giant.
It may have been possible to stay up that season, but relegation was bound to come eventually. We weren't capable of spending the same amounts of money that the others teams in the league were spending. We were falling behind in pretty much every way.
Redknapp had plenty time to save us if he was the Houdini he is made out to be. Fact is the players he signed were largely all duds, and that was ultimately our undoing.
