Harry Redknapp says he may not spend in January if QPR are 'cut adrift'

Harry Redknapp says he may not spend in January if QPR are 'cut adrift'• Manager says signings would be pointless if team are doomed
• Also insists he will not use Villa's visit to discuss Darren Bent
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The Guardian, Friday 30 November 2012 22.29 GMT
QPR's new manager, Harry Redknapp, will see how it goes in the next six games before deciding whether to spend in January.
Harry Redknapp will not use Saturday's visit of Aston Villa to initiate a conversation concerningthe future of Darren Bent, and said he may not spend at all in the January transfer window if Queens Park Rangers enter the new year in an apparently hopeless position.

Of the club's six fixtures before the turn of the year only one – the Boxing Day visit of West Bromwich Albion – is against a club currently in the top half of the table. But six of their first seven league matches of 2013 will be against current top-half sides, with Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester City and Manchester United among them.

With his team four points adrift at the bottom of the Premier League, yet to win a game and with the worst goal difference, Redknapp's feeling is that the club's future is likely to be determined before January. "Darren Bent's a good player, but I'm not even looking at January at the moment, honestly. It's now," he said. "There's games between now and the window that really will decide where we're going. If we're still in [contention], we can look at that in January and see if we can go from there."

While Redknapp continues to insist that he can lift the team away from danger – "I'm optimistic. I feel it can be done and if I didn't think that I wouldn't have come here" – Rangers' position is sufficiently dire that he must at least consider the possibility of failure.

"We've got to make sure we're not cut adrift and that we're back in there with a chance," he said. "What's the point in the club spending money in January, bringing more players in, if we're cut adrift? You don't want that to happen. I don't want us to put ourselves in a situation where next year we're overloaded with wages and not in the division. What we do in the next six or seven games will decide where we go in January."

Though Bent currently languishes on the fringes of Aston Villa's squad, QPR may not be in a position to gamble on a single player the amount of money Villa would seek for a striker who cost them a fee rising to £24m less than two years ago.

Perhaps a more likely target is Liverpool's Joe Cole, a free transfer in 2010 and yet to start a league game this season. "I've always liked Joe," Redknapp said. "I signed Joe as an 11-year-old, so no one knows Joe better than me. I still think he's got the talent to be a top player. I like him very much – as a person as much as a player – and I tried to take Joe to Tottenham [before he joined Liverpool], but I've not made any inquiries."

Redknapp will attempt to recreate his success under similar conditions as those at Portsmouth, whom he rejoined seven years ago next week and eventually guided clear of relegation with a run of six wins in their last 10 games. "You just need that one result to click you, to give you a bit of confidence," he said. "That particular run clicked one day when we played Manchester City at home and scored the winning goal in injury time.

"When the players came in afterwards it was like we'd won the league, or won the cup, and then we went on a run and got out of trouble. It was that one last-minute goal from Pedro Mendes that kicked that off. That's what we need now. We need a win, quickly, to give us a bit of belief and get us up and running."

 

how do you know when harry is lying, when his lips move, take no notice he says the same things near every transfer window, he will bring in at least 3 new signings, he would not be there if there is no money to spend

 

joe cole lol we had all this when he was at spurs. he loves the old players.

i bet you any money he will bring players in. hes always spent money.

 

Reading Redknapp's statement the other way, ie how a non-performing current player will, "if you go out and do well til January and we're in a fight to stay up I'll replace you, if you do crap til then you'll keep getting played and picking up appearance money".

 

And there is money to spend if he earns it...

 

Old players? Defoe's doing OK - what's wrong with old players?

 

If Redknapp gets us competitive and the players put us in such a position then why would he sacrifice that for the benefit of replacing people for the sake of it?

 

A lot of outside interest in this thread and valid points made but I feel the truth is somewhere between those disparaging remarks and my overly hopeful view.

If we're competitive by the window then I think we're doing well whatever.

 

Sensible stuff. Current players must take responsibility now.

 

It's the players we have right now who must take responsibility, ownership and be accountable (all things the manager was/is doing). It will be on their "CV" that they took the club down.
They're the ones who make the defensive mistakes; they're the ones who give loose passes. The manager can only do so much. Old cliche, but when they cross the white line - as Premiership footballers - they should be capable of playing to the instructions of the manager and do the basics with ease.
Harry's right, and they need to face up; they got us into this with their poor defensive play, poor control of the ball and lack of hunting goals down - so grow some; show some balls and true grit and get out there and win!!!!!

 

He'll play the loan market, it's the lowest long-term risk...

 

arry is just using classic and effective methods to motivate your players but they aren't to blame, Mark Hughes is.

Hes the manager that got you in this mess and arry will get you out this mess.

if players arent managed correctly or you have a manager that is a negative influence then look what happens? however i wouldnt take much notice of what arry says about not spending as he loves a deal and if given the chance will buy in january, and i expect him to push your chairmain to sign a striker as your screwed if cisse is injured.

 

Thanks for the encouraging words Boss. Looks very bad at this juncture but who knows?

How do you feel AVB is doing for you so far; he seems to get a lot of negative comments but he hasn't really had a chance yet. Good luck for the season.

 

Hi grimming! your squad has bags of talent but just havent been managed correctly. Now you have a manager that will manage them correctly so i know it looks like a huge task but you will catch up.

As for AVB, cant say i like the guy that much and we tend to play crap one half, great next half. And he likes to make negative subs to hold onto a lead, rather then attack and put the game to bed.

However i cant complain about our current position and he is getting the best out of defoe.

 

Our options are very limited at the moment. As it stands we'd have trouble persuading any decent player to join permanently while we sit rooted to the bottom. This isn't ideal, we've seen in the past that you rarely get the best from a player on loan no matter how much they have to prove.

But I think loans are all we're going to get. But the optimist in me, or is it the desperation in me that thinks if we can win 4 of our 6 matches between now and January, our position could look a lot better and our options will hopefully increase.

But we will have to get some players in. Anton Ferdinand isn't going to get any better, and as it stands we don't look like scoring till we get another striker.

The reality of the situation is we have to win 3-4 more matches than the 3 teams above us, which is easily capable and I think we will do it.

 

Exactly what i said the other day. It all depends where we are at xmas to how much we spend.

 

Spot on, i think he is sending out a message to the current crop that no one is coming in so that they can depend on to get them out of jail.