There can be little doubt that Harry Redknapp was one of the best managers in Tottenham’s recent history. He led the Club out of the relegation danger when he took over, and achieved two top-four finishes in the Premier League. Alongside that he led Tottenham to the Champions League Quarter Final, where we went out to Real Madrid. No Tottenham fan will forget that great campaign when we thrashed Inter Milan at White Hart Lane and when we beat AC Milan at the San Siro. These were memorable nights that us fans can only long for now. Redknapp was the man to thank for our success. He got the best out of players like Gareth Bale and Luka Modric, he added superbly to our squad with the additions of players such as Brad Friedel, Sandro and of course, Rafael Van der Vaart. However, most crucially he played a stunning brand of expansive football that won the Club plaudits across the country. Since his departure, we have longed for Redknapp’s style of football to be played again. His departure was untimely and unexpected. After the FA had appointed Roy Hodgson as manager of the England national team, it seemed definite that Redknapp would stay and continue his fine work at White Hart Lane. However, Daniel Levy had different ideas. In the end Redknapp was sacked, and Levy must regret his decision ever since. Since his departure Tottenham have finished fifth twice, sixth once, but have in reality been miles off the top-four in the last two seasons. Since his departure, Redknapp has become more prevalent in the media. We all know he has always loved to be on the media’s good side and be in the media spotlight, after all transfer deadline day is proof of that. However, whilst becoming more established in the media, Redknapp has taken several swipes at Tottenham. The latest came in his recent blog for Kicca, where he stated that “Tottenham have been a major disappointment since he had left.” He went on to argue that “all that £120m or whatever they spent from (selling) Bale and Modric has been pretty much wasted.” There is truth to what Redknapp is saying, we have gone downhill since he left and money has been wasted in past transfer windows. http://www.spurs-web.com/tottenham-hotspur-fan-articles/harry-redknapp-tottenham-hero-show-class/ Do you agree with this Spurs fans ? Or should Harry show a bit more respect to Poch and keep his gob shut ?
Harry loved to tell everybody how good he was, and he bought into his own hype. Thing is though, when he said that he was the best thing to happen at Spurs, he was right.
I liked Harry very much and thought we were stupid to get rid, but it has to be said he was very lucky with players. He inherited Bale and Modric and VdV fell into his lap. I'd like to think most managers could make a team with those. Especially with King, Huddlestone, Dawson etc on board. Poch will be judged on the team he builds.
He did inherit some decent players, but it still takes a decent manager to get them playing good football together. Under Harry you played some of the most exciting football ever seen at WHL and whilst Arsenal were going through a tough patch he almost got Spurs to catch up with us. Personally I thought Levy was mad to get rid of him. I know Harry was flirting with the England job and took his eye off the ball, but he would have knuckled down again and got you playing decent football again. As much as he likes the sound of his own voice, you can't deny that he is right in saying that Spurs have gone downhill since he left.
That is just a fact. The key thing is where we go from here. We haven't fallen too far - many thought we'd struggle to make top 10 in recent seasons, but we hover around 5/6th. Now Poch is building his own team, we'll see how good he is. I am optimistic.
Who do you think Poch will buy as it seems he will have to sell before he can buy. Spurs will take quite a big hit money wise with a few but then at least they are gone for good. That's if you can sell Adebeawhore or Soldildo at any price - not even the Turks what that crock of ****e pair !!!!!
I have a sneaking feeling you have little respect for our backup strikers? Soldado is a very good player just lacking confidence in front of goal, if he stays I wont be unhappy. Ade could put in a shift as he needs a contract after this year. Realistically I'd like a backup striker for Ade and a defensive midfield player to rotate with Mason and Bentaleb. Not sure which players, but our scouting looks good now. Main thing is we have improved our defence. That was our main problem last year.
Redknapp has, of course, been an abject failure since he left us, and I'm betting that shrewd Levy saw that coming and chose to get rid, sooner rather than later.
To be honest though, can you really rely on Adebayor and Soldado as back up to Kane? One looks like he has one foot permanently out of the game and the other can't score for toffee in the premier league. I don't doubt that they are both quality strikers in the right environment, but at Spurs they just seem to be a complete waste of space (and wages). Rumour is that Levy is planning on taking a big hit on selling Soldado and Lamela (partly why I don't buy into this 'business genius' rubbish about Levy) But what else can he realisticly do ? Apparently the spurs board have said that you need to sell 6 players before you can buy again* *Welcome to selling players to balance the books whilst building a new stadium
When Wenger eventually goes (whether by sacking or retirement), you Gooners are going to find just how disruptive a change in management can be, and I suspect that you're going to be getting through a fair few managers yourselves, as you struggle to maintain the consistency that you've enjoyed under Wenger.
That's one of the reasons I've never given any truck to the 'Wenger out' brigade. You only have to look at the likes of Spurs to see how chopping and changing managers leads to season after season of failure. It's another reason why somebody like Levy would be a car crash at Arsenal (despite you claiming the opposite) because he doesn't know how to build and nurture. He wants instant success and tries to buy his way into the top 4. Wenger, despite all of the financial pressures, break up of the invincibles, paying for a new stadium, losing our best players, cash whoring from chavs and city, etc - has still kept Arsenal right up there in the mix at the top and in the champions League. If there's one thing I'm confident about with Arsenal when Wenger finally does go, is that our club will not make a hash of replacing him. They will ensure that the long standing ethos that Arsenal hold dear is maintained. Our board have a philosophy that people who work for Arsenal FC are custodians of the club. Therefore they will never employ any short term shysters whose egos are bigger than their sense of duty,
Optimistic words, PISKIE, but I rather fear that you're going to find that Wenger was a freak - a perfect fit for his particular philosophy and intentions. A new manager coming in isn't going to be able to replicate Wenger's personality, because Wenger is a one-off. The new man coming in will chop and change formations and will rotate players, and there'll be a lot of trial and error, and things will go wrong. How badly they go wrong, and how long they stay wrong for, will determine how quickly you sack him. Levy would not have sacked Wenger, because Wenger has been able to give Arsenal what Levy wants for Spurs - a regular shot at the CL. What Levy would have done, however, for AFC, is wheel and deal a lot better in the market and get Wenger the players who could have won the Prem and the CL for you.
Sorry, but Levy is **** in the transfer market. He manages to get a good deal on selling, but hasn't got a clue when it comes to building a team. I don't need to remind you that Levy has spent almost as much as Man Utd on transfers and achieved **** all. He would have been a total disaster at Arsenal, not only for this reason, but also because he meddles too much in transfer deals. It was reported that when you flopped after spunking that £120m, Levy sacked AVB as a result blaming him for the way it went awry, yet AVB only sanctioned the purchase of two players and Levy insisted on the rest. That would never happen at Arsenal, because the board trust Wenger to to bring in the right players as he knows the dynamic of the team. What I do agree with you on is that Wenger is a one off. We are going to find it difficult to replace him when he eventually goes. But the club have an ethos that they will not divert from and I'm confident that they will find the right man when the time comes. We don't do things the Spurs way. We don't need to shake things up like Spurs do. Levy has tried to shoehorn his way into the top 4 by spending loads and hiring and firing without any success. We already have a successful platform to build on and any manager coming in will be expected to fit into this ethos.
...and yet Wenger has won very little, during his time at Arsenal. Having a long-serving manager may have brought you stability (as it did with United), but it has brought you very little glory (unlike United under Fergie). I doubt that Jose will be at Chelsea as long as Wenger will have been at Chelsea, but I suspect that he will win far more.
