Amidst the apparently universal populist clamour for Harry, there's a question that isn't being asked. Are there any skeletons in Harry's cupboard? Everybody seems to think that the Not Guilty verdicts in the recent case are the end of the matter. Maybe, maybe not. The football correspondents may love Harry, but you can be sure the investigative journalists are sharpening their knives (er, pencils). HMRC have failed to make tax evasion charges stick, but they've found enough to bring a case to court. Does the FA need this? Removing the captaincy from Terry sends out a message that success on the pitch is not the be all and end all, not at any costs anyway. Why go to those lengths to show you're capable of decisive action only to make an appointment that could blow the whole thing apart again? And, if there are any skeletons, I can't see a shrewd operator like Harry putting his head in the noose anyway.
Football seems to be going some kind of pilgrimage at the moment. Kicking out racism and homophobia are naturally high on the agenda. There also seems to be a greater respect between supporters of teams and with each other. The two footed tackle is now outlawed. I envisage a change in the greed in the game and I think the first calamity involving a club going out of business might be the catalyst along with the new legislation to make clubs change their attitude towrds their income and where the lions share goes. I think the FA are trying (no pun intended) and I think the respect in football is a two way street and managers and players have to respect their authority, for instance, allowing players to attend training sessions and internationals. I believe the FA have been painted into a corner with Redknapp and there will be outrage if he doesn't get it. But I agree they probably don't really want him. It doesn't matter what the courts said. It means they just couldn't prove it. Shady is a polite term for him. The treatment Hoddle got from us all over the Eileen incident and the child deaths matter detracted from the job he was doing. So he went. And they were basically non events when it came to being a manager. The media has too much influence in the game. Their opinion is no more valid than ours and the fourth estate has hardly been clean recently has it? I hope but doubt the FA will have enough backbone to deal with this situation though. If he wants the job he will get it.
Agree with the two posts above, why was he kicked out of West ham? The media is already after Pearce's blood for something that happened in 1994. They won't stop until they've ****ed everyone and every canditate will be too scared to even apply for the poisoned chalice that is the England managers job! ILD OTBC
Although i agree that Harry is probably the best man for the job, lets just stop and take a look at what he has done in football management. As with Pompey and Spurs Harry's teams have been built almost entirerly around over seas players, and he loves his African players! So if he is given the England job, how would he fare with the current crop of English players, who i think its fair to say are hardly world beaters ? Would Harry be able to do what others before him have failed to do ? Or would it simply be another case of a good club manager being grossly over paid to churn out the same old stuff the other lot have done ? My opinion is that he wont be able to change it much as his results have been so heavily dependant upon over seas players ? You look then at Sunderland for instance, and thats when you see a manager that can turn things around with what he has at his disposal ? For me call Martin oneil and get him in !
