I already mentioned Pep earlier on. He renews his contract well before the business end of the season each time, so it's not this 'we'll see how he does this year' type stuff we are seeing supported here.
Actually in effect its no different. Messi, going into any season, knows it could be Guardiolas last. Despite their wild success, he starts the year not knowing if he will have the same manager next season.
And yet he, the Barca squad, Guardiola and the Barcelon hierachy are perfectly comfortable with it - it hasnt hindered them has it?
So why the absolute belief it would be an issue even worthy of mention for us?
Like Harry could get us 5th, and not have been the right man, or 4th, and have been the right man. Or maybe he has us title challenging again in February so we decide to tie him down to a long contract only for our form to tail off again in the business end of the season because we had played all the tough teams at home and all the easier teams away?
Why risk it? The only argument the other way seems to be that we are tied to him...but that's kind of the point. What I'm saying is that if he is the right man, we would want to be tied to him, and him being the right man or not isn't going to change this summer or next because he will be the same person, with the same managerial traits. If we finish 6th next year but we chose him as the right man we wouldn't then suddenly want to let him go. Only really if he lead us to an 8th or below finish where performances weren't great would I say that should be the case, but that's not likely to happen. If we are tied to him it's a good thing, he isn't suddenly going to be the wrong man a year after being the right one, he will be the same person.
Perhaps the view is simply that he is the right man "for now". Not that wild and fanciful an idea. He is doing a solid job, no arguments there, but he appears to be failing to push on from here.
Right now I dont think there is anyone available to succeed him who looks like doing a better job (that is attainable), but what about next season?
Perhaps Ancelotti will be seen as on the market, and someone to take us up a level. Perhaps we are closely monitoring Rodgers/Lambert to see if they can develop again this season or if they are just a flash in the pan?
Its very possible Redknapp is great at this point, but doesnt feature in our long term planning.
But what people are saying is that treading water as a club and imposing a transitional season upon ourselves where we aren't all pulling in the same direction is a good thing? I'm not part of the 'Harry is GHod phalanx' (if such a thing exists), all I'm saying is that if the club decides he is the right man, he should be backed. If the club decide that Martinez is the man to take us forward, then we thank Harry for his hard work, send him on his way and bloody well back Martinez. Half measures have never worked in football.
The idea of treading water and transition is imposed by you, no one else. Harry with a 3 year contract is no different to Harry with a 1 year contract in my view. The latter doesnt imply he will stay any longer, the former doesnt imply he will stay only a year. Transition will come when we change manager, when that comes no one knows - regardless of contract situations.
The word 'dynasty' I just used wasn't really my main point. But let's say he has us finishing top 6 for the next 3 years. That would be 6 consecutive seasons of top 6 finishes. Absolutely remarkable and I'd consider that a fudging good achievement. Anyone that doesn't would need to realise where we were to where we have come from. From mid-table mediocrity to top of the table consistency. That would be pretty good, and I think he is capable of getting that for us. He's one of the longest serving managers in the league, only behind Fergie, Wenger and Moyes if I'm not mistaken. He's as right for us as anyone I've ever seen.
Dynasty, for me, conjures ideas of a lasting impact on the club. I dont doubt 6 top 6 (incl top 4) finishes would be a superb achievement for us, but that doesnt imply a foundation/lasting impact left behind by him. Look at his Pompey dynasty/legacy, it unravelled in no time at all. I also reject the idea we should always remember where we were. It implies thats (midtable) where we should be (as opposed to successful), and in my view thats flat out wrong.
I would actually really like to see what Rodgers or Martinez or AVB could do with us, but I don't think any of them could do definitively better than what I believe Harry is capable of. I believe we'd be top 6 every year under him at least. Better would be top 4 every year, and I'm not sure there's a manager out there that would definitely achieve it, Mourinho aside.
Kind of a two-fold point.
On one hand, can Harry consistently reach what Harry is capable of? He has shown himself to take an eye off the ball at times, or be slow to react to issues to keep us on top of our game.
On the other, why couldnt these managers do better than Redknapp? Honestly?
Redknapp was basically a well known nobody when we gave him his chance. His record was average at best and his reputation that of a old geezer to get teams out of trouble. His achievement with us was (with 99% Im sure) completely unexpected. In 30 years of management no one saw this kind of potential in him, else he would have had the opportunity before Spurs. (and indeed, I suspect we took him based on his "get teams out of trouble" reputation for obvious reasons, not for greater aspiration)
Rodgers, Lambert? They havent had the chance yet, but have shown real ability IMO - why couldnt they do as good a job (or better) than Harry?
