Harry Redknapp: The Aftermath

[BrainOfLevy]

You look at the whole picture - you think Krasic was the only winger available? You think Saha was the best we could do?

I dont actually dispute the buys we have made a great deal, its more the ones we havent.

We play a system that relies almost exclusively on width to function properly. We have Lennon and Bale, thats it. To not have cover, after how many windows? Is frankly ridiculous.

How many opportunities have we had to get a proper striker in? We have needed one for YEARS and yet rely on last minute loans...

What the squad needs is obvious, and yet rarely addressed.

Saha as a back up, 4th choice striker is a great option. And he's shown it by getting a decent number of goals for a back up. Who else was better that was available.

Which other winger? Which one joined the league that was better? I absolutely agree that we need one, but we need to find one that is willing to compete with Bale and Lennon. Any winger that is up for that challenge has to be bloody confident in themselves that they will get first team football, or they have to be willing to be back up. If not, they may just decide to stay at their current club and wait for a surer thing. Krasic did. There are obviously other wingers out there, but ones that are willing to join? We rely on width just like United rely on width, or City rely on patient build up, or Arsenal rely on the ability of their players to play quickly in tight spaces. Arsenal had horrendous injuries at the start of the year and their form suffered. City suffered when they lost Kompany and Yaya Toure went to the ACN. Every team has their style, and every team has it's key players to make it work. When one of those gets injured, the form will suffer. It does for everyone. It certainly will happen to us as long as we have the budget of a mid-table side, without the budget to have a squad as deep as Man United's.

 

[nayimfromthehalfwayline]

You clearly miss the point - I am not talking about Jan, Im talking about the last four or five windows.

Wingers? How about Ben Arfa, looks fabulous, has been willing to bide his time to get in and Saudi Sportswashing Machine picked him up for a steal. Would have suited our team fabulously.

What about Valencia and Young before Utd went in? We could have bullied either side into selling if we made a move.

Or, instead, how about looking into the continent more? There are decent players all over the place - many that would have enhanced the squad and been able to help us maintain our form and shape.

As to strikers, bang on about Saha as much as you like - we started the season with Pav and Defoe and only got Adebayor on loan. We have needed this setting straight for a long long time and as yet it is still nowhere near good enough.

As pointed out, come June we will have an unhappy Defoe and VDV, thats it.

 

[elltrev]

You are just full of excuses.

I applaud the 4th place finish, it was fantastic. We fought tooth and nail all season, overcame what looked the impossible and secured it. It was awesome.

This season, fourth isnt like that (if we finish there). This season we smashed the league apart, put ourselves into a commanding position and then threw it away in some style - mostly due (IMO) to managerial ****ing around and poor squad management.

I wish I could stop myself from wasting time on this forum, because we're never going to see eye-to-eye and everything is just going round in circles! But I can't, so....

"This season we smashed the league apart, put ourselves into a commanding position...." - no-one can deny that this was down to Harry! Should he also be held responsible for our recent slump? Yes. But the reason I keep on posting here is because comments like the above explicitly blame management for the recent 8 games, and eplicitly don't give credit for the previous 25! And the 2 seasons before that!

I am not 'excusing' Harry for the recent slump, I'm just judging him by what he has achieved in the last 3 years, not the last 8 games (of which only two or three were arguably really poor performances).

 

[BrainOfLevy]

You are just full of excuses.

I applaud the 4th place finish, it was fantastic. We fought tooth and nail all season, overcame what looked the impossible and secured it. It was awesome.

This season, fourth isnt like that (if we finish there). This season we smashed the league apart, put ourselves into a commanding position and then threw it away in some style - mostly due (IMO) to managerial ****ing around and poor squad management.

It isn't like that because we had our injuries towards the back end of the season rather than at the start. Simple as that. To sustain the run that we were on would have taken enormous luck, or a sqaud as deep as Man United's which we haven't got.

Look at who we are competing with. Look at their resources compared to ours. Look at their sqauds. Fully fit, our first choice team is one of the best in the league. It is on a par with United and City's. However, the difference is their sqauds are far better, and if we get injuries, our form will suffer. But the only reason we have such a good first team in the first place is because Harry has made them that good or because he signed them. You think someone else can take us further with Niko Krancjar as our back up right winger, when further means better than the side with Nani, Young and Valencia to choose from? Further when Saha is our back up striker, rather than Welbeck, Hernandez, Berbatov?

 

[Tottenham Dave]

The fact is, like it or not, Redknapp is the manager for the rest of the season (at least), and posts calling him a "clown shoe" etc aren't productive at all.

Obviously some will disagree, but I personally think he deserves a bit of respect for what he's done for us, and regardless of our relative slump recently, we are still smack-bang in the middle of a fight for the CL spots, with an FA Cup semi final to look forward to.

I was astonished with the vitriolic hounding of Wenger by the filth fans a few moths back, even if I was loving it, and look how daft they look now.

I'd hate us to look as muggy as them.

It ain't perfect, but it's better than it has been for a long time, I think he deserves our support until the season's over.

Judge him in May.

 

[polski sklep]

were you happy with Jol? do you think he should have been given more time despite the poor start to season 2007-08?

I was happy being a spectator.

If possible, I thought he should have gone in pre-season, if the intention was always to bring in Ramos.

 

[nayimfromthehalfwayline]

I wish I could stop myself from wasting time on this forum, because we're never going to see eye-to-eye and everything is just going round in circles! But I can't, so....

"This season we smashed the league apart, put ourselves into a commanding position...." - no-one can deny that this was down to Harry! Should he also be held responsible for our recent slump? Yes. But the reason I keep on posting here is because comments like the above explicitly blame management for the recent 8 games, and eplicitly don't give credit for the previous 25! And the 2 seasons before that!

I am not 'excusing' Harry for the recent slump, I'm just judging him by what he has achieved in the last 3 years, not the last 8 games (of which only two or three were arguably really poor performances).

Everything is easy when its going well. Redknapp did fantastically to bounce back from the first two games and get us on that run - no one has said otherwise - explicitly or not.

The true test is in adversity though isnt it? And this is where weaknesses show.

Put it this way. England dont come knocking for Harry, and regardless of what has come before - can Harry take us further? Can he strengthen the system of play so we have tactics to fall back on in hard times? Can he manage the squad so that we have cover and do not suffer fatigue? Can he bring greater consistency to us?

For me its a no. Thats not being negative, thats not disapproving of what he has done, its simply looking at how he has managed and seeing he doesnt have more to offer (IMO, of course)

 

[nayimfromthehalfwayline]

It isn't like that because we had our injuries towards the back end of the season rather than at the start. Simple as that.....

It is like that. I top manager would have built a squad over the three years to cope with injuries. Not have to drastically change the set up just because of one player being out.

 

[BrainOfLevy]

Ben Arfa only now is coming good and showing his talent. He's also at a club which suits him with all their cultures and feels at home. A definite bargain he is looking now but he was hardly a sure thing. He has been willing to wait though I'll give you that. However he was also problematic at previous clubs - is he really someone that without the benefit of hindsight looked like he'd be happy waiting behind Lennon or Bale?

Similarly Young and Valencia would have cost 15 million each. We don't need a repeat of the Bentley debacle, spending 15 million on a player in a position we already had filled. United can do it because they have a bigger budget. We need to spend that 15 million more wisely, and there's no telling they would have come to a non-CL club to rotate with existing players anyway.

We have been waiting for quality strikers because the good ones that we need, that are able to play upfront on their own, are in incredibly short supply. We got Adebayor, and as a back up, Saha just about matches the qualities needed. I don't know what else we could have done, short of waste money on someone not suited just to say we signed someone.

 

[indianspur]

I was happy being a spectator.

If possible, I thought he should have gone in pre-season, if the intention was always to bring in Ramos.

fair play, because Jol had us competing at the top end, delivered european football, and still he wasnt given a chance because of one poor start to a season. Imagine how many times Moyes could have been fired if Everton pulled the trigger because of poor starts to a season

 

[Harry_Perkins]

I was one of few who wanted him to go and didnt get involved in the Levy backlash when he did. I felt he had gone as far as he could and that we could do better. While Ramos didnt, Redknapp proved me correct on that occasion.

Im feeling similar about Redknapp now.

Yep, I was the same as you. I only wanted Jol gone after the 1-3 at Saudi Sportswashing Machine when it was apparent that he was underachieving badly with the squad he had available and had run out of ideas. And indeed, Redknapp illustrated that point very quickly by getting so much more from the same players (and arguably Ramos too for a brief period leading up to the Carling Cup win). That said, I don't think it is quite as obvious with Redknapp now. It still just looks like a poor run to me, which he has had before. It could go either way. If he ends up in the top 4 and doesn't get the England job, he certainly won't be going anywhere. 5th and I think I'm likely to have the same feelings as you do.

 

[Leeds Spur]

The fact is, like it or not, Redknapp is the manager for the rest of the season (at least), and posts calling him a "clown shoe" etc aren't productive at all.

Obviously some will disagree, but I personally think he deserves a bit of respect for what he's done for us, and regardless of our relative slump recently, we are still smack-bang in the middle of a fight for the CL spots, with an FA Cup semi final to look forward to.

I was astonished with the vitriolic hounding of Wenger by the filth fans a few moths back, even if I was loving it, and look how daft they look now.

I'd hate us to look as muggy as them.

It ain't perfect, but it's better than it has been for a long time, I think he deserves our support until the season's over.

Judge him in May.

He is a clown shoe IMO though. He will not be here in August, 110% sure of it, and I pray not.

fudge him, i'm sure he can take it! Actually he can't, thin skinned taco can't take ANY criticism. When have you ever heard him admit any mistakes EVER?

It's always someone elses fault. Harry must be a scouser in his heart.

 

[BrainOfLevy]

It is like that. I top manager would have built a squad over the three years to cope with injuries. Not have to drastically change the set up just because of one player being out.

As in the other thread, tell me who these wingers are that would have represented definite improvement, been willing to be part of a sqaud knowing he has to compete with Bale and Lennon, and would have been affordable.

You think Harry likes having to play Niko there? You think he likes our play looking rigid and unbalanced when Bale or Lennon is out? Not in a million years. But we are a club competing well beyond where we should be, and therefore we make do with what we have. Quality wingers, just like quality all round strikers, are not that easy to find especially to join us and not be guarenteed to be a starter, and therefore we have to go with playing the likes of Niko there. He's done a decent job in some games and a not so decent one in others. But that's the life of being a back up at a club without the budget of the biggest in the world...the ones we are competing with.

 

[Tottenham Dave]

Harry must be a scouser in his heart.

I'll give you a LOL for that!

 

[elltrev]

Everything is easy when its going well. Redknapp did fantastically to bounce back from the first two games and get us on that run - no one has said otherwise - explicitly or not.

The true test is in adversity though isnt it? And this is where weaknesses show.

Put it this way. England dont come knocking for Harry, and regardless of what has come before - can Harry take us further? Can he strengthen the system of play so we have tactics to fall back on in hard times? Can he manage the squad so that we have cover and do not suffer fatigue? Can he bring greater consistency to us?

For me its a no. Thats not being negative, thats not disapproving of what he has done, its simply looking at how he has managed and seeing he doesnt have more to offer (IMO, of course)

That's a fairer post that I can agree with. I just want to wait until the season is over before answering those questions, as whether or not we can break out of this slump and win games when it matters, and so qualify for CL again, will affect what I think of Harry's (primarily motivational) ability.

 

[BrainOfLevy]

That's a fairer post that I can agree with. I just want to wait until the season is over before answering those questions, as whether or not we can break out of this slump and win games when it matters, and so qualify for CL again, will affect what I think of Harry's (primarily motivational) ability.

I can also see that's a fair post, and I think the answer is yes he can.

Harry's strength is getting the best out of good players. He keeps it simple, lets good players express themselves and they play to their potential because of it. If he had a sqaud equal to that of United and City's, he would be in there with them chasing the title right now. I'm 100% sure of it.

 

[Rorschach]

I for one would have been delighted with 4th at the start of the season, and still will be if we manage to make it. FA cup is a bonus.

Although our run has been poor Arsenal have been nothing short of brilliant - played 10 - won 9 and lost 1. This only serves to exaggerate our fall from grace which would have been less dramatic if Arsenal's form hadn't been so good. 3rd is gone and I've made my peace with that. fudge Arsenal.

But it's not too late to fix things. Win our last 5 and we'll clinch 4th spot, simple as. It would be nice if Arsenal were to lose 2 matches of their remaining fixtures but that is not going to happen. So expectations for me have just been reset back to where they started.

 

[ArcspacE]

Can't leave a minute too soon.

He is so fudging small time and amateurish in his transparent expectation downgrade attempt it's fudging embarrassing.

Get out of N17 you mug.

This in a nutshell

 

[ArcspacE]

We've been cuckolded!

In front of millions

Levy - it's never too late.

 

[parklane1]

I really am surprised that anyone is shocked about what Redknapp says, he has never changed and always makes excuses for his own failings. Its far easier to blame chairmen, directors, players; injuries, referees, and fans for not being realistic then to accept that he is a very limited manager. Every club he has been with he has done/ said the same and he will walk away from here just like he has walked away from his other clubs when things start to go wrong.

He is a second hand car salesman in a business suit, he wrote the book of excuses and despite his many pals in the press saying what a great manager he is, has won one trophy in over 30 years.