i think you're in danger of rewriting history as much as you claim the other side has been with a couple of your posts this afternoon mate - ive always maintained that i thought Modric was class from the beginning, as good as he become? no, but then he was still developing. for me there were plenty of games early on where he showed his doggedness on the ball - in particular i remember a game against Bolton (who were then known for being rough and ready) where he excelled, holding off players twice his size - so i think it's a bit of a fallacy to say he was too lightweight when he first arrived and iirc that Wenger quote originates from him explaining why he never tried to sign him (despite having scouted him) not as a judgment on how he was playing for us at the time.
Redknapp done a good job, no question - not as good as he should have done, imv, and we never really looked better than the sum of our parts but he came in and balanced the squad, added some experience which allowed the quality players to play to their best and got us playing some great football