04/23/24
June 14, 2012
Spurs Kick Harry Redknapp : Only months after he was a frontrunner for the England job, manager Harry Redknapp is out at Tottenham Hotspur. Redknapp, who led Spurs to two top-four finishes the past four years and a Champions League run, could not reach terms on a contract extension with team chairman Daniel Levy. Last week Redknapp publicly urged Levy to lengthen his deal beyond one more season. "If they don't extend it and I go into my last year, it's not an easy one when players know you've only got a year left," he said.
Because he is an arrogant prick.
posted by scully at 09:25 AM on June 14, 2012
Redknapp or Levy?
posted by rcade at 09:34 AM on June 14, 2012
Redknapp is an arrogant prick, who is known for saving clubs on the brink. He had a crap 2012, but he seems to invite that stuff. Every post game interview I hear is mostly him trying to be funny. I have been saying it since Capello stepped down that Sp*rs downfall began with Redknapp being distracted by his wish to manage England, and I have to believe his ego got in the way of the club finishing better.
As an Arsenal supporter I am more worried about a Sp*rs team managed by almost anyone else but Harry, although I laugh at the idea of Klinsmann leaving the US national team gig to London to manage his old club.
posted by scully at 09:52 AM on June 14, 2012
I'm a Spurs fan and like Harry, but he was fired for three reasons:
1. Stumping for the England gig since before Capello got stepped down. (He's always ready to let it be known to anyone who asked that he would take the job in a heartbeat if it was offered.) 2. Dropped a 10pt lead over Arsenal in the table and losing a certain CL spot with an awful run of form late in the season. 3. Publicly demanding in the press for a contract extension.
#3 was the final straw, but #1 was the biggest turn off. He always answered that question hypothetically, saying how great of an honor it would be if he was asked but was happy at WHL blah blah blah. Nobody was fooled to think he wasn't just paying lip-service for the job. He's a good manager and he did an amazing job with this squad but if they kept him around he'd be a huge distraction until his contract issue was resolved. And make no mistake, he was never going to be quiet in the media while that was being hashed out, so you can be sure the club's form would suffer as a result.
posted by Jeffwa at 11:22 AM on June 14, 2012
And let's be honest, 'arry is always going to be on a short leash at any reasonably large club since hiring him is a bit of a deal with the Devil. And the Devil's brother Jamie.
posted by yerfatma at 01:22 PM on June 14, 2012
David Moyes is the Spur's top choice? I hope the Glum Glaswegian to stays in Goodison.
posted by Whizbang at 03:32 PM on June 14, 2012
Moyes deserves the chance, but as an Everton fan I hope it's not true. Not that there's any basis for it, but I assume Everton would drop to the bottom quarter of the table without him. Then again, if Everton loses Fellani and everyone else supposedly targeted by bigger clubs, they're in trouble anyway.
posted by yerfatma at 03:48 PM on June 14, 2012
I just want to point out that when I first saw this post, I thought the title was:
"Spurs Kidnap Harry Red"
and for the life of me I couldn't imagine why the San Antonio team would be kidnapping anyone...
posted by grum@work at 04:04 PM on June 14, 2012
"Spurs Kidnap Harry Red" or "Spurs Kidnap Harry Reid"
I don't know why they'd kidnap anyone, but it seems even more outrageous that they would kidnap the Senate Majority Leader.
posted by tahoemoj at 05:12 PM on June 14, 2012
If finishing fourth in the Premier League isn't enough to keep Redknapp, then it won't be enough for whoever replaces him, even if the new boss doesn't have the same Silk Road caravan of baggage. That said, managers have never shied away from drinking the poison chalice, and presumably someone will give it a shot.
posted by etagloh at 01:17 AM on June 15, 2012
This is insane. Spurs were in the relegation zone when Redknapp took over, and he would've returned them to the Champions League next season if not for the fluke circumstance of Chelsea winning that crown while finishing out of the Premiership's top four. How do they push him out?