Harry Redknapp was the odds on favourite for a long period of time to succeed Fabio Capello as England manager. The FA chose Roy Hodgson, and it seemed that ‘Arry would be at White Hart Lane come the start of the 2012-13 season. So what has gone wrong for him?
Redknapp will be the first to say luck was most definitely not on Tottenham’s side at the end of last season’s campaign, as they finished 4th and would almost certainly have been in contention to qualify for Champions League football the following season. That is, of course, if it was not for the newly appointed permanent Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo, and his team’s famous Champions League victory over Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.
Redknapp has previously stated that his relationship with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has never been an issue, and earlier dismissed claims that he had resigned, a rumour which had fast gained momentum on social networking sites such as Twitter.
For much of last season Tottenham were in the top three, with them at one point being regarded as serious title contenders, however towards the latter stages of the campaign there was a noticeable dip in form as they lost 2-1 to Norwich at White Hart Lane, and failed to win a single game in the Premier League in March. A lot of this lead to speculation about Redknapp being sidetracked with talk of him becoming England manager; rumours which he thoroughly denied any truth in.
After the appointment of Hodgson, Redknapp was quick to congratulate his fellow countryman and state quite clearly that he intended to get back to working with Spurs, despite only having another year left on his contract, an issue which was raised by himself in an interview with Sky, which you can watch here: http://bcove.me/4c43rds2 (all rights reserved to Sky)
There is a good, if not exceptional, argument for Redknapp to have been offered a new contract by Levy, after taking the position left by Juande Ramos, and a team that was in disarray. This clearly is not a decision which is entirely football based, and Levy may live to regret his handling of this situation as he searches for a man to succeed the former Portsmouth manager.
Player power cannot be underestimated in the modern game, and the transfer speculation that have surrounded the likes of Luka Modric and Gareth Bale will not have helped defuse the situation around Redknapp’s managerial position. Levy infamously took a stubborn approach to any bids for Modric last summer, most notably one believed to be in the region of £40-50m from Chelsea.
Chelsea, it seems, are becoming a thorn in Tottenham’s business both off and on the field.
Whilst Chelsea have their man in Roberto Di Matteo (finally), Tottenham have issued a statement to tell Spurs fans this simple message: Harry’s gone.
Even without the announcement having been made yet, bookmakers have already began putting odds on the next man to take up the Spurs hotseat next season, with David Moyes the frontrunner at this early stage.
Here’s a look at who the bookmakers believe could be Harry’s potential successor:
- David Moyes, Everton manager, with Premier League experience in abundance
- Roberto Martinez, the Wigan boss who was very heavily linked with Liverpool before the appointment of Brendan Rodgers
- Andre Villas-Boas, an outsider but could welcome a second chance at Premier League success
- Rafa Benitez, an experienced manager but has been out of work for a year and a half after being sacked by Inter
- Jose Mourinho, ‘The Special One’
- Fabio Capello, a contender who would be met with mixed reactions by the White Hart Lane faithful
