Was Harry Redknapp Loved Or Loathed?

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Sandwiched in between Juande Ramos and Andre Villas-Boas was Harry Redknapp loved or loathed during his managerial time at Tottenham Hotpsur?

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We had some nosebleed highs and head in hands lows with the man, some incredible memories and moments. Can't see how any Spurs fan can actually loathe him on a football basis during his time with us.
 
SpursEagle - 24/3/2017 15:41

We had some nosebleed highs and head in hands lows with the man, some incredible memories and moments. Can't see how any Spurs fan can actually loathe him on a football basis during his time with us.
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Very well put. Although the England job situation made me want to vomit.
 
A character an old school manager, opinionated, knew what he wanted, ........luvved our footy under him...he achieved cl for us for the first time........

.....and he made Bale........

nice!!!.... :2:
 
Could have been a legend at the club, but the last few months utterly ruined it.
 
Those last three months were handled so poorly by everyone. That c*** John Terry for starters, Capello for walking out, the FA for overruling him in the first place and then allowing the succession process to drag out publicly. Harry himself, not for wanting his dream job, but for seemingly biting the hand that not only fed him but stood by him during his taxation bovver ... and like Taricco says, the players for taking 16 points in the last 13 games.

Just a complete mess, a clusterfuck of events that, to steal a phrase from Ron Burgundy, escalated quickly! But for me the ignominious ending shouldn't be what he is remembered for. Taint it, sure, but we regained our pride under his charge and it was a hell of a ride while it lasted.
 
Taricco the yid - 24/3/2017 21:06

That last 6 months was a disaster but I blame the players not redknapp.
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I tend to agree - that and the knowledge that he wasn't being offered a new deal killed momentum.
 
SpursEagle - 25/3/2017 00:00

Those last three months were handled so poorly by everyone. That c*** John Terry for starters, Capello for walking out, the FA for overruling him in the first place and then allowing the succession process to drag out publicly. Harry himself, not for wanting his dream job, but for seemingly biting the hand that not only fed him but stood by him during his taxation bovver ... and like Taricco says, the players for taking 16 points in the last 13 games.

Just a complete mess, a clusterfuck of events that, to steal a phrase from Ron Burgundy, escalated quickly! But for me the ignominious ending shouldn't be what he is remembered for. Taint it, sure, but we regained our pride under his charge and it was a hell of a ride while it lasted.
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That sums it up nicely.

We played some great football under Harry, and he was the first manager to break that seemingly unbreakable Sky Top4.
 
Big Chiv - 25/3/2017 11:58

SpursEagle - 25/3/2017 00:00

Those last three months were handled so poorly by everyone. That c*** John Terry for starters, Capello for walking out, the FA for overruling him in the first place and then allowing the succession process to drag out publicly. Harry himself, not for wanting his dream job, but for seemingly biting the hand that not only fed him but stood by him during his taxation bovver ... and like Taricco says, the players for taking 16 points in the last 13 games.

Just a complete mess, a clusterfuck of events that, to steal a phrase from Ron Burgundy, escalated quickly! But for me the ignominious ending shouldn't be what he is remembered for. Taint it, sure, but we regained our pride under his charge and it was a hell of a ride while it lasted.
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That sums it up nicely.

We played some great football under Harry, and he was the first manager to break that seemingly unbreakable Sky Top4.
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Yep, that season was unforgettable. We'd just lost to Sunderland in the League and then Pompey in the cup semi final and things appeared to be going pear shaped fast. But a midweek win over Arse (Danny Rose!!!) followed by Chelsea that weekend ... culminating in basically a winner takes all win at City was just fuckin epic. That season stands out for me, and will for a long long time.

Days like those should not be forgotten.
 
Will always have the great memories. Plenty to blame for the way it ended, so no reason to hate him for it. Loved how we played for the most part.
 
The 2009-10 season was excellent. We shouldn't have got top 4 that season but we did. Playing some top football along the way.

After that Harry lost it for me. Didn't sign the right players are key times and his actions after we stood by him after the court case was poor.

Regardless of what some say he should have won a trophy with that team he had. King, Modric, Parker, Lennon, Bale, VDV.

Was a fun ride under him that's for sure.
 
Loved by me but not unconditionally for reasons others have stated. All in all took the club several steps forward and only now are we reaching that level/showing signs of progressing beyond it.

Also CL Quarter Finals is a benchmark we've come woefully short of this season.
 
If you look at any of the managers in charge 4-5 years ago in the top clubs, you would see their legacy still in the squad and even on the pitch. We have one player left from Harry's tenure and that is Walker. That in itself tells its own story of what Harry was doing to Spurs.

Harry always bought quantity over quality and never once really sorted out the spine of the team and the defence. He was risk averse with younger players and we were gradually turning into a bloated, ageing squad. In fact, we'd started loaning out the over 25's just to get them off the wage bill.

Personally, I enjoyed the first part of Harry's tenure but as time went on could just see mistake after mistake in how he was managing the football side of the club. He was very lucky inheriting great players like King, Modric and Bale. They sort of carried us forward but Harry didn't add to it. He just kept sending out guys like Dawson, Jenas and Lennon with them.
 
Loved of course. The fact that we were messed around by the FA etc and he was distracted by the allegations etc were just infuriating. He/we could have gone anywhere that season, the triumphs were great, scintillating. 'Loved watching the games, watching our progress, seeing us do stuff we hadn't done under other managers....... etc. Hearing our managers name in the press regularly etc was great and refreshing after the disappointments of the previous seasons. He was a nice old boy, humble, sort of aloof, simple, just got on with the job. "Just go on and run around!" said it all.

Great guy. Could he have taken us all the way and become a TOP manager who would have stayed at the club forever? No I don't think so but he was good for us at the time and I was sorry that he didn't get the chance to go as far as he could. He had the X factor at the time.

Thanks Harry!

Good diversion thread by the way!
 
It's a good post, Muttley, and I agree with a lot of it. However, our transfer policy seems to be a common denominator through every coach from Gerry Francis to the present day. I don't agree with a lot of the players brought in during Harry's time, I didn't agree with a lot of players before his time, or since either. It's speculative to assume it was all down to him.

You also mention the top 4-5 teams which is the crux of your point. We are placed 6th financially at this moment in time, 5th and soon to be 6th under Harry's reign. It's a lot harder for us to keep players like Bale and Modric than the other clubs you refer to. This has been the case for us since we sold Waddle to Marseille in '89, and we've been treading the path of not keeping our best players since.

It's a lot easier for Utd, City, Chavs and even Arse to have a legacy of players when they can afford to keep them by increasing already exorbitant wages once those players reach a certain level, and their ability to also bring in a higher level of supporting cast helps too.

Your point about the age of our squad under Harry is spot on, though.

I also think you are being hard on Dawson and Lennon, two players whose presence in our team started our renaissance under Martin Jol. No, they aren't world beaters, but they were decent pros, and very good players for us. They deserve a little bit more respect than you are giving them, especially when they proved to be major upgrades on what we had before.

I'm not saying this should be an unconditional love in. Harry, like other managers we've had, had his faults, I'm not saying otherwise. But the question in this thread was whether he was loved or loathed, and I still say, until someone can categorically prove otherwise, that I cannot understand how any Spurs fan could loathe him purely on a football basis.
 
Real Deal - 26/3/2017 09:06

The 2009-10 season was excellent. We shouldn't have got top 4 that season but we did. Playing some top football along the way.

After that Harry lost it for me. Didn't sign the right players are key times and his actions after we stood by him after the court case was poor.

Regardless of what some say he should have won a trophy with that team he had. King, Modric, Parker, Lennon, Bale, VDV.

Was a fun ride under him that's for sure.
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That FA Cup against Portsmouth was a low point.
 
SpursEagle - Dawson got 320 appearances for Spurs and Lennon got 360. Don't get me wrong, if guys like Alderweireld, Alli, Eriksen, Kane etc get that many appearances then I'll be chuffed to bits. However, with those 2, it's just way too many for what they delivered on the pitch. In defence of them, there were far worse squad players who we were trying to shift. We just needed them as squad players rather than 1st team regulars.

Harry's signings - Keane, Defoe, Chimbonda, Cuducini, Kaboul, (Jimmy) Walker, (Kyle) Walker, Naughton, Bassong, Crouch, Kranjcar, Pienaar, Khumalo, VDV, Gallas, Sandro, Parker, Falque, Coulibaly, Ceballos, Friedel, Nelsen, Saha.

Out of them, the only big successes are Walker and VDV in my opinion. There were a lot of old men put on big contracts as short term fixes but barely any took us up a level for whatever reason.
 
muttley - 27/3/2017 10:51

SpursEagle - Dawson got 320 appearances for Spurs and Lennon got 360. Don't get me wrong, if guys like Alderweireld, Alli, Eriksen, Kane etc get that many appearances then I'll be chuffed to bits. However, with those 2, it's just way too many for what they delivered on the pitch. In defence of them, there were far worse squad players who we were trying to shift. We just needed them as squad players rather than 1st team regulars.

Harry's signings - Keane, Defoe, Chimbonda, Cuducini, Kaboul, (Jimmy) Walker, (Kyle) Walker, Naughton, Bassong, Crouch, Kranjcar, Pienaar, Khumalo, VDV, Gallas, Sandro, Parker, Falque, Coulibaly, Ceballos, Friedel, Nelsen, Saha.

Out of them, the only big successes are Walker and VDV in my opinion. There were a lot of old men put on big contracts as short term fixes but barely any took us up a level for whatever reason.
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I completely agree, that's not great at all, Muttley, looks awful when listed out like that :10:
 
I loved what he did for us, loved his football and loved his personality.

Rock bottom when he took over and heading for relegation, two tyears later we have cracked the top four in a period where the giants were at the top of their game. Striding about in the CL playing the best football we have played for at least 30 years - and unmatched since.

That was a very genuine achievment then and he did it three seasons out of four, unaided by the windfall Bale money that has kicked this club up a notch since.

IF he had faced a PL where United were floundering about without Fergusen, where Ars*nal were in obvious decline because of Wenger, where Chelsea had downed tools for a season and City were blowing hot and cold, no question that he would have won the title last year and picked up cups in both the last couple of seasons.

We won't see his like again, and instead have a plastic manager adept at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in the easiest PL years.
 
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