da prosport bet： It’s often said that the art of PR and an awareness of the media, are all essential parts of the modern day manager’s toolkit. In the age of the Internet, the 24-hour rolling sports news coverage and the all-conquering, all domineering football-phone in, bosses need to be savvy to the press. And in the case of Harry Redknapp, you have someone who’s affinity with the media, has in part propelled him to something of a national treasure in the hearts of Fleet Street.
da esoccer bet： But when you start denouncing contract talks from a golf course on national television, have you taken your ‘affinity’ one step too far? As Harry Redknapp said himself, “The King is dead. Long live the King.” Tottenham Hotspur must move on.
There already feels like there is a bubbling undercurrent of cynicism directed towards Spurs fans in the aftermath of Levy’s decision and a backlash has already started against those with the cheek to question Redknapp’s demeanor and legacy.
To straighten the record, Harry Redknapp gave Tottenham Hotspur four wonderful years and no one at White Hart Lane will ever forget the Champions League adventure, that night against Internazionale or the win on enemy turf at the Emirates. His record in the league has perhaps skewed some supporters’ views into taking things for granted and watching his brand of football is something many will miss next season. But fans know he did a good job- he certainly liked to remind everyone about that on a pretty regular basis.
There is a quote that feels like it has been uttered a thousand times over. “When I came here, Spurs were bottom,” Redknapp would exclaim, arms crossed as he leaned back during one of many Spurs press conferences. And so often, that quote would always sit very pretty within an article, almost to act as a failsafe for any critique batted towards him. But that wasn’t the only quote that found such prominence, because as he has proven so often during his Spurs tenure, for better or worse, Harry loves a good quip to make the back pages.
His denouncement of Darren Bent’s miss against Portsmouth was completely unnecessary and was another example of his play-acting to the cameras. Waxing lyrical about Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez as if Spurs ever had a chance of attaining either of them was as absurd as they were useless. And basic rent-a-quotes about the state of the English game, the owners at Liverpool or who he’d pick for England in his newspaper column, have always acted as a pantomime sideshow to whatever he was producing on the pitch. But his biggest and most poignant circus acts, have all come thick and fast since early March.
Maybe the Spurs PR departments have an element of responsibility, but there was something really quite macabre about watching Redknapp so cheerily and openly answer questions about the England job, during his Spurs press conferences. Even when Redknapp got things badly wrong, as per the 5-2 defeat at Arsenal, it was never his fault. He was simply happily to play up his credentials for the England job, during which he may have set up his sword of which he would ultimately fall upon. Whilst playing down the effect the England speculation was having on his Spurs team, Redknapp said: “They [the players] don’t care whether I’m the manager next year. They wouldn’t lose any sleep over that. That’s football.”
It could well have been, that if Bayern Munich had been a little more precise with their penalty taking, that none of this would have happened. But it has been Redknapp’s behaviour over the past ten days that have really struck a raw nerve and where his proclamations to the press finally went too far.
As is standard procedure with Harry Redknapp, decked out on the fairway, he was engaging in a nice old chat with Sky Sports News, reminding everybody how things, ‘couldn’t have gone better’ since he was at the club. But it was his pomp to try and put the club over a barrel and his complete contradiction on national television that went a quip too far.
“I’ve got a year left on my contract. It’s not a case of looking for security.
“What it’s about is players knowing you’ve only got one year left on your contract.”
Having said only months earlier that the players don’t give a monkeys about whether he has a three day or a three year contract, Redknapp publically came out and used the playing staff to force Daniel Levy into giving him the long-term contract that he spurned in March whilst he was courting England. The players are contracted to THFC, not Harry Redknapp. His contradictions made as much sense as his yearning for a contract of three years. Why should Levy back a man who’s desire for another job didn’t only just cost the club third, but most importantly, could more than likely happen again if England or Chelsea came calling mid-way through next season?
His final quip that more or less confirmed he was gagging for the England post, again on national television during the Holland-Denmark game, epitomised Redknapp’s media darling persona. No one is saying managers can’t have an opinion, but to do so in such a self-serving and unnecessary manner, makes life difficult for all parties involved.
Ultimately, Spurs fans aren’t ungrateful for the brilliant football and they don’t all have delusions of title-winning grandeur. No one is trying to airbrush his achievements out, as some have mentioned. But what Spurs fans were sick of, was his Teflon exterior and bulletproof media profile. And it’s that media profile which has promoted him to almost demi-god status amongst the ranks of Sky, talkSPORT and certain print publications. Those with the balls to criticize him are condemned as naïve as are those who rightly point out the club should have finished higher, are palmed off as deluded.
All relationships between managers and clubs have a shelf life and despite the acrimony, Redknapp and Tottenham Hotspur’s were always in its twilight. But maybe if Harry chose a more private forum to voice his opinions, that shelf life could have lasted a little longer.
Have the press been a poisoned chalice for ‘Arry? Did you enjoy his cult media persona? And who are you pining for to replace him? Let’s get the Spurs chat going, follow @samuel_antrobus
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