da pinup bet： If you were to read the recent serialisation of Harry Redknapp’s autobiography you could easily be mislead into thinking that the media-loving manager is still a central figure at Tottenham. Seemingly obsessed with his previous employers, Redknapp runs the rule over his legacy and most notably his impacts on a certain Gareth Bale.
da 888： The meteoric rise of the Welsh superstar coincided with Redknapp’s reign at Spurs and if you are to believe their ex-manager he had an integral part in the development of the winger. The decision to play Bale in a Premier League floating role is held in almost revolutionary terms by Redknapp:
“I had talked with our coaches for a number of months about using Gareth this way because teams were crowding him out on the left flank, putting so much traffic in his way that it was just getting harder and harder.
“I remember the new plan coming together against Norwich City on December 27, 2011. He was magnificent, scoring twice as we won 2-0.”
Bale had for too long been tied down to a role that afforded opposition the opportunity to mark him out of the game, his switch to playing in a range of attacking roles gave the attacker a second lease of life at Spurs. This was a move that ultimately paid off, but the need to move Bale into a different role was plain for all to see, this wasn’t ground-breaking stuff. Redknapp appears to think otherwise though and a blatant dig at AVB who has apparently been misbranded as a genius for following Redknapp’s tactical lead which allowed Bale to have his most successful season ever last term.
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Redknapp goes on and on about his almost father-like hand in the development of Bale throughout the recent exert, and this is something that will no doubt grind at a number of Spurs fans. The success of Bale under Redknapp was a lot more by luck than judgement. Many will forget a younger Bale who couldn’t make it into the Spurs first team and whose future looked bleak under Redknapp as he continued to keep faith with Benoit Assou-Ekotto. Rumours continued to mount linking the Welshman with clubs like West Ham and Nottingham Forest for as little as £3m, something which Redknapp vehemently denies:
“There is some right old rubbish talked about Gareth Bale’s time with me at Tottenham. Was I ever going to sell Bale? No. Was I going to loan him? No.”
“Whatever faults I may have, I do know a player. I would never sell Gareth. All he needed was to be toughened up to emerge as a star player.”
The reality though would appear quite different with Bale only being retained to cover for the injured Assou-Ekotto, something that ultimately allowed the Welshman to make his breakthrough. Clive Allen who worked under Redknapp at Spurs had the following to say about the issue:
“It did go pretty close, I know there were discussions between [Tottenham, Birmingham and Nottingham Forest]. The clubs had agreed the potential of the move. It was something we had to think about but he wanted to stay at Spurs. It probably got to the stage where it was Gareth’s decision. He made his mind up to stay and fight for his place.””
This may well be a question of one mans word against another, but the facts would seem to point towards Redknapp getting slightly fortunate on this one. Selling Bale at that stage could well have been the mistake of the modern era for Spurs and I’m not sure Redknapp is kidding anyone by suggesting a deal wasn’t in the offing.
Spurs fans have learnt to take the things Redknapp say with a pinch of salt these days, the number of times that he has denied something only for it to come to fruition within days is quite startling and some of his questionable admissions are somewhat unsurprising.
Some of his comments would suggest to the uninformed observer that he is indeed the modern founding father of Tottenham. A constant need for credit and acclaim even when it isn’t merited, the recent article only reminds Spurs fans how lucky they are to have swiftly traded Redknapp with AVB, a manager who seems to be more shrewd in his handling of the media bubble.
Redknapp may well have overseen the development of one of the best players to don the famous lilywhite and for that he deserves credit. However, the overtures he has made recently are completely misplaced and actually quite typical of a man who is always too keen to grapple any opportunity to elevate himself.
The Bale years were defined by a degree of fortune for Spurs and indeed Redknapp. Clearly Redknapp is keen to pretend this wasn’t the case but I am sure a more reasonable Spurs fan would be quick to accept these facts.
Do we need to take Redknapp’s recent comments with a pinch of salt?
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