Back him or sack him?

30 Aug

Written By Spooky

This time last year everything at Tottenham was triffic. We qualified for the Champions League and all we needed was a striker to improve the squad. Fast forward a year and it’s all looking completely un-triffic. We’ve lost both our opening games; have a goal difference of -7 after going behind in both matches and capitulating. Also, there’s the minor fact that our best player is whoring himself to Chelsea and his ‘head isn’t right’. As well as all this, there are lots of other factors that haven’t been right for a while and I believe these have a significant effect on the squad and are causing me to seriously question Harry Redknapp.

I’m not one of the fans who has never taken to Redknapp. I was very happy when he was appointed and thought he was the right man for the job. However, even in the season we got fourth place, I was concerned that we struggled to breakdown teams that parked the bus. That only got worse last season, causing us to draw nine games at home, which ultimately cost us fourth place. The arrival of van der Vaart was supposed to help us unlock these defences, but he faded after a good start, which leads me to my next point.

In some ways it’s like being a Spurs fan in the 90s (not quite, but...) again because of our horrendous injury list. Not only do our players keep getting injured, but players are being rushed back from injury and are playing when they are not fit. It also seems that our players are not as fit as they could be. van der Vaart for instance, faded after an hour during most games last season.

Redknapp has been credited with reviving Gareth Bale, but Bale’s form has dropped off since the Inter game. He was always going to get more attention, but the coaching staff don’t seem to have helped him work out how to cope with getting doubled up on. He also seems to stand by the touchline expecting the ball, instead of running behind the defenders and using his pace off the ball. Our other flying winger, Aaron Lennon doesn’t seem to have the confidence he has had in the past, and doesn’t roast the opposition full back like he used to.

These aren’t knee-jerk points, these are all concerns that I have had for some time. Against Man City, Bale and Lennon should have destroyed their fullbacks. Zabaleta got a yellow card in the first half and Lennon has torn Clichy a new hole in previous encounters. Instead of being run ragged, the City full backs had an easy time of it.

Because of injuries we have started the season with a severely depleted squad, especially in midfield. You can't ignore this fact. When I saw our line-up I instantly knew we would lose. A central midfield of Modric and Kranjaer was always going to get opened up time and time again (visions of Katie Price opening her legs). Why didn’t he try Corluka in central midfield? Football Manager says he can play there! On a serious note, we needed someone in there who could win the ball. Instead of admitting he was wrong, he has tried to blame Modric. Redknapp likes to deflect attention away from his shortcomings. He doesn’t want to miss out on the England job next year does he? (I won’t go into his constant comments in the media about Modric).

With all of this, I am seriously starting to question whether Redknapp is the right man for the job any more. With the possibility of a court case and the England job, surely the board have contingency plans? Will we have a new man in charge sooner than we think? The board are already unhappy at finishing 5^th last season. Levy would be annihilated by the media if he did give Redknapp the Spanish archer, but he’s not afraid to make tough decisions.

Back him or sack him?