Is Redknapp the right man for Spurs?

Tottenham ended weeks of speculation over the future of Juande Ramos last night by sacking him as their manager and replacing him with Harry Redknapp. Was that the right decision?

Redknapp, 61, has had great success at Portsmouth but has never managed a big club and implied that this was his final job before retirement, suggesting this is not a long-term appointment.

For Spurs it means another period of transition only a year after they sacked Martin Jol. Should they have dispensed with Ramos with similar ruthlessness, only eight league games into their season and less than a year after he won the Carling Cup?

Let us know you thoughts in the comment box below.

Comments

[Rob Hillery]

Damien Comolli has been the scapegoat for Tottenham, the problems Spurs have experianced in recent years all come down to Daniel Levy. He wanted the Europeaun mangement system but failed to understand how the system worked and it has meant that his managers have been fighting with the Director of Football for the last 4 years. At least he has acted with assertiveness and appointed Harry Redknapp and changed the mangement style of the club. Redknapp has tactical nous, says it how it is, has a good eye for a player and is very motivational. Now he is at a club with good resoureces he can prove to everyone that he can handle it, when the pressure is on.

[Tim]

I am not a Spurs fan :)

My general point was - Reknapp is a good manager for Spurs now, in my opinion he is a good manager for Spurs period, but Levy clearly wants more than that - he wants CL football, something I don't think Harry will be able to deliver - hell I'm not sure if anyone can deliver CL football with Spurs at the current time.

Because of this, I do expect Levy will get another manager in at some point - at the point it becomes clear Spurs won't be getting into the CL with Harry..

So for the mean time, great he won't get them relegated, but Levy will want more, he wants CL, I don't think Harry can provide that, whether he is right or wrong Levy will look for someone who he thinks can provide CL football. Basically, this manager merry-go-round is a long way from over, maybe it has been put to rest for a season or two, but don't be surprised if the fiercly ambitious Levy replaces Harry long before the end of his contract..

[C.Elder]

Harry is the most under-rated manager in English football.
He will do a fine job at Spurs.No doubt he will buy a few players from Portsmouth in January,thus helping that club out of its financial difficulties too.At Spurs he may have finally found an organization with the power to actually deliver their ambition,and Harry will finally get to show what an english manager can really do in the Premier league.

[Rob T]

Tim - You do have delusions of grandeur! This is typical of some Spurs fans (not as bad as Newcastle though). To have the cheek to say that Harry will do for the moment but you expect to see a 'class' manager in place for next season is just ridiculous. Considering Pompey fans feel like their clubs' heart has been ripped out this is an extremely arrogant comment to make. Are top managers clamouring to be manager of Spurs???

...And 7th at the end of nxt season - do me a favour please! I don't thnk for one moment Spurs will be anywere near 7th. You honestly think Spurs will finish above Villa, City, Everton and so on....you'll be lucky to finish above Sunderland. As for CL football - forget it. Again Villa and City will be playing CL football before you guys.

Harsh fact is that Spurs have gone from a team on the verge of breaking into the top 4 into one on the verge of going down - in just over two years. Some record, but not one to be proud of. If Spurs avoid relegation they won't simply bounce back into the top 6 - it's going to be abit more difficult than many of their fans think to get back to the level they were under Jol. In the meantime all the clubs mentioned above (apart from Newcastle) have overtaken you and you'll be playing catch up for the next 5 yrs. Maybe abit of faith in Harry wouldn't go a miss - he's better than just a 'filler' manager. I'd say he's one of the shrewdest and most underrated managers in the English game. So get behind him - and if he doestake Spurs down then STICK WITH HIM because he may bring you back up.

[Rob T]

As a club Spurs are starting to have a reputation for nicking promising managers from other clubs and turning them into duds -I hope Harry does not become one as well. Are the club a graveyard for managers - like Newcastle? Not sure but Harry must be given time to turn things around.

Spurs fans shouldn't be thinking about finishing mid-table as they're still at the bottom and still adrift (1 point) so relegation is still a real threat. If Spurs sack Harry for not finishing high enough (after avoiding relegation) then this would be apalling - but I don't think they'd do this, would they?

They should forget about Europe and focus on getting points in the Premiership and staying up.

[Danny]

A good motivator Harry may be, hardworking, yes, but 'honest' is one of the last words I would use to describe him; probably the last word before descending into the unprintable . Spurs fans will soon see exactly what I mean.

[emiliano]

harry its a very good manager but ,he dont rescue the horrible tottenham

[Chris]

Very pleased with Harry's appointment and very pleased with the sacking of Comolli. The latter being the beginning - middle and end of all of our problems. His poor judgement in buying players has cost us respect from other teams in the Premiership, where once they feared playing us and an awful lot of money. At this time of new beginnings I feel most sorry for Martin Jol whose honest and integral approach to games took Spurs to unparalleled heights where other did not like to come! I’m pleased for his current success at Hamburg and wish him well.

[Steve]

Spurs as a club have gone backwards, Martin jol consistantly managed spurs to 5th twice in the premier league, a position i regarded as the apex of our acheivements as a club with Jol there, Ramos as brought in to take the club to the champions league level, which was clearly our next step, having not worked spurs are now resorting back to a jol type manager, clearly a good motivator, honest and hard working, but not the person who can deliver CL football, and attract world class players, Harry will do a job short term and get us back to the Jol heights, then the club will be back to square one!

[Danny]

There is not many better than Harry at getting teams out of trouble but I doubt he is the man to bring honours to the club in the next few seasons. Watch out for his annual pre-season speel next August trying to play down expectatiions. Let's be honest there can hardly have ever been more fortunate FA cup winners; just look at the draw Pompey had and the luck they had in most of the games on the way to Wembley.

[Davey Cooper]

As a Pompey fan I thank Harry for what he did for the club. What annoys me though is the shambles at Spurs has robbed Pompey of a great manager, Seville of a great manager and so on... Spurs' problems have affected more people than just Spurs fans. Lets hope Pompey get Curbushley.

[Mike S]

Harry Redknapp will probably keep them up but the name that runs through the shambles of the last few seasons is Daniel Levy.

I expect he will be interfering and undermining Redknapp very shortly.

[Tim]

Redknapp is the man Spurs need to steer them away from the relegation dogfight.

This season I expect they will finish 12th or so, in a similar position to West Ham were last season - no danger of going down, no danger of getting into europe. They won't do well in europe in my opinion, Harry is inexperienced in Europe and that showed on Thursday night with Portsmouth. Perhaps a decent domestic cup run is about all they can really hope for now.

For the short term Harry is a decent choice, next season however I see them finishing 7th and possibly qualifying for the UEFA Cup. No mean feat considering this years start, but you get the impression Levy wants CL football and ultimately more. I guess I just can't see Redknapp taking them onto the next step - still, it's better than relegation! Ramos had clearly lost the players and showed no real enthusiasm toward the end.

[Andrew Camilleri]

I do believe that Harry is the right man! It will take but he has got the exprience and track record to sort out the mess that Spurs are in. We need to get ourselves in a good position by January by which time Harry will have the right players in mind to get in and balance the squad out. With his proven record in player judgement am sure he will get the right ones in.

As for Ramos, I am just so happy he is gone. True Comolli was to blame and only God knows how happy I am to see the back of this clueless guy, but the single fact that this guy never bothered to learn proper English - I felt there was not outside contact with the fans by the manager!! Come on you Spurs, the only way is up!!

[Gavan]

This seems to be Comolli's fault - he was a disaster and has cost Spurs scores of millions of pounds. He had to go. It seems that Ramos had lost the dressing room and with that goes any hope of a change in fortune, so he had to go too as Spurs have to give themselves every chance of staying up. The diffenerce with Harry and Southampton (when they went down) is that this is not a poor quality squad (albeit unbalanced) which he can get the best out of, the quality of people out on loan including some strikers and the money Spurs can throw at the problem in January - assuming they are still in the hunt. Are there any out of contract strikers looking for a few weeks work?

[Ian]

Drat, I was hoping Spurs would let Man City have Huddlestone - with 'Arry there there's no way he'll let him go.

[will]

it's brilliant that they have sacked comolli, his signings have been an absolute embarrasment. other than berbatov who has he brought in that's been a success? bale might be world class one day, gunter, 2nd choice at best, ekoto, dervete, defendi, tarabt, boateng, stalteri, cerny, mido. did any of those players make any form of impact?

its a shame for ramos too, if he'd have had the players he wanted in i'm sure he would have been a success. it was obvious he wanted a left winger, a holding midfielder and a centre back yet not one of those players was brought in for him. 2 right wingers, a right back and an attacking midfielder are the closest that he got given to him. that's before you even think about the complete lack of preperation for the departure of berbatov, and the failure to address the departure of keane. it will be very interesting to see who redknapp brings in, although i'm sure a centre back, a left winger, a defensive midfielder and an arshavin will be brought in in january. (if tottenham can afford after paying £12+ to get rid of ramos, comoli, poyet ) whats the betting though that defoe goes back for 3 or 4 times the amount he left for.

[TURBO]

Surely this episode proves that MERCENARY is alive and kicking!

[Mike]

I welcome his appointment but with the stupid transfer window that has been imposed upon our football, it'll be a long couple of months to January. With such a poor balance to the squad, (no aggressive midfielders / limited strikers) I can't see what Harry can do meanwhile, as his options are so limited.

[Paul]

I believe that the Tottenham board did the right thing by sacking Ramos, who other than winning the Carling Cup has not done very well with Spurs (3 wins since the Carling Cup final).
In addition it was the right decision to part company with Damien Comolli, and let Redknapp make the decisions on who he wants to sign in the winter transfer window, as he has shown with Pompey that he knows what players to sign (e.g. Defoe).
Furthermore Redknapp knows how to play in the Premiership and has always got the best out of his players, which is what Spurs need at the moment, as the quality is clearly there. And perhaps he will also get the best out of some of the younger players who lately have been underperforming (Modric, Dawson).
So as a Tottenham supporter I am looking forward to this new era, without a Director of Football, or whatever Comollis job title was. They should have sacked him rather than Jol last season. Look at how Jol is doing with Hamburg.