The Redknapp Legacy: how disaster follows Harry every step of the way

Henry James Redknapp is round about the same age as me, although I think I am better looking.

He is a darling of the media and almost always gets a good press.

But what is his career and his brush with the law? Given that he now resides at the other end of Seven Sisters, how to put him in perspective?

Let us, by way of something to do this Sunday, look at the clubs he has managed, and where they are now and in conclusion revisit his legal position.

Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic (trading under the non-de-plume of A.F.C. Bournemouth) is a club I know well – I went to school in Dorset after my parents inexplicably left north London when I was 11. And let’s be fair Harry Redknapp was the only manager of the club to get them into the second tier of football. After he took them back down, he left.

Last Bournemouth started on minus 17 points, had endless changes of ownership and management, they have mega money problems, and just managed to stay in the league on the last day of the season. Hardly Harry’s fault. Except…

After a break Harry next went to West Ham United and in 1994 he became manager. Harry showed what has become his style by changing the entire team around with signings both good and bad. They went into the Intertoto and won it!

But in May 2001 Redknapp was sacked by the chairman with whom he had fallen into dispute over what he said to a fanzine.

WHU are now totally bankrupt and could go bust this seaosn. They have to pay out a fortune to Sheffield U over the Tevez fiasco, and their future is very uncertain. Hardly Harry’s fault. Except…

Redknapp replaced Graham Rix at Portsmouth and took the club into the EPL. But then he fell into dispute with the owner over who his support team should be and he resigned to go to Southampton whom he took down and out of the EPL after 27 years at the top. Hardly Harry’s fault (actually it was Harry’s fault…)

He then fell out with the chairman and went back to Portsmouth. Southampton are now in the 3rd tier, and still cannot complete a deal for new owners to take them over. There is a real chance they might not make it into next season. Not Harry’s fault. Except…

Back in Portsmouth Harry took the club down into the relegation zone, and then back up again to survival on the last day of the season. He made a speech about not walking away from the club (when he said Newcastle offered him a job) although Newcastle said that in fact they never offered him the job. But he won the cup in 2008 beating the mighty Cardiff City in the final. Our old mate Kanu scored. He then left for Tottenham.

Portsmouth are currently in limbo. Sheikh Yermoney has offered to buy the club, but nothing is happening, players are leaving (they have 17 first team players left), and there is a real danger the club might be out of existence soon. Not Harry’s fault of course. Except…

The tiny totts paid £5 million for Harry, and to be fair, he kept them up. But he also did his old trick of leaving out good players who simply needed handling in the right way, and instead humiliated them by making them play in the reserves against the 16 year olds of Arsenal while earning £60,000 a week. (When the Totts played Arsenal at the Orient towards the end of last season they had players who had cost around £44 on the pitch.)

Since January this year Harry has spent money like it wasn’t his own (which it isn’t). Defoe (£15.75m) Palacios (£12m) Keane (£12m) Will he make the old Redknapp magic work at Tottenham? We wait to see. Except…

On 19 September 2006, Harry was shown on Panorama on BBC1 being involved in what seems to be an illegal approach for a player. Redknapp denies all charges and nothing has been proven.

Then in November 2007 Harry was reported (along with Portsmouth Managing Director Peter Storrie, Milan Mandarić, agent Willie McKay and footballer Amdy Faye) as being arrested by City of London Police in relation to the ongoing inquiries into allegations of corruption in football.

Then on 16 April 2008, Redknapp announced his intention to take the police to court over his arrest and in May the Magistrates’ Court ruled that the raid on Redknapp’s home in Poole, was wholly unacceptable. He got £1000 damages. He is still on police bail relating back the November 07 arrest.

Of course Harry has not been directly responsible for the demise of Bournemouth, West Ham, Portsmouth and Southampton – but it is curious how this trail of disaster follows him once he has left. Is it a coincidence?

If you would like to know more about this managerial style at Tottenham take a look at this wonderful piece…

http://community.codemasters.com/forum/showthread.php?p=4858327

Tony
This article will soon appear on other sites under other names. The level of reporting in this article is undoubtedly better than that in the Sun, but there may be slips, as I inevitably rely on other sources to pull together all this info. If there are errors, my apologies to Henry James Redknapp, his oft quoted wife, and all who visit is delightful house in Sandbanks, Poole.

12 Replies to “The Redknapp Legacy: how disaster follows Harry every step of the way”

  1. speaking about a bad news magnet: i heard a story about a dodgy transfer of jermaine defoe from spuds to pmouth that the FA is investigating that could cost the spudies dear.

  2. One is a coincidence, perhaps two.. More than that – he is a full blown Jonah, a disaster waiting to happen.
    And he is now with Spurs!. Oh the joy of being an Arsenal supporter!!

  3. Harry is known for having a penchant for the brown paper bag. He’s a member of the old school managers club….Graham, Venables, Gregory etc

    The agents all take a cut in the same way that managers used to do regularly. With all the money changing hands there are amount disappearing into black holes with every transfer.

    Luckilly Redknapp hasn’t got the chance to manage the club he supported as a boy….The Arsenal.

  4. Any way, the Spuds can go to hell with their Redknapp. All I care about is Arsenal winning the PL next season and going to the CL final.

  5. Makes you wonder who they’ll get and what excuses will be offered when they sack Redknapp. I actually think he will survive the coming season and will go early the season after. The only major thing I can see that could change this is the fact that they have no money and he will have to sell to buy and I can’t see much money coming in. The papers are quoting that they want £18 million for Bent! That’s even more amusing than the claim (soon to be made again) that they will manage to break into the top 4 this year.

  6. so, in essence we should be glad that harry is in charge at the spuds.
    imagine if they had got wenger and we had harry. would we all be behind harry like we are behind arsene? harry knows best? in harry we trust?

  7. Fingers crossed the Redknapp effect works again. No more tiny t’s, bankrupt in division 3. Loverly.

  8. If we have to talk about Spurs,they are bank rolled by Joe Lewis head of ENIC.10 managers since Arsene Wenger came to Highbury,speaks for itself.

    They were only a lasaga away from a champions league spot and the following season literally stabbed Martin Jol in the back with the wonder of Ramos. Do they deserve successn no way.Two more years until we celebrate 50 years since they won the league.

  9. Excellent article Tony! Of course all that you have pointed out will be dismissed by opposing fans and media alike because as you pointed out he did win the intertoto cup and Portsmouth now have an FA cup replica sitting in what was an empty storage room but turned out to be their Trophy Room upon intense examination of some dated blueprints.
    And that is the rub isn’t it. A trophy. The most concentrated brand of catnip available to financially dyslexic football chairmen and fans throughout the EPL.
    You have to hand it to Flash ‘Arry (Ol d Black & White St. Trinians reference) as he has consistantly made himself not-so-small fortunes on the side in property etc all along the south coast and no doubt will survive the current corruption investigation as he has done in the past. If there is ever a nuclear strike imminent, stand behind twitchy Harry because love him or hate him, the man is a survivor.

    PS. Do you ever wonder if Jamie Redknapp stands in front of a mirror every morning and mutters to himself..”Please don’t let it be hereditary!”

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