Euro 2012 - Redknapp: My only focus is Tottenham

Thu, 09 Feb 09:42:00 2012

Harry Redknapp has been installed as hot favourite to take over as England manager, but says he has not considered leaving Tottenham.

2011 Premier League Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp - 0

Redknapp said on Thursday morning: "I have not even thought about it [the England job]. I have a big job on Saturday. Tottenham is my focus."

Following the resignation of Fabio Capello, the FA held a press conference on Thursday but refused to discuss individual candidates for the position.

England's next fixture is a friendly against Holland at Wembley on February 29. With Euro 2012 just four months away, the FA are under pressure to make a swift appointment.

For the Holland friendly, the FA have appointed England U21 boss Stuart Pearce as caretaker manager, which allows them more time to make a permanent appointment.

The dust has scarcely settled on Redknapp's tax trial - he was cleared yesterday after a two-week court case at Southwark Crown Court. The Tottenham boss is quoted at 1/3 on with most bookmakers to take over from Capello.

Sir Keith Mills, a non-executive director at Tottenham, insists the club will wait to see what develops. He told BBC Radio Five Live: "Our position has been clear - the fans want Harry to stay at Tottenham, the players and the coaches do, the board does, and we hope he does stay.

"If he is (approached) then Harry clearly has a big decision to make. He's managing a top-three team in the biggest league in the world, we're doing incredibly well at the moment. I know he loves it, it will be a tough decision for him.

"I just think at this stage it is very premature to talk about Harry's departure from Tottenham. He is an extraordinary manager, he's done great things at the club and there's been speculation to be frank for several months because we knew that Fabio would be leaving after the Euro competition anyway."

Asked what he thought of the possibility of Redknapp taking the England job on a caretaker basis while staying at Spurs until the end of the season, Mills said: "It's difficult to comment on hypothetical situations.

"Clearly that's not an ideal scenario. I think a football manager needs to focus on doing the job in hand and right now I think Harry, apart from recovering from an ordeal he and his family have been through for the last five years through the courts, he's probably focusing more on the Newcastle game on Saturday.

"I think trying to do two jobs is probably going to be a bit of a stretch for anyone."

News : Capelo

Former England manager Graham Taylor believes Redknapp is "made for the job" of leading the national team.

Taylor, who succeeded Bobby Robson as England manager after the 1990 World Cup but failed to steer the team to a place in the 1994 tournament, claims 64-year-old Redknapp has the ideal qualities for the position, and is at the right stage in his career.

Taylor told BBC Radio Five Live: "What I'd say about Harry is his age. If I could change anything I just wish the offer of the England job had come towards the end of my career, not when I was in my mid-forties.

"I just think that taking the England job is far better when you're coming towards the end of your career than when you're a young man. I think Harry is in many respects made for the job.

"You only have the England players together for so long, they come from different clubs, and they organise and prepare at their clubs in different manners, so you've got all of these different things to sort out and Harry I think is capable of doing that. He has this very good relationship with players."

Redknapp appears to have the support of England internationals, with the highest-profile of them, Wayne Rooney, coming out in favour of the 64-year-old.

"Gutted Capello has quit," Rooney wrote on Twitter. "Good guy and top coach. Got to be English to replace him. Harry Redknapp for me."

Former England captain Rio Ferdinand also believes his former West Ham boss is the man best suited to take the job, and wrote on Twitter: "I think we need an English manager now, we don't need anything else lost in translation....Harry Redknapp would be my choice by a distance."

PA Sport / Reuters / Eurosport

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  1. Go on harry

    From krishnapillai, on Sat 11 Feb 20:30

  2. What's the similarity between Sunlight Fabric­ conditioner and the vast amount the FA will pay to­ Spurs to allow him to become England manager ? They are­ both fantastic softeners. And in all the FIFA panel­ deliberations and explanation to the Presss, did no one­ spot the outraged body language of Sir Trevor, the only­ real football man of the four ??? When asked if Harry­ was expected to win a lot with England he immediately­ shot back NO !! Rosie only eats Pedigree. And what is­ Harry's favourite biscuit ? A Jammy Dodger !! And­ don't you feel sorry for Jamie Redknapp. He­ could end up looking like his Old Man !! If he's­ lucky !! Otherwise he'll end up looking like his­ Dad. Why have you got such a furrowed brow, Harry ?­ Some @#$% just tried to run over me with a plough, he­ replied. And I hope the FIFA salary is tax paid or tax­ free or will the contract be signed by Harry's dog­ ?? Thank you. You"re very kind.

    From Old Mr Happy, on Sat 11 Feb 17:03

  3. It was so refreshing to see the men at the top of the­ FA and what a dynamic team they are. A real­ inspiration.

    From J, on Sat 11 Feb 8:04

  4. Yes but ---Harry gets the England job, ----then Jose­ gets the Tottenham job--- then Chelsky are Stuffed.

    From J, on Sat 11 Feb 8:00

  5. Is the FA breaking their own rules by tapping up­ Redknapp?

    From Michael George, on Sat 11 Feb 2:31

  6. Why I am not wild about Arry. I think he will use the­ situation to jack his salary up at Spurs " thats­ for sure" and so forth. Wheeling and dealing mate­ , "you know wot I mean Arry"

    From Tom, on Sat 11 Feb 1:40

  7. Harry's being surprisingly evasive about this job,­ which doesn't seem to fit his unusually honest and­ respectable personality. Afterall, it can't be that­ taxing to say he'll take the job on a trial­ basis.

    Actually, he fits the England profile­ perfectly. We've won one trophy in all those years­ of trying, and so has Harry!

    Who needs these­ despicable foreign coaches with proven records like­ Benitez, Mourinho, Capello or Hiddink when you have­ good, honest Englishmen who can provide such stunning­ CVs as Redknapp, Allardyce and, er Pardew!?!?

    From LarryMac, on Sat 11 Feb 1:39

  8. we all. give the job to ed milliband hes a bit of a­ muppet and would fit nicely into the fa muppet­ management brigade know the fa is full of power crazy­ twerps who consistantly over paid for the national team­ coach foriegn coaches have a serious communication­ problem and like the last manager early on his abilty­ to communicate were obviuos. the fa need to let­ managers manage with no interference the like we have­ seen with theterry ferdinand saga . harry rednapp­ should stay where he is because on one hane you have­ the incompetant power crazy fa muppets and on the other­ hand you have the gutter brigade laughly called the­ press who always try to destroy managers my suggestion­ for the england job is ed milliband hes a muppet who­ would get on with the fa management muppets dont do­ it harry keep the work going at spurs

    From C, on Fri 10 Feb 22:15

  9. Will harry remember where or who the players are, or­ just play his dog?

    From Phillip, on Fri 10 Feb 19:23

  10. ENGLAND Managers job: Poison chalice or Holy grail­ ...... I think Harry Rednap would be awesome for the­ job, but he will still be destroyed and vilified by the­ press and public eventually.... STAY at Totenham and­ let some other mug do it.......

    From Howard, on Fri 10 Feb 19:17

  11. He is better to stay at spurs,they have a better chance­ of success and im sure he would rather be involved in­ the day to day running of a club rather than being a­ manager of a team that only plays several times a year.

    From Heather, on Fri 10 Feb 19:08

  12. Harry is obviously embarrassed about being touted as­ the next England sacrifice, sorry Manager, so he is­ sitting on the fence with his remarks as the press­ would crucify him if he admitted to considering the­ England job. The gutter press would immediately attack­ him saying he was disloyal to Spurs and stiring up all­ sorts of rubbish about him. Just look at the recent­ comments about his court case where he was founf­ TOTALLY INNOCENT of all charges. Newspapers rely on­ inuendo and sail close too the wind with their­ allegations. Its an old way of telling lies without­ giving anyone the material to sue them with cetainty.

    From survivor, on Fri 10 Feb 17:41

  13. In reply to 784 - lee... Do you really believe, that­ england would've qualified for the amount off­ tournaments that they have, if they weren't seeded.­ It's not that england, are a far better team, than­ scotland. It's just they always have a far easier­ path to qualify, than say Scotland, Wales, Ireland­ (north & rep'). So it's only for good­ grace that at the present time england ave a far better­ qualifying record than scotland.

    From there'sonly1utd, on Fri 10 Feb 17:09

  14. its not true that Harry s on mastermind, and his­ special subject is not tax accounting, please stop­ spreading these rumours, next you will be saying he is­ up for the England job

    From familygoodwin, on Fri 10 Feb 17:07

  15. Harry if you 'av any sense you wouldn't touch­ the england job with a ten foot badge poll, it's­ just a poison chalice of a job. The players believe­ their own hype, the press will murder yea and the team­ (any off them) will never win a tournament.
    'Arry­ you 'av a far better chance of success, with spurs,­ than you'll ever have with england. Spurs, are on­ the verge off success at the moment, so stick with­ spurs and you will have a better chance off obtaining­ it.

    From there'sonly1utd, on Fri 10 Feb 16:51

  16. He says he has 'not thought about it' my back­ side he would have been doing jumps through his house­ on hearing Fabio ( who by the way has had the best­ games success rate with past 4 manager's which­ everyone seems to ignore) had resigned. The FA board­ are as corrupt as the next one........

    From Jim, on Fri 10 Feb 16:36

  17. Some of you thickos have trouble telling the difference­ between race and nationality. Call it xenophobic by all­ means, but it isn't racism. Get an education for­ f'cks sake.

    From Michael, on Fri 10 Feb 15:59

  18. So the FA want someone `English or British`? If my­ company advertised the fact that a position was­ available only to English or British then I would have­ the race mob down on me like a ton of bricks

    From garibaldi, on Fri 10 Feb 13:34

  19. Obviously it would be good for England to stay but I do­ think he should stay at Spurs. I'd be much happier­ seeing him continue to build Tottenham up, get them in­ the champ's league, playing great football. I'm­ a Man United fan, but if any other team was to win the­ league, I could handle Redknapp's Spurs being that­ team. Don't go near the England post Harry,­ it's cursed.

    From Toby, on Fri 10 Feb 11:31

  20. Harry will stay at the mighty Spurs until the end of­ the season and then take up the reins of England­ manager, though he cannot confirm that until then due­ to the adverse affect that might have on the Spurs­ squad. Personally, and as a Spurs fan, I think he­ should stay where he is 'cos the England job is­ fatal to ALL manager's reputations. The press­ jump on any slight controversy and blow it out of all­ preportion (e.g. Steve MacLaren and Glenn Hoddle) and­ destroy the manager's credibility. Even for £4m a­ year, I wouldn't do the job (okay, I'm lying).

    From davidcfh, on Fri 10 Feb 9:11
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