Archive for the ‘Harry Redknapp’ Category

Harry Redknapp: not reading Tottenham contract cost me the England job

Posted by Richard Whittall under England, Harry Redknapp, Tottenham Hotspur on Apr 04, 2013

> on February 8, 2012 in London, England.

The other day, I received a pop up on my Rdio app. It was a blue bubble that read “Terms of Service”, no text, with the two options “Read” or “Agree.” This was the most blatant example I’d seen in a while of a service provider understanding that I probably don’t give a crap about whatever legalistic junk they’re contractually obligated to tell me about.

Still, I felt a little uncomfortable with the easy offer, so I clicked read (I’m ashamed to admit I read the first four sentences and then scrolled to agree).

Reading terms in your contract tends to be important. And now Harry Redknapp knows as much. He hinted his complex, clause-ridden contract with Spurs was what ultimately prevented him from taking the England job:

“I wouldn’t take it [the England job] now, no. Not now, not in the future,” Redknapp said in an interview with Twentyfour7 Football magazine. “That was my time, really, if I was going to get it. Last year there were a lot of things that went against me surrounding that massive contractual clause. People will always deny that is the reason, the FA couldn’t say that and I won’t say, but it didn’t help me.

“I had such a badly loaded contract it was crazy, in Tottenham’s favour. That’s what you get for not reading your contract properly. It was a massive amount that someone would have had to pay to get me out of it.”

So remember kids, read your contracts. Or at least make a cake for a lawyer friend to help you read your contract.

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EPL Round-Up: Le Fondre adds to Newcastle’s misery

Posted by Devang Desai under Daniel Sturridge, EPL, Harry Redknapp, Liverpool, Luis Suarez, Manchester City, Newcastle, QPR, Stoke City, Sunderland, Swansea on Jan 19, 2013

The Fondre's equalizer.

Newcastle 1 – 2 Reading

Yohan Cabaye’s long awaited return was spoiled by the heroics of super-sub Adam Le Fondre. The new comeback kings of the prem did it again, scoring twice in six minutes to steal a crucial away victory at St.James Park. On the pitch for 55 seconds, Le Fondre connected on Jimmy Kebe’s cross to level the score. Replays  indicated the Frenchman Englishman may have scored with his forearm.

There were was no such controversy surrounding his second, as he smashed the ball past the outstretched arm of Tim Krul. Alan Pardew’s eight year deal looks more ridiculous by the week. Toon supporters were not happy when Cabaye was replaced by Gael Bigirimana in the 74th minute and Michael Williamson was a defensive liability once again. The Magpies travel to Villa Park next Tuesday. Read the rest of this entry »

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‘Arry doesn’t need your flippin’ ‘tactics’ mumbo-jumbo to win at QPR

Posted by Richard Whittall under Harry Redknapp, QPR on Dec 04, 2012

"Now go out there and play football!"

This is my favourite kind of Michael Cox article because it’s a kind of subtle two fingers to the “tactics don’t explain everything you know!” crowd who inevitably show up to tell people who’ve thought long and hard about these things for months and years the flippin’ obvious.

Anyway, Cox gets to the hard, tactical core of what Harry Redknapp brings to QPR, and what they desperately need. Haul out your patented AVB tactical notebooks and Texas Instruments programmable calculators children, this is going to be really painful! Here, in full, is Cox’s diagnosis of the Loftus Road disease:

“As any QPR fan will tell you, the problem has been with motivation, determination and belief.”

Those ineffable things that don’t quite make sense on a chalkboard and yet matter deeply all the same. In all seriousness, Cox goes onto explain that while Redknapp is a tactician (though not a technocrat), his approach speaks more to his ability to work with footballers.

And yes, that means something vitally important in improving performance, as the weak-tea Harvard Business School study on Sir Alex Ferguson inadvertently demonstrated. A lot of his genius is knowing how to deal with footballers, who to groom them, how to cushion their disappointment, how to motivate them to play to the best of their ability.

There’s no graph for that, but it matters nevertheless. And I’d introduce you to the serious tactics analyst and statistician who thinks differently, but he’s sadly made of straw.

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