The hysteria surrounding the England job is quite simply laughable, mainly because in my view, whoever you put in charge of the national team, the current set up and set of players does not stand a prayer of even getting close to winning a tournament in the near future.
Anyway, rather unsurprisingly, following the jury's decision to find Redknapp guilty of tax evasion, combined with the sudden resignation of Don Fabio, the Droopy looking one has found himself firmly at the front of the queue for the England job perhaps sooner than expected.
The clamour for an English manager has gathered pace with certain high profile football personalities saying that the other top nations all have a manager from their own country, so why don't England? To some extent I agree with this but while there is no law stating that you have to have an English manager I am unsure as to why anyone would potentially want to cut off their nose to spite their face? I have even heard it mentioned in certain quarters that people would rather fail with an English manager then have limited experience with a foreign one.
So with all sections of the media having come to the conclusion that 'arry is the best man for the job out of the people currently available....what star credentials does he have?
The first thing people mention is that Harry has been successful wherever he has managed. Taking a bird's eye view of things, this would not seem ridiculous. He took Pompey from near relegation to League 2 to the Premiership, he had another successful spell later there after a struggle at Southampton and he then rescued Spurs from the bottom 4 before taking them into the Champions League. Good work I am sure you would all agree.
However, lets be honest, each of these jobs has involved spending a considerable wodge of money and overhauling squads completely. This of course is not Harry's fault, but it would cast doubt on the skill required from a manager of a national team, which is to mould the players you have into a winning side, with obviously no scope for transfers etc. Would this really suit the sort of role that Harry has implemented at each of the clubs he has managed?
Capello had an exemplary record as a domestic manager but flipping that approach to international level was a great struggle despite as shown in the last World Cup (despite his excellent qualifying record)
A lot has been made of Harry's tactical ability (or lack of). All players and managers insist that he knows his football inside out, and as only a fan and not a participant of the game this is something I don't have the best vantage point on. However, I have always been interested in hearing how players say that Redknapp doesn't really bother with tactics, team shape etc and pretty much just keeps things simple. Whilst this may appear to be working at Spurs, is this rather simple approach likely to work at the highest level? Negotiating through a tournament's knockout stages will surely require a more pragmatic approach?
Obviously, no one will begrudge Redknapp the decision to accept the job, which we all know is inevitable but I do consider it rather naive that no one appears to have really been considering other candidates, especially within the media and ex-professionals. Are they merely taking a myopic view because he is English and because they want an English manager that he therefore fits the bill? Do they remember the horrendous spell of certain Sctheve McClaren?
For me, the similarities to a certain Mr Keegan are all too familiar. The permed one had success at Fulham, Newcastle and Man City and produced some delightful attacking football (backed by Al Fayed and also Man City's millions). Keegan would himself admit that he was also a motivator rather than a tactician and this stance meant that his position as England manager unravelled before him and ended with that rainy day at Wembley which left Keegan admitting he was not good enough to manage at the highest level. I am going to stick my neck on the line and say that I think the same could be happening after the Euros in the summer...
Sunil
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRZTna7tRHk
