People say a lot of things about Harry Redknapp. All too often, they are none too flattering.
And I know I have been guilty of that in the past. His transfer dealings remain exotic and colourful. And I don’t expect there are too many Pompey fans who look back at the Redknapp years with too much affection.
Or if they do, then the glory, glory days of Premier League status and 2008 trips to Wembley came at a heavy, heavy price.
But ‘H’ has always known a player. And is no stranger to success. The boys play for him. He gets teams organised. And playing. With spirit. And with no little resolve. As this weekend’s events proved.
When faced with adversity Harry Redknapp invariably comes up smelling of roses. Time and time again.
And I would argue that this weekend’s injury time success over Derby County, which saw Rangers bounce back to the Premier League at the first time of asking, is as big an achievement as anything Old H has done before.
Particularly given the shambles Rangers were in as they went down; the turnaround is extraordinary given the players that were bombed out and brought in over the last 18 months.
Which is why it might be instructive to look at it from a Norwich perspective as Neil Adams looks to repeat such minor miracles in Norfolk.
Because Harry built himself an Old Lags XI. Literally in the case of Joey Barton. And Richard Dunne is no angel. He has had his moments. But was the rock upon which Rangers’ return was built.
Bobby Zamora has always had the ability, just never the fitness and in red card villain Gary O’Neil and Niko Kranjčar, Harry had two players from his Fratton Park days – lads he knows inside out.
Characters he can rely on. And then, of course, he had Rob Green. Our Robert has been round the block often enough to play his part at Wembley.
And that’s the key to all this.
Barton might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but the one thing no-one can deny is the fact that Joey is a character.
As is Dunne. Robert is.
H built a side with character to it. And in the dying seconds of that play-off final, such character shone through.
And as he returns to the Premier League where, in fairness, his managerial talents belong, so he won’t have to look far for that 20-goal striker. Our old friend Loic Remy is due back on loan from Newcastle.
Put this all in a Norwich context and the lessons won’t make for entirely easy reading for a club that is clearly looking to youff to, in part, deliver its salvation Southampton-style.
Because H gathered to him players whose loyalty to the manager might stretch back a decade – a luxury denied Neil Adams as he takes his first steps into big-time management.
And there is another bit to the Redknapp tale that, likewise, doesn’t sit too easily in the Carrow Road model of 2014-15.
Because H has always struck me as very much his own man; he just gets on with it. Sure, he is ultimately answerable to his chairman, but other than that he does what he pleases. And, invariably, the results justify the means. For example, taking a punt on a 34-year-old Richard Dunne.
It would be an interesting exercise to see whether or not a similar punt by Adams this summer would pass the ‘football committee’; whether the incoming technical director would approve – and if he did whether the ultimate yay or nay would then sit with the chairman of the football committee, in this case City chief executive David McNally.
I would strongly suspect that H wouldn’t have much time for such multiple assessments of his transfer thinking.
He doesn’t strike me as much of a committee man. And one wonders whether – if that was the set-up proposed to every managerial candidate – whether one or two might have baulked at proceeding via a committee.
But, as ever, proof will come in the pudding. For now, I think Redknapp’s achievement in getting Rangers to bounce back at the first time of asking needs to recognised and saluted.
How many lessons can be translated into a Norfolk setting is for others to ponder and judge.
A curious article and one that I couldn’t disagree with more strongly on just about every point. I think QPR are the model for how our club (and all others) should not and never aspire to – I would put Derby and Steve McLaren forward in fact as the way we should be aiming to get back to the big time. If anything, Neil Warnock got them up in a far more impressive manner.
QPR with all the resources provided by a megalomaniac owner played stodgy defensive football nearly all season (particularly in the playoff final) – where was the young, homegrown talent in their squad? Do they even have a youth team?? For allowing Joey Barton to ‘grace’ the MOTD screens one more, Harry should be exiled to the east of Ukraine quite frankly.
Harry has certain ‘qualities’ of course, but not the type that I would celebrate or encourage Adams to follow.
Spot on, Rick.
The reason NCFC are stuck with Adams is the new technical director role, commitee, or whatever you want to call it. None of the managers looking for a job would work under such conditions, perhaps only a desperate Zola.
Adams would loyaly say yes, so he could get his big chance as a manager. Now, I would like to see how much this proposed setup will hamper us in transfer dealings. Things may take ages to complete, if at all possible.
Oh, I forgot, we still have not got this TD employed, have we?
Surely Turner, Snodgrass, Ruddy and Martin along with Howson, the Bennets, Olsen provide us with a very solid start. There is experience and resolve in there. Always hoping they will all stay. There are others who could possibly be added to that list eg Fer and Hooper.
With some additions we should have the players as we mostly did last season. The problem was the players never became a team working together towards the same aims.
I wouldn’t be so quick to praise Harry or QPR, neither would I be in a hurry to sign a Richard Dunne on his £100K+ per week salary. QPR are a little homespun example of everything that is wrong in football and Harry and their ridiculous chairman will surely guide them the same way as Portsmouth over the next few years, despite their short term success. £177million in NET debt, £210million for a new 40,000 seater stadium presumably so their 18 fans can stretch their legs a bit, and a more than deserved £50million smacked bottom from financial fair play next season followed by inevitable relegation should see them right.
They were extremely fortunate to beat a well run (in every respect) Derby County side at Wembley but luck plays a huge part in football and is often underestimated as a factor as it is in all sports.
Interesting point you make regarding the technical director / director of football role and the lack of other applicants for the job. I have always felt that the director of football and coach model was a rather foolish one for any manager to sign up to. The manager takes all the flack and the director gets off scot free. Apart from the faintly ridiculous Dennis Wise I can’t think of many directors of football who get the push yet presumably they are ultimately responsible…and if they aren’t what’s the point of them?
Just another article preparing us for a long stay in the Champs , we will offload all our stars and try to win promotion with cheap signings and youth .
We really are now firmly back at square one and in the league the owners and board want us to be .
@Bobby Dazzler and @Boot, I couldn’t agree with you more. You’ve mentioned nothing at all about the cost of that Old Lags XI Rick, nor the fact that Arry couldn’t believe his luck in the dying seconds of the game – he was already hanging on for penalties, even if they were still more than 30 mins away.
The model of QPR is odious, and it’s a pity they managed the big escape back to the Premier League, rather than having to face up to their poor management by spending another season in the Championship. Derby deserve far more credit for everything they’s achieved this season, and were extremely unlucky to lose the play off. I’d much rather we emulated clubs like them, with youth and exuberance tied to some wise heads – but not ones earning a fortune despite their previous failure.
The only luck I wish QPR is in trying to avoid the pitfall their financial profligacy is inevitably likely to bring them some day, even if they’ve managed to escape it more immediately. What I do expect to see them do is try and cheat the Football League of the fair play fine they have deservedly coming. There is no model here, Rick, only lessons to be avoided.
T G (2), It has been clearly stated that NA will have full control over transfer dealings and the Technical Director is not a Director of Football position.
I agree fully that QPR is not a model to aspire to. Not sure if you really believe what you’ve written, Rick, but it’s certainly a minority point of view
Dear All,
I think there appears to be a sentiment out there that says Derby deserved to be in the Premier League because ‘they’re a well run club’.
A bit like Norwich.
They play nice.
Unfortunately no such logic applies to membership of the EPL; would we say that Manchester City and Chelsea are ‘well run’ clubs? Or mere sporting baubles for their respective billionaire owners?
For Fernandes and Rangers there are a whole host of similar set-ups. Ridsdale’s Leeds would be one; when they dropped they kept on going. Which is why I still maintain that Harry’s achievement in not doing a Leeds deserves recognition.
The lunatics run the asylum. Welcome to the real world…
I agree with Rick. The sentiment that QPR aren’t a great club to replicate is a fine one. But, they are in the PL and Derby aren’t.
We have one or two seasons to utilize the additional money we received in the PL and the parachute payments before we’re slowly dragged down into Championship finances.
Resting too much on the youth team is as massive a risk. Such as it was to rely on buying “stars” who’d never played in the PL , as we did last season. Let’s not forget the oft repeated “I believe Ricky will come good”.