The FA’s announcement that they will not appoint an England manager until the end of the season offers further indication that Harry Redknapp will be given the job.
It has been quite a month for Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp, but February ended on a sour note with his team’s 5-2 thrashing at North London rivals Arsenal.
FA chairman David Bernstein was at that match, as he was at Spurs’ 0-0 draw with Stevenage, and the allusions were already being made that he was becoming a bad luck charm for Harry Redknapp’s men.
This is a crucial period for Tottenham’s season, and they host Manchester United tomorrow.
Win, and they will continue to look like a certainty for a Champions League place. Lose, and they will find themselves dragged down into the scrap between Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Newcastle.
There has been a genuine fear that the distraction over the England job was beginning to affect Spurs, it dominates the press, fans forums, and is among a general topic of conversation of supporters on match day.
The FA have wisely decided to take a step back, and that should be praised. After all, if Redknapp starts going on a losing streak, that’s hardly the ideal preparation if he is selected as boss for Euro 2012.
But in doing so, the FA have made it quite clear that Harry Redknapp is near the top of their shortlist.
Is it a done deal? Possibly not, but you get the feeling all Harry has to do is give the nod, and he’s in.
Obviously there is the tricky issue of compensation for Spurs to be sorted out as well, as per Redknapp’s contract, but these are not issues the club would like to be dealing with at such a crucial stage of the season.
We’ve seen it before, when Alan Curbishley was interviewed for the England job in 2006, his team’s performance took a nosedive, and he ended up leaving the club by mutual consent at the end of the season anyway, only to see Steve McClaren handed the big job.
What the FA did yesterday is good, they would only leave themselves open to criticism by not making a statement on the issue, but it seems obvious that they are simply trying to keep the relationship with Redknapp as good as possible, with a view to bringing him on board.
Do you agree, is Redknapp to England a done deal?
image: © wonker
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
