Redknapp hails promoted trio of British managers

QPR manager Harry Redknapp has praised British managers Malky Mackay, Steve Bruce and Ian Holloway for their efforts last season.

The trio all guided their clubs into the Premier League last term, with Mackay’s Cardiff City and Bruce’s Hull City winning automatic promotion.

The new group of British bosses set to manage in the top flight next year was completed when Holloway’s Crystal Palace edged Watford in the Championship play-off final.

And Redknapp is delighted to see a new influx of homegrown talent in the Premier League, and hailed their achievements as good as anything Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger have achieved.

“Malky Mackay, Steve Bruce and Ian Holloway fly the flag for Team GB as the managers who got their clubs promoted from the Championship,” Redknapp wrote in his column in The Sun.

“What they have all done is as good as anything Alex Ferguson, Roberto Mancini, Rafa Benitez and Arsene Wenger achieved.”

Redknapp believes all three can avoid relegation next season, and says he is looking forward to watching Palace play under Holloway.

“To get a team promoted is a hell of a task and I believe all three teams have a great chance of staying up next season,” he said.

“Cardiff will be a tough place to go for even the best teams. They will pick up enough points from their home games to stay up and build upon that the following year.

“Mackay has a good squad which includes Craig Bellamy, a vastly experienced striker with goals still in his legs, and Mark Hudson, a great centre-half. With very passionate fans, they will be no pushovers and I think they will be OK.

“Holloway was a breath of fresh air the last time he was a Premier League boss. I watched his Blackpool side a lot as I was Spurs boss at the time and I was hugely impressed with his philosophy.

“They went for it and even played teams like Manchester United off the park at Bloomfield Road. As the play-off winners, Crystal Palace are probably classed as the weakest of the three promoted teams.

“But with his character and experience of managing a smaller club in the Premier League, he will do fine. He is the first to admit that his squad needs work done to it.

“Bruce has done an amazing job bringing Hull up because they were not on anyone’s radar. He has done it in the Premier League and he will know he needs to add experienced players.

“I’ve seen stories that he is talking to free agents Carlton Cole and Mark Schwarzer. Those two could be perfect. Wise heads who won’t shrink away in big games. Schwarzer is a fabulous goalkeeper and Cole is a right handful for defenders on his day.”