Spurs star blasts Redknapp

Roman Pavlyuchenko has hit out at Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp for lying to him about his future at the club.

The Russian feels that Redknapp has not been honest to him about why he can’t break into the first-team at White Hart Lane and says that he is not content with only playing in the Europa League.

“I don’t believe I can fight my way into the Tottenham starting line-up. Players can feel what the manager thinks about them, and I know that the manager doesn’t count on me these days,” he told Russian newspaper Sport Express.

“Therefore, something must change. I must play in order not to miss Euro 2012, and there is danger of missing such an important tournament.”

“You don’t get into the national squad on past achievements. I will be 30 in December, and it could be my last big tournament.”

“I don’t want to be the team’s fourth striker. I want to play in the big games in the Premier League. Europa League, which I am playing in, doesn’t interest anyone here.”

“I don’t know whether Redknapp is telling the truth when he says he doesn’t want to lose me. I guess he is not telling the truth.”

“Redknapp says I’m not playing because my pre-season wasn’t good. I can’t understand that.”

“First of all, he wasn’t with us in the first half of pre-season training, so he can’t know how I trained. And anyway, I gave 100 per cent in the pre-season, like everyone else.”

“The main part of my contract with Tottenham ends in the summer. Afterwards, the club has an option to extend it for one more season, regardless of my wishes.”

“I don’t know whether the club with execute that option, but a good offer would definitely be considered. I don’t know my market value right now.”

Despite his unhappiness with Redknapp, Pavlyuchenko says he has no regrets over leaving Spartak Moscow in 2008 to come to London, claiming that there is a great atmosphere at Spurs and that living in London is much better than in his home country.

However, the forward did admit his shock over the sale of Peter Crouch to Stoke during the summer transfer window.

“I was very surprised to see Peter Crouch sold. At first I couldn’t even believe it. Crouch is a special player for Redknapp, he played for him at Portsmouth. I don’t know what happened,” he said.

“(Emmanuel) Adebayor, (Jermain) Defoe and (Rafael) van der Vaart are top players. We have good relationships, and the atmosphere at Tottenham is very friendly. We get good results not only because of the squad quality, but also because of our unity.”

“I don’t regret moving to Tottenham. It was the right decision. Every footballer dreams of playing in such a league, against Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea. I’ve learned a lot here, and achieved quite a bit.”

“There were a lot of critics, but the goal against Rubin (Kazan) was my 40th for Tottenham. Few can say that. When leaving Russia I feared the adaptation period will be long, but in the end it turned out to be easier than expected.”

“Players are injured more often in England than in Russia, and I think it’s because of the huge number of games over here. That’s why all the teams have big squads – some play in the league, the others in the cup.”

Pavlyuchenko admitted to being flattered by interest from Rubin Kazan over bringing him back to Russia, but said due to his affiliation with Spartak, there were some clubs that he would not sign for.

“It is flattering that such a respected coach as Kurban Berdyev considered signing me. Rubin Kazan is a very good team, and all Europe got to know it in the last few years,” he added.

“As a former Spartak player, I will never sign for Zenit or CSKA.”