The great achievement of Tottenham and Harry Redknapp

After writing about the crowd violence and unpleasant side of football yesterday it is much more in keeping with the celebration of the great game of football that we take this opportunity to recognise the great achievement of Tottenham and Harry Redknapp.

Excellent

Their excellent 1-0 win at Manchester City on Wednesday, to add to recent victories over Arsenal and Chelsea, guaranteed them at least fourth place in the Premier League and entry to the qualifying rounds of the Champions League.

It is possible that they could overtake their North London rivals Arsenal for third place and grab an automatic spot in the group stages, but that would necessitate a victory at Burnley on Sunday together with Arsenal losing at home to a Fulham side who play in the Europa League final just seventy-two hours later.

Massive

Harry Redknapp says qualifying for the Champions League for the first time in their history is a massive step forward for the club,

“It’s fantastic. It’s been a terrific season for us, we’ve played some great football and we deserve it. Finishing fourth gives me a lot of pleasure. It’s great for the club.”

Spurs, who also reached the FA Cup semi-finals, have been locked in a battle with City, Aston Villa and Liverpool for most of the season in the race for fourth place. However, they have spent more time in the top four than any of the other three and Harry is certainly right when he says that they deserve it.

After the game at Manchester City which was won by a Peter Crouch goal in the eighty-second minute, Redknapp told the BBC,

“I thought maybe the goal wasn’t going to come and we’d go to Burnley with the extra point in the bag, which would have been a good situation, but this is perfect to finish it here. Most people probably thought we’ll come here and take a point but I picked the most attacking team you could ever wish to see. We came here to a hot atmosphere and got at them and we deserved the win. Crouchy was top class and led the line and he deserved the goal. I also think Jermain Defoe had his best performance away from home for some time.”

Redknapp was full pf praise for his squad and although he talked of possibly looking to bring in new faces, he was quick to point out the quality he already has,

“We’ll have to have a look in the summer and see where we can improve if we have to, but we’ve got good players here. I think there might be eight boys in the preliminary squad for England.”

He had particular praise for Ledley King,

“What a player, he’s got to go to the World Cup, but Michael Dawson as well. The two of them tonight were just fantastic. You’ve got to put them in your squad.”

The one person Harry didn’t praise was himself. That was left to others. When he took over at Tottenham in October 2008 they sat bottom of the league with just two points from eight games. He led them to a respectable finish that season and then took them to the FA Cup semi-final and qualification for the Champions League this time around.

Chairman Daniel Levy said,

“Harry’s done a great job and we’re very proud of him and the whole team.”

I know there are many people who don’t like Redknapp, particularly along the South coast, but nobody can deny the fantastic job he has done at White Hart Lane. He has achieved what looked to be an impossible dream and now has the chance to test his ability against the best in Europe. Most neutrals have a soft spot for Harry and it is great news that one of the English clubs in the big European competition will actually be managed by an English manager.