Newcastle's lucky, lucky escape

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Newcastle's lucky, lucky escape

 

Harry Redknapp is neither a great entertainer or the second coming of Houdini. He's just a very average manager

Paul Doyle

 

This Harry Redknapp whom Newcastle have been courting because they think he's a devout attacker who will bring thrills and trophies to the Toon's tortured aesthetes - is he in any way related to the Harry Redknapp whose Portsmouth team have failed to register a single home goal in more than three months? That's some quality entertainin'.

 

The myth of Harry the Entertainer is as mystifying as all that Harry Houdini guff that polluted the airwaves two seasons ago. Back then, Redknapp was hailed as a magician because Pompey won six of their last 10 games to escape relegation by less than the width of their manager's hide; almost completely overlooked was the fact that Redknapp had got Pompey into that predicament in the first place, inspiring them to nine defeats in 10 matches soon after replacing the over-ridiculed (by lovable Harry as much as anyone else) Alain Perrin.

 

Also masked by the frothing maw of fatuous acclaim for the disingenuous Londoner was the simple truth. Pompey's upswing in results was primarily due not to their manager but rather to: a) a fluky run of fixtures that meant they met Sunderland when any semblance of resistance from Mick McCarthy's wretches had been removed by the knowledge that they were already down, and Middlesbrough and West Ham at a time when that pair chose to omit their best players to prioritise imminent FA Cup ties; and a huge cash injection from Alexandre Gaydamak.

 

Had that sugar daddy not suddenly parachuted into Portsmouth, Pompey would never have clambered above relegation rivals West Brom and Birmingham, who enjoyed no such serendipity. No, all the signs were that without that outrageous fortune, Redknapp would have marched a disjointed and dispirited squad straight to relegation - just as he'd done 12 months earlier with Southampton, who had only been a permanent presence in the top-flight for 27 years. Houdini? Hooey.

 

Since then, Redknapp has made a few canny recruits, mainly veteran defenders to whom his relaxed indulgence appeals. What the hungry-for-entertainment Mike Ashley should realise, however, is that either Redknapp's offensive signings have been poor or he has failed to harness their full potential. For a man who once brought Fredi Kanouté (and many, many duds) to Upton Park, his eye for strikers appears to have been badly affected by the south-coast sun.

 

Benjani Mwaruwari, bought for £4.1m, is tough and determined but he couldn't finish a bag of chips. He hit an uncharacteristic hot streak at the start of this season but, like Nwankwu Kanu's last term, it was never going to last. His run of one goal in the last 10 matches is a truer reflection of his ability. David Nugent was surely supposed to replace him, but the £6m splashed on him last summer is beginning to look like one of those extravagant follies people commit during their holidays. He's been comically awful on his few appearances in a 4-4-2, and manifestly miscast when asked to spearhead a 4-5-1 at Sunderland yesterday.

 

Sulley Muntari and John Utaka were excellent acquisitions, but neither has shown their skills with sufficient regularity this season. Inconsistency stained their club careers before they came to Fratton Park, of course, but Redknapp has so far been unable to correct those quirks, just as he's been unable to convince Muntari to curb his temper. An inability to convince talented players to overcome bad habits and persistent shortcomings is surely not what Newcastle need.

 

Ashley has apparently let it be known that he wants to entrust his club to a British manager. Quite why he would choose to systematically exclude the huge majority of attractive candidates on the irrelevant grounds of nationality is not clear, but if he really is determined to hire someone with the same passport as himself, then he should certainly look beyond Redknapp. Perhaps to serial high achiever Gary Johnson, whose carefully-assembled Bristol City side play a pleasantly slick, adventurous and successful style? Or maybe to Steve Coppell, whose cut-price Reading side finished above Redknapp's Pompey last season and also scored more. Mind you, even Bolton scored more than Pompey last season. Who were they managed by again?

[Tribal 0]

Can't believe he published a random smiley in the middle of an article.

[bawan 0]

True artical. Hes poop as a manager and always will be.

[wykikitoon 17071]

Smashing article tbh

[Rob W 0]

if we HAVE to get a British manager (and I think its a mistake) then Coppel is as good as any - he's tough, says nowt, runs a tight ship, makes some sort of purses out of no cash, and hi steams play attractive football

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To be fair to Redknapp, he has signed some good players, but the bit about him suddenly being labelled a great entertainer when it's not really true is spot on. That's why I was dead against him when it looked like he'd already signed.

[Guest alex]

if we HAVE to get a British manager (and I think its a mistake) then Coppel is as good as any - he's tough, says nowt, runs a tight ship, makes some sort of purses out of no cash, and hi steams play attractive football

Doesn't like the limelight though. Not sure he'd be up to it and don't think he'd want it. You're obsessed with Reading still I see :0