Harry keen on England job

But Spurs tactician not thinking about England role right now

Last updated: 9th September 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Harry keen on England job

Redknapp: Focused on Spurs

I've always said if you're an Englishman, it would be hard to turn it down, because it's the pinnacle of your career

Harry Redknapp
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Harry Redknapp has admitted it would be hard to say to no England if they came knocking in 2012.

The Tottenham Hotspur manager heads the bookies' list to succeed Fabio Capello in the Three Lions hot-seat after the Italian confirmed he plans to walk away from his role after the 2012 European Championship.

Redknapp has denied claims that he is itching for the day when Capello quits his £6million-a-year job so he can take over the role.

But the Spurs boss is adamant that the next man in charge should be English.

Redknapp said of the prospect of managing his country: "Honestly, it's not something I sit at home and ever think about. I really don't.

"I've always said if you're an Englishman, it would be hard to turn it down, because it's the pinnacle of your career."

He added: "Why do the English lads waste their time doing their coaching badges and all the rest of the work if they're never going to get the chance to manage at the top level?

"I want to see an Englishman get the job - whoever it may be - and there are lots of lads out there who could do that job, I'm sure."

Opportunity

Redknapp hit out at the lack of opportunities given to English coaches.

"There are people out there in the lower divisions who could do my job, without a doubt," he said.

"John Still at Dagenham and Redbridge could do my job. [He] understands the game, fantastic on the game. [But] he never gets a chance to manage in the Premier League.

"There's loads of lads around like that, who just don't get the opportunity.

"I've been one of the lucky ones to get the chance to manage at the top level.

"If you've got good players, managing England wouldn't be that difficult. And we've got good players, so I'm sure somebody out there could do it."

The Spurs boss insisted it was impossible to predict this far in advance who the Football Association would turn to in 2012.

"2012? I look at my life and I worry about next week, to be honest," he said.

"Thinking about what's going to happen in two years' time is too far away for me to worry about.

"Who knows where we're going to be, what we're going to be doing in two years? You just never know."

Next Permanent England Manager Next Permanent Manager: Harry Redknapp 2/9

Comments (12)

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Steve H says...

for goodness sake, YES, YES, YES!!!! This is where we should have gone last time....

Posted 22:58 9th September 2010

James Green (Tottenham Hotspur fan) says...

it pains me to say it but harry would be my choice for england manager but his needs to keep his mouth shut as his under conract and as a job to do its at least two years away so a lot can happen in that time if tottenham dont have a couple of good seasons he might not even get it so i would say just worry about the job your got for now or he might not have job at tottenham

Posted 22:42 9th September 2010

Gary Nash (Sunderland fan) says...

no-way

Posted 22:39 9th September 2010

Stephen Rodbourne says...

so good and proper to hear a man speak from his heart , and so much commonsense , whether this great man gets the job or not his words are kind and secure and hopefully the younger lads will have an icon to follow on , you keep football living harry , thanks mate

Posted 22:32 9th September 2010

Eric Christian (Fulham fan) says...

Redknapp is disingenuous and is always the first person to twist Capello''s achievements as England manager to ensure Capello is in a no-win situation. Discounting the above, Redknapp is not good enough and his personality ill-suited to becoming England manager. With respect to him being not good enough although he has done an excellent job at Tottenham, his teams often lose the odd game against opposition they should beat. The recent defeat of Tottenham at home to Wigan was a perfect example of this. If he brought this level of inconsistency to the international game, where there is far less margin for error than in the Premier League, convinces me he would stuggle to guarantee his teams qualify for major tournaments let alone get past the quarter final stages. In terms of his temperament, you only need to consult youtube to see that under duress his reactions are completely inapporpriate. As England manager he will clearly be put under the microscope more than ever before. The recent example of where a sky journalist provoked a discusting foul mouth reaction from Redknapp simply by saying he was a "wheeler and dealer", suggests that Redknapp would crack under the scrutiny of being England manager. In conclusion the man is an excellent club manager, who would not be suitable to being England manager.

Posted 21:44 9th September 2010

Kevin Smith says...

The only reason Redknapp would want the England job is for the money, lets be honest here the only job he had where he had no money to spend was Southampton and they got relegated, he had bucket loads of money at Portsmouth and they only just avoided the drop, then he walked out to Spurs for money, and the same players he bought to portsmouth went down owing over 130million. So he ain''t the manager everyone makes him out to be. I know Spurs only had 2 points from 8 games when he took over but there was no way the squad he inherited was going to go down they just wanted to get rid off the then manager.

Posted 19:57 9th September 2010

Rich Field says...

Harry is the ONLY man who should get the job. But can any of us trust the idiots who run the English FA? Nope. Harry is the best man by far and I think we''d win the World Cup with him in charge. But I bet the FA mess it up, they always do.

Posted 19:28 9th September 2010

Reuben Thorne says...

I wanted Harry to get the job before Capello took over as I agree it should be an Englishman managing our national team. Being a Spurs fan I hope it is an Englishman, just not Harry! Hopefully he''ll be considered too old by 2012!!

Posted 19:23 9th September 2010

Jamie Smith says...

Before i start i will say im scottish so can''t really slate any teams.I think England need a good english manager,and redknapp is possibly only second to ferguson in the premiership,my opinion anyway.Redknapp again in my opinion knows more about english players,the english game,the english media,and the english fans than Capello ever will.

Posted 19:01 9th September 2010

Ashley Povey says...

hope harry would get the job would do a fantastic job as players would respect him he gets the best out of average players you can see that he always does well at bad teams turns them around (portsmouth spurs )good luck harry

Posted 18:25 9th September 2010

Steve Mullins says...

Forget it harry, that would be a disaster if harry got the job. What''s he ever won apart from a silly cup nobody else wants.

Posted 18:25 9th September 2010

Bob Bob (Sunderland fan) says...

great - no more games for Darren Bent then!!

Posted 18:13 9th September 2010
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