For the week that’s in it, and seeing as it’s transfer deadline day, we have to give our Hero of the Week award to the one and only Harry Redknapp.
By Adrian Collins
He’s Harry Houdini, he’s ‘Arry, he’s the wheeling and dealing Del Boy of the Premier League, and the man who seems to be able to drive around for a seemingly never-ending amount of time with his windows down.
Harry was also a former player who made nearly 150 appearances for West Ham and over a hundred for Borunemouth (as well as a quick stop off in Seattle for a while) before moving into management and making his name as the great escape artist who could rescue your club no matter how bad the situation was.
That certainly seems to be the reason he’s in charge at his latest job at Queens Park Rangers as he hopes to secure their Premier League survival with a few important signings before the day is out.
Redknapp began his managerial career at Bournemouth, and after seven years there, he moved to West Ham United, where he wasn’t a fan of being hit by a ball in the head (if you remember that particular incident). There, he oversaw one of the club’s most successful periods in recent memory, with some great youth talent coming through the ranks such as Rio Ferdinand, Joe Cole and Michael Carrick…ever heard of them?
He also brought his nephew through the ranks, a little known player who goes by the name of Frank Lampard. Harry was definintely right about him when he made his prediction that Frank might have a better career on the cards than one Scott Canham and our own Matt Holland:
We also know his son Jamie, who wasn’t a terrible player either, and his son’s wife, Louise Rednkapp. What a Christmas dinner that must be at the old Redknapp place…
Harry brought some great success to Portsmouth, saving them from relegation in his first season, and guiding them to their highest league finish since the 1950s, as well as grabbing an FA Cup for his troubles along the way, bringing success to the club for the first time in 69 years.
After that, he moved to Spurs, where he had trained as a youngster, and continued his successful run after taking over with them languishing at the bottom of the league. He qualified them for the Champions League in his second season and won the manager of the year award, taking the club to the quarter-finals of the competition.
After failing to agree terms on a new contract with Spurs, Harry took a break for a few months before joining QPR, and has started in great form, slowly but surely turning around the fortunes of the Loftus Road club.
And of course, he really comes into his own at this time of year before the transfer window slams shut on his fingers as he reaches for one crazy deal after another. You get the feeling he sees today as his Christmas morning, gives the chairman a list, and waits to what’s sitting under the tree after a series of agents have come sliding down his chimney in the night.
He gives great interviews all throughout the day from the window of his car, he seems to have no limit to his free time, and he’s always got a great bit of banter to have with the lads in the press, which makes him so popular amongst their ranks.
So whether you love him or you hate him, you have to love the way Harry gets the job done, and we can’t wait for the 31st of January every year to put on our slippers, put our feet up and munch into the popcorn as we wait to see what Harry’s been saying, who he thinks is “triffic” and how much of his chairman’s money he’s going to spend.
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