Harry Redknapp has gone to Tottenham. No-one saw it coming, and perhaps if I knew this would be the outcome, I might not have laughed as much when they lost to Stoke last week.
Where do we go next?
First of all, we have to face Fulham today. Harry has already confirmed that Tony Adams and Joe Jordan will be in charge for this game. When managers leave, the player’s reaction varies. It’s important that Tony and Joe pick a team that will give their all, in order to reassure the fans that everything will be alright. But it’s not all down to the players. We, the fans, need to get behind the players today. If we can ignore the fact that Harry has gone for just this game, then we can move on to thinking about the next manager.
After today’s game, we play Liverpool away and Wigan at home, before a weeks rest. The last thing we want for these games is disruption. If we can keep the familiar faces of Joe and Tony for these games, without chucking in a new manager, then we might have a chance of progressing unscathed through this period.
Who will manage us next?
There are many options. Tony Adams has had a spell as manager at Wycombe, and has certainly improved with Harry as his mentor. Tony will be a popular choice, but has he proved himself enough to manage at this level? In his Sky Sports News website interview, Harry said he hoped that Tony or Joe would become the next manager, and I’m sure they would be popular choices.
When Sol came to Portsmouth, he said that he wanted to manage Portsmouth after he’d finished his career here. Is this an option? Is it too early? Is it too risky to put an inexperienced player in?
Harry’s own son, Jamie Redknapp, would certainly make a very good manager. Unfortunately, he’s on way too much money at Sky Sports. Whenever he covers a Pompey match, he knows everything about our team, and personally I believe he could emulate his father. Like Campbell, he also has no experience.
Avram Grant has been mentioned, and he was at Pompey before his well publicised move to Chelsea. He didn’t do a bad job at Chelsea, but his signings weren’t exactly great and he doesn’t seem like the ideal person to keep us in the top 7.
Another person mentioned has been Gus Poyet. He has been sacked by Spurs, without doing much wrong, and could perhaps be given a chance to show off his managerial credentials, rather than assistant managerial ones.
As far as experienced managers are concerned, Keegan and Allardyce are both unemployed. Personally, I wouldn’t like to see either of them at Fratton. Keegan couldn’t save Newcastle, how could he save us, and Allardyce’s style of play doesn’t appeal to me, and I believe it would go against what Harry has built here.
Despite seeming like a long-shot, I think that Phil Brown would do well at Portsmouth. He has taken players that have seemed past it, and turned them into gems. Now where have we seen that before?
Whatever happens managerial wise, as Rug said, ‘We MUST keep Jordan though – He’s the only one who stayed when everyone else went to Scum and we need at least one constant in place.’
Will our players stay?
This depends on how much financial trouble we are in. In an ideal world, the fans would get behind the players and we will keep progressing under the new manager, and the players will see that we have potential, and will stick together as a unit. Unfortunately, the rumours are that we will need to sell no matter what, so who will go and who will stay?
Jermain Defoe was brought to the club from Tottenham by Redknapp. Not only has he proven that he is an amazing striker, but now Spurs are in trouble, with only one slightly proven striker, and one unknown Russian striker on their books. It looks like Redknapp may well get his man again, and whether we gain a profit on Jermain-man depends on how much trouble we are in. Luckily for us, he stayed loyal to Spurs beforehand, so will perhaps stay loyal this time?
Lassana Diarra is undisputedly one of our best players, if not the best. He said weeks after he joined, that we were merely a stepping stone. Despite knowing this, many of the fans will hope that we have done enough to make Lassie rethink what he has said. There are rumours that Diarra is contracted to only leave for a top 5 club, but how true these rumours are, I have no idea. If this is the case, then hopefully Diarra will stay, as the only club who have made interest known are Spurs. This probably won’t be the case, and if he does go to a top 5 club, let`s hope its Hull…
Others, such as Crouch, James, Kranjcar and Johnson will also be in demand, so let’s hope whoever does take over will gain the players and fans trust, and we can keep hold of our players, and our future…
Written by jbaker.
The views within this article are the views of the individual who wrote and submitted this piece, sometimes solely theirs. They are not necessarily shared by the Vital Pompey Site Journalists.
