Can Harry now fix Europe's recession?
Harry Redknapp has taken seven points in his first seven days as Tottenham manager
"It's always been a dream to have my final challenge in Europe," said Harry Redknapp after his shock move on Saturday night. "I've done all I can here and the club have been brilliant. After beating Bolton and Liverpool and getting a point against Arsenal I've taken Tottenham as far as I could, but I wish them all the best for the future."
Redknapp's stunning move to become president of the European Central Bank came after a week in which the bank's directors watched Sky Sports and Setanta and concluded that 'Arry was the man to pull the continent out its recession.
"It's seems there's nothing he can't do," gushed one source close to the ECB. "To come back from two goals behind at the Emirates with a few minutes left shows his man-management skills.
"If he can make David Bentley look as good a player as he seems to think he is, solving the recession should be easy," added the source.
Credentials
Redknapp's first move will be the streamlining of the ECB's management structure. Out are the directors who Redknapp felt were causing more problems than they were solving; replacing them are media pundits who have proved their credentials on television with George Lee top of Redknapp's wish-list.
"I'm the one who sets the interest rates -- the buck stops with me," Redknapp is understood to have told his bosses as a pre-requisite to his appointment. Being addressed as 'gaffer' by every European prime-minister is also written into his contract.
The former Bournemouth, West Ham, Portsmouth, Southampton, Portsmouth and Tottenham manager dismissed suggestions that he could walk away from the banking challenge should a task such as solving world poverty become available.
"At 61, I don't have the energy for three different jobs in the space of 10 days," he insisted. "This was once a great bank -- a sleeping giant if you like -- but it has been struggling recently and I hope I can bring it back to former glory. We'll just be concentrating on the next three (percentage) points and go from there."
After bringing Tottenham to within a mere two points of the 17th-placed team in the Premier League following the draw against Arsenal and victory against Liverpool, Redknapp was afforded the freedom of the Spurs half of North London but, according to his son Jamie, Redknapp's decision won't affect the thousands who are expected to line the streets around White Hart Lane.
"He's been fantastic. Fantastic," said Jamie, who also made a shock switch last night from Sky Sports to the Bloomberg studio. "I know people are going to say I'm biased but, for me, I feel, in my opinion, he's been absolutely top-drawer, first-class, different-class since he's been at Spurs. Fantastic."
Redknapp has dealt with tight budgets before and has also helped a number of European economies in the past with the £1m paid for Marco Boogers and £2.4m for Florin Raducioiu during his time at West Ham, all providing a boost to the coffers of their countries.
Yet the callers who flooded the hotline to the pilot 'You're on CNN' show had nothing but praise for Redknapp.
"I'm definitely gonna be able to afford my next mortgage repayment now Harry's in charge," opined Mark from Exeter.
Ray from Watford felt it was "about time those fat cats were sorted out -- and 'Arry's the man to do it" while 15-year-old Sam from Chigwell felt he would persuade the rest of Europe to ditch the euro and adopt sterling as the continent's single currency. "Well, 'e's gonna show 'em, innit," added Sam.
Redknapp was also linked with jobs to discover how figs get into figrolls and finding, then signing, the Loch Ness monster to play centre-forward but the lure of testing himself in Europe as another "final challenge" proved too strong.
"It's a big job but one I couldn't turn down," Redknapp told the assembled hordes of smiling reporters. "The £83m Spurs got in compensation should help them sign a few more players of the calibre of Heurelho Gomes and Darren Bent."
Positive
A furious Daniel Levy hit out at Redknapp's decision, however, as the positive PR wave that he had been coveting for seven years suddenly disappeared.
"There's no loyalty in football anymore," said Levy after watching his seventh appointment since 2001 leave the club. "We were even going to name our new ground the 'Harry Redknapp Stadium' after the last two results but now we might just name a stand after him."
He added: "We're not going down the road of foreign managers again because mistakes were made by the club as a whole over that policy. We want another wheeler-dealer, popular with the press who has proved himself capable of managing a mid-table Premier League club.
"Anyone got Sam Allardyce's number?"
True but useless
Robbie Keane's hoodoo over his former clubs is finally over. The Ireland skipper had scored every time he played against one of his former clubs until Saturday when he was substituted against Spurs. Keane has now gone over 700 minutes in the Premier League without a goal for Liverpool.
Stoke's two goals against Arsenal mean they have now scored 13 in the Premier League of which, Rory Delap has had a hand, well two hands actually, in seven and a foot in one. Delap's only goal came in their victory against Tottenham, but with Stoke having an average height of over six feet, it can't be long before some team decides to boot the ball out for a corner rather than risk stopping one of Delap's missiles.
ARSENAL have dropped 13 points against teams that were either in the Championship or the bottom half of the Premier League last season. The defeat against Stoke adds to that against Hull and Fulham as well as draws against Tottenham and Sunderland.
TONIGHT will be Shay Given's 450th appearance for Newcastle. His debut came 11 years ago in a victory against Sheffield Wednesday as part of a squad that included Stuart Pearce and Peter Beardsley.
- Aidan O'Hara
