Only 30 Odd Days & 'Some Hours' Before 'Arry Hits The Sales
Friday, 28 November 08, 11:46 AM · Comments (37)
I've just got back from A&E. Normally the nurses are quite sympathetic towards self harmers but when I let slip my motivation was us being linked with Stuart Downing again the good will dried up quicker than you can say Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus.
Anyway, welcome a man who (to the best of my knowledge) has not been branded a timewaster by the NHS, guest columnist, Phillip Oliver...
The dust has settled on Harry's appointment and it is time to look ahead to the January transfer window. Redknapp has been called many things, but the tag he is most well known by is Wheeler dealer?
With the Tottenham transfer policy in his sole control, what sort of signings can we expect to arrive at the Lane?
Redknapp's reputation in the transfer market has undergone something of a transformation. He was known as a chancer in his West Ham days, with the infamous £1m signing of Dutch caravan enthusiast Marco Boogers offset by the more successful purchases of Paolo di Canio and John Hartson, the two players who did most to secure Harry's legacy at Upton Park.
This scattergun approach at West Ham he oversaw 134 transfers in seven years at a net cost of £6m seemingly justified his reputation as a manager who was as likely to sign a dud as he was a star, but he has since been rehabilitated as the boss with the most transfer market savvy.
Redknapp was just as busy in his first spell at Portsmouth, bringing in 44 players in two and a half years in charge, but he importantly lost his reputation for transfer howlers. Hammers fans remember the costly purchases of Florin Raducioiu, Paolo Futre and Joey Beauchamp, but Pompey followers credit Harry's promotion and subsequent survival in 2002 on the recruitment of Paul Merson, Eyal Berkovic and Lomana Lua Lua.
These signings reflect the key change in Redknapp's transfer policy ?the move towards buying established Premier League players who fell out of favour at their clubs. We only have to look at the recent Spurs players who packed their bags for the south coast. Pedro Mendes, Sean Davis, Noel Pamarot, Jermain Defoe and Younes Kaboul had varying degrees of good Tottenham service still in them, but found the allure of first team football too hard to resist. Redknapp specialised in is this regeneration of outcasts, guaranteeing his reputation as a manager who could work on a budget.
Sol Campbell, Nwankwo Kanu, David James, Glen Johnson, Sylvain Distin, Peter Crouch and Lassana Diarra - quality players recruited at good prices. It might appear that we should be worried that Harry will pursue a similar policy of big club leftovers, but a look down this list of transfer hits should appease us. Defoe, Diarra, Crouch and Sulley Muntari would not have headed for Portsmouth if it wasn't for Redknapp and his expert handling of big names suggests he can buy big.
We have always succeeded in attracting big names and with Harry in charge that task becomes even easier. He has the opportunity to have his post-Boogers buying policy defined by a major transfer coup ?given Harry's predilection for resigning players, let's just hope it isn't the unveiling of Sol Campbell!
Written by Philip Oliver, a Tottenham Hotspur supporter and sports writer who blogs about football betting at Betfair.
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cue levy releasing a statement very soon stating we will not be spending in the window. Can you imagine what would happen if daniel couldnt haggle somebody down by a mill or two?
Everyone knows we spend big and up goes the price.
i would like cover and two key positions sorted then thats it.
We need stability now
After a replacement for benny hill of course
I also think we will recoup more than we spend
Did i mention getting shut of benny hill
I hope he doesn't make wholesale changes. I am getting fed up of having a new 1st team every 6 months!! Hopefully he can appreciate that he has a good bunch to work with, puts a few of the fringe players out on loan and maybe brings in 2 or 3 new faces. If we have no option to buy Campbell at the end of the year loan, then sent him on his way and buy a new striker who wants to play for the badge. Maybe a CM who can tackle would be helpful too. Oh and maybe a CB/RB to provide cover for King/Woody/Corluka? Our defence will start to really be exposed against better European teams than the monkeys that we beat last night as we progress in the competition.
COYS & BIOYBDC!!!!
Reply to calebray:
cue levy releasing a statement very soon stating we will not be spending in the window. Can you imagine what would happen if daniel couldnt haggle somebody down by a mill or two?
Everyone knows we spend big and up goes the price.
i would like cover and two key positions sorted then...
Oh, and how could I forget, cover for Coco!!!! 
Its going being interesting, but im not getting to excited. I think Harry will bring in a couple to do a job but not many, but i wonder if Defoe will come back that will be something. Also Harry was talking about Beckham, in a statement is this true?
Reply to calebray:
cue levy releasing a statement very soon stating we will not be spending in the window. Can you imagine what would happen if daniel couldnt haggle somebody down by a mill or two?
Everyone knows we spend big and up goes the price.
i would like cover and two key positions sorted then...
William Gallas: ADay In The Life. 
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William Gallas: A Day In The Life
I am just coming out of the front door in the morning when I am confronted by a postal man. He seems very sure of himself, despite the fact that he is very young.
"Package here for a Mr Gallas," he says in a loud voice.
"Lower your voice when you speak to me," I tell him. "I have 69 caps for France. You have just one silly cap with 'Post Office' written on it."
"Er, right you are mate," he says. "Just sign here if you would."
I tell the man I am not his 'mate'. He is a very cheeky man. I tell him that too.
"Are you going to sign it or not, sir?" asks this man, who is nothing, a nobody, somebody whose name I do not want to demean myself by revealing, which is the next thing I explain to this Postal Delivery Worker Paul Jackson of the Totteridge and Whetstone Branch.
But he still stands there, holding out his little notepad thing. The arrogance of the individual amazes me. I think to myself that it is important here to show courage and leadership to the neighbours, some of whom are standing on their doorsteps now watching this situation.
One of them shouts: "Just sign for the package, you plum."
The neighbours respect me as I am a senior figure in the community.
"Yeah Gallas, you w*****," says the man next door, who looks up to me very much I know.
I decide to rise above the situation by running off to the end of the garden and sitting on the grass with my legs crossed.
This is the sort of dignity and standing firm skills that we older members of the community must show in the face of an arrogant postal worker. They are not scared of us, they come to the house to try and deliver letters.
The man, who cannot be more than 25 or 26 or 40, stands on the doorstep for a while. Obviously he has been shown to be foolish.
Eventually he comes down the garden. I am crying. He is not used to seeing a man brave enough to cry for what he believes in (that is to say, the correct way to deliver letters).
"Can you just sign for Mr Gallas's package mate? Only I'm knocking off in a minute and I've got to pick my kid up from the doctors," he says.
"Don't you know who I am?" I ask him. He says he does not care if I am Elvis Presley as long as I sign for the package.
I write my name. He leaves, defeated. I open the package. It is a dog mess. This is typical.
Can't wait!!! It's all going to be very interesting.
I just wonder what he could have done with Kaboul had he stayed??? He seems to think he can sort out Boateng.