Big-money man: Manchester City saw off United with
a huge outlay of £45m for striker Carlos Tevez
Pressure? Real pressure? How about languishing four points
adrift at the foot of the Barclays Premier League and calculating
the cost of relegation with a lavish squad and a mammoth wage
bill?
'We were bottom of the league and the chairman hadn't slept for
a few weeks,' says Harry Redknapp. 'He just kept telling me, "We
can't get relegated, Harry, we mustn't get this club relegated". So
I helped him sleep by getting us out of trouble.'
Redknapp grins as he recounts the story ahead of tonight's game
at Manchester City, where a win for Tottenham will guarantee a
top-four finish and a ticket into the lucrative Champions League
for the first time.
The game is 'massive', he admits, but the Spurs manager is
training the heat on his opponents, a club with seemingly limitless
financial muscle who are itching to dominate the world. Their
impatience has seen them dispose of one manager this season.
'There's no pressure on us,' says Redknapp. 'We set out for a
top-seven finish so we've definitely exceeded expectations. There's
more pressure on them.
'If you'd asked me for a top five, I'd have put Liverpool in it
for sure - I thought they could win it this year after finishing
second - and I thought Man City could beat anyone. I thought they
could even be champions this season.
'Everybody in football knows it's only a matter of time before
they win the title. I think they'll win it in the next three or
four years. They're a powerful outfit with the owners they've
got.
'With the players people tell me they're trying to bring in over
the summer, they're going to put a team together to win the
championship. They probably will do. If you bring enough
world-class players, you're going to have a chance.'
Bidding war: City warned Spurs off a move for Craig
Bellamy, says Redknapp
If Redknapp's assessment of City is accurate, this game has
repercussions on the speed of their unstoppable progress. With the
added lustre of Champions League football, what is there to stop a
procession of top players beating a path to the City of Manchester
Stadium to pocket Europe's fattest pay packets and play in the
world's best club competition?
Redknapp revealed yesterday how Spurs had been bullied out of
their attempt to sign striker Craig Bellamy from West Ham last year
because City threatened to 'blow them out of the water' in their
efforts to sign midfielder Wilson Palacios from Wigan. Money
talks.
'I mean, Carlos Tevez, he cost £45million, didn't he,' says
Redknapp. 'That's what the whole deal came to, apparently. That's
why Manchester United didn't take him in the end. That's big, big
money? And obviously massive wages. But that's the level they're
at.'
The knock-on effect of this policy appears to be incessant
pressure on the manager. Roberto Mancini replaced Mark Hughes in
December and his future is uncertain, even if he finishes
fourth.
'That's up to the owners, ' Redknapp shrugs. 'It's fierce when
you think about it. Mark Hughes was doing fine. It's
difficult.'
Spurs can put the brakes on City by keeping them out of the top
four for another year and boosting their own interests: the endless
pursuit of neighbours Arsenal and expensive projects to build a new
stadium and new training ground.
'No one is walking around here thinking, "Cor, we can get in the
Champions League",' said Redknapp. 'It has never been mentioned.
I've not even spoken to the players about it. Hopefully it will
happen. If we can get in the Champions League next year, it would
be great for us. I'd be pleased to be a part of it. We'll give it
our best shot.
'But if you start thinking, "Am I going to make it?" and then
you don't make it, you will commit suicide in this game. You can't
get ahead of yourself. I can't get too up before it happens. Or too
low if it does not happen. I don't think the players think that
way. It's difficult to explain sometimes.'
Redknapp can afford to play it cool. He has transformed Spurs
from bottom of the Premier League to the brink of the Champions
League in 18 months and the £5m paid to release him from Portsmouth
will go down as one of Levy's best investments. Unlike Mancini, his
job and his popularity are safe.
He may go to Manchester fretting over the fitness of captain
Ledley King and goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes but he has assembled a
strong squad at White Hart Lane.
On Saturday his six outfield substitutes (Palacios, Aaron
Lennon, Eidur Gudjohnsen, Jermaine Jenas, Peter Crouch and
Sebastien Bassong) would have made any rival manager envious.
A win tonight and he will join a small band of English managers
who have appeared in the modern Champions League.
'What gets me excited?' Redknapp mused. 'My missus is still
trying to find the answer.'