HARRY REDKNAPP does not want to live the rest of his
life thinking If only
There cannot be any if onlys when you are a football
manager.
The career, for most, is too short. The profession, as we have seen
this season, is littered with corpses.
That is why Redknapp should take the Newcastle job. A millionaire
several times over, he doesnt need the money.
Sure, theres a lot of it some £20million over four years and
were all partial to a pound note.
But what he DOES need before he calls it a day is the knowledge
that he was given a chance to crack it at a big club.
Whatever we say about Newcastle and the lack of trophies over the
last 50 years, an average gate of 52,000 is compelling evidence
that this is no ordinary club.
To succeed at Newcastle, where so many have failed, will be a
challenge that will appeal hugely to Redknapp and his
self-belief.
Remember, this is not a man without an ego. He feels his success at
West Ham and Portsmouth (twice) entitles him to more credit than he
gets.
The old accusation that his achievements have only come at smaller
clubs rankles.
Then, of course, there is the further charge that he has never won
any significant silverware.
Well, they said the same about Kevin Keegan before he transformed
Newcastle from a club at the bottom of the First Division into one
of the Premier League elite.
Conversely, Tyneside was agog when Kenny Dalglish, the
Double-winning messiah from Liverpool, succeeded Keegan.
Look at his record, they said. Yet all that counted for
nothing.
The modern-day sceptics on the Gallowgate say Redknapp is too
similar to Sam Allardyce, just another journeyman with no real star
quality.
Its a type of football snobbism, very prevalent in this day and
age when aimed at managers who are considered a little
old-fashioned. Yet there was no more old-fashioned a manager or
man than Keegan.
You can only assume they have failed to notice the way Redknapp,
60, gets his teams playing proper football.
Except this deduction must be wrong seeing Pompey hammered
Newcastle 4-1 at St James Park not that long ago.
As Redknapp weighs up his options, he knows there are many reasons
why he should stay put.
He and wife Sandra have a wonderful home in Poole (when its not
being stormed by police at 6am) and a close network of
friends.
He also has a tremendous rapport with Pompey fans and acknowledges
they bit the bullet when they allowed him back in after his brief
stint up the road with the unmentionables.
But what is Portsmouths future? Talk of a new ground has been
going on for so long no one can be sure it will take place. And
Redknapp doesnt have the time.
Newcastle offers him a wonderful chance to prove his man-management
skills and ability as a coach are such they can even survive the
managerial graveyard that is St James.
Harry and the Geordies: What a rollercoaster ride that would be.
Get me a ticket.