Dubai: Managing a top six Premier League club is easy and you’ve got to be some kind of fool to mess it up, according to former Tottenham coach Harry Redknapp.
Speaking to Gulf News at Jumeirah Golf Estates on Thursday, where he was playing in the Swing Against Cancer Golf Series finale, he said: “I think people get carried away with coaching and how great coaches are.
“At the end of the day it’s about good players and if you have good players it’s easy.
“We can all set teams up, it’s not difficult. The top six teams are there because they’ve got the best squads. It doesn’t matter if you change the manager they will still be top six,” he said, naming Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham, in that equation.
“I haven’t seen many great coaches, I’ve just seen people with reputations,” he added. “If you walk into a top six club you’ve got to be some kind of fool to mess it up.”
The 70-year-old’s views could be seen as a dig at Jurgen Klopp, whose Liverpool side are currently ninth in the table. It also questions the usually-lauded contributions of Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho at City and United, not to mention that of Mauricio Pochettino at Redknapp’s old club Spurs.
Asked if Redknapp’s own contributions at Tottenham were also overblown, where he reached the quarter-final of the Champions League and twice finished fourth between 2008 and 2012, he said: “Yeah, for sure. Everyone says I took them from the bottom of the league, but they should never have been down there.
“They had good players, but just got off to a bad start. When I went there, I took over a good team with Gareth Bale and Luka Modric. It wasn’t difficult and it’s not difficult now.”
After being sacked by Championship side Birmingham last month, ageing Redknapp, who was overlooked for the England job in 2012, said he might not get another chance in management, but he rescinded that statement on Thursday.
“I’ve said many times before that this is my last job, but you never know. Something comes up of interest and you go again, so I shouldn’t really be saying never. Someone might ring me up with something that interests me and if it does, I will look at it.
“Management has been in my blood now for so many years and I miss getting up in the morning and going to work. I’m not one for laying around and taking it easy. I love being involved in football and I will miss it.
“I’ve been lucky, had a great time and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. I’ve been very fortunate to do something I love,” he added.
“There’s been lots of lads around that have been every bit as clever as me, or cleverer, who haven’t had the opportunities I’ve had. So no, I don’t look back and think I could have had that. People say I should have had the England job but I don’t hold grudges or regrets, that’s life, you move on.”
