From the Standard:
http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/foo...ngland-cause-says-harry-redknapp-8559999.html
Say he should have read his contract properly. I thought he couldn't read at all
http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/foo...ngland-cause-says-harry-redknapp-8559999.html
Say he should have read his contract properly. I thought he couldn't read at all
Harry Redknapp says he would reject any future offer to manage England after claiming he lost out on the opportunity because of his “crazy” contract at Tottenham.
It was widely expected the Football Association would attempt to prise Redknapp from White Hart Lane when Fabio Capello stepped down as England coach in February last year.
As revealed by Standard Sport, Spurs moved swiftly to offer Redknapp a new four-year deal to ward off any interest. But, as the club’s season gradually unravelled, negotiations with chairman Daniel Levy broke down amid concerns from owner Joe Lewis over Redknapp’s management style.
The FA have spent vast sums hiring and firing past England managers and perhaps partly concerned by a clause in Redknapp’s contract demanding a compensation payment in the region of £10million should he depart, Roy Hodgson was instead appointed to succeed Capello.
Spurs then parted company with Redknapp last June after missing out on Champions League qualification.
“I wouldn’t take it [the England job] now, no, not now, not in the future,” said Redknapp, who opted against taking charge of Ukraine’s national team to join Queens Park Rangers last November following a tumultuous period in his career during which he was cleared on two counts of tax evasion in February.
“That was my time, really, if I was going to get it. Last year, there were a lot of things that went against me surrounding that massive contractual clause. People will always deny that is the reason, the FA couldn’t say that and I won’t say, but it didn’t help me.
“I had such a badly loaded contract it was crazy, in Tottenham’s favour. That’s what you get for not reading your contract properly.
“It was a massive amount that someone would have had to pay to get me out of it. If they sacked me it wasn’t so massive and that was a bolt out of the blue, a shock, I genuinely never saw it coming.
“I went to a dinner with Daniel [Levy] at Christmas. He took all the staff out and he made a speech, which isn’t Daniel-like. I was embarrassed the way he spoke about me.
“Kevin [Bond] and Joe [Jordan] said ‘He doesn’t show his feelings but he certainly showed his feelings towards you today, Harry’. There were other directors there, months later I was gone . . . quite amazing really.
“Was it Levy who cut the cord? It was other people, the owner of the club [Lewis] that decided.”
After leaving Spurs, Redknapp received offers to manage in the Middle East but he was desperate to continue his career in England. However, the former Bournemouth, West Ham, Portsmouth and Southampton boss has ambitions to work overseas.
He told the latest edition of Twentyfour7 Football magazine: “I’d just enjoy a dream job, maybe one day. Although time is running out to manage abroad, I’d still like to do that. love watching Spanish football on Sky, or even Russia or Dubai, Abu Dhabi: I’d enjoy them for a holiday, a final retirement job somewhere hot.”
