Harry Redknapp: People should take notice of what I'm doing for the future of our managers

Living the dream: Harry Redknapp has enjoyed a thrilling ride in Europe with Spurs this season
11 April 2012

Win, lose or draw against AC Milan, Harry Redknapp still plans to be on the first tee at one of his favourite Dorset golf courses tomorrow morning.

And as he wanders the fairways, the Tottenham boss might reflect that his team's form in Europe this season will remind the most successful clubs of the talent of English managers.

Redknapp has dragged Spurs from the brink of the Championship to within striking distance of the Champions League quarter-finals in two-and-a-half years as manager.

Having revived Tottenham's fortunes, he is now intent on doing the same for his compatriots.

Redknapp is the first manager from this country to take charge of an English top-flight club's Champions League campaign since Sir Bobby Robson led Newcastle in the 2002-03 edition.

How Redknapp and his team have prospered on their first attempt at this competition. They finished top of a group containing Inter Milan, the reigning European champions, and now have an excellent chance to despatch Inter's city rivals, the seven-times winners Milan, who must at least match Tottenham's 1-0 victory in the first leg to have any chance of progressing.

Tottenham have been haphazard at times, notably during the opening 45 minutes of their away matches against Young Boys and Inter, but they have advanced in the competition with a style of football that is proving as effective as it is entertaining.

Redknapp's success increases his chances of being the Football Association's choice when Fabio Capello's tenure concludes but it is the perception of managers who have learned their craft in Britain that Redknapp wishes to change.

"Can what I've done help the cause of English managers? I would certainly hope so," said Redknapp.

"You would hope that the next time a big job comes up, the club in question might take a British manager.

"Hopefully this could start a resurgence. It would be nice if people would look at what has happened here and take notice. People think that managers are so clever but it's a load of rubbish.

"The game has never changed. It is about good players and getting the best from them.

"You knew that the top four this season would come from six teams, because they have the best players.

"There are lots of lads out there who could manage one of the big clubs very easily if they had the players to work with. It gives you a big chance.

"These people are every bit as good as foreign coaches, even better when it comes to working in this country, because they know exactly how football works here."

While Spurs's tie with Milan has brought them rapidly to the attention of European football, it is their domestic form that will ensure whether they are able to remain there.

Regular qualification for the Champions League is necessary for Tottenham to build on the work Redknapp and his players have already accomplished. A place in this competition gives Spurs the cachet to attract major players and the financial power to have a chance of recruiting them.

Yet so difficult is the Premier League that Spurs cannot bank on a top-four finish every season.

With a significant amount of money to be set aside for a new stadium, Redknapp believes it is vital that the club become more successful at developing their own players.

Of the current squad, only Ledley King has moved from the youth system to become a pillar of the first team. Redknapp was in charge at West Ham when Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole and Jermain Defoe were among the younger players but he has seen nothing similar at the club's Chigwell training ground.

"A big problem for Tottenham over the years is that we haven't produced players here," admitted Redknapp. "We've fallen way behind other clubs. The chairman [Daniel Levy] has spent a fortune on it but if we look at it, for whatever reason, the last big player was probably Ledley King.

"It can't be right and it's an area that has to improve. There are some decent kids here who have a chance and one or two will come through but it's been a long time since that has happened.

"There is nothing like having kids who are good enough to play in the first team and no one would give them a chance more than me if they were."

Spurs have a number of players on loan at Championship and League One sides but Redknapp said: "The kids go out on loan and very few of them have done particularly well. It's quite disappointing for us.

"When I went to West Ham, they were producing very few players but then suddenly we ended up with six kids who went on to play for England.

"That's unbelievable. That's what everyone hopes for but they've got to work hard at their game."

Hard graft is something that Redknapp accepts is necessary for a manager to remain on the road to the top of English football.

However, he could have turned his back on the game in this country, and its associated stresses, to double his money in Dubai.

Al Ahli made Redknapp a "life changing" offer last summer, one that made him pause to consider emigrating with his wife, Sandra.

Even at 64, though, Redknapp cannot resist the challenge of elite football. "In terms of lifestyle, it would have been fantastic, and maybe one day, who knows? But I doubt I'd have got the same satisfaction from the football," he said. "You'd miss working with top players every week.

"In the Premier League, it's difficult to switch off. It's always on your mind. We enjoy walking the dogs, and the only other interests I have are a game of golf and the horse racing, when I get the chance.

"However, other than that I don't really have any hobbies."

The clear sense is that, despite a management career spanning four decades, Redknapp still thrives on the pressure and the worries that accompany Premier League management.

Tomorrow, however, all he wants to worry about is a five-foot putt for victory on the 18th green - while wondering who his team might play in the last eight of the Champions League.

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