Israel Saria
Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp believes his side breaking into the top four of the Premier League is good for the English game.
Peter Crouch‘s header eight minutes from time saw Spurs win 1-0 at top four rivals Manchester City and secure their place in the qualifiers at the start of the next campaign.
A delighted Redknapp, shortly before being soaked in water by his celebrating players, said: “I think it was important for English football that someone got in outside of the usual four.
“To be honest, at the start of the season Manchester City were the only team I could possibly see breaking in. But then I couldn’t see who would drop out either. I thought Liverpool were going to be very strong this year, having lost only two games the previous season. And, realistically, the best I could see for us was a place in the top seven.
Redknapp took over at Spurs in October 2008, after predecessor Juande Ramos led the team to a disastrous start, earning just two points from their first eight league matches, and the 63-year-old drew attention to the turnaround that has taken them to the Champions League in little more than 18 months.
“It’s great for the club,” he added. “When I came here I think (Spurs chairman) Daniel Levy was scared they were going to get relegated. That’s why they made the change (sacking Juande Ramos) after eight games; it was early in the season but they had only two points at the time and Daniel was afraid we were going to be in a relegation battle and we were for a lot of that year. It took us a long time to get out of it, so to be where we are now is a great achievement.”
The former Portsmouth boss also rates this achievement as greater than leading Pompey to the FA Cup in 2008.
Redknapp said: “It’s even better than winning the Cup. The Cup you can win with some lucky draws. You all know that if you can get some nice draws, three or four wins and you are there. But I think this a better achievement.”
Eurosport
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