What Next for Spurs?

Mawande says...

The managerial merry-go-round has been in full motion in the Barclays Premier League. While there have been some expected sackings in the form of Alex McLeish at Aston Villa, the more surprising ones have been those of Kenny Dalglish at Liverpool and to a greater extent Harry Redknapp at Tottenham.

Harry has been fantastic at Spurs. He proved that he was indeed a top quality manager. He built a solid team, taking them from the bottom of the league to challenging for Champions League positions. In total he oversaw three top 5 finishes in his four years at White Hart Lane. Whoever assumes Redknapp’s old job will have a tough task on his hands coz Uncle ‘Arry is gonna be a really hard act to follow.

'Arry: "See what you lot's gonna do wifout meh."

Firstly, Tottenham have to hire a top class manager and give him a lot of money to spend on new players. The charm of the Redknapp era was that Redknapp is a very popular football man and able to attract some very high quality signings at bargain prices like Rafael van der Vaart from Real Madrid at only 8 million pounds.  This was an underrated attribute of Harry’s and the next manager will have to be a top manager or else he will struggle to bring in signings that will excite the Tottenham fans. The only quality signings that Spurs will be able to attract will cost a lot of money and the board will have to arm the new manager with an inordinate amount of money during the off season.

Harry Redknapp’s departure from Tottenham will put a smile on the faces of the vultures who have been circling around Tottenham’s best players. Playmaker Luka Modric was courted by Chelsea for a while last European summer and Manchester United has been touted as a possible destination for him this time around. Other players who could see their way out are Gareth Bale who continues to raw the attention of Barcelona and Real Madrid as well as van der Vaart who has been linked with a move to Schalke. The future of Emmanuel Adebayor at Spurs will also be thrown in doubt. The squad as a whole will probably receive a major shake up. Who know s what the next manager will feel about 41 year old Brad Friedel, someone who Redknapp brought in just a year ago, being the number 1 keeper at the club. And what of the chronically injured Ledley King who has was rated highly by Harry and given every opportunity to play when fit. A lot of futures will be on the line at Tottenham. It will also be interesting to see what happens to the players that Harry Redknapp moulded into world beaters such as Sandro, Benoit Essou-Akoto and Kyle Walker.

I, for one, think that Harry Redknapp’s exit was a tad premature. He seems like someone who was largely popular at the club and I don’t think there will be too many players who will be happy to see the back of him. With Redknapp’s sacking in mind, I also don’t think Tottenham will reach the lofty heights that they did under him. I also foresee a mass exodus of players who signed for Tottenham largely because of Redknapp’s influence and the opportunity to work with him. The reality of it is that Tottenham aren’t a big club and with Redknapp they were able to punch well above their weight and unless big money comes into the picture, it is something they won’t be able to do for much longer. Depending on which side of the window you’re staring into, the future either looks very interesting or very scary for Tottenham.

The Best Sledges

Here's something light and fun(ny).

I was browsing through the net when I stumbled on some cricketing chirps that I thought were hilarious and figured I would share some. Here goes:

Rodney Marsh to Ian Botham in an Ashes match: “So how’s your wife and my kids?” Ian Botham’s reply – “The wife’s fine. The kids are retarded !”

England player Jardine complained that one of the Australian players called him a bastard. Australian captain Bill Woodfull turns to his team, points to Jardine and asked “Which one of you bastards called this bastard a bastard?”

Viv Richards hit Merv Hughes for four consecutive boundaries in one over. Merv stops halfway down the pitch, farted loudly, and said to Viv: “let’s see you hit that to the boundary!” Viv was dumb-founded

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Michael Atherton, during his first tour of Australia, stood his ground during a vociferous appeal for a catch behind. At the end of the over, wicketkeeper Ian Healy walked by, calling Atherton a "----ing cheat". Very politely, Atherton shot back: "When in Rome, dear boy."

Australia fast bowler Merv Hughes was never short of a word. During a 1989 Test at Lord's, Hughes said to Robin Smith after he played and missed: "You can't ----bat". Next ball, after Smith hit Merv to the fence, the batsman replied: "Hey Merv, we make a fine pair. I can't ----ing bat and you can't ----ing bowl."

Hughes and Smith shared some humourous times together. On a day of plays and misses for Smith, he of the mighty moustache declared: "Mate, if you turn the bat over, you'll see the instructions on the back."

Little-known England batsman James Ormond makes this list. Upon his arrival at the crease during a Test match in 2001, Ormond copped grief from Mark Waugh. "---- me, look who it is. Mate, what are you doing out here? There's no way you're good enough to play for England." Quick as you like, Ormond said: "Maybe not, but at least I'm the best player in my family."

Warne to Paul Collingwood after England's Ashes success of 2005: "You got an MBE, right? For scoring seven at The Oval? That's embarrassing."

Daryll Cullinan v Warne: As Cullinan was on his way to the wicket, Warne told him that he had been waiting two years for another chance to humiliate the South African. The Proteas batsman's response? “Looks like you spent it eating."

 One more for good measure:

New South Wales rugby league forward Paul Gallen said before a State of Origin match that he hated Queensland "times a thousand". The Maroons' response?  "Well, we hate New South Wales times infinity, no returns."

I hope you enjoyed that. What are some of the best chirps you've heard of? Share with us.

Skyler wrote some of this and lifted the rest from various internet sources. Happy?