Source: Daily_Mail
Martin Samuel: Harry's the man but even he can't work miracles
Whose half-time summary is this and which game is he analysing? [LNB]'I think he'll leave it for 10, 15 minutes, see how we go, and if it's not right I think maybe he'll bring Crouchie on, you know, stick the big man up there, keep piling it into the box, and see if we can make something happen there.' [LNB]Those who answered Mike Bassett, or even Dave Bassett, are way off course. Those who replied, 'Some knuckle-dragging tactical Neanderthal who should not be allowed anywhere near a sophisticated group of footballers', may be in for something of a shock, too. [LNB]As for the occasion, a Stoke City match obviously. Maybe a Europa League tie, one in which Tony Pulis has tried to get a bit too clever in the first half, suffered the consequences, and needs to go back to basics in search of an equaliser. Wrong again. [LNB]The game was England versus Germany at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and the speaker was Henry James 'Harry' Redknapp, the people's choice as next England manager. [LNB]What people? All people. Come one, come all.[LNB] If there really were any lingering reservations about the identity of the best English manager in the country, they evaporated around the time of Tottenham Hotspur's fourth first-half goal against Newcastle United on Saturday. [LNB]The mystifying fact Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy will not discuss Redknapp's contract extension until the end of the season is almost pushing him towards a swift Wembley coronation. [LNB]And what an England manager he would make. Loved by the players, utterly in tune with the nation, he gives the people what they want. Cry God for Harry, England and St George. [LNB]What could possibly go wrong? Well, this. Remember the analysis from the match with Germany? The question Redknapp was answering was: 'Would you make any changes right now?' Meaning him. Harry Redknapp. He replied as if talking for Fabio Capello, but the solutions were his own. Get Peter Crouch on and put it in the mixer.
