Harry Redknapp has called on Tottenham's fans to get behind Heurelho Gomes and insists that he has no plans to ditch the error-prone goalkeeper this summer despite his recent blunders.
Gomes had trouble convincing the White Hart Lane faithful that he deserved to be Spurs' number one after his first season at the club was blighted by a series of howlers. With the arrival of goalkeeping coach Tony Parks, the Brazilian quickly improved his performances, but a couple of mistakes in the last few weeks have raised doubts about his future at the club.
Redknapp, who has warned that Gomes' confidence could dip to an all-time low if the fans do not get offer their number one the same kind of support on Sunday, said: "He needs the crowd to support him. I don't want to hear ironic cheers when he makes his first save.It doesn't help his confidence or the team. It doesn't help anyone."
Gomes spilled Cristiano Ronaldo's routine shot to hand Real Madrid victory at White Hart Lane last month and the stopper's error also led to Frank Lampard's winner at Chelsea last week, although replays showed the keeper successfully scrambled back to prevent the ball from crossing the line.
Redknapp was disappointed to hear Spurs fans ironically cheering Gomes every time he made a save following Lampard's strike at Stamford Bridge, and he does not want the same thing to happen tomorrow when his team take on Blackpool at White Hart Lane.
He added: "The fans were fantastic here with Crouchy in the game after he got sent off. We need them to back Gomes. We need everyone to stick with him now and not just suddenly turn on him.
"We don't need it. It doesn't help us. It makes everyone edgy."
Tottenham supporters rallied around Peter Crouch after his costly sending off in the 4-0 defeat in the Bernabeu, and he replied by scoring two goals in his first game back to help the team beat Stoke 3-2.
Gomes' performance after Lampard's goal, which plunged Tottenham to sixth in the league, was far from assured. Redknapp insists that the 30-year-old will bounce back from his latest clanger though and says he has no plans to replace him with another keeper next season.
"I've never thought about getting rid of him," Redknapp said. "He is a great character, a lovely man, a fantastic fella and a top goalkeeper. He made a couple of mistakes but it's up to him now to come through that. He has been fine in training. He has to come out tomorrow and have a great game."
Source: PA
