Harry comes out fighting after draw

10 November 2010 07:13
Harry Redknapp has hit out at referee Howard Webb and the Tottenham boo boys after watching his side draw 1-1 with Sunderland on Tuesday night.[LNB] Webb was at the centre of the two most controversial incidents in the game at White Hart Lane, as Spurs made it four Premier League games without a win.[LNB]The official booked David Bentley for diving in the box when the midfielder went down under a challenge from Boudewijn Zenden.[LNB]He also elected only to book visiting captain Lee Cattermole for a studs-first over-the-top tackle on Luka Modric.[LNB]Spurs boss Redknapp said of the penalty incident, which occured when the game was still goalless: "It was a penalty, a blatant penalty, wasn't it? I just watched the replay of it.[LNB]"How he (Webb) can book him...[LNB]"He's not got anything against Tottenham or anybody else but it's how he saw it.[LNB]"I've never been one for criticising referees; it's never been my game.[LNB]"But it was a blatant penalty tonight.[LNB]"If you get the penalty, it could make a big difference."[LNB]He added of the tackle by Cattermole, who has earned two red cards already this season: "I don't know what he does other weeks; I'm only interested in that tackle today and it was a bad tackle in my opinion.[LNB]"Could have broken his leg easily.[LNB]"He's (Modric) got some bad marks on his leg but he was lucky he didn't break his leg.[LNB]"He (Webb) has to understand the difference between going over the top of the ball and playing the ball.[LNB]"It just sounds like I'm criticising him.[LNB]"Two key decisions I felt that weren't right but that's how it goes."[LNB]Redknapp also chastised the Tottenham fans who booed at the final whistle just a week after cheering their team to the rafters in the club's historic Champions League win against Inter Milan.[LNB]He said: "What have they got to moan about? What they see here and what they've seen here.[LNB]"We couldn't have done any more tonight; we couldn't have tried any harder."[LNB]Bemoaning his injury problems, he added: "At the end of the day, you've got (Aaron) Lennon, you've got (Jermain) Defoe, you've got (Ledley) King and you've got (Michael) Dawson - you've got key players missing.[LNB]"I couldn't come in and say we were crap or we didn't play well.[LNB]"We worked our socks off."[LNB]And in a jibe laced with irony, he said of the supporters: "They've had it so good over the years, you see.[LNB]"When you keep winning league championships every year, you get upset when you don't win."[LNB]Wednesday night's game saw Rafael van der Vaart maintain his remarkable record of scoring in every home game since joining Spurs with a trademark 64th-minute finish.[LNB]But a horrible mix-up between William Gallas and Younes Kaboul gifted Asamoah Gyan an equaliser just three minutes later to leave the home side four points adrift of the top four having played a game more.[LNB]Sunderland boss Steve Bruce said: "We made hard work of it in the first half. "Let's not take anything away from Tottenham, they're a very, very good team.[LNB]"The one thing we tried to do in the first half was stop their midfield dominance.[LNB]"To be fair, it didn't work, so we changed it second half."[LNB]Bruce hailed goalkeeper Craig Gordon, playing his first match of the season and centre-halves Titus Bramble and Michael Turner.[LNB]He also singled out Nedum Onuoha, who became the latest Premier League right-back to keep the in-form Gareth Bale quiet.[LNB]"Nobody will run away from Onuoha, he does the 100 metres in just over 10 seconds," he said.[LNB]Bruce added of the penalty incident: "I haven't seen it on any TV. Howard Webb was right there."[LNB]But he was adamant on the Cattermole challenge, saying: "I thought the tackle was a fair one.[LNB]"For me, he plays the ball. And, course, when you go to ground, you take the man as well.[LNB]"It's gone out the game unfortunately."[LNB]Bruce also pointed to decisions he felt that went against Sunderland, arguing Van der Vaart had handled the ball for his goal and that Heurelho Gomes might have been sent off for tripping Steed Malbranque.[LNB]"He was the last man, wasn't he?" he said.

Source: Team_Talk