Source: SKY_Sports
Redknapp - I've not gambled
Harry Redknapp insists his transfer dealings at Tottenham have been based on solid reasoning and not gambling.
The Spurs boss says he would not tolerate a director of football forcing unproven foreign imports on him.
Instead, he has chosen players who he knows can perform in the Premier League since he took over at White Hart Lane a year ago.
The Spurs boss said: "I brought players in that weren't gambles - Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe and Robbie Keane.
"I knew what they could do, what they were like and what people they are. Wilson Palacios had played in the Premier League, so he wasn't a gamble either."
He added: "You have to stand and fall on your own judgement, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
"If someone had just bought me a midfield player and I found out he couldn't pass the ball from A to B, I would be saying, 'What chance have we got here, look at this c**p he's brought in'.
"Of course, with players, you sometimes have to take chances, but I haven't had to here. All the players we have brought in here I knew. They weren't gambles.
"I was also interested in other players before I got Crouchie. I was interested in Craig Bellamy, who has done well, and Richard Dunne.
"They were not gambles, for they were people you knew could do it in this country."
Ledley King's contract finishes at the end of the season and Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has opened talks about taking up the option to extend it for another year.
Redknapp hopes the club can keep the defender, who has spent his entire career at White Hart Lane.
He added: "Daniel will talk to me about it but I wouldn't be involved in what deal he might get.
"But Ledley is a big part of this club, as a player and a person.
"He played 25 or whatever games last year, a good quota. If we can get 20-odd games out of him this year, then he will be more than worth his money in my opinion.
"He is a kid that has come through the youth team, a good example to everybody here, so I would want to keep him."
