The Matt Lawton interview: How Tottenham's Niko Kranjcar became daddy of the midfield

20 March 2011 13:01
Not many players would admit to wanting their manager to drop them during a World Cup. But not many players have been through the experience Niko Kranjcar had to endure in Germany four years ago. [LNB]Playing in a Croatia side that followed defeat by Brazil with draws against Japan and Australia, thereby suffering the ignominy of first round elimination, must have been hard enough. But Kranjcar had an extra complication. [LNB]His father, Zlatko, was the coach. To say the Kranjcar family came in for a bit of stick back home would be something of an understatement. [LNB] Tottenham rookie: Kranjcar joined Spurs last summer and has impressed during his debut season at White Hart Lane [LNB]The nation was gripped by disappointment, not least because suchfailure had been so unexpected. They had qualified without a singledefeat, and after the success of the campaign the Croatians convincedthemselves they had a team to match the class of '98. [LNB]When it went wrong they turned on a father and his son amid accusations of incompetence and nepotism.[LNB] 'It was horrible because you feel for your father,' says Kranjcar.'Sometimes I would think, "Come on dad, don't put me in if it's goingto ease the pressure on you". I never said it to him. I knew hewouldn't have it. But I did think about it because it's a hardsituation to live with. [LNB]'It was disappointing. We played well against Brazil but lost, andthe two draws we then secured weren't enough to get us through. It wastough because when we got home much of the focus was on my father andmyself, and in the end my father had to go.[LNB]'Looking back, I still think we played some great football duringhis time in charge. We were undefeated in the qualifiers, which is agreat achievement. And in the World Cup we only lost to Brazil. Myfather's only competitive defeat as national team manager was toBrazil. Not a bad record.'[LNB] Father and son: Niko played for Croatia, who were managed by his dad, Zlatko[LNB]Sitting in an office at Tottenham's training ground this week,Kranjcar says he was perfectly comfortable working with his father. [LNB]'It was unusual but it didn't have the intensity of a clubsituation,' he says. 'I wasn't seeing him every day. I treated him likeI would treat any coach and he treated me like every other player.[LNB] 'It helped that we were playing good for much of the time, and italso helped that my team-mates always recognised me for the player Iam. Not who I was. My team-mates have always helped me.' [LNB]With Zlatko Kranjcar's departure came the appointment of SlavenBilic as national coach and the opportunity for Niko to prove that hedid not need his dad to get in the team. [LNB]'It turned a new page of the book for me,' says Kranjcar.'Becausenow I had to prove myself in the national team without my father. Whenthe new coach also picked me it gave me a lot of satisfaction. We hadanother good qualifying campaign, beating England to get playto theEuropean Championships.' [LNB]A man with a bag: A fashionable Kranjcar has overcome the challenges of playing for his father[LNB][LNB]Until then the whole nepotism thing had been a serious issue.Serious enough to all but end his time at Dinamo Zagreb, the club wherehis father remains a legend and the club he maintains is closest to hisheart.[LNB] It was a comment one of the coaches made to a Croatian newspaper -during a difficult two year spell between 2004 and 2006 and when theclub had seven different managers - that pushed Kranjcar over the edge.[LNB] 'Everyone was under pressure and the coach made a crack one day that his daughter wanted to play for Dinamo,' says Kranjcar. [LNB]'And I took that as a reference to the fact that my father had picked me for the national team. [LNB]'When I first broke into the senior team at Dinamo, it had gonewell. I was the youngest goalscorer at 16. And then I became the club'syoungest ever captain at 17. We won the championship. The next seasonwe won the Cup and the Supercup, only then losing the championship bytwo points.[LNB] 'The next season we had some success with the Under 21 nationalteam, and the club tried to buy everyone from that team. But it didn'twork at club level, and we finished fourth in the championship. Andproblems started to arise with the chairman and with the coaches. Someugly comments were made to the newspapers, in particular when my fatherstarted to pick me for the national team. [LNB]'Then, towards the end of the half season break, they announced to the players that they would have to reduce their contracts. [LNB]'I was already angry about some of the things that had been said andI came out and said that it was fine as long as everyone had theircontracts cut - from the chairman downwards. It wasn't just the faultof the players that we were doing badly. It was the whole club. Fromtop to bottom. I said it should be the same in victory or defeat. Andwhen I came back they wouldn't let me train with the first team and putme on the transfer list.' [LNB] International star: Niko Kranjcar has scored six goals in 45 appearances for Croatia [LNB][LNB]Kranjcar is a bright boy. A prodigiously gifted footballer, and formany observers Tottenham's finest player this season, but someone whoalso considered a career in business prior to securing a place in theteam at Dinamo. [LNB]He spent the first nine years of his life in Vienna, where hisfather was a player for Rapid, and received what appears to be anexcellent education at an American school. [LNB]He speaks English in a soft American accent, and with far morefluency, it has to be said, than the majority of his Englishteam-mates. [LNB]He is so comfortable with the language he even considered going tocollege in the States. Kranjcar says his parents also educated himwell. '[LNB]They taught me to make my own decisions,' he says, which brings usneatly back to what he did when Dinamo Zagreb informed him of theirdesire to sell.[LNB] 'I went to Hadjuk Split,' he says. It was the Croatian equivalentof Celtic to Rangers, Tottenham to Arsenal or Manchester United toManchester City. A move from Dinamo to their greatest rivals. But allthe more shocking because, again, he was the son of Zlatko, not justamong their greatest ever players but a former coach too.[LNB]Pompey favourite: Kranjcar won the FA Cup during his spell at Fratton Park [LNB] 'It was tough but in Split they made me feel wanted,' he says. 'Iwill always be a Dinamo supporter, because of my father and because ofthe time I enjoyed there. From nine until 16 I was in the youth team. Iplayed with Eduardo and Luka Modric. The club will always be in myheart. [LNB]'But I'm 19 and I have two options. A move to Russia or Hadjuk. Ichose Hadjuk, and when I signed for them 15,000 people turned up. Itfilled my heart and I don't regret it. We won the championship, thenational team qualified for the World Cup. It was great and it made mestronger as a person.' [LNB]It would seem he has always possessed such strength. For a start hewas strong enough to pursue a career in football when his father wassuch a hard act to follow. 'I did train at tennis as well and peoplesaid I was pretty good,' he says.[LNB] 'But I loved football, and my parents never put any pressure on meto play. I chose to do it and once you are on the pitch you are on yourown. There is nobody there to hold your hand.' [LNB]When he moved from Split to Portsmouth in the summer of 2006, he was most definitely on his own. [LNB]'I'd just turned down the chance to join Rennes and decided to stayat Split for another six months when the offer from Portsmouth camein,' he says.[LNB] 'I'd heard about the players they were recruiting - guys like SolCampbell and Andy Cole - and I'd heard about Harry Redknapp. This greatman manager and someone who knew the game inside out.[LNB] 'I'd also seen how the Premier League had become the best league inthe world. When I was a kid we used to have this TV programme thatshowed us the best matches from the big five leagues. Spain, Italy,England, Germany and France. Back then it was always Spain and Italythat were seen as the best. But the Premier League has overtaken them.[LNB] 'For me it was again a chance to prove myself, and it turned out tobe a great choice. I was in and out of the side for the first seasonbut I think the manager always had a plan for me and the second seasonwas perfect. The highest position the club had ever achieved.The FA Cup.' [LNB]Redknapp liked Kranjcar so much he bought him for a second time. [LNB]'I always wanted to come to a club with this kind of history and these kind of players,' he says. [LNB]'Tottenham is an exciting place to be. A club that has big goals.'The competition is intense here in England, but we genuinely believewe have the quality to achieve our objectives. We have a strong squad, and a lot of quality.' Kranjcar included. [LNB] Portsmouth players wait for wages AGAIN ahead of Kaboul's ?8m exitEidur Gudjohnsen snub leaves West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola feeling bitter and twistedInjured Spurs winger Aaron Lennon a doubt for World CupTOTTENHAM HOTSPUR FC

Source: Daily_Mail