As a self confessed Harry hater, it irks me greatly that some fans seem to think that AVB is having success on the back of Redknapp’s squad. There are obviously some points to clear up with this thinking.

In the beginning I was extremely wary having Redknapp as manager, a man that had never managed a top premier league/first division team, often flirted or achieved relegation and some would say, being the catalyst for the teams he managed to suffer financial difficulties. I was never confident in his purchases and because of his home grown reputation and lack of a Europe wide network, never happy about the players that were linked to him.

The notion that AVB is living off of Harry’s squad is a myth, it was and always will be Jol’s squad. Harry came into a team low on confidence having 2 points from 8 games (they should etch that on his gravestone) and bottom of the league. Harry managed to make changes in personal and moral and managed the team into finishing 8th that season. What some fans seem not to accept, is the squad that Harry inherited was mostly the team that finished 5th twice under Jol, and should have finished 4th if wasn’t for a dodgy lasagne cooked by a gooner (allegedly).

Harry inherited a team that won the Carling Cup and finished 11th. Harry signed 26 players (97m) in his 4 years in charge and sold almost all of them. Ramos was hamstrung by the sales of Keane and Berbatov at the beginning of the 08/09 season so all Redknapp did was repurchase Keane and Defoe who was sold by Jol the season before.

Lets have a look at these purchases and I’ll let you make your own mind up…

2011/12 Ryan Nelsen Blackburn Rovers Jan-12 free

2011/12 Louis Saha Everton Jan-12 free

2011/12 Scott Parker West Ham United Aug-11 £5,000,000

2011/12 Emmanuel Ade Manchester City Aug-11 On Loan

2011/12 Yago Falqué Juventus Aug-11 On Loan

2011/12 Souleymane Coulibaly Siena Jul-11 Undisclosed

2011/12 Brad Friedel Aston Villa Jun-11 free

2010/11 Steven Pienaar Everton Jan-11 £3,000,000

2010/11 Bongani Khumalo Supersport United Jan-11 £1,500,000

2010/11 Stipe Pletikosa Spartak Moscow Aug-10 On Loan 2011/12

2010/11 William Gallas Woolwich Aug-10 free

2009/10 Younes Kaboul Portsmouth Jan-10 £5,000,000

2009/10 Eidur GudjohnsenMonaco Jan-10 On Loan

2009/10 Niko Kranjcar Portsmouth Sep-09 £2,500,000

2009/10 Sebastien Bassong Newcastle United Aug-09 £8,000,000

2009/10 Peter Crouch Portsmouth Jul-09 £9,500,000

2009/10 Kyle Naughton Sheffield United Jul-09 £4,000,000

2009/10 Kyle Walker Sheffield United Jul-09 £4,000,000

2009/10 Jimmy Walker Unattached Jul-09 free

2008/09 Robbie Keane Liverpool Feb-09 £15,000,000

2008/09 Carlo Cudicini Chelsea Jan-09 Free

2008/09 Pascal Chimbonda Sunderland Jan-09 £3,000,000

2008/09 Wilson Palacios Wigan Athletic Jan-09 £12,000,000

2008/09 Jermain Defoe Portsmouth Jan-09 £16,000,000

For those of you that noticed, just to make my biased Harry hatred worse, I have removed two players from this list, as I believe that Harry had absolutely nothing to do with these purchases:

2010/11 VdV Real Madrid Aug-10 £8,000,000

2010/11 Sandro Ranieri Internacional Jul-10 £6,000,000

So, out of all those players purchased, including interestingly 3 goalkeepers, how many are first team players today, absolutely vital to the team and not needing replacing asap? Answer: None.

One could argue about the inconsistent Kyle Walker, and the young players Falque, Coulibaly and Naughton, but can anyone make a convincing argument about any of the others?

2011/12 Scott Parker West Ham United Aug-11 £5,000,000

2011/12 Emmanuel Ade Manchester City Aug-11 On Loan

2011/12 Brad Friedel Aston Villa Jun-11 free

2010/11 Bongani Khumalo Supersport United Jan-11 £1,500,000

2010/11 William Gallas Woolwich Aug-10 free

2009/10 Younes Kaboul Portsmouth Jan-10 £5,000,000

2008/09 Jermain Defoe Portsmouth Jan-09 £16,000,000

No, me either. In fact, judging by the vitriol directed at certain players this season, those players all seem to be on this list. The list I remind you, purchased by Harry.

So, in conclusion what is the Redknapp Effect? A bunch of players that are not good enough.

[author name=”Rick Desira” avatar=”http://chicagoultimatetraining.webs.com/ChicagoSkyline1.jpg” twitter=”ricksmg” website=”www.chicagospurs.org” tag=”RickDesira[/linequote]