Harry Redknapp: We've taken gun's Champions league place on the cheap

Posted Sunday, October 09, 2011 by Dailystar.co.uk

Harry Redknapp: We've taken gun's Champions league place on the cheap
Above: Spurs boss Harry Redknapp

Harry Redknapp believes Spurs are now genuine Big Four contenders.

Three straight Premier League wins – including victories over Arsenal and Liverpool – have restored order after their 5-1 thrashing at home by Manchester City.

And Redknapp told the Daily Star Sunday: “I think we have a great chance of finishing in the top four. Outside Manchester United, City and Chelsea I think we have the strongest squad, so why not?”

Having held off Chelsea’s £32million bid for Luka Modric in the summer, Redknapp is confident about the future.

The arrival of Scott Parker from West Ham has added steel to his midfield and even allowed him the luxury of dropping Dutch international Rafael van der Vaart.

Redknapp said: “We are punching above our weight in some respects and I’ve said on many occasions that competing with the top three is very difficult.

“Of all the teams vying for a top-four place, we probably have the most restrictive salary cap.

“But I accept that unless we move to a new 60,000-seater stadium it’s going to be difficult to compete with those sides because they can pay more than us.

“Top players want top salaries. It’s all very well selling them the ambition and history of the club but money influences their decision. It’s life and you have to get on with it.”

Redknapp has nothing but praise for Croatia star Modric for accepting Spurs’ decision to hold out against Chelsea’s massive bid.

“He’s just a top player,” said Redknapp. “You will never hear me complaining about him. But to be fair, it’s the same with all those Croatian boys at Tottenham – Luka, Vedran Corluka and Niko Kranjcar.

“They don’t sit around and sulk or throw the toys out of the pram if they don’t make the team.

“They just come into training and get their heads down and work hard to get back in. I wish other players were as easy to deal with. Nobody can tell me that any player’s head wouldn’t be turned by the offer of Champions League football at Chelsea and a salary of £130,000 a week.

“I can’t blame Luka for considering it, he’s only human.

“But Tottenham are lucky with him. I know some players who would never have played for the club again and would have gone and smashed the chairman’s door down and demanded a move.

“Not Luka. If he was disappointed I have seen none of it.

“There’s not one day when he’s sulked. I love him as a player and to have lost him would have been a massive blow to the club.

“It would have sent out all the wrong signals and suddenly you would have had a line of players demanding to follow him out the door.”

Another player who has restored Redknapp’s faith is Parker, their £6m signing from West Ham.

And what Harry particularly likes about the playmaker is his no-nonsense attitude to the game, which goes right down to the colour of his boots!

White Hart Lane supremo Redknapp said: “I love Scott. He’s a good old-fashioned player with good old-fashioned values.

“The other day we were out training and I’ve got players wearing red, purple, yellow, white and green boots. And out comes Parker in a good old pair of black boots. Old school – he carries that on to the pitch.”