Arrogant ‘Arry

Recent success seems to have encouraged the Tottenham boss to make some interesting comments

Has anyone else noticed that Harry Redknapp has become quite a self-righteous man in recent weeks? Tottenham are clearly flying high in the league and playing some pretty good football, but this seems to have rather unpleasantly gone straight to Harry’s head. We all know about his infamous ‘relationship’ with the media, where Redknapp essentially enjoys a free ride from sycophantic hacks, and this now seems to have extended to the Tottenham boss making crass and inaccurate comments left, right and centre.

Following a 2-0 win over Everton in midweek, Redknapp arrogantly stated: “If you don't enjoy the way we play, then you shouldn't be watching football.” Admittedly Tottenham are playing some decent stuff at the moment, but come on Harry, have some perspective and humility. It’s not quite Barcelona just yet.

But my main gripe is Redknapp’s comment today that Tottenham have built a team with very little money, and are therefore a bastion of decency and moderation. It goes without saying that the cash spent at White Hart Lane does not compare to the activity at Manchester City or Chelsea. Yet the idea that Tottenham have scrimped and saved, managing on a shoestring is not only completely inaccurate, but also quite insulting to the many teams which that analysis does apply to.

I know Redknapp is tiresomely referred to as the lovable wheeler dealer, but even taking into account his bargain buys (I won’t mention the dodgy payments to agents and imprisonment of players), surely everyone can see that Tottenham have written a few hefty cheques in recent years. I know not all of the below were Redknapp signings, but he was referring to the club as whole, and so I feel obliged to point out some of the following player expenditure.

Scott Parker: £5m
Rafael Van der Vaart: £8.8m
Sandro: £8.8m
Sebastian Bassong: £8m
Kyle Naughton: £5m
Kyle Walker: £5m
Younes Kaboul: £10.5m and £5m
Peter Crouch: £9m
Heurelho Gomes: £8m
Giovanni Dos Santos: £5m
David Bentley: £19m
Luka Modric: £18.4m
Roman Pavlyuchenko: £15.3m
Robbie Keane: £14.6m
Wilson Palacios: £13.2m
Jermain Defoe: £14.4m
Vedran Corluka: £12.1m
Darren Bent: £21.7m
Alan Hutton: £11.4m
Jonathan Woodgate: £9.5m
Gareth Bale: £12.9m
Kevin Prince Boateng: £6.9m
Didier Zakora: £10.8m
Mido: £5.9m
Dimitar Berbatov: £13.8m
Ricardo Rocha: £4.4m
Pascal Chimbonda: £8.8m and £2.8m
Jermaine Jenas: £13.2m

Clearly Tottenham have also recouped a sizeable amount of cash from various high-profile sales, and some of the above signings have turned into very good players. The above research is also rudimentary at best. Yet surely the claim that Tottenham have done no spending is horribly ignorant and far-fetched?

I don’t see why Redknapp can’t enjoy Tottenham’s current success without these smug, sanctimonious comments. There is such a thing as a bad winner, as well as a bad loser.