The Greek God Dionysus granted a Phyrgian king a very powerful power. This was in return for sparing his satyr Silenus who was dozing in the Phyrgian king’s vineyard. Now, not all of us are familiar with Greek mythology, but surely most of us have encountered this particular king, Midas. It is from this tale that we get the phrase “the Midas touch”, the ability to turn things into gold on touch. Used idiomatically in modern times, it is not unusual to hear of someone having “the Midas touch”. For a second though, I ask you to ponder what if someone had something akin to the Midas touch, but not quite?
Enter Henry James Redknapp, currently whiling away his time managing Tottenham FC. Redknapp possesses not so much “the Midas touch” as the complete opposite of it. And what works for him is that most of the time he manages to punch above his level, building skyscrapers on needles for foundation before walking away and letting it all fall to pieces.
Our dear man has plied his trade at four clubs – Bournemouth, West Ham, Porstmouth (twice) and Southampton – prior to joining Tottenham and each time he’s managed to leave a distinct Redknapp aftertaste.
Redknapp began his managerial career at Bournemouth, with the club struggling to stay afloat in the Third Division. Within a couple of seasons, Redknapp had led Bournemouth to the Third Division title in 1986/87 with 97 points. By the late eighties, Bournemouth were finishing solidly in mid-table in the Second Division and a shot at the First Division did not seem too far off.
After a bit of shuffling around at West Ham, Redknapp took over from Billy Bonds as manager in 1994. With the team struggling to keep pace in the Premiership, Redknapp managed to lead them to a fifth place finish in 1999. Fast forward to 2002 and he was managing Portsmouth, with the Pompey faithful relying on Harry to get them out of the – no surprises here – relegation zone. Managing that in spectacular fashion, and again in 2006 Redknapp went on to win more hearts as Pompey manager when he led them to their first FA cup win in 69 years. Now, he manages the lads at Tottenham and in his second season in charge he’d already led them to their first Champions League campaign.
But, silly me, I forgot to mention how all those managerial campaigns ended. Bournemouth were faced with injury troubles and struggled to stay in the Second Division, being relegated in 1990. Redknapp left in 1992 and therein begins the first signs of the Redknapp touch. The club pulled off a “great escape” to stay in the league while still remaining in ruins financially. The state was so bad that even the club’s website says, “If the Cherries had won no games whatsoever during the
1997-98 season, it would really not have mattered too much. The mere fact that the club was there was what mattered.” Recently, they went into administration in 2007-08 and were almost relegated from the football league the next season. Currently, they are kicking it around in League One.
West Ham fired Redknapp in 2001 and were promptly relegated two seasons later with a record 42 points. The club managed to get back to the Premiership for 8 years but were relegated last season and now play in the Championship. In between the Portsmouth stints, Redknapp managed Southampton and failed to keep them in the Premiership, relegating them after 27 years. After he left, they went into administration and were relegated as far back as League One. Last season, they clinched promotion to the Championship. Portsmouth, the last in the list, also went into administration and were relegated to the Championship, which is where they are now. As for Tottenham, they’re still awaiting the Redknapp touch to take hold.
Everyone knows his England ambitions and sure, he may not be your typical manager, but when you’re Redknapp, you don’t need all those fancy “tactics” and “formations” and what not. For they just dampen his style – he just needs the Redknapp touch.