Always Managing: My Autobiography by Harry Redknapp Read Free Book Online Page A

to take a manager with a clear vision. In 1992–93, when I won promotion to the Premier League with West Ham United, Hoddle finished fifth at Swindon Town and came up through the play-offs. He got them playing some outstanding football with guys that came from nowhere. He had a big centre-half, Shaun Taylor, that Swindon had taken from Bristol City for £200,000 the year before. Everyone thought they knew this kid: solid defender, good header of the ball, couldn’t pass. The lower leagues are full of them. Hoddle came in and changed all that. Taylor had spent all his life being told to boot it, lump it, kick it into row Z. We’ve allheard it said. ‘You can’t play, son, give it to someone who can.’ But Hoddle was telling him he could play – even better, he was showing him how. Next thing, he was dropping off, stepping into midfield – he thought he was at Barcelona. It just shows what can be achieved if someone is prepared to work with players individually, and on a system. There is no reason why England cannot be a much better team than they have been. Before Glenn, Terry Venables was the England manager, and 1996 was a fantastic year for football in this country. The people loved it; they loved how England were playing. Terry had a philosophy; he had a clear idea of how England should play. Next thing, he was gone. Somehow, we always mess it up.
    Since then, since Glenn and Terry, there has been no identity in our game. We were nothing under Sven-Göran Eriksson. No identity at all. Roy will keep England organised, for sure, but I just hope he will also be a little bit bold, open up and try to get England playing the type of football we all want to see. If you look at Brendan Rodgers, he’s now gone to Liverpool but he still knows how he wants to play, and he made a courageous decision straight off the bat – because Carroll wasn’t in that plan. I know a lot of managers who would have thought, ‘Keep Andy around, just in case we need to lump it.’ But Brendan knows he is never going to play that way, so he can make a clear-headed decision. I think he deserves a lot of praise for that: for having an idea, for sticking to his beliefs. It may seem harsh that Carroll doesn’t fit into his philosophy, but that is certainly how Spain operate: this is how we play, and we don’t compromise. I just hope England have the confidence to come up with a blueprint of their own before the tournament in Brazil next summer – because the last World Cup was a disaster.
    I was so disappointed with the way our standards deteriorated under Capello. In South Africa in 2010 we were just dire. The match against Algeria was a real low. If you were managing the bottom team in the Premier League and you were taken to see the Algerians play and given the pick of their crop – any player you wanted – you’d probably say, ‘No thanks.’ And there we were, struggling to beat them.
    I got off on the wrong foot with Capello, unfortunately. I was managing Portsmouth and was invited into the television studio for one of his early England games. I don’t usually do that stuff, but they must have caught me on a good day because I agreed. We didn’t play well and I was quite critical of his decision to use Gerrard wide on the left. I wasn’t vicious, I just said that it was not his position. The next thing, I heard Fabio had the needle about it. He came down to Portsmouth for a match and he was waiting around upstairs to see me afterwards, with his assistant, Franco Baldini. He definitely had the hump. ‘You are a very influential person,’ he insisted. ‘People listen to you a lot.’ What could I do? I told him I was asked on television to give an opinion, and I told them what I thought. What was I supposed to do? Lie? Pretend I thought it was a great decision? I have never gone on television for an England game since – but I always found Fabio difficult after that.
    Not that it seemed to make much difference, either way.