The start of something glorious....or just another stop gap?

Harry Redknapp’s brief reign has included a relegation dogfight and a top four challenge all in the space of a year. The progress made by Spurs under Harry in this time cannot be questioned but under closer scrutiny it can be argued that Harry has just restored us to where we should be after the Ramos debacle.

The real question is whether Harry is the man to bring us the Champions League football we crave so much. New stadium plans afoot, healthy financial figures just released and sitting pretty in the top four as I type, surely there is nothing to worry about for Spurs fans? On the other hand, less than convincing recent performances against Portsmouth, Stoke and Sunderland combined with being outclassed against Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal leaves a sour after taste.

Granted we have lost the key that unlocks the opposition in Modric and the ever improving Lennon but for a team with ambitions to challenge and conquer the top four, surely we should have more resilience and depth in our ranks? Keane's recent comments about the strength of our bench made me analyse what we really have in reserves - I'm not sure a lost soul Russian, a flash harry becks wannabe, a rarely sober Scot fullback and a Welsh prodigy who can't win a game is exactly the kind of strength in depth I'm looking for. With respect we have the likes of Dawson, Bassong, Kranjcar and the highly rated Naughton to call upon there but when your asked the question of how many of our players would get into the top three teams starting eleven now that Liverpool have joined the rest of us – the answer is not enough.

Are we suffering on the field due to the lack of consistency of our centre back pairings due to the injury proneness of King and Woodgate? Is this something that needs to be addressed by Harry once and for all if we are to make real progress? Are our full backs good enough to not only contribute defensively but also be the catalyst of our attacking moves, constantly overlapping our wingers as the likes of Cole, Evra and Clichy do every week? Who should be the first choice partner to Wilson in the middle of the park? Is it time for Modric to operate more centrally to influence the game even more than he does now? And should not only Pavlvuchenko be allowed to leave but Robbie Keane as well? These are just some of the questions I will try to answer in the up and coming weeks with the help of the ever passionate Tottenham faithful and fans of football in general.

Harry has never managed a club with the size, ambitions and financial clout that Spurs possess and his only silverware to date has been the recent FA cup triumph with Portsmouth. His previous work has seen him take lower ranking clubs and make them punch above there weight, avoiding certain relegation and overseeing the development of some of England’s greatest talents in his West Ham days. Harry is also known well for his wheeling and dealing forays into the transfer market (for every Diarra and Glen Johnson there has been a Nugent or John Utaka it must be said) His dalliances into the transfer market thus far for Spurs though, have been exemplary with the likes of Palacios, Defoe and Crouch all strengthening our starting eleven with only the Keane deal being called into question. His respect within the game is undoubted but his tactical nous has been called into question with his recent stubbornness of trying to fit Crouch, Defoe and Keane together when it is clear for all to see that it does not work. Why persist in putting round pegs in square holes when you have a talented Kranjcar ready and waiting to solve the problem?

Will Tottenham be a job to big for Harry or will he step up to the plate and deliver the goods? Harry has gone on record as stating he believes this will be his last job in football and I know he has something to prove to himself. He wants to be able to leave a legacy and finally achieve something at the top of English football. Harry wants to make sure that he can leave Spurs in a position as one of the Superpowers of English football once again, challenging for honors and playing in the Champions League. One things for sure, whatever happens with Harry, he’ll get the team up for challenge and believing in his leadership as well as giving the fans a good old dose of honesty in his press conferences –it’s just worrying that it might not be enough in the end.

Join the Tottenham Movement.