Redknapp distracted by other issues

EUROPA LEAGUE: IT'S NEARLY six months now since Harry Redknapp, while still getting used to the idea his side was not going to earn another crack at the Champions League this season, observed the Europa League was, "one of those competitions that teams get in and then they try to get out of".

Being casually disparaging in a TV interview about European club football’s lesser competition is easy enough, of course, but being genuinely disrespectful is all about what team a manager puts out on the pitch. On this front, Redknapp, having geared up for bigger things, finds himself at something of a disadvantage.

As they did in Greece a couple of weeks back, Spurs are expected to put out a seriously weakened side against Shamrock Rovers this evening but such is the strength of the north Londoners’ squad it is possible Redknapp might rest every player expected to start against Arsenal at the weekend and still start with a half a dozen or so full internationals.

The ground is unlikely to be even close to full but Redknapp’s attitude would have been expected to take an even more serious toll on the attendance at White Hart Lane tonight were it not for the fact Rovers are bringing about 5,000 to the match – roughly half from home and half from London or further afield.

Spurs designated the fixture, long before the opponents were known, as the last of this year’s European ties to be free for season ticket holders, of which there are more than 20,000.

Still, there was an early indication of how seriously the game was being taken in these parts yesterday morning when Redknapp’s pre-match press conference was dominated by questions about Carlos Tevez’ behaviour in Germany the previous evening. The Argentinian had taken showing a lack of respect to the next level; he had just done it in the wrong competition.

Redknapp, speaking at club’s training ground in Chigwell, not far from White Hart Lane, was suitably shocked. Despite claiming at one stage during a very long series of observations he didn’t want to talk about another club’s business, however, he was far from speechless.

Harry tends to be viewed by the British press as having pretty much cornered the market in common sense on these occasions and he, quite frankly, couldn’t believes it. “It’s just unbelievable,” he did say. “I felt sorry for Roberto Mancini. What message does that send out to young players? What does it send out to kids?

“It wouldn’t have happened at Manchester United,” he continued. “Tevez is a great player. He only knows one way; to chase, work, show fantastic skill – you would have him in your team all day. But for whatever reason his head is gone. He made an almighty racket last night and what he has done is wrong. You can’t behave like that.”

Prior to the manager’s arrival at the top table, an appearance by Andros Townsend, an England youth international who has been out on loan more in the last couple of years than most library books, provided a physical reminder of what Redknapp has in mind when it comes to his team selection.

To judge by the 20-year-old they hadn’t got as far as those sorts of details in the Tottenham camp yet. “At the moment, we don’t know anything,” said the winger. “Before training, we’ll go through clips of them. But Shamrock are a good team, any team that gets into the Europa League has to be a good team.”

To paraphrase the old joke about the fixing of horse races, though, it’s not the teams that get into the Europa League you have to be worried about, it’s the ones that get out again.