Premier League: Redknapp focused on Champions League spot

Spurs manager delighted after 5-0 thrashing of Newcastle.

LONDON: One of the most remarkable weeks in the life of Harry Redknapp ended on a high when his entertaining Tottenham Hotspur side crushed Newcastle United 5-0 in the Premier League.             

Redknapp, widely tipped by the media to be the next England manager, sat in the dugout after a rousing reception from the fans to watch his team make a blistering start with two goals in the first six minutes and they were 4-0 ahead by half-time.

Emmanuel Adebayor epitomised the home side’s determination with a hand in all four first-half goals before scoring a spectacular volley of his own to give Spurs their biggest league win of the season and consolidate third place in the table. Redknapp praised the fans who regularly chanted his name.

“They’ve been brilliant with me,” said Redknapp. “They were fantastic in our last game against Wigan, and they were great today.”

The manager added that his focus was on Tottenham securing a Champions League spot.

“I’m totally focused on what I am doing here. It would not be fair on Tottenham, the players or the crowd, if I wasn’t. We want Champions League football again. We have a 10 point lead over Arsenal and Chelsea and I look at the gap between us and them and want to keep it.”

‘Worst game of the season’

While wins like this one will raise Redknapp’s stock even further, defeats like Chelsea’s 2-0 reverse at Everton are doing the opposite for manager Andre Villas-Boas.

A goal in each half from Everton pair Steven Pienaar and Denis Stracqualursi means the west London team have now won only two of their last 10 league games.

“Today was our worst game of the season,” said Villas-Boas. “Full responsibility as the manager, maybe the preparation for the game wasn’t up to the level required.”

Arsenal’s day looked to be heading the same way when they went behind to a 70th-minute James McClean goal at Sunderland. The visitors levelled five minutes later as Aaron Ramsey shot home before Thierry Henry volleyed a stoppage-time winner.

At the other end of the table Blackburn Rovers stayed in the relegation zone on goal difference despite a 3-2 win at home to Queens Park Rangers.

Wigan Athletic got the better of Bolton Wanderers with a 2-1 victory, while West Brom hammered Wolves 5-1 yesterday.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 13^th, 2012.