Harry Redknapp says he could have won the Premier League title with Spurs if they had invested more money at the right time.
The 67-year-old was in the White Hart Lane hotseat from 2008-12, taking over when Tottenham were bottom of the league and guiding them to two fourth-placed finishes and a Champions League quarter-final in 2011.
Having cracked the top four, Redknapp says the addition of another striker could have helped turn the Lilywhites into genuine title contenders and that he was ‘choked’ to say goodbye in June 2012.
Speaking in free digi-mag the FourFourTwo Football Weekly, Redknapp reveals: “I think I could have actually won the league at Tottenham. If we had invested more at the right time, we could have done it. We were probably short of a striker.
They did what they wanted to do, but they haven’t been in the top four since me. I finished in the top four twice in three years
“I know the reasons why [things didn’t work out], but they are personal. I enjoyed my time there, and to be honest I was choked when I had to leave.
“But I couldn’t sit at home and sulk about it. It is life, it happens. They did what they wanted to do, but they haven’t been in the top four since me. I finished in the top four twice in three years.”
The current QPR boss, who guided the R’s back to the Premier League via the play-offs last season, lists former Spurs star Gareth Bale among the players whose rise to the top he has taken the most satisfaction from seeing.
Redknapp was in charge of Spurs for four of Bale’s six seasons in north London before the Welsh international joined Real Madrid for £85.3 million and scored the winner in the 2014 Champions League final.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
“Bale would be up there,” says Harry. “He was struggling at Tottenham; there was that record where he hadn’t been on a winning team for something like 28 games (ed: it was 24). Then suddenly he took off, and he has become an amazing player, one of the top four in the world.
“I have an obvious pride in all the West Ham boys, seeing Rio Ferdinand coming out of Peckham and doing so well, and the best professional I have ever seen is Frank Lampard.”
Read more from the exclusive interview with Harry Redknapp FIRST in the FourFourTwo Football Weekly, a free cross-platform digitial publication available to download on your device every Thursday evening from Google Play and the App Store. This week's edition also looks at a big month for Louis van Gaal, his unlikely relationship with Jose Mourinho at Barcelona and 10 memorable Clasico debuts, provides the lowdown on Lyon starlet Nabil Fekir and contains previews for all 10 of this weekend's Premier League matches. Get it now.
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.
