Harry Redknapp makes Postecoglou prediction after ‘very average’ Spurs season

Harry Redknapp believes Ange Postecoglou’s first season at Tottenham was “very average” but has predicted that any friction with the club’s fans will soon be forgotten.

The Australian lost Harry Kane to Bayern Munich on the eve of his first season at the club but ended up finishing fifth in the Premier League, a higher finish than Tottenham managed in the campaign before his arrival with more points in the bag, more goals scored, fewer conceded and a new more attacking style of football.

However, a late stumble amidst a tough run-in ensured Spurs missed out on the top four by two points and Redknapp believes with that, coupled with early exits in the domestic cups, it was a mediocre campaign.

“I like Ange Postecoglou very much. I like him an awful lot. But what do I make of the season? Very average, it was a very average season – going out early in both cups, not finishing in the top four with that squad. I wouldn’t say it was a fantastic season,” he said while promoting fantasy football game Sorare.

“At the beginning of the season I really couldn’t see Spurs being out of the top four, I thought that the team, the players, would make top four for sure this year and maybe even win a cup but Tottenham went out early in both domestic competitions. I couldn’t say it was a great season and I’d be lying if I said it was.”

There was some friction between Postecoglou and the Spurs fans late in the season after he admitted he could not understand them wanting their team to lose their match against Manchester City to ensure Arsenal did not get an advantage in the Premier League title race. Redknapp predicted that any friction will soon be forgotten.

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“Any friction between Ange and the fans will be quickly forgotten. It’s like everything, when you’re winning everything’s great, when you lose a few games…bang! The game has gone that way now as a manager, you’re either fantastic or you’re useless, there’s no middle ground,” he said.

“I think it was Graham Taylor who said: ‘Your manager’s never as good as you think he is, or as bad as you think he is, he’s usually somewhere in between.’ And that’s probably the case with Ange. We can’t praise the performance and the quality of the football after the first 10 games only to turn on the manager and the team when they suddenly have a bad run.

“You’ve got to be patient, Tottenham is a club, with that squad, where I’d be disappointed if they didn’t make top four at least. I certainly thought they’d finish above Villa this year.

“The top three were different class this year, and Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool will be there again next season. Certainly I think Arsenal will be pushing Man City again next year for the title. But I still see Tottenham making top four. Chelsea are a way off, they’ve still got a lot of work to do, I don’t see them being a threat for the title, and I can well see them not making top four again. Manchester United as well have a lot of work to do. Spurs have got a big chance next year to make the top four.”

Redknapp believes that Tottenham’s biggest challenge this summer will be finding a striker to fill the gap left by Kane’s departure to Germany.

“Finding a striker to buy is the biggest problem for Spurs. Who do they get?” he said. “They’re in the Europa League next year and they’ll have a chance in that, so maybe it’s time they will get a trophy at Tottenham. The League Cup or the FA Cup would be a good option as well.”

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