Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp admits his chances of becoming the next England manager will not have been helped by his team’s poor display in the 0-0 FA Cup draw against Stevenage.
Stevenage began Sunday 47 places below Spurs in the league ladder, but they defied the odds to stifle the Barclays Premier League title chasers with an impressive display in the fifth round tie at the Lamex Stadium.
Spurs may be the highest ranked team in the competition but they were second best for large parts of the game against their npower League One opponents.
There was no evidence of the enterprising attacking football which they have put on all season and their passing was very sloppy, allowing the home side to dominate large parts of the match.
Intriguingly for Redknapp, the man tipped to be England’s next manager, one of the men who will decide who succeeds Fabio Capello – FA chairman David Bernstein – was in the crowd at the game.
The Spurs boss admits he cannot have been impressed with what he saw.
“I bet he was impressed with the football I served up, yeah,” Redknapp said with a huge smile.
“He was probably thinking – ‘who is this geezer?!'”
Spurs made six changes to the XI that beat Newcastle 5-0 last weekend, but their side still contained seven internationals and should have beaten Stevenage given the excellent form they have displayed this term.
The Londoners only had one real chance of note, however – a second half shot from Gareth Bale which was well saved by Chris Day.
Redknapp was not impressed by his team’s display, but admitted the bobbly pitch at the home of the Hertfordshire minnows inhibited his team’s ability to play their natural passing game.
“I just had a feeling today, looking at the pitch and everything, that it would be tough,” Redknapp added. “It was bobbling around everywhere.
“We started lumping it. That wasn’t part of the plan but the lads weren’t comfortable passing the ball out there and we ended up going long.
“I thought we would come here and win but the longer it went on, the more I thought we would take the draw.”
Joel Byrom came close to grabbing a winner in the second half with a fierce shot for the visitors that whistled just over the bar, while Tottenham’s defence had to be at their best to deal with an aerial barrage from their hosts.
Stevenage boss Gary Smith, a former Arsenal schoolboy, has only been in charge for four weeks after he was brought in following a three-year spell in the United States with the Colorado Rapids.
Smith was delighted with his team’s effort, and a return to managing in a competition he missed dearly while Stateside.
“I honestly thought we were capable here of being in the hat for the last eight,” he said.
“Our players were terrific. Being involved in the FA Cup, with all its history, is wonderful.
“There was a real intensity and tenacity. It’s a wonderful competition and I am really pleased we are still in it.”
Redknapp, meanwhile, revealed a number of his players are struggling for fitness ahead of Sunday’s crucial north London derby at Arsenal.
Benoit Assou-Ekotto had a minor groin operation on Monday and is a doubt for the weekend, while Emmanuel Adebayor injured his knee in training and also could miss the game against his old club.
Luka Modric missed today’s clash with the flu and is also a doubt for next weekend and Rafael van der Vaart was also absent with a calf problem.
Redknapp said: “Benoit had a small operation at the start of the week. Adebayor did his knee on Friday morning, he twisted it.
“We thought he might have opened his ligament up but it’s not too bad and then Luka had an unbelievable temperature. He was really ill.”