Tottenham vs Everton preview - Don't name Capello successor during season - Redknapp

Posted Saturday, December 03, 2011 by PA

Harry Redknapp thinks the Football Association should wait until the end of the season before considering who will take over from Fabio Capello as England manager.

Tottenham boss Redknapp is favourite to succeed Capello, who confirmed on Friday morning that he intends to stick to his pledge of leaving his post after the European Championships next summer.

The FA are thought to be considering Redknapp as the next Three Lions manager, but he is likely to face competition from Roy Hodgson and other foreign candidates for the position.

If the FA do decide that Redknapp is the man they want, the man himself would prefer it if they did not approach him until the end of the season as he thinks it could derail Tottenham's push for a top-four finish.

"It's very difficult for them to choose another manager if he's already working," Redknapp said.

"It's difficult for a manager to agree to take over if he knows he'll be leaving his club at the end of the year. It wouldn't be fair to the club.

"When managers say they'll quit at the end of the season, their form normally dips because of that. That wouldn't be an ideal situation.

"You can't do it during the season. To give it to someone who's working at a club is unfair to the club he works for."

Bookmakers have shortened the odds on Redknapp taking the job after he took Spurs on a remarkable winning streak that put them within striking distance of second-place Manchester United.

Redknapp's men have dropped just two points in their last 10 matches and a sixth straight win against Bolton will set a new record in the Premier League era for the north London club.

Rafael van der Vaart missed last week's victory at West Brom with a hamstring injury, but is available, giving Redknapp a selection headache after Jermain Defoe scored at the Baggies alongside first-choice striker Emmanuel Adebayor.

Meanwhile, Bolton manager Owen Coyle has called on his players to stamp out the ill-discipline that has blighted their campaign.

For the fourth time this season Wanderers had a player sent off last weekend when David Wheater saw red against Everton.

Each match in which Bolton have gone a man down has ended in defeat, and Coyle believes improved decision-making on the pitch will see them pull clear of the relegation zone.

"Sometimes there are uncontrollables that, as a manager, you can't do anything about," Coyle said.

"It is important we keep 11 on the park. You can train all week and prepare players but when it comes to an individual decision they have to have that self-discipline to make sure we have everyone available.

"What is important, and what I have stressed to the players, is the decision-making has to be spot-on. The speed and the intensity the game is played at means you have a millisecond to make a decision.

"The margins in our league are so fine and unfortunately for us we have come out the wrong side of that for a number of reasons - going down to 10 men every second week hasn't helped us.

"We don't plan to play a game with 10 men and that is where the individuals concerned have to recognise their self-discipline in making sure they make the right decision at the right time.

"These are huge turning points. If I look back at the games we've finished with 10 men, normally you have five or 10 minutes to ride out the storm but our minimum period is something like 45 minutes.

"We have given ourselves a real mountain to climb. Ivan (Klasnic) was sent off early in the second half against Norwich at home, David Wheater after 19 minutes against Everton and Ricardo Gardner after about 47 minutes at Swansea.

"If we had taken a point out of each of those games I think we'd be 14th or 15th in the table - that is how fine the margins are."

Wheater is now banned for four matches, as a result of a second red card this season.