Redknapp aims to complete great escape
Rescue mission needed after Zola gamble backfired
If Birmingham surrender their Championship status this weekend then Dec 14, 2016, will be seen as a pivotal moment in their recent history.
That was the day when the club’s Chinese owners, who took control in October, bizarrely decided to dispense with manager Gary Rowett when outside the play-offs on goal difference. They have been paying for it ever since.
The appointment of Gianfranco Zola as Rowett’s successor less than six hours later was a gamble that backfired badly and it is now Harry Redknapp facing a nerveshredding final day to navigate a route to safety.
A Premier League club as recently as 2011, Birmingham have not operated in the third tier since 1995 but Redknapp’s three-game assignment is going to the wire, with a trip to Bristol City tomorrow. A win will be enough to guarantee survival but a draw or a defeat could mean they are relegated.
“I’ve been getting up at 5.25am to get here but I want to drive back home on Sunday night having completed the job I came here to try to do,” he said. “It’s a big moment for the club’s future. I haven’t had a chance to discuss my own position with the owners – it’s up to them, if they want to speak to me.
“We’ve got to try and get the right result and then we’ll see what happens from there.”
Redknapp lost his first game at Second City rivals Aston Villa but the 2-0 win over Huddersfield last weekend has generated plenty of debate.
With Huddersfield preparing for the play-offs, head coach David Wagner made 10 changes to his team but Redknapp believes the controversy has been overplayed.
“You’re entitled to do what you want, you have a squad and no one picks your team except for the manager,” he said. “If it backfires then you take responsibility. I did the same thing at QPR, made a lot of changes and rested people before the play-offs.
“Your responsibility is not to the clubs that are down at the bottom – it’s their fault for being there, they’ve had all season to get out of it.”
Redknapp is now aiming to enhance that Harry Houdini reputation but if he fails, the focus will undoubtedly be on the boardroom.