Cheeky Redknapp asks FA: What do you think of me now?
LONDON: Harry Redknapp joked his chances of being named the next England boss took a dive as his Tottenham side failed to beat tiny Stevenage.
FA chairman David Bernstein – the man who showed Fabio Capello the door – was at the Lamex Stadium yesterday to witness a fifth-round stalemate.
Spurs will be expected to see off the League One side in the White Hart Lane replay, with the winners drawn at home to Bolton.
But Redknapp admitted his team’s display first time round would not have prompted Bernstein to hammer on Spurs chairman Daniel Levy’s door this morning.
He said: “I bet he was impressed by the football I served up!
“He’s probably thinking ‘ Who’s this geezer?!’
“We started lumping it didn’t we? No, that wasn’t part of the plan. The pitch was bumpy and the players weren’t comfortable passing the ball on it so we ended up going long, which wasn’t what we wanted to do.
“I thought we would come here and win but the longer it went on the more I thought we would take the draw.”
Spurs will certainly have to up their game at the weekend as they have a North London showdown with Arsenal at the Emirates on Sunday.
And Redknapp will be sweating on the fitness of key players, including former Gunner Emmanuel Adebayor.
The on-loan Manchester City hitman, 27, missed the Cup game because of a knee injury.
Redknapp said: “We have to see how Adebayor is.
“He slipped in training on Friday and opened his knee up.”
Star midfielder Luka Modric was also absent due to a bout of ‘flu while in-form leftback Benoit Assou-ekotto has just had a groin operation.
But the draw was a triumph for Stevenage boss Gary Smith, the former Arsenal scout.
Smith has been in charge for only three games but has not lost any of them.
And he reckoned his players had done better than Newcastle – who they knocked out of the Cup last season.
Alan Pardew’s Toon were thrashed 5-0 at Spurs last week but Stevenage never looked like suffering a similar hiding.
Smith said: “You have to give credit to our players for interrupting their play.
“I watched Scott Parker play against Newcastle last week and he absolutely tore them apart on his own.
“My guys were able to disrupt that, nick in and unsettle them and Harry was frustrated because we forced them into a more direct style.
“There was a real intensity and tenacity. It’s a wonderful competition and I am really pleased we are still in it.” — The Sun, London