England star Crouch joked the only way his club boss will not manage his country is if the Spurs players deliberately start losing games. Redknapp has long been the favourite to succeed Fabio Capello, whose contract expires in a year and a half, and Football Association general secretary Alex Horne confirmed on Sunday the 63-year-old would be on a "not very long" long list when the job becomes vacant. Redknapp has made no secret of his desire to take charge of his country but has always maintained he will cross that bridge when he comes to it. But Crouch was in no doubt on Monday evening where his manager's future lay. "It's inevitable, to be honest," he said. "He's been fantastic at Tottenham, ever since he came in. "He took over a side that was struggling and now he's turned them into a team that's playing full of confidence and in the Champions League, and maybe expected now to finish in the top four. "That's testament to the manager and it's only a matter of time, with him being English as well, that England come knocking on the door. "But we want to keep him here for as long as possible, so maybe we should start losing a few games!" The FA recently performed a u-turn on a previous declaration Capello would be succeeded by an Englishman. But Crouch believes Redknapp's nationality will prove an advantage for him. "We've had a couple of foreign managers and we still have at the moment, and we still have a lot of the work to do with the manager in charge," he said. "But, with him being English, it certainly helps his cause." Redknapp's man-management skills are widely regarded as his greatest asset but Crouch was keen to talk up his boss' tactical nous. "People talk about him as being a man-manager and he has been fantastic with me," said the 29-year-old, who also played under Redknapp at Portsmouth and Southampton. "I have worked with him at a few different clubs and he has always got the best out of me but he certainly knows his tactics," he said. "I think people underestimate him in that regard." An embarrassed Redknapp rejected Crouch's assessment, saying: "I don't know where Crouchie got that one from. "It's not inevitable, that's for sure." The Spurs boss went on to repeat his usual mantra about the fickleness of the game. A Tottenham win in their final Champions League Group A game at FC Twente would simply add to the 'Redknapp for England' clamour. Victory for the already-qualified Spurs would see them finish top of a pool containing the Dutch champions, European champions Inter Milan and German heavyweights Werder Bremen in what has been their maiden season in the competition. The outcome also is a far cry from being 3-0 down after 30 minutes of their qualifying-round tie at Young Boys. Redknapp said: "If you'd have said to me when we were 3-0 down at Young Boys of Bern that we'd be sitting here today definitely qualified, I'd have thought we were all off our heads. "So it's been great to have done what we've done but we've got to come here tomorrow and try to finish the job if we can." The Young Boys defeat set a trend for Spurs' away performances in the Champions League this season, with Redknapp's men having scored and shipped a glut of goals. But they have yet to taste victory on their travels and will face a Twente side keen to avenge their controversial 4-1 defeat in the reverse fixture at White Hart Lane. And despite being eager to win the group and avoid a last-16 clash with the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid, Redknapp will make changes on Tuesday night in order to preserve some of his players for the hectic Christmas fixture list. "I've got real confidence in the players that are not in the team to come in and play," said Redknapp. "Some of them have been very unlucky not to be playing. "It's not as if I'm leaving out a top player to bring in a poor player; there's not an awful lot between a big group of them."
