Redknapp fears squad exodus

Redknapp fears squad exodus

Published Jan. 7, 2012 7:15 a.m. ET

Redknapp insists he will do all he can to persuade the likes of Steven Pienaar, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Niko Kranjcar to stay at the club and claims their presence will play an important part in helping Spurs to achieve their aim of winning their first league title in 51 years.

He will field a much-changed XI for Saturday's FA Cup third-round game against Cheltenham as he rests his first-team players ahead of Wednesday's crucial Premier League game against Everton.

Heurelho Gomes, Sebastien Bassong and Danny Rose are all likely to make rare starts against the League Two side - a move which Redknapp hopes will appease them as they grow increasingly frustrated at their lack of game time this season.

Gomes, Giovani Dos Santos, Bassong, Pavlyuchenko and Vedran Corluka have all made it clear that they want to leave in order to get more first-team football and Pienaar and Kranjcar are constantly linked with moves away from north London.

ADVERTISEMENT

But with his injury list growing by the week, Redknapp is determined to have a deep squad at his disposal for the second half of the season, and he maintains that he will not sanction a mass exodus of his squad players.

"The odd game here and there won't be enough to keep them happy, but what can you do? You have got to have a big squad," Redknapp said.

"We had four midfield players and suddenly now we have got two. That is what can happen in a week. You get injuries. It is the team with the strongest squad that will be up there.

"Danny Rose came to see me and asked if he could go on loan. But I can't because if Benoit (Assou-Ekotto) gets injured, he is in.

"Gomes wants to move but I don't want him to go as we will need three 'keepers. You never know, you might get an injury and none of them are young.

"Pienaar is a good player, but he has not been in the team.

"It is hard to keep them happy, but they are important players still. The ones we have got, we need to keep, we can't let anyone go.

"We are a bit short, certainly in one or two positions."

Already shorn of Scott Parker and Ledley King due to knee problems, Redknapp watched on in despair this week as William Gallas and Sandro both tore calf muscles in Tuesday's 1-0 victory over West Brom.

They join Corluka (foot) and Tom Huddlestone (ankle) on the sidelines - a particularly worrying development for Redknapp as he readies his squad for arguably the most important six months of his managerial career.

Redknapp admits his injury concerns could force him into the transfer market, but he has little hope of scuppering Chelsea's bid to sign long-term Tottenham target Gary Cahill.

"It's difficult trying to beat Chelsea if you're going for the same player, because their wage structure would be on a different level to ours," Redknapp said.

"If you're in for the same player, they'll blow you out of the water.

"I like Cahill; he's a good player. But if you make him an offer, then Chelsea can give him more. You can't really compete in terms of making him an offer.

"That's the problem. You are competing, trying to finish above them, but it's not easy."

Tottenham will shorten the gap between themselves and Premier League leaders Manchester City to three points if they beat Everton on Wednesday.

Despite seeing his team lose just once in their last 17 matches, Redknapp still thinks he needs to sign at least one big-name player this month and insists he has the total backing of chairman Daniel Levy to do so if the right player becomes available.

"The chairman agrees that if we can find somebody to take us to an even better level, like we did with Emmanuel Adebayor and Scott Parker in the summer, then he would do it without a doubt," Redknapp added.

share