Redknapp for England - Holloway

Redknapp for England - Holloway

Published Feb. 21, 2011 7:15 p.m. ET

Since being appointed as manager at White Hart Lane in 2008, Redknapp has completely transformed Spurs from Premier League strugglers to the dynamic outfit now competing in this season's Champions League knock-out rounds. The 63-year-old has frequently been tipped to succeed England head coach Fabio Capello when the Italian leaves his post in 2012 and Holloway feels Redknapp is the right man for the job. "We'll have to leave that to the powers that be, but I for one would love to see him in that chair," said Holloway, whose Blackpool side host Tottenham on Tuesday night. "I think he can handle it and I think he'd get our players to play the way his clubs play - with a great deal of attacking prowess. "He seems to get the best out of everybody, which you need as an international manager." Last week Tottenham notched a famous 1-0 victory over AC Milan in their Champions League round-of-16 first leg at the San Siro, a game which was marred by an incident in which the hosts' captain Gennaro Gattuso headbutted Spurs assistant boss Joe Jordan. Holloway believes the way the episode was handled on Tottenham's part is further testament to Redknapp's qualities as a manager. "How out of order was Mr Gattuso and how dignified was Joe Jordan with the whole thing?" Holloway said. "If you knew Joe - he was Bristol City manager when I was a Bristol Rovers player - where he got that restraint from, I do not know! "But he managed to control himself and I'm sure that is because of where he is and how he appreciates working with Harry at that club. "People like Harry get the best out of everybody and I think he will always do that, and keep doing it. "It's amazing that he is now doing it at one of the top clubs and I think they are very fortunate to have him." Ahead of Tuesday's game Blackpool are still suffering a goalkeeper shortage, with Holloway's attempts to bring in a new stopper so far proving fruitless. The Tangerines have been looking to make an emergency loan signing after Paul Rachubka sustained a serious knee injury earlier this month but it seems the prospect of a move for Blackburn's Frank Fielding hit a stumbling block because Rovers wanted him to go straight into the first team, while Holloway dismissed reports that Andy Lonergan could be joining from Preston. Matt Gilks, out since cracking his patella in November, has suffered muscle wastage and the latest on his recovery is that he could be available for the match against Chelsea at Bloomfield Road on March 7. Scotland Under-19 international Chris Kettings was on the Seasiders' bench as back-up to Richard Kingson for the 1-1 draw with Aston Villa and could be there again for the Spurs game. Mark Halstead, who has returned from a loan spell at Kettering but is not fully match-fit, is another potential option, but the whole situation has left Holloway frustrated. "For me it was totally impossible," said Holloway. "We couldn't take anyone from abroad, we could only loan someone and the only people who would loan me anybody wanted them to go straight in goal. "Most of them were young so am I supposed to say to Richard 'I'm sorry, we are borrowing this kid and you're going to have to sit on the subs' bench'? "It's nonsense, and yet another bit of scuppering. We're not able to stack and rack four or five goalkeepers like most other people and I do believe again the rules have not helped us that much." Meanwhile, Holloway has revealed defender Rob Edwards is heading to npower Championship side Norwich for a month's loan.

ADVERTISEMENT
share