TOTTENHAM manager Harry Redknapp will swap the dock for the dugout tonight and his men will be fully prepared to beat Watford despite his absence from training this week, assistant manager Kevin Bond declared.
Bond and first-team coaches Clive Allen and Joe Jordan have been in charge of training at the club’s Chigwell base this week, while Redknapp has been contesting two charges of cheating the public purse at Southwark Crown Court.
Redknapp, who denies both charges, will be available to lead his team out in tonight’s FA Cup fourth round clash against Championship side Watford, however.
The 64-year-old will make the dash across London to Vicarage Road and will pick the team, Bond confirmed.
Redknapp’s trusted assistant, who was in the public gallery at Southwark on Wednesday, was yesterday keen to emphasise it has been a case of business as usual at the club this week despite the absence of the manager.
Tottenham coped well when they were without their manager for two weeks in November after he underwent a heart procedure and Bond insists Redknapp’s absence has not had any effect on the squad this week.
"Clearly the manager is not here, but [it has had] very little [effect] really," Bond said.
"The training carries on pretty much as normal and everybody has been getting on with things so there’s not really a lot of difference except obviously Harry is not here during the day.
"He will be at the match and he will pick the team, of course."
Bond and Redknapp usually make the 250-mile round trip from Dorset to Chigwell together, but the Spurs boss has been staying in London this week during the trial, which is expected to finish at the end of next week.
The pair have been talking on the phone twice a day, however, with Redknapp keen to know how his players are getting on following last weekend’s agonising 3-2 defeat to Premier League leaders Manchester City.
City won the match in injury time thanks to a penalty from Mario Balotelli, who has since been banned for four games for a stamp on Scott Parker that went unpunished at the time. Bond admits Spurs now only have a slim chance of winning their first championship in 51 years.
"The City result and the way it came was a kick in the teeth," he said.
"We are eight points adrift [of City] so strictly speaking we are probably not [in the title race], but in three or four games’ time that might be different."
Thoughts of any fightback in the league will have to wait until Tuesday’s match against Wigan. For now though, they must concentrate on Sean Dyche’s men. Gareth Bale (thigh), Scott Parker (hamstring) and Younes Kaboul (groin) are all doubts after skipping training, but it is likely that none of the trio would have played as Redknapp is likely to rest several of his star players.
Champions League qualification is Spurs’ main priority, meaning Steven Pienaar, Danny Rose and Niko Kranjcar should get game tim, while the star of the third-round win against Cheltenham, Giovanni Dos Santos, may miss out as the club negotiates his sale.
Both Villarreal and Granada claim to have lodged bids to sign the 22-year-old but Sevilla yesterday confirmed they will not be joining the race for the Mexico international.
Bond, meanwhile, insists resting key players does not mean the club are not taking the FA Cup seriously.
"The FA Cup is hugely important," the 54-year-old said.
"As a youngster when you played, you didn’t dream about finishing in the top four so you could play in the Champions League, you all dreamed about playing at Wembley and lifting the cup. The players crave a cup final. They crave playing in the big games, the one-off games."
Watford boss Dyche has played down his side’s chances.
"That gap has got bigger and it’s harder to close. But we all know the magic and the beauty of the FA Cup and if that magic dust is willing to sprinkle on us then you never know."
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Friday, January 27, 2012
