Crouch: England will come knocking on the door for Harry

HARRY REDKNAPP is destined to become England manager, Peter Crouch declared last night.

Tottenham and 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, whose team face FC Twente in the Champions League tonight, has long been the favourite to succeed Fabio Capello, whose contract expires in a year and a half, and on Sunday FA general secretary Alex Horne confirmed 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 last night 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.

“He certainly knows his tactics,” he said.

“I think people underestimate him in that regard.”