Harry Redknapp On… Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, Lionel Messi, England And David Bentley

White Hart Lane lifts the lid on his dealing with Emirates club, signing a Nou Camp legend and the ‘disrepectful’ St Andrew’s player.

Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp was the guest of honour on a special Absolute Radio breakfast show celebrating the 20 years of Sky Sports.

Hosts Russ Williams and Helen Chamberlain asked the colourful manager on his side’s upcoming derby clash with Arsenal, his relationship with Arsene Wenger, the England job, signing Lionel Messi and THAT moment when he was soaked by David Bentley.

Here’s the transcript of their chat:

Harry Redknapp on… Spurs vs Arsenal
Harry Redknapp: “I don’t mind, as long as we come out on the right end of the score.  Maybe 2-1, a bit like last year’s result, certainly we’d take that.

“The score tonight, I wish I knew. It’s going to be a tough game, they’re a good side and away from home they’ve got unbelievable form.

“They haven’t lost in the League for an awful long time, but we’re very good as well, so it’s got the makings of another great game.

“I mean, we’ve turned it round a little bit the last couple of years with Arsenal, we won at the Emirates this year for the first time in an awful long time, we beat them at home last year.

“So hopefully, I don’t mind, as long as we come out on the right end of the score.  Maybe 2-1, a bit like last year’s result, certainly we’d take that.

Russ Williams: “And a Danny Rose-like goal would be very handy.”

HR: “Yeah, that was an amazing goal for Danny, I mean, to make his debut and come in that night and score that goal, you know.

“You haven’t seen too much of Danny since, but I still think Danny’s a kid with a good future, and he’s certainly come back in good form recently, and I’m sure we’ll see a bit more of Danny.

Harry Redknapp on… Arsene Wenger
HR: “I get on okay with him, I don’t have too many problems with Arsene, we always seem to get on okay, you know. Everybody else has had problems with him, I don’t.”

Harry Redknapp on… Dream transfer signings
HR: “You’d have to say Messi, I think Messi is just an absolutely incredible player, you know, for me he’s almost unplayable.

“You look at his goal record, 60-odd goals in 60-odd games for Barcelona in the last 60-whatever matches, he’s just amazing.

“When you watch him play he’s unstoppable, he’s a little man who looks like he loves playing football, he’s an absolute genius, and for me he’s the best player in the world at the moment.”

Harry Redknapp on… The England job
HR: “You know, in this game one minute you’re going well, a few bad results and you don’t know what you’re doing, it’s an amazing game.

“So, you know, I love what I’m doing, I’m working at a great club at the moment, so who knows what happens in the future.

“I don’t tend to look that far into the future, I live a little bit for this week and see what the future brings when it comes, you know.”

Harry Redknapp on… David Bentley
Helen Chamberlain: “I want to know when David Bentley threw that bucket of water over you in celebration, was that the moment you knew you were sending him out on loan?

HR: “No. Well I’ve got to be honest, Helen, it was a bit of fun, but I wasn’t best pleased with it, I’ve got to be honest with you, I just thought it was a bit disrespectful if I’m honest about it.

“I could never imagine doing that with Ron Greenwood, who was my manager when I was a player, or Bobby Moore doing it to the manager.

“But no, David’s a good lad, I just think they got a bit carried away on the night.

“You notice it was all lads who didn’t play who did it, it was none of the boys who actually played?”

“They probably thought ‘We’ll let him have it for leaving us out tonight’.”

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Speed smooths over Bale row with Redknapp

Wales manager Gary Speed has moved to avoid a potential club-versus-country row by describing a dispute with Harry Redknapp over the fitness of Gareth Bale as a "misunderstanding".

Bale has been ruled out of Saturday's Euro 2012 qualifier against England with a hamstring injury, and Speed said on Thursday that the winger had picked up the problem at Spurs prior to his arrival with the national team.

However, Redknapp was adamant the winger was feeling fine after completing 90 minutes for Tottenham in their goalless draw against West Ham at the weekend.

"I wouldn't have let him go if he had an injury," Redknapp told the Daily Mail. "Gareth played for 90 minutes against West Ham on Saturday and they tell me the figures from that game show he covered more ground than he's ever done before.

"There was no sign of a hamstring injury. He's not come in after the game and said his hamstrings were tight. When he left here on Saturday, off he went and he certainly wasn't injured.

"He hasn't had a hamstring injury. He had a back, then he had a tight thigh and we've been very careful with him. Now he's got a hamstring. He must've done it with Wales. I'm not blaming anyone. It's no one's fault."

However, Speed explained in his press conference on Friday: "I haven't spoken to Harry. We swapped telephone messages and everything is fine. It was a misunderstanding so that has been nipped in the bud and that is fine."

It is the second time that Wales have been forced to clarify their position to avoid angering Tottenham, with Speed's assistant Raymond Verheijen having to state that a reference to "incompetent amateurs" on his Twitter account was directed at journalists who reported Bale trained on Wednesday, rather than the Premier League club.

Meanwhile, with Tottenham's Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid less than a fortnight away, Redknapp is hopeful Bale will be ready after a week's rest, although he admits there is a risk of further aggravating the injury.

"The first I heard of it was at 10 o'clock on Wednesday night when our physio called me," Redknapp said. "I feared the worst but he's seen our physio and it's only tightness. There's no tear but if he plays and it pings, he's had it."

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Redknapp: I wouldn't sell Modric for £1bn

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp claims no amount of money could tempt him to part with Luka Modric.

Modric, 25, has been key to Spurs' recent success and has subsequently been linked with many of the top teams in Europe. Juventus and Inter are among the clubs said to have expressed an interest of late, and the player's agent, Mario Mamic, was forced to dismiss speculation in Italy on Thursday.

"These are just rumours," Mamic told Calcio Mercato. "Luka has a contract until 2016 and Tottenham have no plans to sell him. He has an excellent relationship with the coach, Redknapp, and only signed a contract extension with Spurs last summer."

Redknapp, asked about the midfielder in an interview with Croatian newspaper Sportske Novosti, reiterated that Spurs would not entertain any offers.

"I wouldn't want to sell him for ?100 million," Redknapp said. "Not even for a billion. He's the hub of the team."

It appears the future is less certain for the rest of Tottenham's Croatian contingent. Niko Kranjcar has expressed a desire for first-team football and, while he rejected a move to Werder Bremen in January and then scored match-winners in successive games against Bolton and Sunderland in February, he has not started a game since.

"Niko's a great player and a great guy, very polite, but the guy just has no luck," Redknapp said. "I don't want him to leave the club - he was fantastic last season - but we've got Gareth Bale out on the left of midfield.

"Believe me, he'll be back in the team. I don't know when, but he will be back."

Asked about suggestions Vedran Corluka could leave White Hart Lane, Redknapp said: "I would be sorry to lose him.

"He's a really upbeat guy, always does what I ask him, but unfortunately he suffered the injury in that stupid challenge from Flamini [at AC Milan] and it ended that great run of form he was in."

Goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa added to the club's Croatian contingent when he joined on loan from Spartak Moscow, but he has made just one appearance for Tottenham.

Redknapp said: "Pletikosa has been really good in training, but what I would say is, 'What would you do in my position if you had Heurelho Gomes? Gomes is in great shape, and you can't play everyone."

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Redknapp: Man Utd winning title by default

Harry Redknapp says the poor form of Chelsea and Arsenal means they are "handing the title" to a Manchester United team he rates as one of the worst in recent times.

United extended their lead at the top of the table to five points on Saturday as Arsenal had to battle back from 2-0 down to draw with West Brom, and although Chelsea have improved, they are still nine points behind Sir Alex Ferguson's side with a game in hand.

The current leaders have not impressed with regularity this season, winning only four of 15 away games, and Tottenham boss Redknapp believes they could win their 19th league title virtually by default.

"Really we are handing the title to Manchester United this year," Redknapp said. "This is as poor as Manchester United have played in years, but they keep stumbling along and nicking results when they should have got done.

"Chelsea have blown up, Arsenal too - it is there for somebody this year to win the championship."

Though Tottenham's recent poor form means they have fallen to fifth place and are now struggling to ensure their qualification for the Champions League, Redknapp believes two high-profile signings could ensure the North Londoners are in title contention for next season.

"I don't think the other big clubs have got anything that Spurs don't have," he said. "People might think I'm mad to be aiming to win the league but I think it is possible.

"But if I do win one it will be a bit of a miracle, won't it? I think if I did then I'd probably retire. But I do think it is possible. If we can go and get a couple of Luka Modrics, people like that. We've got to believe we can achieve anything here."

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