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It was all change at Tottenham Hotspur as Daniel Levy staged his own version of ‘The Night of the Long Knives’ by sacking Spurs’ entire coaching staff just hours before their match against Bolton Wanderers. Out went head coach Juande Ramos, his two assistants Gus Poyet and Marcos Alvarez, along with much criticized Sporting Director Damien Comolli. In their places comes one Harold Redknapp, fresh from leading Portsmouth to their first ever FA Cup trophy just months before.

Certain sections of the media have nicknamed Redknapp ‘Harry Houdini’ for his knack of getting teams out of trouble, and he will need every trick in the book if he is to turn Spurs’ disastrous season around. So far, so good: his first games in charge saw Tottenham beat Bolton by 2-0, and the fans were singing his praise when the final whistle was blown. Mere days later he followed that up with a thrilling 4-4 performance against arch rivals Arsenal. Who needs a Messiah or a Special One, when you have a good ol’ cockney wideboy as the answer to your prayers?

His appointment signals the end of Spurs’ decade-long flirtation with a European coaching set-up, as Harry will have full control of all football transfer activities in the club. English clubs have always struggled with the Director of Football role, with West Ham and Newcastle being the two most recent examples of how, amidst transfers rumors it can go wrong. Redknapp is an old-fashioned manager who likes to take charge of all aspects of the team, and the January football transfer window couldn’t come sooner for many fans, with Jermain Defoe set to make a comeback to the team from Redknapp’s old set-up at Portsmouth. Should be interesting times at the battered club; and at last Spurs fans are able to hold their heads up again after a relentless bombardment of recycled-jokes in the past few months. The future’s bright – the future’s Lilywhite!

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