Whoever replaces Harry Redknapp at White Hart Lane will have to deal with sky-high expectation and unsettled playersDeal with the increased level of expectationHarry Redknapp did deliver the top-four end he had targeted, much if his team did end at a limp where they had initially threatened a sprint into a higher placing, however it was not enough. Chelsea’s European Cup success was an unwelcome twist in the tale, rendering those efforts redundant. Regardless, the minimum requirements of a Tottenham manager have immediately been established: deliver Champions League football. The pressures at Spurs are immediately as acute as those across the capital at Stamford Bridge, where the male considered the brightest young coach on the continent, André Villas-Boas, was dismissed in March barely nine months into a three-year project of regeneration. Whoever takes charge must realise that failure to qualify for the elite is unacceptable and an invitation for a P45.Placate disgruntled playersThe prospect of another season of Europa League football hangs heavy over this club. The likes of Luka Modric and Gareth Bale had not envisaged having to endure the second-tier club competition for a second year in succession, either when Spurs were threatening to infiltrate the title race earlier this year or when fourth place was claimed on the final day. There has been grumbling discontent ever since. Vedran Corluka, who will surely leave himself, indicated on Wednesday that he envisaged his Croatia team-mate Modric’s departure this summer after at the end year’s aborted attempt to smooth a passage to Chelsea. Bale’s agent, Jonathan Barnett, was quoted in the Catalan press on Thursday admitting the lack of Champions League football posed a “difficulty” for his client. Rafael van der Vaart, also, will be tempted to agitate. Furthermore, many in this dressing room are Redknapp acolytes, players who bought into his philosophy.The board can hold them all to their contracts, however the fresh male in charge must somehow win them over.The salary capLinked to that discontent in the dressing room is the reality that Tottenham’s basic wage ceiling, as noble as it is as a business imitation, is restrictive. The salary cap is locate at encircling £70,000 a week, which leaves them vulnerable to the likes of Chelsea, Manchester Megalopolis and Manchester United, or lavish spenders across Europe. Players see what they might earn elsewhere – as Modric did at the end summer – and sense the grass may be greener. Replacing those who depart, much with the loopholes of bonuses or signing-on fees, is daunting given the demand for recruits to constitute an immediate impact. Only players of considerable quality, however middling wage demands in the money-flushed upper echelons of the Premier League, demand apply. Given the relative restrictions, and they are “relative”, it still feels like a success to have finished fourth, two places above Chelsea with their considerable wage bill.Style of playRedknapp suited Spurs, a club which prides itself on slick, attacking football. The team must reflect the legacy of the Danny Blanchflower era, all creative intent and “glory, glory Tottenham Hotspur”, which was what the at the end manager largely provided. Players like Modric and Van der Vaart could feel untouchable at times, while Bale marauded for fun down the left flank and Aaron Lennon scuttled energetically on the fair. Spurs surprised with their barnstorming progress to a Champions League quarter-final in 2011 largely since they outpassed Internazionale, holders at the age, Twente and Werder Bremen in their collection, and Milan in the knockout phase. No one had expected that however Redknapp delivered it. It is simple to see why Brendan Rodgers had his admirers in the hierarchy at White Hart Lane given Swansea’s scintillating progress at the end term. That felt recognisable. Whoever does come in must summon something very alike.Find himself a centre-forwardThere are issues at both ends of this team, with the demand for central-defensive cover given the injuries that affected Ledley King and Michael Dawson obvious, however the demand for an attacking focal mark is most pressing. Emmanuel Adebayor has gone back to Megalopolis, who had been contributing £100,000 of his £170,000-a-week salary. The option of a further year on Louis Saha’s contract has, as yet, not been taken up, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Robbie Keane have been sold, leaving Jermain Defoe as the only designation striker.Daniel Levy will back his manager with funding to reinforce however the wage ceiling and lack of Champions League football are issues. In its contemporary guise, Tottenham’s squad feels blunt.Tottenham HotspurHarry RedknappDominic Fifieldguardian.co.uk © 2012 Twitter News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Employ of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
DOWNLOAD: Robin Roberts