Harry Redknapp urged to name reluctant England players

Tristram

Steven Gerrard and Roy Hodgson have reacted furiously to assertions from Harry Redknapp that players at Tottenham would ask him to withdraw them from senior England duty while he was in charge at White Hart Lane because they did not “need the aggro”.
The England manager and his captain urged Redknapp to identify the players to whom he was referring and “embarrass” them in public. Gerrard, who will be rested and replaced as captain by Frank Lampard for tomorrow’s last group game against Costa Rica, has been asked to stay on as skipper by Hodgson going into the qualification campaign for Euro 2016.
Recalled incidents
The Queens Park Rangers manager, who had been a contender to succeed Fabio Capello before the English Football Association chose Hodgson, had recalled incidents at Spurs.
“When full internationals came around, there were two or three players who did not want to play for England,” he told BBC 5 Live. “They say: ‘Gaffer, get me out of that game, I don’t want to play.’ I’d say: ‘You’re playing for your country, you should want to play.’ [They would say]: ‘Nah, my girlfriend is having a baby in four weeks, I don’t want to play’, and that is the truth, so it makes you wonder. You see the stick the England players get, they’re earning fantastic money, they’re all playing in the Champions League. They think: ‘Do we need the aggro?”’
There were 12 England players who worked under Redknapp at Spurs – Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe, Aaron Lennon, Darren Bent, Scott Parker, David Bentley, Jermaine Jenas, Michael Dawson, Tom Huddlestone, Jonathan Woodgate, Ledley King and Kyle Walker – though the QPR manager’s reluctance to identify those to whom he was referring riled Gerrard.
“I tell you what, I’d be interested to find out who those players are,” he said. “If Harry is making a comment like that, he should name them and embarrass them. Hand on heart, no one in this group wants to go home. If [what Redknapp says is] the case, it’s disgusting. For me, if a player doesn’t want to be here, he doesn’t deserve to be at a World Cup.
“Harry Redknapp is a fantastic coach and a big character in the game, so for him to make a comment like that’s a big question in this room, but we need names or we can’t agree or disagree.”
Hodgson also said Redknapp should name the players involved: “If you are going to make global comments like that, it’s a bit dangerous. You have to be prepared to say: ‘This player came to me and said . . . ’ I could imagine ‘a player’ with an educated guess, but I don’t think I could name many Tottenham players, and certainly [not] among the ones I’ve worked with [to whom Redknapp’s words might apply].”

Came across this article in the Irish Times earlier. It's from the Guardian originally. Would you reckon there's any truth to it? Who are the likely suspects?

My initial reaction was disappointment that anyone would feel that way about the opportunity to represent their country, but when I read Redknapp's full comments I can kind of/barely see where they are coming from. Is this just an inevitable outcome of having so many highly-paid professionals in this day and age?

Sorry if this is the wrong place to post this!

DubPerryman

International football has definitely lost a bit of its appeal. Kind of like the appeal the FA Cup and League Cup have lost since the Premier League and the importance of Champions League qualification has outshone everything else.

Sadly money is king. The players get paid to play for their clubs and the Champions League is the 'international' tournament players want to play in.

The attraction to travel hundreds of miles for a poxy friendly or qualifier, even though you're representing your country, is lost. You can see it in how the Europa League is treated in England. The players don't want to be flying to Donetsk to play a match in a tournament that nobody cares about - players would be hanged if they said it publicly, but we all know it's true.

Kiith

This is basically Harry trying to be relevant again. Possible England vacancy coming up?

"Ohh, look at me. I'm good aul Arry and i'll happily stop to chat with you instead of doing my job."

same ol sh1te

He's a media whore, don't believe a word

Undercover

How utterly unprofessional of the man to come out with comments like this. Exactly the reason why I could never fully warm to him, glad he's no longer at the club.

Hammar

He's now between a rock and a hard place.
He can't name them as he would never hold any respect in a dressing room again if he opens up about private conversations with his players, and when he doesn't name them,he will get abuse from the media.
He should have just kept his mouth shut for once.

rwg

Harry getting a bashing here for telling the truth, you can see why its better if players/managers give the standard boring politically correct answers to questions in interviews - damned if you do, damned if you dont

pleasant Co.

rwg wrote: »

Harry getting a bashing here for telling the truth, you can see why its better if players/managers give the standard boring politically correct answers to questions in interviews - damned if you do, damned if you dont

What question was he asked regarding the comments made about shirking international duty?
It seems he volunteered this information, as I see it there's no "damned if you do" about it, he opened his gob and inserted his foot and is rightfully being criticised over it.

DubPerryman

Hammar wrote: »

He should have just kept his mouth shut for once.

Story of his life!