Newcastle boss becomes first homegrown coach to win silverware since the ex-Portsmouth boss back in 2008 because he has “good players”
Harry Redknapp has insisted football management is not “rocket science” and English coaches will win trophies if they have good players. Eddie Howe became the first English manager to lift silverware since the former Portsmouth boss won the 2008 FA Cup with Newcastle’s Carabao Cup triumph.
And Redknapp, who made centre-back Howe his first signing at Bournemouth, said: “It’s sad that there’s only two English managers in the Premier League at the moment with Eddie and Graham Potter. It’s sad that they don’t get the opportunities. The only way you tend to get there over the years now is to take a team up. In his case it was different.
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“He got the recognition through taking Bournemouth through the leagues. In the main, unless you get promoted, you don’t seem to get an opportunity to manage. Especially managing one of the big clubs, it doesn’t happen to English managers. They don’t seem to get that chance.
“Good players, you need good players. People kid themselves now, it’s all rocket science. He’s getting the best out of people.”
Ex-Tottenham boss Redknapp hailed top scorer Alexander Isak but picked out two English signings as the key to turning Toon from relegation candidates to Carabao Cup winners.
“Ed is sensible, knows the game,” he said. “He has put a good team together, make good signings. Dan Burn, when he took him, that was a proper sign-in. I looked at that and thought: ‘He’s got something about him. He was a character, he was a leader’.
“Kieran Trippier was a fantastic signing. You knew what you were getting with Trippier. Eddie knew what he was getting. He didn’t have to go and sign more foreign players. He took a couple of English players there who he knew were good pros. You knew what he was going to get out of them. They’ve been a big part of his team.”
Asked if Howe’s cup success at Newcastle will encourage Premier League clubs to appoint more English managers, Redknapp said: “You’d hope so, but again, it’s probably all foreign owners now. They come in, they get brought into clubs by probably agents who recommend some manager to them.
“It’s certainly getting tougher, but I think given the opportunity, there’s lots of good lads out there who could do the job. But I don’t know, there’s such a shortage. When the England job came up recently, I wanted to see an English manager. I’ll be honest, I only saw Eddie.
“I didn’t see anybody else. I thought Eddie was the only one. No one else jumped out at me as a real candidate for the job. I thought Eddie was the only one.
“So it is sad that there’s only him and Potter around in the Premier League at the moment, so hopefully it will change.”
Robbie Fowler’s North England FC will take on Harry Redknapp’s South England FC at Charlton Athletic’s The Valley on Sunday June 1. Adult tickets are priced at just £15 and £5 for Under-18s – click here for more details.
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