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A Brief, Failed Reflection On Harry Redknapp's Departure

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I am very rarely at a loss for words. If I was the kind of person that was regularly at a loss for words, I would have trouble keeping my job. Even when I post angry caps-lock rants or GIFs in place of news or match reports here, it's not because I'm at a loss for words. It's simply because I don't want the words that are in my head in that particular moment on this site. At any given moment, especially when it comes to Tottenham Hotspur, there's something that I could be writing.

This post went up early in the morning on the east coast of the United States and at lunchtime in the United Kingdom, but it was written at 1 a.m. ET, approximately two hours after Tottenham Hotspur announced that they had parted ways with Harry Redknapp. For two hours, I've sat at my computer screen trying to piece together something coherent to say about Redknapp and his departure. I have been, genuinely, at a loss for words.

Redknapp did a lot of good things for Tottenham. He also fell up woefully short in some key situations. Depending on who you are, his attitudes towards tactics, dealing with players and dealing with the media can be seen as positive or negative. I could tell by the comments in previous threads that Harry Redknapp is a very polarizing figure, and he's only going to get more polarizing if his replacement is anyone but a big name manager with recent trophies to his name.

Those who think Redknapp was 100 percent lucky in his time with Spurs and that he is an incompetent buffoon are probably crazy. So are people who think that he was a brilliant manager, and that the club will not soon recover from his sacking. Redknapp was a decent manager with a lot of positive qualities and a lot of flaws. We don't know whether or not the next manager will be an upgrade or a downgrade. There's so much to talk about, and yet there's seemingly nothing to talk about at all.

We'll talk about David Moyes and Roberto Martinez. We'll probably talk about Rafa Benitez and Andre Villas-Boas. We might even talk about Jurgen Klopp. Someone will inevitably want to talk about Gus Poyet. Nick has a Didier Deschamps fixation, while Ryan will probably want to inform everyone about the greatness that is Thomas Tuchel. Paul Lambert, Brendan Rodgers and Chris Hughton just got new jobs. Whoops on all accounts.

We'll talk even more about Gareth Bale and Luka Modric. I expect Modric to ask the leave the club. I expect Gareth Bale's agent to plant links to big clubs. I expect teams with money to bid for both of them. What Daniel Levy and a hypothetical new manager will do about it, no one knows.

That stuff is all really easy to write about, and we'll write about it a lot. But Harry? I have nothing to say about Harry at the moment. I promise I'll try again over the next few days, a lot, but right now? I'm sorry, I just have nothing to say about Harry Redknapp.

But I think I'm happy it's over.