Tottenham News: Harry Redknapp Right to Be Smug About Spurs' Success

Tottenham Hotspur boss Harry Redknapp knows all about playing second- or third-fiddle to a bigger, richer English Premier League club in his own city.

He also knows a thing or two about zinging the powerhouses now and again.

Redknapp did just that on Friday when speaking about Spurs' surprising success in the Premiership this season, telling The Sun:

"

[Manchester] City are where they are because of Sheikh Mansour and Chelsea thanks to Roman Abramovich. We have not done it that way and it makes me proud. You don't have to go out and spend fortunes to find good players.

Spurs are not third in the Premier League because someone has walked through the door at White Hart Lane and slapped a bundle of money on my desk. City can pay players £200,000 a week, it's unbelievable. The people running Spurs have invested wisely.

"

You tell 'em, Harry!

Indeed, Redknapp has every right to speak about the virtues of spending sparingly and wisely, seeing as how that strategy has worked wonders for the side that he and Spurs chairman Daniel Levy have cobbled together. The club has seen its thrifty investments in the likes of Younes Kaboul, Benoit Assou-Ekoto, Scott Parker and Emmanuel Adebayor pay off quite handsomely thus far, what with a third-place spot at the halfway mark, just three points behind table-topping City.

The Ade addition serves as the most significant magazine of ammunition at Redknapp's disposal against Roberto Mancini and the Evil Oil Empire afoot in Manchester. Adebayor, who leads Tottenham in goals and assists, is currently on loan from a City side that already had the likes of Edin Dzeko, Mario Balotelli and Sergio Aguero on hand when he was sent to North London.

Just as important as who's come aboard for Harry is the crop of players who have (or haven't) been sold off. Peter Crouch, Wilson Palacios and Jamie O'Hara have been solid, if unspectacular, with their new clubs—Stoke for the former two, Wolves for the latter. Meanwhile, Harry and Levy successfully fended off overtures from other clubs for Luka Modric and Gareth Bale (a.k.a. The World's Greatest) to fashion, along with Rafael van der Vaart, Aaron Lennon, Parker and Adebayor, one of the most exhilarating attacks in the EPL.

Of course, Spurs' success to this point hardly guarantees that the club will finish in position for a spot in the next UEFA Champions League, much less end the season ahead of the Mancunian candidates in the race for the league championship.

For now, though, Harry and his players have every reason to thump their chests with pride over the way they've managed to keep pace with the big boys at a fraction of the usual cost. Next weekend's match against City at the Etihad Stadium will go a long way toward determining whether or not Tottenham have what it takes to challenge for trophies this season.

Follow @J0shMart1n