Tottenham: Harry Redknapp's Disgruntled Players

Harry Redknapp has had incredible success in North London since replacing Juande Ramos in the middle of the 2009 season. His first full year with the club, he steered Spurs into a spot in the Champions League where they upset Italian giants Inter and AC Milan.

But, while everyone seems happy about the recent success at White Hart Lane, there have always been a fair amount of disgruntled players at the club during Redknapp’s tenure.

Some players are unhappy about lack of playing time or playing out of position, and others simply aren’t happy about being in North London.

Here are seven of Harry Redknapp's disgruntled footballers. 

Roman Pavlyuchenko

Harry Redknapp’s lust for strikers means that some top players will not start every game. When Roman Pavlyuchenko came to White Hart Lane in 2008 he was fourth in the pecking order behind Robbie Keane, Peter Crouch and Jermaine Defoe.

Roman Pavlyuchenko had patience when he first arrived and impressed by scoring goals in every competition he played. Important goals during the Champions League saw him become a fan favorite, but Harry Redknapp never made him a regular starter.

The frustrated Russian lashed out last February saying, “It is absolutely inconceivable why Redknapp keeps me on the bench—he does not say anything… In Tottenham everything suits me; the traditions, the level of the team, the fans. But Redknapp’s position towards me nullifies all of those.”

The addition of Rafael van der Vaart and Emmanuel Adebayor will not help his playing time this year. 

Rafael Van Der Vaart

Rafael van der Vaart is the latest player to join Redknapp’s disgruntled list.

The midfielder has been a star at White Hart Lane since joining the club in 2010. He led the club in both goals and assists during his first season. So what could make him so upset?

The Dutch superstar has two problems with Harry Redknapp. The manager plays him out of position and does not let him play a full 90 minutes of football.

Redknapp made van der Vaart play winger during Tottenham’s win against Arsenal. The Dutchman shone with a goal, but criticized the manager’s tactics after the game, saying that he plays best in the middle of the field and has a hard time running back to help defend.

Redknapp, who does not seem to be very open to player’s opinions, said, “Rafa is a terrific footballer. He has great skill. But if you're in the team and asked to do a job, really, you should just do it."

Once again, Rafa did not play all 90 minutes in Tottenham’s draw to Newcastle.

Luka Modric

Luka Modric’s frustration seems to be directed more at chairman Daniel Levy than Harry Redknapp.

This summer’s transfer speculation really wore the Croatian down. Chelsea offered 22 million euros for the Croatian, but Levy blocked the move. Modric accused Levy of breaking a gentleman’s agreement that the two had set up last year. He also told The Guardian that Levy threatened him saying, “if I didn't accept the club's stance, they would make me sit on the bench or in the stands.”

Rednapp was very outspoken about keeping his star player, despite the fact that Modric wanted out. The manager even forced the upset midfielder to play against Manchester City, despite the fact that Modric asked him to sit out.

Tottenham went on to lose that match 4-0.

The interesting thing about the situation is that while Redknapp starts players that do not want to play, he benches ones that are dying for a chance to prove themselves. 

Giovani Dos Santos

Giovani dos Santos’ reputation of being a bit of a party animal did not sit well with Harry Redknapp and getting plastered at Tottenham’s annual Christmas party probably hurt whatever chances he had of playing.

Giovani dos Santos showed patience with the club by waiting for a chance to play, and was even loaned out to clubs in order to improve his game. However, despite impressive performances for the Mexican National Team in the World Cup, Harry Redknapp still has not given him many first-team opportunities.

The talented winger’s disappointing spell at Tottenham seemed to be over as Seville looked to buy him during last summer’s transfer period. Unfortunately for Gio, Tottenham blocked the move in the last minute.

This did not sit well with the disgruntled player, as he blasted Redknapp, saying, “I was very surprised that with two hours left, my coach has changed his mind. In three years at Tottenham I have not been taken into account and there has not been confidence in me at all.”

Heurelho Gomes

Great things were expected of Heurelho Gomes when he came to North London in 2009. The Brazilian keeper had the record for highest percentage of clean sheets in the Eredivisie, and went 16 hours and 11 minutes without conceding a goal.

Gomes has had a bipolar four seasons at Tottenham. There are times when he makes incredible saves, but there are also times where he makes amateur mistakes. This mishap against Real Madrid in the Champions League probably paved the way for Brad Freidel to join the club.

The American’s arrival to Tottenham did not sit well with Gomes. But Harry Redknapp’s decision to demote the starting keeper to third string probably stung more.

This is what Redknapp told The Sun about his decision, "I've not bombed out Gomes and made him No. 3 keeper but we decided Carlo Cudicini would be better on the bench.”

Gomes hasn’t played a league match all season and was only featured on the bench once, back in August.

Niko Kranjcar

Niko Kranjcar is one of those players at Tottenham that has enough talent to start but has the misfortune of sharing a position with a superstar—in this case, Gareth Bale.

The former Portsmouth player probably thought a reunion with his old manager, Harry Redknapp, would mean more playing time with a bigger club. However, after three seasons with the Hotspurs, that has proven not to be the case.

Redknapp has been a bit of a tease, lauding the Croatian for impressive performances only to bring in Steven Pienaar, who plays the same position as Kranjcar.

With this season looking like more of the same for Kranjcar, the fed up winger told Redknapp that he would like to leave the club and play for someone who will actually let him step on the field.

Robbie Keane

Robbie Keane got on Harry Redknapp’s bad side after throwing a party behind the manager’s back. The Republic of Ireland international told Redknapp that he was inviting some of his teammates of a round of golf in Dublin. Harry, who is no fan of parties, was furious when he found out about their night of drinking.

It didn't help that Robbie Keane played the same position as Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch and Roman Pavlyuchenko. He tried to be patient and was happy to be loaned out to Celtic and West Ham for a chance at regular football.

Unfortunately, he probably knew his shot at a starting spot was over when Rafael van der Vaart joined the squad. Redknapp put the last nail on the coffin when he said, "It's just that he has been unfortunate that Rafa came in and I've been playing one up with him.”

The former Tottenham captain called it quits for the Hotspurs and headed to Hollywood where he now plays for the L.A. Galaxy. It seems Harry didn’t just drive him out of White Heart Lane; he drove Keane straight out of Europe.