'Appy 'Arry's Common Sense

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp enjoyed the bonhomie of a Football Focus interview today which chose to major on his England and Champions League aspirations rather than dodgy transfer dealings.

With a nod to his reputation for astute man-management, when asked how he gets the most out of players he answered that it was “all common sense really“. I normally switch off when anyone starts an explanation this way, because it is never normally common sense. And so Harry proved.

To paraphrase, he rattled off a pair of important aspects to him.

play people in their proper positions &

make them want to play together

Leaving aside the astonishingly obvious observation that these appear to be polar opposites of Fabio Capello’s current England regime, I couldn’t help but think of how well sales teams would do to heed this creed. The number of initiatives I’ve seen where the ingrained farmer is now expected to hunt, people immersed in one sector are mysteriously transferred to an alien other, guys prefer to operate in their secretive silos and an absence of teamwork that can’t be magically created by a jolly night out are legion.