Exclusive - Ardiles: Redknapp is the most important man at Spurs

Ossie Ardiles has heaped praise on Tottenham’s high-fliers, but insists the most important man at White Hart Lane is Harry Redknapp.

Players like Luca Modric, Gareth Bale, Scott Parker and Emmanuel Adebayor have been making all the headlines this season, but the Spurs legend says the man behind the scenes deserves the most credit.

Tottenham will go level on points with second placed Manchester United if they beat Everton on Wednesday night, and Ardiles cannot speak highly enough of the man who’s made that possible.

He told the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast: “Harry has done an incredible job. Don’t forget, when he arrived [at the club] there was a serious threat of relegation, but that disappeared quickly.

“There is a real optimism and confidence running through the club, and that’s wonderful. Even when we’re not playing as well as we can we’re getting results.

“Modric, Bale and the rest are doing very well but the number one is Harry Redknapp.”

Ardiles also believes the Tottenham boss could pull a transfer rabbit out of the hat in the January window to bolster his squad ahead of the Premier League title run-in.

He added: “Harry always leaves it until the last moment and he has the knack that the player who arrives is just the player they need. It happened six months ago [with Adebayor] and it might happen again.”