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Scott Parker is a leader like Steven Gerrard, John Terry & Frank Lampard – Harry Redknapp lauds Tottenham midfielder after debut
Spurs boss also praised Ledley King after starting the match despite not having trained in pre-season, but said he would rest players for the midweek Europa League clash with PAOK
10 Sep 2011 19:26:00
By Joel Lamy at Molineux
Harry Redknapp compared Scott Parker to fellow England internationals Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and John Terry after helping Tottenham record their first points of the season in his debut game.
Parker set up the opening goal for fellow debutant Emmanuel Adebayor in a 2-0 win at Wolves which took Spurs off the bottom of the table after beginning the season with two defeats.
Redknapp said afterwards that it had been "just a matter of time" until his side started to win, but that did not stop him from lavishing praise on the England midfielder who he says can be the leader the north London side have been missing.
“Scott will be great for us, not only as a player but as a person around the club," he told reporters.
“He’s old school. There used to be three or four like him at every club. They don’t breed them any more."
“He’s a Steven Gerrard, John Terry type, a leader. A Frank Lampard. They’re very rare now," he continued. “We needed someone like that and that’s why we pushed for him. He’s a talker, he’s a winner, he closes people down, he makes tackles.
“The first two games, I had to pick a team because of injuries that had no aggression.
“Sandro wasn’t fit, [Wilson] Palacios wasn’t fit, so I had to pick a team which was as open as a barn door and try to outplay the opposition.”
Redknapp had said in his Friday press conference that Parker would make his debut at Molineux and suggested that club captain Ledley King could return to the squad.
But it was still a surprise to see the injury-ravaged central defender take his place in the starting eleven following an achilles injury to Michael Dawson.
Speaking in similarly sentimental terms to which he had described Parker, the Spurs boss said he was in awe of King and described the difficult process it takes just to get him on the pitch every week.
“This is the biggest freak you’ve ever seen. The man hasn’t kicked a football, hasn’t trained, hasn’t run and I played him today," he said.
“How do you do that? It defies everything we all do. Why do we bother training all week?
“We’ve had six weeks of pre-season and he hasn’t trained at all. He hasn’t trained all week.
“He’s like all the great players: like the Bobby Moore’s, the Alan Hansen’s and all those people over the years. They know what he’s doing and that’s what he has.
“Friday will be the first day all week that his knee will come down. Hopefully he will go on Sunday and then we put him away again.
“If we do that all season with him then we’re going to be successful cause he’s that good.”
Adebayor's opening goal meant he has now scored on his debut for Tottenham, Manchester City and Arsenal
The tall Togolese striker has a reputation for starting well at clubs before fading away later on, a fact Redknapp recognised when he said, “he’s got to sustain that now. He can become a big hero at Tottenham."
But he once again dismissed Adebayor's links to former club Arsenal and revealed that he came close a couple of years ago to signing another ex-Gunner who is more loved by the fans at the Emirates.
He added: “Patrick Vieira wanted to play here two years ago.
“I met Patrick, went round his house and had a cup of tea with him.
“If Patrick Vieira wants to come to Tottenham, anyone can come to Tottenham who’s played for Arsenal.”
Another player who has been in the headlines recently is Luka Modric after Spurs resisted several bids from Chelsea to sign the midfielder.
With the transfer window now shut, the Croatian will definitely be playing at White Hart Lane until January.
But when asked again how Modric felt to still be at Spurs, Redknapp admitted he had no idea what was going on inside his head.
“As I said yesterday I don’t know how he feels. He probably goes home to his missus and says ‘what am I doing here still'," he joked.
"I haven’t got a clue how he feels, but he’s here, he’s a great player and a fantastic person.”
The Tottenham manager had to make do without Dawson and Aaron Lennon today, meaning he has nine first-team players out through injury.
With most of his squad having played international matches in the past week and with a home fixture against Liverpool to come on Sunday, Redknapp said he would rest many of his best players for the trip to Greece on Thursday to take on PAOK Salonica in the Europa League.
“The problem I’ve got now going on Thursday is that this lot have just come back from playing two internationals, now I’ve got slap them out to Greece and come back Friday to play Liverpool on Sunday," he said.
“It’s a nuisance, so there won’t be too many of these going to Greece. I want to save them for Sunday.”
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Parker set up the opening goal for fellow debutant Emmanuel Adebayor in a 2-0 win at Wolves which took Spurs off the bottom of the table after beginning the season with two defeats.
Redknapp said afterwards that it had been "just a matter of time" until his side started to win, but that did not stop him from lavishing praise on the England midfielder who he says can be the leader the north London side have been missing.
“Scott will be great for us, not only as a player but as a person around the club," he told reporters.
“He’s old school. There used to be three or four like him at every club. They don’t breed them any more."
“He’s a Steven Gerrard, John Terry type, a leader. A Frank Lampard. They’re very rare now," he continued. “We needed someone like that and that’s why we pushed for him. He’s a talker, he’s a winner, he closes people down, he makes tackles.
“The first two games, I had to pick a team because of injuries that had no aggression.
“Sandro wasn’t fit, [Wilson] Palacios wasn’t fit, so I had to pick a team which was as open as a barn door and try to outplay the opposition.”
Redknapp had said in his Friday press conference that Parker would make his debut at Molineux and suggested that club captain Ledley King could return to the squad.
But it was still a surprise to see the injury-ravaged central defender take his place in the starting eleven following an achilles injury to Michael Dawson.
Speaking in similarly sentimental terms to which he had described Parker, the Spurs boss said he was in awe of King and described the difficult process it takes just to get him on the pitch every week.
“This is the biggest freak you’ve ever seen. The man hasn’t kicked a football, hasn’t trained, hasn’t run and I played him today," he said.
“How do you do that? It defies everything we all do. Why do we bother training all week?
“We’ve had six weeks of pre-season and he hasn’t trained at all. He hasn’t trained all week.
“He’s like all the great players: like the Bobby Moore’s, the Alan Hansen’s and all those people over the years. They know what he’s doing and that’s what he has.
“Friday will be the first day all week that his knee will come down. Hopefully he will go on Sunday and then we put him away again.
“If we do that all season with him then we’re going to be successful cause he’s that good.”
Adebayor's opening goal meant he has now scored on his debut for Tottenham, Manchester City and Arsenal
The tall Togolese striker has a reputation for starting well at clubs before fading away later on, a fact Redknapp recognised when he said, “he’s got to sustain that now. He can become a big hero at Tottenham."
But he once again dismissed Adebayor's links to former club Arsenal and revealed that he came close a couple of years ago to signing another ex-Gunner who is more loved by the fans at the Emirates.
He added: “Patrick Vieira wanted to play here two years ago.
“I met Patrick, went round his house and had a cup of tea with him.
“If Patrick Vieira wants to come to Tottenham, anyone can come to Tottenham who’s played for Arsenal.”
Another player who has been in the headlines recently is Luka Modric after Spurs resisted several bids from Chelsea to sign the midfielder.
With the transfer window now shut, the Croatian will definitely be playing at White Hart Lane until January.
But when asked again how Modric felt to still be at Spurs, Redknapp admitted he had no idea what was going on inside his head.
“As I said yesterday I don’t know how he feels. He probably goes home to his missus and says ‘what am I doing here still'," he joked.
"I haven’t got a clue how he feels, but he’s here, he’s a great player and a fantastic person.”
The Tottenham manager had to make do without Dawson and Aaron Lennon today, meaning he has nine first-team players out through injury.
With most of his squad having played international matches in the past week and with a home fixture against Liverpool to come on Sunday, Redknapp said he would rest many of his best players for the trip to Greece on Thursday to take on PAOK Salonica in the Europa League.
“The problem I’ve got now going on Thursday is that this lot have just come back from playing two internationals, now I’ve got slap them out to Greece and come back Friday to play Liverpool on Sunday," he said.
“It’s a nuisance, so there won’t be too many of these going to Greece. I want to save them for Sunday.”
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