Harry Redknapp is a colourful character and he’s in the headlines once again. This time, nobody has been firing coins in the Pompey manager’s direction, although he has been getting riled on the touchlines for the second time in the week. The reason? Why it’s those cheating Brazilian players who were wearing Braga shirts on Thursday night – the referee should have sent the lot of them off for their play-acting!
The BBC reports that Redknapp was fuming after seeing his team lose 3-0 in Portugal. His complaints are nothing new, with another British team struggling to cope with opponents who know how to win free-kicks. Redders was clearly not chuffed at having a Slovenian referee in charge, although were Portsmouth just beaten by a better team?
“From the start of the game I just felt the referee had no idea whatsoever, it was frightening,” said Redknapp.
“Where was he from? Slovakia? Slovenia? I’m sure it’s a good league there and he’s been handling lots of big games.”
“They were diving all over the place. They played well, they won the game, but I just felt every time there was a tackle someone rolled around, it was a yellow card. It was a poor game,” he said.
Does Redknapp have a valid point to make, or is this a case of sour grapes? Many Portsmouth fans have pointed to the fact that the team was tactically naive on Thursday night, and that their tactics need to be sounder if they are to make any headway in this competition.
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