Slaven Bilic and Luka Modric are in agreement over a former West Ham manager, who did not get the credit he deserved.
Modric is even baffled by how he never took over the reins of the England national team, given their history of appointing sub-par managers.
Bilic himself managed the Hammers, but also made over 50 appearances for them in his playing career.
Slaven Bilic and Luka Modric laud Harry Redknapp
Harry Redknapp was Bilic’s manager at West Ham United, and the latter believes that he was underrated and underappreciated during his tenure at the club.
The Croatian believes that Redknapp is someone who likes putting his best players on the pitch and instils a positive mentality in the dressing room.
Bilic was in conversation with Modric, who also agreed with him, as he stated that he understood his football extremely well.
Redknapp coached Modric during their Tottenham days, before the Croatian went on to achieve legendary status at Real Madrid.
Was Harry Redknapp underrated during his West Ham managerial career?
Before the Englishman took over the reins at Spurs, Juande Ramos played the now AC Milan midfielder out of position.
It was a credit to the former Hammers boss that Modric thrived in the Premier League and got on Madrid’s radar.
“He’s a coach people often underrate, and he coached me at West Ham. He adopted that ‘biggest enemy’ thing,” Bilic said.
“It’s not that he brags about it, but he’s a coach who likes to put as many good players as possible on the pitch.”
To which Modric responded: “He really understands football. I think it’s unbelievable that he never coached England.”
Does Bilic have a point about Redknapp’s time at West Ham United?
Redknapp initially joined as assistant to the legendary Billy Bonds, before a decision was made to make him the first-team manager.
He played a pivotal role in promoting the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick, Frank Lampard and Joe Cole from the club’s academy and they went on to have extremely successful careers in the professional game.
They even won UEFA’s Intertoto Cup under his stewardship and did well in the Premier League.
While former players are often nostalgic about their careers, Bilic is spot on about Redknapp and while he was loved by the West Ham faithful, he did not get his flowers from the football community at large.
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