It is safe to say that it was a surprise when it was announced that veteran manager Harry Redknapp was to replace Gianfranco Zola as manager of Birmingham City.
Redknapp, more famous for his domestic managerial roles with QPR (105 games), Portsmouth (229 games – two spells), Tottenham Hotspurs (198 games) and West Ham (276 games).
It was also true that the moment he signed up to become manager at St Andrews, it was not long before wags came out with the usual barbs about Redknapp bringing in his trusted players. The jibes that began to flow can be summarised in the following tweet.
https://twitter.com/AdamDee96/status/854298224202526721
However, joking aside, it seems that the sentiment of Harry Redknapp continually relying n the same, ‘trusted’ players isn’t far from the truth – not if the bookmaker BetVictor is to be believed.
However, BetVictor (in the drop down menu) are already offering odds of 3/1 that Nico Kranjcar will following Redknapp to Birmingham, joining his old boss at a club for a third time after ‘Arry had signed him for Portsmouth, Spurs and QPR.
Quoted in the Daily Record, Redknapp displayed his admiration for the now Rangers midfielder saying: “Technically I think he’s a fantastic footballer and he’s a great lad, I enjoy working with him – and he’s always done well for me. He’s the type of lad you like to see, and I look forward to seeing him everyday. He’s a top class bloke.”
32-year-old Kranjcar is currently on the books of Scottish footballing giants Rangers, although he is suffering from a ruptured cruciate ligament at the moment, a season-ending injury. Croat Kranjcar arrived at Rangers via a spell with New York Cosmos in the NASL Spring Championship, where he made seven appearances, scoring once and providing one assist.
Attacking midfielder Kranjcar made nine appearances for Rangers this season, scoring once against Partick Thistle, before he ruptured his cruciate ligament before game day 11 – Kranjcar missing the whole of the season since late October.
