QPR boss looks to revive careers of two former Spurs charges
Published:Harry Redknapp has never been shy in bringing a former player to a new club and, during his time as Queens Park Rangers boss, has tapped up Tottenham for more than a few old charges.
That strategy of familiarity doesn’t look like waning this summer as the Loftus Road club plot out a recruitment plan that’ll help them retain their Premier League status next season.
Both Michael Dawson and Andros Townsend are on the former Spurs manager’s radar this off season, two players that he’s not only worked closely with at White Hart Lane, but has tried to recruit already as the Hoops chief.
Townsend actually spent the second half of 2012/13 with Redknapp at Rangers as they tried to avoid the drop and although the club fell short in those ambitions, the 22-year-old was one of the club’s better performers.
That same season, Redknapp tried to sign Spurs skipper Dawson on a permanent basis after the former Nottingham Forest centre-half had been told by Andre Villas-Boas that he wasn’t part of the first-team plans.
A deal for around £9m was thought to have been agreed, only for Dawson to reject the move in favour of fighting to get his Spurs spot.
The decision paid off for the four-cap international, as he outlasted AVB at White Hart Lane, but now with Mauricio Pochettino as another new manager to impress, Dawson may prefer a switch to play for a boss who clearly trusts him.
Townsend may take a similar view having started last season as one of the first-choice wide men, only to lose his place through injury and a loss of form.
That slump saw the much-loaned winger slide down Roy Hodgson’s World Cup pecking order and Townsend may see a reunion with Redknapp as the best way to get his career back on track.
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