Spurs must hope Capello keeps his job

Now that England's farcical World Cup campaign has finished, fans can start looking ahead to the domestic season. For Spurs supporters this should be a time of excitement, as the usual summer optimism is justified like never before. However, a dark cloud hangs over White Hart Lane - the potential departure of Harry Redknapp to become England manager.

Once Roy Hodgson is installed as Liverpool boss, Redknapp will become the bookmakers' favourite to replace Fabio Capello should the Italian be sacked. Redknapp has already expressed his desire to fill the role, albeit when Capello's contract runs out, but our manager knows the Italian is on borrowed time and his comments represent his hat landing in the ring. The World Cup betting made England third favourites pre-tournament, and Capello could get the boot after a woeful showing.

There is every chance that the popular Redknapp will get the job. The F.A. have had their fingers burned twice by installing costly foreign 'super coaches' and the experiment with internal promotion failed when Steve McLaren was given the job.

They know Martin O'Neill was the popular choice when Sven Goran Eriksson left the post and they will not risk ignoring Redknapp in the same way they did the Ulsterman four years ago. The Harry bandwagon has already started and will be hard to stop, especially as alternatives are thin on the ground.

Hopefully this will not be too much of a distraction during pre-season. Everything is in place for another excellent campaign, not least as Tottenham's England players return home relatively unaffected by the South African calamity.

Tottenham's Premier League betting odds suggest another successful campaign could be in the offing, and their underused internationals will have a key role to play.

Michael Dawson, Aaron Lennon, Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe should all have played more but their lack of action does Spurs a favour as they will all start the season refreshed and with a point to prove. Some of their international colleagues will take some time to rediscover their confidence after performing so badly on the biggest stage.

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