Bilic beg Rio into first team
|
Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp has heaped praise on Croatia coach Slaven Bilic.
Redknapp told The Sun: "Bilic is a leader of men. I knew it first time I saw him and I'm not surprised he has gone into management.
"He had energy, passion, that fierce Croatian commitment and a real eye for a ball player.
"He hadn't been with us long when Rio came back from loan at Bournemouth.
"You didn't have to be a genius to know Rio was going to grow into a very good player.
"But as soon as he returned from the South Coast and was training with us again, old Slaven was raving.
"Almost every day in training he'd say 'Harry, Harry, you must put Rio in the first team now. Throw him in, the boy is ready'.
"Some people might have thought 18 was too young and raw but Slaven was up for the challenge of playing alongside him and giving him the benefit of his experience."
Redknapp added: "One of Slaven's early games for West Ham was at Spurs and he was immense.
"We beat Spurs 1-0 that night and that made him an instant hit with our fans - and he never let them down.
"He took no time to settle into life in England. He was built for the Premiership.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he comes back to England soon to be a manager.
"Although I'm not so sure if I'd let him defend me in court.
"He had a get-out clause in his contract for £3m. Everton made a bid for that and he came to us and said 'You have to let me go, it's in my contract'.
"I pulled him to one side and said 'It says here you can go if a team offers three million quid and we want to sell you. Well, we don't, sorry. And you're a lawyer?'."
Redknapp told The Sun: "Bilic is a leader of men. I knew it first time I saw him and I'm not surprised he has gone into management.
"He had energy, passion, that fierce Croatian commitment and a real eye for a ball player.
"He hadn't been with us long when Rio came back from loan at Bournemouth.
"You didn't have to be a genius to know Rio was going to grow into a very good player.
"But as soon as he returned from the South Coast and was training with us again, old Slaven was raving.
"Almost every day in training he'd say 'Harry, Harry, you must put Rio in the first team now. Throw him in, the boy is ready'.
"Some people might have thought 18 was too young and raw but Slaven was up for the challenge of playing alongside him and giving him the benefit of his experience."
Redknapp added: "One of Slaven's early games for West Ham was at Spurs and he was immense.
"We beat Spurs 1-0 that night and that made him an instant hit with our fans - and he never let them down.
"He took no time to settle into life in England. He was built for the Premiership.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he comes back to England soon to be a manager.
"Although I'm not so sure if I'd let him defend me in court.
"He had a get-out clause in his contract for £3m. Everton made a bid for that and he came to us and said 'You have to let me go, it's in my contract'.
"I pulled him to one side and said 'It says here you can go if a team offers three million quid and we want to sell you. Well, we don't, sorry. And you're a lawyer?'."
<< Home