THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON — Harry Redknapp brought England striker Jermain Defoe back to Tottenham on Tuesday to start correcting the mistakes of his predecessor, Juande Ramos.
The Spurs manager is still bewildered at the paucity of the squad he inherited from Ramos in October when the Spaniard, now in charge of Real Madrid, was fired for leading the English Premier League club to its worst start in a century.
"It was a badly balanced, put together squad in all honesty from day one," Redknapp said. "We have no real strength in depth, we have no real cover."
The impact of Defoe’s exit last January was only truly felt in the opening weeks of the season when Dimitar Berbatov’s transfer to Manchester United — a year in the making — went through with strike partner Robbie Keane having already left for Liverpool in a sudden switch.
Ramos’ solution was signing Roman Pavlyuchenko from Spartak Moscow, only to deem the Russian incapable of playing alongside Darren Bent.
With the transfer window reopened, Redknapp added a target man — bringing Defoe back to White Hart Lane 12 months after taking him to Portsmouth for nine million pounds (C$15.9 million) because he was not getting regular starts under Ramos.
"He is important to us — the little fellow can score goals and he can give us all a lift," Redknapp said.
And can Defoe spearhead the strike force with Bent or Pavlyuchenko?
"I hope so," Redknapp responded. "We’ve paid 18 million (pounds) for Bent, 15 for Pavlyuchenko, and (Ramos) said they couldn’t play together. I couldn’t be that stupid surely."
Defoe said he’d never wanted to leave White Hart Lane last January. Spurs fans didn’t want him to go either, and continued to chant his name for the past year.
When he was paraded before Tuesday’s 4-1 victory over Burnley in the first leg of the League Cup semifinals, he was greeted with rousing cheers.
"It was an unbelievable reception, fantastic," Defoe said. "It’s great to be back, I’m really looking forward to the challenge."
Last season’s League Cup final victory over Chelsea came shortly after his move, and Defoe will be confident that he won’t be denied a Wembley final this season. He also missed Portsmouth’s FA Cup triumph over Cardiff in May because he was cup-tied.
Defoe, who scored 64 goals in 177 games in five seasons for Spurs in his first stint, will likely make his debut in Sunday’s Premier League game at Wigan. The London club is only out of the relegation zone on goal difference.
.Defoe will team up for the third time with Redknapp, who initially had him at West Ham.
"The manager was a major factor in coming back," Defoe said. "I never wanted to leave (Spurs), but as a professional there comes a time when you think you need to move on. I did in order to improve my England career."
Redknapp hit out at suggestions that he snatched Defoe away from Fratton Park against his former club’s will.
"I didn’t go and rape Portsmouth, Portsmouth wanted to sell Jermain Defoe," Redknapp said. "I said I wouldn’t go back and upset anybody or try to take any players from them unless the club wanted to sell them and the club wanted to sell Jermain."
It will not be long before Defoe, who had 18 months left on his Portsmouth contract, faces his former club, with Spurs hosting the south coast outfit on Jan. 18 in the Premier League.