Harry Redknapp gives Taty Castellanos verdict and backs West Ham over Tottenham

Spare a thought for Harry Redknapp; with three months of the Premier League season remaining his beloved West Ham United and another former employer in Tottenham Hotspur are both mired in the bottom five.

As things stand, and as the top-flight takes a brief pause for the fourth round of the FA Cup, there are only two places and five points separating the two London rivals on either side of the relegation zone.

Tottenham are set to hire ex-Juventus coach Igor Tudor on a short-term deal in a desperate attempt to lift the mood following the blood-sucking, energy-sapping Thomas Frank era.

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Across the last five matches, meanwhile, Nuno Espirito Santo’s West Ham United have picked up eight more points than the reigning Europa League champions.

Nuno has plenty of sympathy for Frank and the now-sacked Sean Dyche, dumped by Nottingham Forest after only four months in charge. It is fair to say few Spurs or Forest fans share the Iberian’s disappointment at seeing two more of his colleagues bite the proverbial bullet.

As for Harry Redknapp, who coached on both sides of the London divide, he accepts that the Hammers are in a much better place right now than Spurs are. Especially after £27 million January signing Taty Castellanos opened his Premier League account last week at Burnley.

Harry Redknapp backs West Ham United and new signing Taty Castellanos

Gary Neville feels that West Ham have enough firepower now to climb above Forest, although any newfound optimism was dented by the news that Nuno will be without Pablo Felipe for the foreseeable future due to injury.

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“They’ve hit form just at the right time, haven’t they? A month ago, I’d have said they’re going to go down,” Redknapp tells talkSPORT, sharing the confidence expressed by the legendary Manchester United right-back.

“I couldn’t see any way out, but they’ve turned it round. A couple of new strikers coming in has made a bit of difference to them.

“[In contrast, the Tottenham] players look short of confidence and the fans obviously have no confidence in anything that’s happening there. There is a bad feeling around the place. It is a very difficult recipe for disaster. They’ve suddenly got sucked into a relegation battle.”

Nuno could rest Castellanos, Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville when the Hammers travel to Burton Albion in the FA Cup fourth round. Tottenham have the weekend off, following their defeat by Aston Villa in January.

Simon Jordan says Hammers must take positives from Manchester United draw

Tudor’s first game in charge, then, will be the North London derby with Arsenal on February 22nd.

Nuno was left deflated by Benjamin Sesko’s equaliser in the sixth minute of stoppage time last time out. Had they held on, West Ham would have been only a point behind a now-managerless Nottingham Forest side.

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Though former Crystal Palace chairman and talkSPORT rent-a-quote Simon Jordan believes the nature of that Man United draw should not distract from the level of their performance.

“When you saw West Ham get beat at home by Nottingham Forest at the beginning of the year, you felt, ‘this is a side that’s gone.’ All of a sudden, West Ham seem to get themselves galvanised,” Jordan argues.

“If you’d have asked West Ham, ‘Would you take a point against an in-form Man United before the game?’, all day they would have taken a point. The fact is that they were 1–0 up and obviously conceded a goal in the 96th minute is a disappointment, but it’s a bloody good point!”

“I would still say it’s upon them in terms of the likely third [relegation] spot. They’ve got a lot to do, West Ham, but what they’ve given themselves is a hell of a chance.”