Redknapp insists exit talk has not destabilised Spurs

Everton 1 Tottenham Hotspur

"Absolute rubbish, absolute rubbish, absolute rubbish," Harry Redknapp was becoming angry now, at the top of the steep staircase that leads to Goodison Park's press room.

After a third successive defeat it had been put to the Tottenham manager that it was probably not a coincidence that his side had begun to stutter and stumble just when everyone expected him to leave White Hart Lane in the summer for England.

What infuriated Redknapp was the thought Tottenham should have won two of those games, last Sunday against Manchester United and here on Saturday night at Everton.

"You saw the effort today," he said. "How can it destabilise the team when they come out and play like that? They haven't gone: 'The manager's leaving and we ain't bothered any more.'

"We have had three very difficult games, that's all – Manchester United, Arsenal away and now Everton, who have beaten Manchester City and Chelsea here. They are dogged, they hung in and they rode their luck."

Everton did more than that and only when Louis Saha struck the post late on did they look in real danger of surrendering their lead.

However loudly Redknapp might deny it, managers start to lose their hold over their players when it seems they might be leaving. Sir Alex Ferguson remarked that revealing he planned to leave in 2002 destabilised the Manchester United dressing room.

Redknapp also touched on the problem of the thinness of his squad. "Those 16 players who came to Everton are going to have to carry us for quite a few weeks," he said. "Maybe we haven't got the strength in depth of some clubs but we are still bang in there and we will be at the end."

Match details

Everton: HOWARD 6/10; NEVILLE 6; DISTIN 7; HEITINGA 7; BAINES 7; DRENTHE 5; FELLAINI 6; OSMAN 6; COLEMAN 7; JELAVIC 7; CAHILL 6

Spurs: FRIEDEL 7; ASSOU EKOTTO 6; KING 6; KABOUL 5; WALKER 6; MODRIC 5; SANDRO 5; PARKER 6; BALE 7; DEFOE 7; ADEBAYOR 5

Scorer: Everton Jelavic 22. Substitutes: Everton Rodwell 5 (Drenthe, 65), Stracqualursi (Jelavic, 78), Jagielka (Coleman, 82). TottenhamSaha 6 (Adebayor, 55), Van der Vaart 5 (Sandro, 69), Livermore (Parker, 86). Booked: Everton Heitinga, Howard. Tottenham Assou-Ekotto, Defoe. Man of the match Osman. Match rating 6/10. Possession: Everton 40% Tottenham 60%. Attempts on target: Everton 5 Tottenham9. Referee M Halsey (Lancashire). Attendance 34,992