Here is what Harry Redknapp had to say before Tottenham Hotspur's match against Stoke City.

"We are not playing badly, but we need a result and want to be in form. If we don't win, then things are really getting a bit tight. It has closed up and we have to make sure we try to pick up three points."

And here are other things that Harry Redknapp had to say after Spurs' 1-1 draw with Stoke, in which his team played poorly.

"In the end we were thankful for Rafa's goal. With four minutes to go it's a good point, with 90 to go it's a bad point. We'd have taken a point with four minutes to go, for sure. It might be a vital point at the end of the season, it might just come in handy.

These quotes are not directly contradictory. Harry says that at 90 minutes to go, a point would have been a bad result. I am just a tiny bit bothered by the attitude here, though. I really wanted to hear Harry come out and say that it was a poor performance, that his team needed to play better, and that failing to win was unacceptable.

But, I am just a blogger. I don't know what the team needs to hear right now. I've never met Luka Modric, Gareth Bale and Scott Parker. Perhaps what they need going into the Chelsea game is "that was a vital point", not "you guys were rubbish".