Harry Redknapp to play Tottenham Hotspur youth in Europa League

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<div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/99305?ns=guardian&pageName=Harry+Redknapp+to+play+Tottenham+Hotspur+youth+in+Europa+League%3AArticle%3A1562212&ch=Football&c3=Guardian&c4=Europa+League%2CTottenham+Hotspur+%28Football%29%2CFulham+%28Football%29%2CFootball%2CSport&c5=Europa+League%2CPremier+League&c6=David+Hytner&c7=11-May-23&c8=1562212&c9=Article&c10=News&c11=Football&c13=&c25=&c30=content&h2=GU%2FFootball%2FEuropa+League" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">• Fulham to join Spurs, Stoke and Birmingham by Fair Play table<br />• Blackpool set to miss out because of Ian Holloway's conduct</p><p>Harry Redknapp has suggested he will use his "younger players" in next season's Europa League as he reinforced the impression that he may come to consider the competition as an unwanted distraction. The Tottenham Hotspur manager, though, together with his players, can be mightily relieved that they qualified via Premier League position and not the Fair Play table, which grants a place in the tournament's first qualifying round and means the new season will begin on 30&nbsp;June.</p><p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/may/16/england-extra-europa-league-fair-play" title="The place will almost certainly go to Fulham">The place will almost certainly go to Fulham</a> who, in the last published <a href="http://www.premierleague.com/page/FairPlayTable/0,,12306,00.html" title="Fair Play table">Fair Play table</a> on 30&nbsp;April, were joint-second with Tottenham, behind the leaders Chelsea. Manchester United were fourth and <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/may/22/blackpool-fulham-europa-league" title="Blackpool">Blackpool</a> fifth. Chelsea and United have qualified for the Champions League.</p><p>Much has been made of Fulham's sudden spate of cards – they collected 12 yellows and one red in their three matches this month – and the conspiracy theorists have said the team have been trying to kick their way out of the early start to next season. But cards represent only 25% of the Fair Play equation – the other criteria are positive play, respect towards opponents and the referee, and the behaviour of club officials – and, with Fulham comfortably ahead of Blackpool in the last standings, it is unlikely that a season's accumulated numbers would be undermined by three games.</p><p>The Blackpool manager, Ian Holloway, whose team collected five yellow cards in their three matches this month, has tended to score badly on his behaviour towards officials. The final Fair Play table will be released on Thursday or Friday, after delegates' reports have been submitted and independently verified.</p><p>Tottenham, who beat Liverpool to <a href="http://guardian.touch-line.com/" title="fifth in the Premier League">fifth in the Premier League</a>, will enter the Europa League at the play-off round, together with <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/may/23/birmingham-alex-mcleish-job-safe" title="Birmingham City">Birmingham City</a>, the Carling Cup winners. The two-legged ties will be played on 18 and 25&nbsp;August. Stoke City, the FA&nbsp;Cup runners-up, will enter at the previous round, the third qualifying round, which will be played on 28&nbsp;July and 4&nbsp;August while the dates for the first qualifying round are 30&nbsp;June and 7&nbsp;July.</p><p>"<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/may/22/tottenham-birmingham-premier-league-europa" title="It was so important to avoid qualifying via the Fair Play">It was so important to avoid qualifying via the Fair Play</a>," Redknapp said. "I said to the lads before the game [<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/may/22/tottenham-hotspur-birmingham-city-premier-league" title="against Birmingham on Sunday">against Birmingham on Sunday</a>], 'The one thing we don't want is the Fair Play ... we've got to win because we don't want to be going into that.' You'd be back playing in June so we'd be back training in two weeks if we were in that, which is ridiculous. It kills your Premier League season for a start. It's the last thing you could ever want if you're looking to have a push again next year."</p><p>Redknapp has <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/apr/30/harry-redknapp-europa-league-tottenham" title="described the Europa League">described the Europa League</a> as "one of those competitions that teams get in and then they try to get out of ... you look at the English teams and they all seem to play the reserve teams in it."</p><p>Tottenham could play up to 17 ties in the competition. "It's tough," Redknapp said. "We'll look at it and maybe it gives us a chance to play some of the younger players in that. The Premier League is going to be all important to us next year."</p><p>The defender Michael Dawson said: "We are massively relieved as the last thing that any player or member of staff wanted was to start the season on 30&nbsp;June. We knew we would be in it [via Fair Play] so we knew we had to finish fifth."</p><p>Fulham stand to play up to 23 ties in next season's Europa League but the manager, Mark Hughes, has welcomed the prospect. The club, under his predecessor, Roy Hodgson, reached the final of the competition last year, having qualified through Premier League position and entered at the third qualifying round, which they started on 30&nbsp;July 2009. "It would be nice to get there," Hughes said, "because qualifying for Europe on top of finishing eighth in the league would cap an excellent season for us."</p><p>Redknapp expects the midfielder Jamie O'Hara to turn his loan move to Wolverhampton Wanderers into a permanent transfer now that the club has avoided relegation into the Championship. "I think that is part of the deal," Redknapp said. "If they stayed up, they had an agreement to buy him. I don't know for how much."</p><div class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/uefa-europa-league">Europa League</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/tottenham-hotspur">Tottenham Hotspur</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/fulham">Fulham</a></li></ul></div><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/davidhytner">David Hytner</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" />
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