The former Tottenham manager saw his two-game spell in charge of the country end in a 5-1 loss to Australia, prompting a change in tune
Harry Redknapp has backtracked on his positive view of Jordanian football after a 5-1 loss to Australia in World Cup qualifying.
The former Tottenham manager agreed a two-game deal to take charge of the national team for their final qualifiers, beating Bangladesh 8-0 before Tuesday's big reverse.
Redknapp was positive after Thursday's win, exclaiming in an awkward interview with a local reporter that Jordanian football's future was "good", but has now drastically changed his tune.
"The whole structure of the setup needs work," he said. "There is so much work needs doing. We had no analyst on the opposition, no sports scientist.
"The players all play in Jordan, most of them. They are short on fitness. So when they play better teams they struggle for fitness. What can you do?"
Victory over Australia would have secured Jordan's place in the next phase of the Asian qualification process, but a first-half double from Tim Cahill set the hosts on the way to a dominant triumph.
Jordan must now wait on other results to see if they progress as one of the four-best runners up, and Redknapp believes the team has plenty of progress to make on all fronts.
"It was as difficult as I expected it to be," he told a post-match news conference. "There was a big gulf in class, in all honesty. We stepped up a level and it was difficult.
"They looked much fitter. Australia looked great tonight. But if Australia played Spain next week you'd be looking at them and thinking, 'they’re not very good'.
"That's how the game is. Australia have been in the big competitions over the years and the quality was the difference.
"We lost our way [after Cahill opened the scoring]. You need to be solid to not concede another goal but we did."
- Goal