<p><br /> Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has criticised West Ham's plans to retain an athletics track if they move to the Olympic Stadium, saying the venue would become a "desolate graveyard".<br /> </p><p><br /> Redknapp's current club are competing with the Hammers, who he managed from 1994 until 2001, for the right to move into the stadium in Stratford, east London, after the 2012 Games.<br /> </p><p><br /> While Spurs propose to transform the stadium into a football-only venue and redevelop the Crystal Palace athletics stadium, West Ham intend to retain the running track so that the stadium can be a multi-use site.<br /> </p><p><br /> Redknapp believes the Hammers' proposal would "kill" the atmosphere at the stadium.<br /> </p><p><br /> "Try to mix football and athletics and you end up with a great big bowl of nothing," he wrote in his newspaper column.<br /> </p><p><br /> "The windblown no man's land between a pitch and the stands can kill football."<br /> </p><p><br /> He added: "We keep hearing about the Olympic legacy and the need to have a world-class athletics stadium after the 2012 Games in London. But my big fear is that if West Ham move into a stadium in Stratford with a whacking great running track around the pitch, the only legacy for them will be a nightmare.<br /> </p><p><br /> "And what if West Ham are relegated this season and then find themselves in a 60,000-capacity stadium in a Championship match.<br /> </p><p><br /> "Can you imagine? Half the seats would be empty and it would become a desolate graveyard for a once-great club."<br /> </p>
