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The Question of Harry Redknapp

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp. (AFP)

Harry Redknapp says he writes like a two-year-old.  He says he can’t use computers and doesn’t know how to send a text message. He also says he knows nothing about money and relies on his accountant for everything.

That’s remarkable stuff from a leading candidate to be the next manager of England.

Redknapp is on trial in England for not paying tax on money that was allegedly squirreled abroad; money he had earned from the sale of one his players while he was managing Portsmouth.

In 1995, Arsenal parted company with its manager, George Graham, after he was found guilty of accepting a bung, or a payment from an agent, during the transfer of a player. At the time, the tough talk emanating from the Football Association was that there would be a similar zero-tolerance policy for anyone else caught wetting his whistle from football’s lake of cash.

Terry Venables was threatened and his club at the time, Tottenham, was given hefty punishments including fines and points deducted until new owners threatened to get tough and the game’s governing body backed down.

Now, in the wake of England captain John Terry being embroiled in a racism scandal, we have the unedifying sight of one of the country’s top managers having his accounts and dealings examined by the law. An illiterate, tax dodging England manager and a racist captain?!

Redknapp’s claim that he can’t write is contradicted by a regular column he has had in a British tabloid. But Redknapp, loved by the UK media for his approachability and his rogueish Cockney charm, has an excuse for that. He hasn’t been paid for ages and he didn’t know that until his accountant told him.

He also has given the impression that he is being victimized because of his London accent and that he is called Harry.

He has an answer for everything, and you can be sure a tame media, the result of years of careful cultivation, wisecracks and good old Cockney charm, is only too happy to give him an easy ride. The coverage his trial is receiving compared to the witch hunt surrounding Terry or the furor around Graham doesn’t come close.

The court ultimately will decide whether Redknapp is guilty or not guilty, but in the eyes of some more thoughtful commentators, this is just one more scandal in a game that has been flooded by attention and cash.

What is interesting is that while one banker at the heart of a scandal during the financial crisis a couple of years back is being pressured to return his knighthood and while bankers are roundly vilified for paying themselves excess bonuses at a time when the rest of the country is struggling, a highly paid football manager allegedly skimming a bit of money off transfer deals seems to be avoiding the public’s opprobrium.

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