In a decision that was undoubtably cheered at the FA’s headquarters, a jury today cleared Spurs manager Harry Redknapp and former Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric of tax evasion.

Speaking on the steps of Southwark Crown Court, Redknapp said the case “should never have come to court”. He also thanked his family, the fans at Tottenham and his legal team after coming through the five-year investigation, which is believed to have cost about £8m.

He said: “The Wigan game [on 31 January] was the most moving I’ve ever felt, for me personally to have them singing my name throughout the game while all this was going on, that will always be special to me. It’s been a nightmare, it’s been five years and this is a case that should never have come to court because it’s unbelievable really. It was horrendous you know but it was a unanimous decision. The jury were absolutely unanimous that there was no case to answer.”

A Tottenham spokesman said:

“Everyone at the club is delighted for Harry and his family. This has been hanging over him for over four years and the last two weeks have been particularly difficult. “We are pleased to see this resolved and we all look forward to the rest of the season.”

The jury’s not-guilty decision pens the way for Redknapp to take charge of the England national team in the future, maybe even before the summer’s Euro 2012. Bookmakers in the UK have now stopped taking bets on Mr Redknapp becoming the next England manager.

Luis Suarez made his return from his eight-match suspension but their was no fairy tale ending as Liverpool and Spurs played to a goalless draw at Anfield.

Suarez started the game on the bench and he watched his teammates come flying out of the blocks with Gerrard slipping a delightful through ball to Andy Carroll only for Michael Dawson to make a goal-saving fifth-minute challenge. Parker’s reckless lunge on Glen Johnson a minute later presented Gerrard with a scoring opportunity from a free-kick, but it came to nothing and set the tone for a frustrating opening 45 minutes.

In a game punctured with misplaced passes by both sets of players, Niko Kranjcar forced the first save in the 32nd minute when his 25-yard effort was easily saved by Pepe Reina. With Craig Bellamy and Carroll struggling to trouble the Tottenham defence, it was left to midfielder Jay Spearing to go closest for Liverpool with a curling 25-yard effort which whistled narrowly wide of Brad Friedel’s post in the 34th minute.

The second half was much of the same. Liverpool with lots of possession, but never really testing Friedel. The closest Liverpool came to scoring was when Friedel denied Martin Kelly with a full-length dive to keep out the Liverpool defender’s angled drive.

With the game drifting towards a stalemate, Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish introduced Suarez. Suarez was on the pitch for four minutes when he got booked for kicking Scott Parker in the stomach while challenging for a ball inside the Spurs penalty box.

In the last 15 minutes the game finally opened up as both sides pressed for all three points. Carroll spurned a fine chance in the 74th minute when, unmarked, he blazed over the bar from a good position. And then Reina denied Bale, who was clean through on goal in the 85th minute.

The draw leaves Sputs 7 points behind leaders Man City in the table, but also 7 points ahead of fourth placed Chelsea. With the point, Liverpool stay in 7th place, 4 points behind Chelsea.

Mario Balotelli never seems to stop making the headline as despite being Manchester City savior in previous match against Tottenham Hotspurs, Balotelli caught himself involved in another case on that game.

The Italian striker was caught stamping Spurs‘ midfielder, Scott Parker, on Sunday and now are facing a disciplinary act by the English FA, who already confirmed their stance, only waiting for the forward to respons.

The FA via their official site has charged Balotelli with violent conduct due to his involvedment in an incident with Parker and they are giving the Italian international a time until 6 pm on Wednesday, January 25, to provide an answer. According to the news, should the punishment is being accepted, the ex-Inter Milan player could be facing a four match bans, something that obviously isn’t helping Manchester City’s progress in the league.

The FA has today charged Manchester City forward Mario Balotelli with violent conduct following an incident in his side’s home game against Tottenham Hotspur. Balotelli was involved in an incident with Tottenham’s Scott Parker during Manchester City’s 3-2 victory at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday 22 January 2012. Balotelli has until 6pm on Wednesday 25 January 2012 to respond to the charge,” read a statement on FA’s official site.

There’s a very huge possibility that Balotelli will be protesting the decision and asked for lesser bans as being out for four games would be very heavy on his club, who already lose several important players, mainly because of the African Cup. At the moment, along with Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko, Balo is currently one of City’s three regular first team forwards, which usually being rotated from time to time, losing one would give more headache for coach Roberto Mancini.

However, Spurs themselves would definitely be encouraging for FA to provide maximum punishment towards Balotelli, especially since their manager, Harry Redknapp, looked really upset with the young Italian’s attitude. Redknapp’s rage can pretty much be noted from his recent statement, questioning the ex-Inter’s action in stamping his player, calling it as something that cannot be understood at all and obviously should be punished.

“I don’t like people kicking other people in the head on a football pitch. It is not something I understand. Why should he go and back-heel someone in the head when he is on the floor?” Redknapp revealed.

 

photo credit: Manchester City FC-Official

In the big two Sunday games in the Premier League, both Manchester City and Manchester United dealt big blows to North London rivals Spurs and Arsenal.

In the first game, Man City won a thrilling controversial 3-2 match thanks to Mario Balotelli’s injury-time penalty.

The controversy is whether Balotelli should have been on the field to score the penalty as he appeared to stamp on Scott Parker’s head. It will be interesting to see if the FA comes down and gives balotelli a three-game ban for the stamp, but that will not do Spurs any good as their title hopes ended today.

After a goalless first half, the Blues were in control when Samir Nasri and Joleon Lescott struck. But Jermain Defoe profited from Stefan Savic’s mistake almost immediately before Gareth Bale levelled with a magnificent curling shot.

Spurs seemed more likely winners after that. But when Defoe could only turn an injury-time Bale cross narrowly wide as he slid in at the far-post, it gave Balotelli a chance to win the match after he had been fouled by Ledley King. It maintained City’s 100% home record in the league this season.

Here is Man City’s assistant David Platt taking about the game:

City’s win put the pressure on United to keep in touch as they travelled to the Emirates and they did as Antonio Valencia scored one goal and set up another to give Manchester United a 2-1 win at Arsenal.

Valencia headed United into the lead in first-half injury time, but Arsenal played so much better in the second half and it was no surprise when Robin van Persie equalized in the 71st, minute.

But the game turned on an Arsenal substitute as Arsene Wenger took off Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and replaced him with Arshavin.

Arshavin failed to track back and stop Valencia who drove into the Arsenal box with nine minutes to go and the ball eventually ended up at the foot at Danny Welbeck the chance to smash the ball past goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.

The result kept the defending champions within three points of City and further threatened the Gunners’ chances of qualifying for next season’s Champions League.

Arsenal is five points behind fourth-place Chelsea and 18 behind City.

Manchester City maintain their lead at the top of table and also widen their gap with third place team, Tottenham Hotspurs after Roberto Mancini’s team edged passed Harry Redknapp’s boys this Sunday.

Controversial Italian striker, Mario Balotelli arrived as City’s savior in the match after scoring the winning goal deep in injury time.

Playing in front of their fans, Man City are hoping to rewrite the same success they did against Spurs in both clubs’ earlier meetings, when the Eastlands trashed Spurs 5-1 at White Hart Lane. However, things were extremely tight in the first half as both teams looked really careful in their approach causing the battle mostly happened in the middle of the park, where the two obviously have a pretty similar strength.

Man City came out the stronger though right after the re-start as Samir Nasri puts them on the lead in the 56 minutes and just three minutes after the ex-Arsenal man broke the dead lock, Joleon Lescott extended the Eastlands victory. However, just when it seems that the home team will simply cruise into the second period with their two goals lead, Jermain Defoe made things become really tense again after scoring for his team just a minute after Lescott’s striker.

Defoe’s quick goal apparently lifted the away team’s confidence as they immediately surged forward for the equalizer which arrived just five minutes after Spurs’ first goal. Gareth Bale was the one responsible in bringing the score line equal again at 2-2, after the Welsh international slammed a wonderful long ranger effort, which beat Joe Hart on Man City’s goal without any problem.

An interesting event arrives in the final minutes of the half as just minutes after Spurs could’ve taken the lead through Defoe, who missed a wonderful chance after missing a close range shot, Man City scored the winning goal. Balotelli, who entered the pitch midway in the second half for Edin Dzeko, was brought down by Ledley King inside the area, resulting in a penalty kick which the Italian international successfully convert deep on injury time.

Match Reports:

Man City v Spurs 3-2
goals: Nasri 56, Lescott 59, Balotelli pen 93; Defoe 60, Bale 65

photo credit: Catatan Bola Photo Gallery

Ahead of their important match up against third place seat, Tottenham Hotspurs this weekend, Manchester City‘s defender, Joleon Lescott insisted that getting a win over Spurs wouldn’t be an attempt to stop Harry Redknapp’s team surged in the table but more of staying away from Manchester United‘s chase.

Although having a huge respect towards Redknapp’s side, Lescott still only consider Man United as City’s main rival in winning the premier league this season, believing that the Lilywhites won’t be much of a threat compared to the Red Devils.

“No disrespect to Spurs, our main rivals are Manchester United. They are second in the league and our focus should always be on the team immediately behind us. As much as the points on Sunday are vital because of the gap to Spurs, they will be more important to pull away from Manchester United,” Lescott said.

The defender also added that his team isn’t preparing to make too many before the game physiological war against Spurs as City are simply focusing on their own performance first instead of thinking about other teams. Moreover, Lescott also believes that despite facing two defeats in the Cups recently, his team wont drop their heads when it comes to league matches and obviously after proving it against Wigan on Monday, they expect to do the same thing this weekend.

“Tottenham have been talking us up but we haven’t mentioned any other team, We have just concentrated on our own performances and results. It is not deliberate to avoid the psychology. It is just something we have to do. We know if we win on Sunday it would open up a gap between us and them,” Lescott added. “People were saying we weren’t going to win the league and we are thinking: `Hold on a minute, we have lost two cup games’. I don’t think we are doing too badly.”

Despite not considering Spurs as his team’s main rival for the title, Lescott and his teammates obviously must not take their eyes off Redknapp’s squad since they are in a good form despite only taking a point on their last league game. Playing against the league leader, would obviously motivates the Lilywhites players in proving that they are a worthy challenger for this season’s premier league title aside from the Manchester Duo.

photo credit: wonker

Totteham Hotspurs’ winger, Gareth Bale, is in a confident mood ahead of his team’s travel to challenge the current league leader, Manchester City at Etihad Stadium.

The Welsh international believes that despite losing 5-1 in their previous meeting against City this season, Spurs can come away with a positive result from their upcoming away trip against Roberto Mancini’s team.

Bale’s confidence rises simply because his team at the moment are much more stronger than the one facing City in the early part of the season, when they Lilywhites have really set up their current first eleven as just yet. However, the winger also warned his teammates that in order to pick up good result against the Eastlands, Spurs must play their best game and not giving too much chances for the league leader.

It will be a big game and one we’re looking forward to. There is no reason why we can’t pull off a result there. It wasn’t a great start to the season losing to the two Manchester clubs, but all the lads have shown what a great spirit we have here and the determination we have. We’ve come a long way since then,” Bale said. “We know we have to play our best football to beat them – they gave us a lesson at home at the start of the season.

Moreover, acknowledging the absentees of some of Man City‘s important players, Bale also stated that it won’t made Mancini’s side weaker as they still have plenty quality players that can trouble Spurs. The winger obviously doesn’t want his teammates to simply let their guard off just because thinking that the Eastlands will be weakened with several unavailable starters.

“City still have a great squad and a great team and no matter what team they put out it will be difficult to play against,” Bale added.

Sitting third in the league table, obviously Spurs will be looking to give their best and trouble City this weekend as a victory would make Harry Redknapp’s team feels that they’re chance in winning the league gets bigger. Meanwhile, Man City themselves also eying for nothing more than a three points which would give them continuous lead at the top, escaping Man United and Spurs.

photo credit: jamesboyes

The title race got really interesting this week with Spurs win over Everton. Now it is a three team race, and Spurs boss Harry Redknapp wasted no time laying into big-spending Manchester City.

“City are where they are because of Sheikh Mansour and Chelsea thanks to Roman Abramovich” said Redknapp. “We have not done it that way and it makes me proud. You don’t have to go out and spend fortunes to find good players. Spurs are not third in the Premier League because someone has walked through the door at White Hart Lane and slapped a bundle of money on my desk. City can pay players £200,000 a week, it’s unbelievable. The people running Spurs have invested wisely. Some of the players we brought in raised eyebrows, like Younes Kaboul, but he’s made excellent progress. Hopefully it is coming together now.”

Interesting comments from Redknapp. Traditionally Spurs and Man City have been about the same size in terms of annual turnover. There turnover was within 10% of each other before the latest Etihad commercial sponsorship deal. The difference is in the expenses of both clubs. In 2009/10 Spurs had expenses of £146m, while City’s expenses were £246m.

I am really curious to see how City respond to having two teams, instead of one, chasing them. All season’s City’s focus has been on rivals United, but now they have another team taking shots at them.

This is a crucial part of the season for City, who are on a bit of a wobble at the moment. On Jan 22, City play Spurs at home in the league, and then three days later go to Anfield for the second leg of their Carling Cup semi-final. Two losses there and the wheels really will be coming off the Man City wagon.

Together with Neymar, Santos midfield wizard Paulo Henrique Ganso is another of  Brazil’s hottest prospects who is continually been linked with a move to Europe with Italian giants Inter and Milan thought to be seriously eying his services.

However, there seems to be a new entrant in the race to acquire Ganso’s signature. EPL side Tottenham Hotspurs are thought to be also interested in Ganso.

According to reports doing the rounds, Ganso’s agent Teodoro Fonseca was in London last week trying to broker a deal for the midfielder. A major downside with most Brazilian players however, is the number of private economic deals they have on their rights.

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has however been informed that if his club can meet Santo’s asking price of £15 million, then they can begin talks with the player.

However, what is shocking is the fact that Spurs coach has never heard of Ganso. When asked last Friday about a possible deal to land the midfield this is what he had to say.

“Ganso? I have never heard of him,” Redknapp said last Friday. “I don’t know him, where does he play? What position?

“I don’t get to Brazil much. We got Sandro from there but other than that, no.”

It remains to be seen whether Redknapp will be willing to pay £15 million for a player his has not seen with his own eyes  play. Moreover, with Milan focusing on Tevez and Inter put up a strong bid for the Argentine as well, i don’t expect either of them to try and sign Ganso.

Ganso himself has stated that he is ready to leave Santos and the club’s  president Luis Alvaro Ribeiro is ready to negotiate with the player if he wishes to leave.

If  i was either of the Milan giants, i would quickly abandon Tevez for Ganso. The play maker is way younger and his style of play is suited towards the Serie A compared to Tevez.

Photo Credit © www.marcosalves.com.br

Tottenham Hotspurs are continuing their pressure on the Manchester Duo in the top of premier league table after Harry Redknapp’s side successfully defeated Everton 2-0 on Wednesday.

The victory excites Redknapp as with all three points, his team are now level on points with second place, Manchester United, and only three points shy of the leader, Man City.

Winning by two goals margin doesn’t really means that the match was easy for Spurs, as Everton actually started the match in a positive fashion, but the opening goal from Aaron Lennon, undoubtedly made things easier for the Lilywhites before Benoit Assou-Ekotto finished things off with his strike. Redknapp himself admitted the difficulties that his team were having especially before Lennon’s goal, but he lauded his team’s performance especially after leading 1-0, stating that Spurs were simply a joy to watch.

It was a great win. You never get an easy game against Everton. They started the game well, but we got on top and played very well in the end. The first goal was all-important because Everton are always difficult to beat and dangerous on the break as well. we needed that goal and once we scored, we dominated the game. After that we had plenty of possession and we played some fantastic football at times. “The passing, the crispness of the passing and the movement off the ball was fantastic. I enjoy watching it and I’m sure the spectators must enjoy watching us play,” Redknapp explained.

Spurs’ match against Everton was actually a re-arranged match as it was supposedly played earlier in the season but got canceled because of chaos happening in the city of Tottenham. Having started their season in a mess, the Lilywhites can really be proud with their achievement at the moment as they are pretty much the strongest title contenders aside from City and United at the moment.

Having their mind solely focus on domestic competition will also give Spurs all the chance in the world to keep pace on the title shot or at the very least securing the Champions League spot away from the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal, who still have European matches to worry about. Redknapp’s team themselves have a quality team which albeit not that enough for playing in many competition but surely very competitive to challenge for domestic competition.

photo credit: jamesboyes