Redknapp's simple plan is a thing of beauty

SOCCER:Much maligned for a perceived lack of tactical nous, the Tottenham manager should be applauded for his no-frills approach, writes MICHAEL WALKER

PATRONISED BY some of the praise he receives, pursued by the British Inland Revenue over claims of tax evasion and with doubts lingering over his legacy at Portsmouth, Harry Redknapp’s belated march into the spotlight of European football at the age of 63 has not come without shadows.

Redknapp probably feels he deserves better than this and he probably does.

Portrayed as a Cockney rogue, a ducker and diver skimming his way through, Redknapp’s economic profile may never be shaken off. “The Authorities” certainly seem to wish to shackle Redknapp.

Whether this is a worthwhile pursuit will be revealed in a courtroom soon, allegedly. There are Tottenham fans asking why Redknapp is being chased with such vigour over €47,000 when companies such as Vodafone are able to avoid tax payments said to be as great as €7 billion. But there you go.

Money matters to Harry Redknapp, of course. As a manager he has never been shy to repeat Bobby Robson’s mantra about investment in players being the key to shunting a static club forward quickly.

That is what Redknapp has done at White Hart Lane. It is as if he has been at Spurs for a long time but it is two years and four months since he succeeded Juande Ramos.

In that short time Tottenham have been on a spree. On Tuesday night in Milan, 11 of the 18 Spurs players used or on the bench were bought by Redknapp.

He has correctly been given plaudits for re-floating the players he inherited from Ramos, such as the goalkeeper Huerelho Gomes and, most notably, Gareth Bale – unavailable on Tuesday – but Redknapp knows the €10.75 million spent on scorer Peter Crouch was necessary and just the start of it. Jermain Defoe was a substitute, a €17.8 million substitute.

The thing is, as Redknapp will say, if Spurs no longer wanted to lose 1-0 at home to Hull City – as they did in the weeks before Ramos departed – then this sort of ambition was and is required.

Redknapp is honest about this. The great Liverpool teams were constructed and re-constructed on the basis that you buy when strong. This is what Redknapp strives to do and to criticise him for it or to demean this is a strange analysis. The Inland Revenue may have separate questions but this is logical and intelligent football management.

And Redknapp is good at buying – he should be, given the practice, boom-boom. How many others were chasing Everton’s Steven Pienaar to fit into a squad already teeming with midfield talent? It looked an odd purchase, but at €3 million, Redknapp clearly thought it a minimal risk. A month on and Pienaar is very Spurs and the club’s record signing, €20 million David Bentley (bought pre-Redknapp) is at Birmingham City on loan. Tottenham have hardly been hindered by this exchange.

As Redknapp said at the beginning of the season: “It’s all about circumstances and good players.” It is one of those simple statements that also attracts criticism to Redknapp. This is when he is patronised by that modern brand of football observer who thinks there must be more, some hidden tactical masterplan that people like Redknapp are oblivious to.

“It’s not rocket science, this management game,” he said before travelling to Milan. “It’s just a bit of common sense and understanding football.”

Essentially this is Redknapp’s philosophy. It is a self-deprecating one, humble and unpretentious, which is perhaps why it is scorned by those reared on Jose Mourinho and Rafa Benitez and the idealised Italians.

Scorn comes to those who say to a player “win your tackle” for not adding “then we’ll have a numerical advantage and be able to impose our system on theirs”. There is a reason why that is not added by traditional football men such as Redknapp and that is because it is a statement of the bleedin’ obvious.

Mourinho had his dossiers at Chelsea, true, but he also had John Terry and Frank Lampard to count on. They won their tackle.

As it happens, Redknapp and Mourinho get on but when Redknapp was asked about Mourinho’s qualities, he didn’t mention tactics.

Instead he said: “He won the Champions League with Porto. He’s a bit like Brian Clough. I could see comparisons between Mourinho and Clough having watched The Damned United. There are definite similarities there, they both know how to get the best out of their players.”

That won’t do for some who continue to underrate AC Milan 0 Tottenham 1. They want tactics and they will be unhappy when told that Redknapp did his coaching badges at 21 as a player at West Ham.

He would go to a local Italian after training: “Malcolm Allison would hold court. You’d have John Bond, Noel Cantwell, all these kinds of people, sitting there drinking tea, moving salt and pepper pots around and talking football. Us younger lads would sit on a different table listening to them and it was fascinating.”

That’s an education and from it Redknapp learned. Other issues may follow him but his intuitive understanding of the game deserves a bit more appreciation.

Serie A gets a D minus 

THOSE OF us fortunate enough to be in the San Siro last Saturday night as AC Milan waltzed past Parma felt Tottenham should not enter the grand stadium with too much trepidation.

You left wondering whether it is a good thing to have an intense preparation before a major European cup-tie, such as the one Spurs were experiencing simultaneously at Sunderland. Surely Spurs would be more drained than Milan, even without travel? But then what did thumping Parma 4-0 do for Milan? Sadly it proved Serie A is a fading force. This was a game missing pace, intensity and drama – three things Milan could not cope with on Tuesday.

What's gone wrong with Italian football? Roma were then beaten at home by Shakhtar Donetsk, so it is up to Inter to lead the European claim next week.

Inter will be representing Serie A, not Italy. They won last year's Champions League without an Italian in their starting XI in the final. But one presumes it's all connected.

Final tickets far from a 'fair' price

SO A ticket for this year’s Champions League final at Wembley will cost a minimum of €210 for a neutral. The average wage in Britain is €35,000.

Uefa have justified the prices – or think they have – and the €31 “admin fee”. They called it “a fair level for the type of event”.

These are the people bringing in Financial Fair Play rules – from the home of financial fair play: Switzerland.