Arsenal News » Arry charged with tax evasion; Untold predicts the exact score YET AGAIN

Redknapp to be charged with defrauding Revenue and Customs

Untold Arsenal predicts EXACTLY the right score yet again!!!

Oh where to begin?

The is the second Tottenham manager in recent history to have had a little contretemps with the authorities while holding that esteemed office.  In 1987 David Pleat was cautioned concerning kerb crawling (the tactic of driving a car slowly past prostitutes in the Kings Cross area) and resigned.

From memory that event happened on the Friday – I remember that because we had a home match the next day, and outside Highbury there were hundreds of guys selling tee-shirts with the front and back pages of the Sun reprinted.   I reckoned about half the crowd were wearing them by the time our game kicked off.

So one might say that trouble with that tricky business of law and order and is bit of a thing for Tottenham managers.

Although I must add it seems that the English footballing authorities like men with “a past”.  I have commented before on the huge amount of money the England manager has had to pay back to the finance authorities in Italy.  Something well known to the FA when they took him on.

Back to Arry.   To be clear and exact the being known as “Harry Redknapp” is going to be prosecuted over his alleged inability to pay the right amount of tax to Her Majesty’s tax collectors.  The hearing has not taken yet. He is innocent until proven otherwise.

The solicitors BCL Burton Copeland said: “Harry Redknapp is extremely surprised and disappointed to have been informed that HM Revenue & Customs intend to institute proceedings against him in the week commencing 11 January 2010.”

The blog site Untold Arsenal said, “Tony Attwood is extremely thrilled and delighted to have been informed that HM Revenue & Customs intend to institute proceedings against the man who has left West Ham, Southampton and Portsmouth in the state we have found them in this season.”

A spokesman for the alleged “football club” said: “The club considers this matter to be a private issue… and which is not related to football matters. His position remains unaffected and he has the full support of the club.”   Much like David Pleat then.

Tony Attwood said, “Untold Arsenal considers this matter to be of great public interest, and should be the source of much amusement for all right thinking football supporters.  The fact that the Tiny Totts are standing by this alleged “manager” will beyond doubt increase the amusement that is to be had by this affair.”

So that’s great news, and now back to the footie and the bookie.

Last weekend we predicted Liverpuddle 1 Arsenal 2. And guess what?  We was right!!!!   Absolutely.  The preview even mentioned an own goal – although I admit we had Theo scoring a goal at the wrong end, but still the concept was right.

Then – I fully admit it, I predicted a 1-3 win for us against Burnely and I got it wrong.  One punter wrote in and said “I should give up on predictions mate”.

But Arsenal 3 Hull 0, predicted on friday night by Phil Gregory was again absolutely right.   Two out of three scores absolutely right in a period of 8 days, what more could you ask for from a blog?

We had some rousing choruses of “Stand up if you hate Phil Brown” and on the naivety of the ref allowing Barnby and Hunt to stay on the pitch.  Watching the TV replays later it was clear that Barnby shoved his hand in Nasri’s face, which normally is a sending off offence but I am told is normal saturday night behaviour in Hull.

The Evil Being Called Brown tried every trick in the book, but the best plans of mice and mice were undone by Denilson’s brilliance, Almunia’s dive, and the stunning predictions made on this site.

So I look at the table and think…

We have

• No Fabregas
• No Van Persie
• No Bendtner
• No Clichey, Gibbs or Traore
• No Rosicky

which is a fairly big injury list.   Laughingly Match of the Day changed their tune this week and said that Arsenal had been quietly plodding away and getting there.  Last week we had “four defeats in their last seven games” or something stupid (they included games where we put out the youth team).

Looking down, and being careful not to get vertigo we are eight points above Liverpoodle with a home game in hand.  Liverpoodle will of course be happy that they are above those high flyers of Birmingham City (on goal difference) and above that top team Fulham (by one point) but they might be  a trifle concerned that Birmingham C and Fulham Al Fayad both have a game in hand over Liverpool.   If they were to play and win those games Liverpool would not be a flattering seventh, but a less convincing ninth.

They are also six points south of securing a Europa League spot next season.

Of course we could have spent a few billion on new players as required by some, and been perhaps like, oh, I don’t know, Manchester Arab, who are six points behind us, and have just sacked that most disgusting of managerial dung heaps, the OOOOOOOoooooooze.  The man who required Fabregas to apologise to him.  The man who thinks there is nothing wrong with rushing into the other team’s technical area to wave and shout and sending his team out to kick the others into the mud.

The man who spent £25m on Mr Adebayor and then forgot to play him yesterday.

The papers won’t say it, but Manchester Arab got rid of the OOOOOOoooooze because he was a total embarrassment to them.

Ruminating further, could this be the end of Liverpool?

Certainly no one seems to be anxious to buy them.  They are clearly in poor shape, and the banks want their money back.  Anyone buying into the club is likely to have to

1.  Pay off the £350m debt to the bank

2. Invest £100m in new players, the youth team not seemingly bringing many first team players through.

3. Spend £300m on a new stadium.

4. Spend £100m to balance the books over the next three years before the stadium is built.

So that’s about £850m – which is not far short of what you would have to pay to buy Manchester IOU.

It doesn’t look like a great deal – although of course someone from the middle east might go for it.

I doubt that they will go bust, and I suspect that somehow they will survive in the EPL this year, but that means next year they have no Euro money, and less TV money, and that will be the killer blow – not this year’s performance.

That lack of income to a club that lives by spending £30m a year to throw on players will be much more destructive than this year’s failure, and the long run of 20 years without a championship (which we shall celebrate this year) will be ended by a scrape with relegation.  The myth of Liverpool will finally end.

So, all in all, a jolly (if cold) day yesterday.

Now about this little matter of Redknapp the Destroyer and his not paying tax.  What could that be about?  Obviously not his salary as a manager, because he would be paying PAYE on that as all employees do.  It must be some other money that has come from somewhere….

Where, I wonder?

Tony Attwood

IMPORTANT NOTES

If you wish to comment on Mr Red the Destroyer of Football Clubs please do remember that he is not guilty of anything, and has not had his day in court.  It would be wrong to allege anything you cannot prove in advance of the hearing.

If you place an order for Making the Arsenal with the publishers on Monday or Tuesday this week I will still have time to sign it (if you want) and post it to you for delivery straight after Xmas.

And you can read all about Christmas for the Arsenal 100 years ago on www.woolwicharsenal.co.uk

Bloody cold still, isn’t it?