? Tottenham manager says case should not have come to court
? 'It's not their money ? that was the attitude [the CPS] had'

Harry Redknapp has criticised the Crown Prosecution Service for putting him through a "horrendous" and "farcical" tax evasion trial.

Redknapp and Milan Mandaric were unanimously cleared of two charges of cheating the public revenue on Wednesday after a draining 13-day trial at Southwark crown court.

The main gripe Redknapp, the overwhelming favourite to be the next England manager, has with the CPS is how they brought the case to court over allegedly not declaring tax on such a small amount of money for two extremely wealthy men.

"It was farcical," Redknapp said. "It was only [taken to court], as my barrister [John Kelsey-Fry QC] kept saying, because it was me. I was supposed to be saving the chairman a few quid on income tax and he is a man who had paid ?100m in income tax, who at one time employed 40,000 people.

"Milan has billion-dollar companies. I went out to play out in America in the 1970s and he was the biggest name in football over there. He set up the San Jose Earthquakes, signed Eus?bio and he was businessman of the year there.

"Now, suddenly he's sitting there at 74 years of age, accused of nicking fucking ?30,000 of income tax. It's unreal, isn't it? He's paid millions in tax, employed all these people, kept football clubs going, paid everybody's tax, and suddenly he's accused of this.

"Four times, we tried to get it thrown out. My barrister was saying: 'This should not be going to court,' but they [the Crown] wanted to go with it. They thought they had nothing to lose. It's not their money ? that was the attitude they had."