The curious tale of Steven Pienaar's year at Spurs: why Moore isn't always merrier

THE Steven Pienaar story is a curious one, and close to my heart. When confirmation dropped that South Africa’s only current world-class player had gone on loan back to his old stomping ground at Goodison Park, I leapt in the air.

The deal to move “Schilla” from Spurs to Everton for the rest of the season was officially confirmed at 11.47pm South African time, nearly 10pm at the FA’s headquarters in London.

His excited twittering since backs up all that we felt about the lad from Westbury’s troubled time in North London, where he found himself in a Spurs squad with his path to glory blocked by a certain Gareth Bale.

And there he was, as the transfer window slowly shut, watching that Welsh wizard Bale thump home two more goals in a record-breaking season against Wigan. Where was South Africa’s international captain? Where he’s been all season – on the bench.

Apparently before kick-off, boss Harry Redknapp had insisted Pienaar had to be part of the squad, despite frantic negotiations with Everton chairman Bill Kenwright. He said he needed the 29-year-old in case of injury.

But what few people knew when the match kicked off was that Harry wanted Everton’s former Manchester United striker Louis Saha at White Hart Lane. And as a consequence, Kenwright had a little leverage in his bid to get Pienaar back to the club where he was the supporters’ player of the year in 2009.

When QPR’s new boss Mark Hughes made an approach a fortnight ago, Redknapp assured us: “I have no intention of selling Pienaar. Why should I? I wouldn't want to let him go. He is a good player. I don't need to weaken the squad. He could play a part in the run-in."

After a day in court defending himself over tax evasion charges and a welcome 3-0 triumph over Wigan, ‘Arry proved to be less determined as the midnight deadline loomed.

Thank God. A major mistake may just have been rectified. Expect a permanent deal at the end of the season - with little mention of the cut-price R30m Spurs paid for their man.

A year ago, when it became clear Pienaar was being set up for that cut-price move – he refused to sign a new contract despite repeated urging from David Moyes – I said on SuperSport that his agent David Moore was stupid to move him from Goodison, where he had made a name for himself.

I said it was like Paul Stretford demanding a move from Manchester United for Wayne Rooney, which he had done, but had rapidly rethought his strategy.

As an automatic pick at Everton, what was the point of going to Spurs, where Bale had just begun to emerge with that now-legendary Champions League hat-trick at the San Siro? Moore called me on the mobile from Barcelona, screaming at me, telling me I knew nothing.

He said he had nothing to do with Pienaar’s move, that Schilla himself was eager to go, because he wanted Champions League football and a club with more ambition.

When I quoted him, Mooreinsisted I send an apology to Kenwright. I did. I still have the email.

But ultimately, with Pienaar back at Everton after a late-night exchange between Redknapp and Kenwright on Wednesday night, I guess we all know now that Pienaar’s move to Spurs was all wrong.

I’ll say now what I said a year ago: sometimes a player just belongs. He doesn’t need to move in his late 20s. Moore can deny it all he want, but anyone who’s been in football long enough knows the agents are the ones behind the risky, big-money moves late in a career.

Without a move, where does the last big pay-day come from if, like Moore, your players are declining with the speed of Benni McCarthy, who was at West Ham at the time?

It looked okay at first. Pienaar cracked the starting line-up. But after a run of games, injury struck. The close season saw both Pienaar and compatriot Bongani Khumalo come over for the Vodacom Challenge with Spurs. But that was as good as it got. And if you examine www.twitter.com/therealstevenpiyou’ll find Pienaar's been “sick” and “in bed” three times since Christmas this year. He blames flu and tonsilitis as the stress of being unable to break in to Tottenham’s high-flying starting eleven began to tell.

A few brief cameos – including 10 minutes against Everton - are all he’s managed in the Premier League. And a couple of starts in Tottenham’s disastrous Europa League journey.

But the minute confirmation of his return to Everton emerged, his old pal Phil Neville was telling the BBC: “There’s nobody else I’d rather we signed.”
On the Everton FC facebook page, a simple message atop hundreds of happy messagers: "Welcome home Steven Pienaar."

These are Stevie’s tweets since: “Soon up the road to Liverpool. Familiar journey! Looking forward.

“And looking forward to running rings around @fizzer19 (Neville) in training again. “Very thankful that Spurs management allowed me to go on loan and I’m very happy it could be to Everton, a club close to my heart.

“Manager needs to make choices, I understand. But I love playing and just can’t sit so much on the bench. It was killing my spirit.

“Mixed emotions to leave Spurs. Disappointed I couldn’t get in a playing groove on a regular basis and show the fans the real me.

“Happy days. We just beat the clock on Transfer Deadline Day. Holding thumbs.”

Aren’t we all Stevie? South Africa needs you playing again. And the same could be said for compatriot Bongani Khumalo, back at Spurs after his disastrous loan spell at Championship club Reading.

Sometimes agents don’t know best.

Now what happened to QPR wanting Katlego “Killer” Mphela?

See also: http://www.neal-collins.blogspot.com/2011/11/when-moore-is-less-re-appointed-bafana.html

Harry Redknapp: The full incredible story of his trial...and his dog's bank account at Barklays

What you probably don’t know about Harry Redknapp, the famous Spurs manager currently in court for tax evasion in London, is just how popular the bloke is.

Father of the talented Jamie, now a television presenter after a successful career with Liverpool and England, Our ‘Arry is beloved of journalists and would be a popular choice to take over the England job if Fabio Capello resigns after Euro 2012 later this year.

Badly injured in a car crash which killed his close mate and Bournemouth FC owner Brian Tiler at the World Cup in 1990, ‘Arry is not your typical frosty football boss.

As he approaches what used to be a pensionable age – he’ll be 65 on March 2 – ‘Arry has manipulated Spurs into a position of title contention after taking over from the clueless Juande Ramos three years ago with the club languishing at the bottom of the Premier League.

Conviction for tax fraud for one of Britain’s great sporting icons, who took a break from his beloved bench to undergo heart surgery last year, is simply unthinkable.

Through a long, largely successful career in management (West Ham, Portsmouth, Southampton, Portsmouth again and now Tottenham) after a modest stint as a player mostly at West Ham and Bournemouth, he has always been good for a quote, a larf, a sound-bite.

I say always. There was the time he said he’d "sue the b*******" off one my old mate Rob Beasley, the News of the World football reporter who asked too many questions about his tax dealings. Still, at least he’s outlasted the newspaper.

Harry’s problem revolves around a bank account set up in his dog’s name – Rosie47 (the dog and the year of his birth) was allegedly the Monaco-based off-shore home for his ill-gotten gains.

Now, after all those years of entertainment, we are told by the court in Southwark that he has been "feigning ignorance" about his illegal dealings “for six years before his arrest” despite telling police “I’m not on the fiddle” as he and his former Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric were questioned over two payments amounting to £189,000.

Redknapp insists his dog’s account – soon to be moved to Hounduras, Barklays Bank, apparently, using a pawpal transfer according to the wags – was built up through transfer profit bonuses. Mandaric, unfortunately, insists the money was “an investment fund” set up outside of football.

John Black QC, prosecuting in the tax evasion trial at Southwark Crown Court this week, recounted a conversation between Beasley and Redknapp. ‘Arry told the reporter: “I’ve got the best accountants in England, the Inland Revenue know about Monaco.”

But  Beasley then mentioned Mandaric's explanation and ‘Arry said: "He don't know what he is f***ing talking about. What is he talking about? It is a bonus."

Redknapp insisted the cash came from profits made on the sale of Peter Crouch from Portsmouth to Aston Villa – he was later to sign the gangly striker again at Spurs.

He added: "If it was something dodgy I would have gone over there and brought it back in a briefcase."

When Beasley asked him whether he had paid any tax in the UK on it, Redknapp replied: "Haven't been asked to, Rob."

Redknapp said "there ain't nothing crooked in it" and told Beasley: "Don't say bung. It's nothing to do with a bung. It's paid by the chairman.

 "How can it be a bung when the chairman of the football club paid me? What's a bung? It's a f****** sick word."

It’s the idea of ‘Arry being paid the money in to an account in his dog’s name that has really captured the imagination though. Redknapp declared the account to tax inspectors just before he left Portsmouth for Spurs in 2008 and told police he thought the “Rosie account” was dormant and that he didn’t know Mandaric, now 73 and chairman of Sheffield Wednesday, had put any money in it.

Redknapp told the police: “Milan's probably lost it. I could show you people who I have lent money to in investments.

"It would blow your brains away, the money I have squandered but then I do trust people, that's the way I live my life.

"I was told I wasn't liable for income tax on so many occasions. For the sake of that amount of money or any amount of money, I don't fiddle. I pay my tax since I have been in football my entire life. I pay every penny."

But the prosecution says ‘Arry only mentioned the Monaco account after he was questioned during the Premier League-led Quest investigation in 2006.

Mr Black said: "The existence of the bank account was not registered to Revenue and Customs for a period of six years, two months... after Mr Redknapp was first arrested and questioned in the course of this investigation.

 “It's clear that it was only at this time that Mr Redknapp brought to the attention the existence of the Monaco bank account, feigning almost total ignorance of its existence, its operation and its contents."

Redknapp and Mandaric deny two counts of cheating the taxman. The trial continues...

Read Scoop!, South Africa's new Sunday tabloid for more from me on this story - available at Gauteng and KZN outlets. See also www.scoopnews.co.za

Spurs reject QPR bid for Bafana captain Pienaar... but that's only half the story

SPURS rejected the first of an expected avalanche of bids for Steve Pienaar on Friday when new Queens Park Rangers boss Mark Hughes approached Harry Redknapp for the under-used South African captain.

Pienaar, brought up in the tough Westbury area of Johannesburg, has played just five times for in-form Tottenham this season - but his appearances have been limited to Carling Cup and Europe League outings.

His bargain  £2m move from Everton in January 2011 was engineered by manager Rob Moore after a new contract went unsigned at Goodison Park.

Hughes is believed to have offered around the same price for Pienaar, but will up the bid to  £3m in an attempted to make Pienaar his first signing since taking over from Neil Warnock at Loftus Road.

Pienaar, injured in pre-season, finds himself unable to get beyond Gareth Bale on the left of Harry Redknapp's title-chasing midfield - a minor fact overlooked (but mentioned here) when he snubbed Chelsea for Spurs a year ago.

Pienaar, 29, and agent Moore insisted the move was all about playing Champions League football but Spurs failed to finish in the top four last season and missed out on Europe's premier competition.

Everton are also believed to be interested in ending Pienaar's misery, offering to take him back on loan to the club where he won the fans's player of the season award in 2009. Pienaar is also being watched by Scottish giants Celtic and Spurs' injury-ravaged neighbours Arsenal.

Spurs boss Redknapp is believed to be persuadable on the issue of Pienaar's departure but publicly he said: "I wouldn't want to let him go. He is a good player," Redknapp said. "I brought him on for the last 10 minutes against Everton on Wednesday and he didn't give the ball away. I don't have any need to weaken the squad. I would rather have a good squad for last 18 matches of the season than let one or two go who could play a part in the run-in."

But surely the point is, if Redknapp really didn't want Pienaar to go, how did knowledge of QPR's bid emerge in all the English newspapers simulataneously. Harry, though he denies it, is a wheeler dealer in the market. My belief is he "leaked" news of the bid, along with quotes saying he still wanted Pienaar. That way, he gets to keep Pienaar happy while stoking a bidding war for his talented but largely redundant South African.

Pienaar's Spurs career started promisingly, the South African slotting in to the team after an injury to Gareth Bale. He started the Londoners' Champions League second-round game away to Milan but a series of injuries meant that he saw little first-team action. He suffered a concussion after clashing heads with a team-mate, Bongani Khumalo, during training in February and he picked up a groin problem towards the end of the season.

Pienaar was confident that the groin problem had gone away, but it flared up again in pre-season and he had to undergo surgery, ruling him out until mid-September. Another two setbacks kept him out until November.

My experience tells me the Hughes bid was leaked to the British press in an attempt to "make a market" for Pienaar, with bigger and better bids coming soon. But Pienaar should hold firm. The transfer window still has a fortnight to run. And Bale could yet suffer an injury which could tranform Schillo's Spurs fortunes.

The Hand of Yid: Defoe cheats to see Spurs through. You just can't deny it.

After the Hand of God and the Hand of Frog, it would be deeply unfair to ignore the latest great footballing injustice: The Hand of Yid.

Look, there’s no denying it. Just because he’s a lovable little Englishman, Jermain Defoe can’t be allowed to get away with the blatant handball which turned last night’s Champions League qualifier Tottenham’s way at White Hart Lane. It’s cheating. It’s wrong. UEFA should look at the tapes and punish both the player and the club.

Isn’t that what we English cry whenever Johnny Foreigner uses a hand to gain advantage?

Argentina’s Diego Maradona has never been forgiven for punching one in against England in 1986, Frenchman Thierry Henry is still roundly condemned for his basketballing antics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup play-off and Luis Suarez was castigated (but not castrated) for briefly becoming an extra goalkeeper when Uruguay scraped through their quarter-final against Ghana at the World Cup in July.

Throw them out, we cried. Ban them forever, the headlines proclaimed.

So why should Defoe’s cheating be treated any differently? Can you imagine if the boot had been on the other erm... hand? Spurs fans, who like to call themselves Yids in the club’s faintly self-parodying Jewish tradition, love to complain. Ever since the double in 1961, they’ve been going on and on. Their manager, Harry Redknapp, never has enough over-paid players and always has more traumatised injury victims that an episode of Casualty.

I say it’s time for neutrality, since we’re dealing with the harmless (and armless) Swiss. Imagine how Young Boys, 3-2 after up the first leg in Bern, must have felt with that lucrative place in the group stages at stake? Peter Crouch headed the opener to level the “£20million” tie after just five minutes, then Defoe committed his unforgiveable sin.

With the ball dropping behind him, the 5ft 7in mini-dynamo clearly controlled the ball with the crook of his left arm before turning neatly past protesting Swiss defenders to slot home the winner. Great finish, clear handball.

Crouch made it 3-1 after an hour (5-3 on aggregate), and Defoe then found himself substituted while goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, who had been begging to be subbed after an early injury, was left out in the rain by boss Redknapp. Curious.

Crouch was given the ball when the ever-impressive Gareth Bale was brought down in the box with ten minutes left, and duly scored his third – only the second European Cup hat-trick in Tottenham’s history.

But to focus on Crouch’s scoring ability – on and off the field – would be to miss the point.

Defoe did his best to explain away the use of his arm in scoring, and the guilty look before he commenced celebrating his goal. He said: "There may have been a bit of an arm, but you take them all. I did have a glance at the referee." With the ref, linesman and new-fangled “sixth official” next to the goal all missing his one-armed banditry, Defoe had little choice but to grin sheepishly at the post-match cameras. Before the game of course,

Defoe had let it be known he needed a hernia operation (he will have surgery tomorrow and misses England’s first two Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgarlia and Switzerland) but was prepared to play through the pain against Young Boys. He added: "Everyone wants to play in the Champions League. On Tuesday nights, you don't want to be at home watching Eastenders.”

But Spurs provided the soap opera moments in the teeming rain of north London last night. The little sinner, the cockney market trader shouting the odds from the sidelines, the massed ranks of anxious extras... and a starring role for the the lanky bloke caught in the love triangle. It was all there, complete with the fairy-tale ending.