England, not Tottenham, the real winners after Harry Redknapp's 'not guilty' verdict

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With his reputation untarnished after being cleared of tax evasion charges and, what he claimed afterwards, the "nightmare" of a "horrendous" period now over, he is free to concentrate purely on masterminding an against-the-odds title bid.

	THREE LIONS HOTSEAT Odds for next England boss
1/2	Harry Redknapp
8/1	Roy Hodgson
8/1	Jose Mourinho
12/1	Martin O'Neill
16/1	Guus Hiddink
16/1	Stuart Pearce

Even before their Wembley showdown that began on Wednesday morning Fabio Capello and the Football Association have made it clear the Italian's nameplate will be removed from his Wembley office the minute England's Euro 2012 involvement ends.

Although the FA chairman David Bernstein has insisted the governing body will not begin the process of putting together a shortlist before that point, it would not take too many leaps of imagination to conclude officials will already have a firm idea of who the successor will be.

Indeed, there are strong whispers within the game that Redknapp has already been discreetly sounded out by the FA about his willingness to follow in the footsteps of Capello and has, in turn, given the indication he would jump at the opportunity.

The one barrier to the 64-year-old achieving what he has always claimed is the biggest possible honour for an English manager had been the trial that, for the last 13 days, has thrust the national media spotlight upon a nondescript court building in south-east London.

Now that obstacle has been removed and Redknapp has cleared his name, the road is clear for him to achieve his most burning ambition.

Indeed, should Capello and the FA agree to take the nuclear option and decide on a premature parting of the ways as a result of the John Terry captaincy split, there would not be a bookmaker in the land willing to offer long odds on Redknapp taking charge of England in Poland and Ukraine.

During the course of his trial, we have learned a little more about the man who the football public would already have reckoned they knew better than almost any other manager in the English game.

For starters, he now has to take occasional recourse to a pair of tortoise-shell spectacles that make him look not unlike former FA mandarin Graham Kelly. One of his great comforts in life is the company of dogs, highlighted by his professed love for now deceased bulldog Rosie.

By his own admittance, he also possesses the writing skills of a two-year-old, can't spell and could not even fill in a team sheet. Less surprisingly perhaps for one who has always been averse to the PowerPoint culture and science championed by the younger generations of managers, computers, emails and even text messages are beyond him. 

Spurs, in all likelihood, will soon have to begin the process of finding a new manager to replace the club's most successful boss of the modern era - Wayne Veysey

His life, Redknapp has claimed under oath, is partly run by an accountant wholly responsible for his financial affairs.  "I am the most disorganised person, I am ashamed to say, in the world," he said.

The court laid bare the manager's earnings during his spells as director of football and, then, manager at Portsmouth, including his regular salary increases and the quite staggering sums he received for steering the club to a 13th place finish in the 2003-04 season. The sum, his defense counsel said, in bonus payments and wage hikes was "in the region of £1.5million" on top of his regular salary.

In May 2004, he also signed a three-year contract worth £4.2m over its entirety, a maximum of £1.4m-a-year including top-up bonuses. Quite a package nearly a decade ago and for a club which, at that point, was only just finding its feet in the top tier.

The man who has dedicated all his professional life to football and has steadily worked his way up the managerial ladder since taking the reigns at Bournemouth 29 years ago is an incredibly wealthy individual.

Yet stood on the court steps in a navy suit and buttoned-up overcoat as he made a short, 90-second address to the media, the strain of the trial and a legal process stretching back five years clearly told on the face of the Tottenham boss. He looked exhausted and emotional, his naturally fair complexion burned deep red. 

Redknapp thanked his legal team and the Spurs directors Donna Cullen and Darren Eales, who supported him from the public gallery during the majority of the trial. He also paid tribute to the less overt encouragement of his boss, the publicity-shy chairman Daniel Levy. "If he ever felt this [case] was a problem when he gave me the job - this was going on over three years ago - he would never have employed me. He knew this was a case that should never have come to court."

There was praise, too, for the Spurs fans who got behind their manager like never before during the club's most recent home match eight days ago. "The Wigan game was the most moved I have ever felt - to have them singing my name throughout the game while all this was going on," Redknapp said. "That will always be special to me. I will never forget that."

Nevertheless, Spurs, in all likelihood, will soon have to begin the formal process of finding a new manager to replace the club's most successful boss of the modern era.

They know Redknapp wants the England job and have said privately they will not stand in his way.

No doubt re-energised by Wednesday's verdict, Redknapp can return home to his wife Sandra, and his family, and put the difficulties of the recent past behind him.

A bright future, and most likely the eventual summons of the nation's football rulers, awaits.