PremiershipHarry Redknapp has been charged by the English Football Association for his half-time outburst at the referee Mike Dean in Portsmouth's 2-1 win over Manchester City. Portsmouth's manager was upset by Joey Barton's tackle on his midfielder Pedro Mendes and was sent to the stands after protesting outside the referee's room at Fratton Park.
The FA yesterday also said that it is studying video footage and liaising with Hampshire police force before deciding whether to take action against Barton for an alleged incident at the end of Saturday's match. Redknapp, who has been charged with using abusive and/or insulting words towards a match official, has denied swearing at the referee.
He claims he was upset at Barton being only shown a yellow card when Andrew Cole had received the same punishment for failing to walk towards the referee when the official gestured for him to do so. "I didn't swear at him, I just said 'How can you give yellow cards for those two offences'?" Redknapp claimed. "He said 'If you don't agree with that go and sit in the stand'. I didn't go mad at him or anything."
Portsmouth's spokesman Gary Double said: "We will back Harry 100 per cent. Referees have a difficult job but football is an emotional game and we hope the FA will take that into account."
Redknapp has until February 27th to respond to the charge.
Barton, meanwhile, is alleged to have made an offensive gesture at fans following his team's defeat, although Manchester City will vigorously contest any charge and have challenged those accusing the midfielder to produce evidence.
Manchester City's spokesman Paul Tyrrell said: "The club have heard nothing regarding Joey Barton's behaviour and if we get a complaint it will be robustly defended by the club. Joey always goes to thank the fans, and our own officials were close to the player as he came off and he made no offensive gesture. We haven't been slow to deal with disciplinary issues in the past; if anyone has any evidence to put our way they know where we are. We believe there is no evidence that Joey has done anything wrong."
Barton was fined £2,000 by the FA in October and warned about his future conduct after admitting a charge of improper conduct and/or bringing the game into disrepute for half lowering his shorts at Everton fans in September.
Merseyside police made inquiries into that incident, but the Hampshire constabulary will not be launching an investigation into this allegation. "An officer has spoken to the FA but we will be making no formal investigation ourselves," a spokeswoman for the force commented.
Any incident was not included in Dean's report and Barton also avoided disciplinary action for the challenge on Mendes which upset Redknapp and led to the Portuguese being carried off. Barton stepped on the midfielder's Achilles tendon and although allegations of intent abounded, TV replays were inconclusive. Barton claims that it was an accident.
Dean's report confirmed that Barton's yellow card was for the challenge on Mendes rather than the way he charged towards Gary O'Neil in the aftermath, and the FA consider that matter dealt with. Portsmouth are hopeful that Mendes will recover in time for their next match, at Blackburn on February 25th.
Mendes has a badly bruised heel and, though Portsmouth are awaiting results of a scan, the preliminary prognosis is understood to suggest no serious damage. "He is feeling better," said Nwankwo Kanu, who came off the bench and scored the winner on Saturday. "He is on crutches now but I believe he will play in the next game. We have a week to rest."
Kanu said there was no ill-feeling towards Barton from the Portsmouth players although he implied that the influential Mendes, who opened the scoring with a spectacular half volley, may have been earmarked as Pompey's main threat. "We don't have to have any bad feelings for anybody. He goes for the ball and he got his leg," he said.
More than a year after paying an initial £5 million for Theo Walcott, Arsenal are nearing their next instalment of a potential total £12 million outlay. The 17-year-old forward is understood to be three games away from costing the Gunners another £1 million.
The deal which took Walcott from Southampton contained a number of clauses, and it is believed that Arsenal must make payments of £1 million for every 10 competitive matches which he starts up to a maximum of 50 - £5 million - although League Cup matches are understood not to be included in the calculation. Five substitute appearances in other competitions count for one start, however, which takes Walcott to just over seven games.
The remaining £2 million of what was a world-record fee for a 16-year-old will become due if and when Walcott plays 20 competitive matches for England. Swindon Town, the club who discovered him, received only £2,000 when he joined Southampton although they were paid a one-off five-figure fee - thought to be £50,000 - when he made his 10th appearance for Saints.
Walcott's decision to join Arsenal rather than Chelsea hinged largely on the prospect of playing alongside Thierry Henry and the captain took him to one side for a quiet talk before Sunday's match against Wigan. Henry later said it is important that supporters are patient and realistic about his team-mate's development as a player.
"One thing about Theo for all of us to remember is that he is only 17," Henry said. "I know it is not easy for you guys because he is a great prospect for England, but I do think people have to remember he is 17. It is not an easy time when you are 17 - trust me, I was there. I was struggling at 17. What we need to do is let him mature and get stronger."
