Harry Redknapp has given his response to the criticism about his firmly tongue-in-cheek that Thomas Tuchel was a ‘German spy’ sent to undermine the England national team.
Tuchel was named as Sir Gareth Southgate’s successor last year and started in the job in March.
The German is only the second foreign manager to take charge of the Three Lions, alongside Sven-Goran Eriksson.
Harry Redknapp admits Thomas Tuchel gag ‘backfired badly’
The Guardian had come into possession of Redknapp speaking at a charity event in March, with his attention turning to Tuchel’s role.
“I’ll be honest with you, I think he’s a German spy. I’m telling you. Seriously, he’s been sent over to f** us up. He has.
“I’m telling you, he’s like Lord Haw Haw in the war – ‘We have your best soldiers captured’ and all that.”
Redknapp then mimicked an imaginary Tuchel being instructed to go and sabotage the England team, responding ‘ja’ in character and raising his arm in the air in a way that looked like a Nazi salute.
The audience in the room can be heard laughing, but received backlash after the fact.
Speaking to Al Arabiya, Redknapp said: “Oh my god, it was a joke, you know, that badly backfired. But it was only a joke.”
A midfield in his playing days, Redknapp had a long and itinerant managerial career that took in spells at Bournemouth, West Ham, Portsmouth (twice), Southampton, Tottenham, QPR and Birmingham.
Redknapp enjoyed his greatest successes as Pompey and Spurs, winning the FA Cup with the former in 2008 and helping to re-establish Tottenham as regular Champions League contenders.
