The Tottenham manager told a jury "I am a fantastic football manager not a hard-headed businessman" as he denied tax dodging. But there were fierce exchanges with prosecutors as he took to the stand for the first time.
Redknapp, 64, interrupted proceedings to vent his anger at Detective Inspector Dave Manley. Turning his head across the room at Southwark Crown Court, Redknapp said: "Mr Manley, will you please stop staring at me. I know you are trying to cause me a problem, okay."
Redknapp said "I've got no business acumen whatsoever" after telling jurors how his mind was on David Beckham while he signed off a six-figure bank transfer from Monaco to the US account of his co-accused Milan Mandaric.
He said he hired the best accountants in London to keep his books and prevent any tax problems. Redknapp said: "I have always paid my taxes. I've always gone to the best available people... I have always paid too much tax rather than not enough."
When asked about the day he opened the account in the name of his dog Rosie, Redknapp replied: "It would be a waste of time giving me forms, because I would have probably left them on a deck chair when me and Sandra went to the beach in the afternoon."
During three hours of questioning Redknapp told prosecutor John Black QC it was not clear what the Crown was accusing him of. "You have got three different bonuses," he said. "I think really and truthfully you are not too sure where you are going."
The Londoner also insisted he had "never been greedy in my life".
Both former Portsmouth boss Redknapp, of Dorset, and Mandaric, 73, of Leicestershire, deny two counts of cheating the public revenue.
Source: PA
Source: PA