Lord Alan Sugar has threatened to sue former England midfielder Jamie Redknapp over a comment he made on Sky Sports about his ownership of Tottenham.
The Apprentice star was the chairman and part-owner of Spurs from 1991 until 2001. He sold his remaining stake in the club in 2007.
Lord Sugar’s initial investment helped ease Tottenham’s financial troubles but he remains a divisive figure among the fanbase.
In his nine years as chairman, Spurs failed to finish in the top six in the league, although they did win the League Cup in 1999.
Redknapp, who played for Tottenham between 2002 and 2005, was discussing Daniel Levy’s surprising exit from Spurs when he said Levy inherited a ‘total mess’ from Lord Sugar.
Lord Sugar, 78, did not take kindly to Redknapp’s comment, which he made on Sky Sports before Tottenham’s 3-0 Premier League win over West Ham on Saturday evening.
‘Jamie Redknapp is a double barrel idiot,’ he posted on social media. ‘He talks a load of rubbish.
‘He said when Daniel Levy took over Spurs Alan Sugar left the club in a right mess. He and Sky will be hearing from my lawyers Monday.’
In a separate post, Lord Sugar added: ‘I am coming after you, Jamie Redknapp. Idiot.’
Redknapp played for Liverpool, Southampton and Bournemouth as well as Tottenham, enjoying the best period of his career at Anfield.
The 52-year-old, who is the son of ex-Premier League manager Harry Redknapp and the cousin of Chelsea and England legend Frank Lampard, played over 300 games for Liverpool.
Redknapp won the League Cup, UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup during his nine-year spell at Liverpool. He earned 17 caps for England and featured for the Three Lions at Euro 1996.
Despite being offended by Redknapp’s comments on his ownership of Tottenham, Lord Sugar was pleased to see Spurs comfortably beat West Ham 3-0 at the London Stadium.
Pape Matar Sarr, Lucas Bergvall and Micky van de Ven were on target as Thomas Frank’s side clinched their third win of the season to move, at least temporarily, to second in the Premier League.
‘Overall, it was a good performance,’ said Frank, who was appointed as Ange Postecoglou’s replacement this summer.
‘Besides two situations in the first half, we didn’t give much away. We had some good crosses into the box, dominated and kept West Ham hemmed in.
‘We scored a brilliant goal from a corner. The red card helps, of course, but I felt we were dominant in the game.
‘We want to perform and win every game. We can’t look too far ahead, but need to have that little think about it. We’ve been travelling a lot and all the players have done well.
‘We need to do well in the Premier League and see if we can compete in all tournaments. I’m happy with the win, now it’s all about the game on Tuesday [in the Champions League].’
Daniel Levy’s Tottenham reign comes to end
Spurs qualified for the Champions League by winning last season’s Europa League and kick-start their campaign against La Liga side Villarreal.
The victory over West Ham was Tottenham’s first game since Levy’s near 25-year reign as executive chairman came to an end.
Spurs said in a statement that Levy ‘stepped down’ but the decision was taken out of his hands, according to BBC Sport.
‘I am incredibly proud of the work I have done together with the executive team and all our employees,’ said Levy.
‘We have built this club into a global heavyweight competing at the highest level. More than that, we have built a community.
‘I was lucky enough to work with some of the greatest people in this sport, from the team at Lilywhite House and Hotspur Way to all the players and managers over the years.
‘I wish to thank all the fans that have supported me over the years. It hasn’t always been an easy journey but significant progress has been made. I will continue to support this club passionately.’
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