Harry Redknapp is extremely glad that he will be able to take his place in the Tottenham dugout on Saturday without the prospect of being jailed hanging over his head.
Redknapp, along with co-defendant Milan Mandaric, was cleared of two charges of tax evasion on Wednesday morning after a 13-day trial at Southwark Crown Court.
The former Portsmouth manager described the trial, which came eight years after he was originally investigated by HMRC tax authorities, as "the most draining thing I've ever been through in my life".
The Spurs boss, whose team face Newcastle on Saturday, looked haggard and admitted the trial had taken its toll on him.
The 64-year-old insists he will be back to his usual chirpy self, however, when he returns to the home dugout at White Hart Lane having cleared any thoughts about the trial from his mind.
"It's great to be back," said Redknapp, who has transformed Spurs from relegation candidates to title contenders despite having the threat of a custodial sentence lingering over him.
"It (the trial) knocked me for six. "I haven't felt so good for the last couple of days. I went down with the flu. I was a bit low but I feel good today (Friday).
It was always a case of things were going well on the pitch, but I always had that other thing hanging over me - that was a problem for me. Thankfully it's gone now so we will move on."
Within eight hours of his acquittal, Redknapp's world was turned upside down by Fabio Capello's resignation. Redknapp is now the overwhelming favourite to succeed the Italian, but insisted that although he is interested in the post, his only current focus is the game against the Magpies.
"I'm just getting on with my job," Redknapp said. "I am trying to pick a team for Newcastle and then for next week at Stevenage.
"All my focus is just on Tottenham. It's been hard to get where we are and this is my job. This is what I get paid to do." Rafael van der Vaart missed out against Liverpool with a calf problem and will be absent again, but Aaron Lennon and Jermain Defoe are fit after overcoming hamstring complaints.
Meanwhile, James Perch is content to be cast in the role of unsung hero in Newcastle's continuing mission to upset the Barclays Premier League's accepted order.
While manager Alan Pardew this week moved to rule himself out of the race to succeed Fabio Capello as England boss, and big-money signing Papiss Cisse marked his debut with a stunning winning goal, Perch was quietly going about the business of establishing himself in the team.
The 26-year-old former Nottingham Forest player has emerged from a difficult start to his career on Tyneside to provide vital midfield solidity in recent weeks in the absence of Cheick Tiote.
His performances in the second half at Blackburn and throughout last weekend's hard-fought 2-1 victory over Aston Villa may not have won him a share of the headlines, but they have not gone unnoticed in the dressing room or in the stands.
It is all a far cry from his early months at the club when, after being brought in by Chris Hughton in the wake of the Magpies' promotion, he was booked in each of his first five top-flight games as he struggled to make the step-up.
Perch said: "It was a tough start, a tough first year, maybe, but the gaffer has put his faith in me and put me in the side, and all I can do is try to pay him back by playing well on a Saturday afternoon.
"It's going well. I have only played the last three games or whatever, but it's going well at the minute, touch wood."
Newcastle will once again be without Yohan Cabaye, who completes his three-match ban, and for the final time before his return, central midfielder partner Tiote, whose Ivory Coast side have reached Sunday's African Nations Cup final.
Injured duo Leon Best and Ryan Taylor will also miss out at White Hart Lane with the former likely to miss the remainder of the season as he recovers from a medial ligament injury.
Tottenham V Newcastle - view commentary, squad, and statictics of the game live.
Source: PA
