Harry Redknapp leaves Tottenham

Harry Redknapp has left Tottenham after almost four years in charge.

Redknapp, who was heavily linked with the England job before the Football Association opted for Roy Hodgson, had denied speculation that he had resigned on Tuesday.

The 65-year-old had a year left on his contract but reportedly failed to agree a new deal with chairman Daniel Levy.

The former Bournemouth, West Ham, Portsmouth and Southampton manager has now left the London club.

Redknapp left Portsmouth for Tottenham, who were four points adrift at the bottom of the Premier League, in October 2008.

He guided Spurs to a first-ever Champions League campaign in 2010.

After finishing fourth last season, Tottenham only missed out on a repeat of that when Chelsea won the Champions League.

Redknapp was immediately installed as the favourite to replace Fabio Capello when the Italian resigned from the England job in February, only for the FA to move for Hodgson.

He admitted last week that he would have left Tottenham if he had been offered the national job.

Levy is understood to have been left disappointed by Spurs’ end-of-season slump, which saw them squander a 10-point advantage over Arsenal, who eventually finished third.

Redknapp consistently rejected suggestions that Tottenham were affected by the speculation linking him with England.

Last week he urged Spurs to resolve his future, insisting that the uncertainty could cause problems in the Tottenham dressing room.

But having been the longest-serving Tottenham manager since Terry Venables, whose reign ended in 1991, he has now left the club.

Redknapp spent most of his playing career with West Ham and Bournemouth and managed both clubs before taking charge of Portsmouth in 2002.

He guided the Fratton Park club into the Premier League within 14 months as First Division champions.

Redknapp left for Pompey’s bitter South Coast rivals Southampton in 2004 but returned to Fratton Park in December 2005.

Then, after dramatically saving Pompey from relegation with a brilliant end-of-season run, Redknapp steered them to a best-ever Premier League finish of ninth in 2006-07.

They improved on that by a place in 2007-08, and won the FA Cup against Cardiff, qualifying for their first journey into Uefa Cup football.

Just months later he replaced Juande Ramos at struggling Tottenham, eventually finishing eighth in the table and qualifying for the Champions League by finishing fourth the following season.

Spurs were eventually beaten in the quarter-finals by Real Madrid and could only finish fifth in the Premier League.

At the turn of the year they were considered potential title challengers but a run of one victory in nine matches contributed to them slipping to fourth and losing out to Chelsea for the final Champions League place.