Harry Redknapp says something ‘quite strange’ happened to him at Tottenham Hotspur

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Harry Redknapp has admitted his departure from Tottenham Hotspur back in 2012 was ‘quite strange’.

Speaking to ESPN, the former Tottenham boss discussed his spell in North London and claims he didn’t see his dismissal coming. 

Spurs enjoyed four brilliant years under Harry Redknapp, with the Englishman guiding the North Londoners to their first-ever appearance in the modern-day Champions League.

Redknapp was initially brought in to pick up the pieces after a disastrous start to the 2008-09 campaign under Juande Ramos.

It’s fair to say the former Portsmouth boss performed well above expectations during his tenure. He lifted Spurs to an eight-placed finish after taking over just four points off the bottom in his first season.

Spurs then qualified for the Champions League the following season and for a brief period in the 2011-12 campaign, he had Tottenham fans dreaming of a title challenge.

Yet, speculation surrounded his future at the time as he was heavily linked with replacing Fabio Capello as England boss. Tottenham eventually finished fourth that year and only missed out on the Champions League due to Chelsea winning the competition. 

But Redknapp was dismissed by Spurs in June 2012 and he’s reflected on a ‘strange’ period in his career.

Redknapp on ‘strange’ Tottenham departure

Speaking to ESPN, Redknapp admitted being sacked by Tottenham took him by surprise at the time.

“Losing my job at Tottenham really came out of the blue,” he said. “I didn’t really see it coming.

“On the one hand it looks like I’ve got the England job and I’ve got a choice to make. By the end of the year I had no choice.

“Didn’t get the England job, lost my job at Tottenham. It was a strange year but what can you do? You get on with it, don’t you.

“We had a Christmas do at the end of 2011 and Daniel got up and spoke about me. I remember [first-team coach] Joe Jordan saying to me ‘a lot of people say Daniel doesn’t show his feelings very much but it is amazing, he showed his feelings so much for you today.’

“He spoke in such glowing terms in what I’d done and a few months later I lost my job. It was quite strange.”

He added: “I get on well with Daniel. I’ll be honest, I think Joe Lewis would have played a big part in it.

“There was something to do with the team one day — we were playing at Man United. Joe had an opinion about who should play and I had a different opinion.

“I stuck with my opinion. I just think that had a big part of it but I wouldn’t want to go into it all.”

Redknapp was a firm fan-favourite at Tottenham after guiding the club to new heights in the Premier League era during his tenure. 

The decision to sack the Englishman and bring in Andre Villas-Boas took many by surprise at the time.

Indeed, Redknapp had guided Spurs to one fifth-placed finish and two fourth-placed finishes in his three full seasons in charge.

Tottenham’s choice to bring in Villas-Boas didn’t exactly pay off either as he was sacked at the start of the 2013-14 campaign after finishing fifth the season before.