Ex West Ham and QPR manager Harry Redknapp sends Tottenham 'hire me' message

Ex West Ham and QPR manager Harry Redknapp has put himself in for a head-turning return to management at the age of 78 years of age after Thomas Frank was sacked by Tottenham Hotspur.

Spurs are on the hunt for a new head coach having parted ways with Frank on Wednesday morning. A 2-1 defeat to Manchester United proved the fatal blow for Frank, who leaves the club in a precarious 16th place and just five points above the relegation zone.

There’s speculation that Tottenham Hotspur could turn to popular former manager Mauricio Pochettino as a permanent appointment but any move for the Argentine would have to wait until after this summer’s World Cup with the former Chelsea coach in charge of the US national side.

Harry Redknapp puts himself in the running for Tottenham Hotspur job

That would leave Spurs needing an interim manager, in a similar style to Manchester United appointing club legend Michael Carrick. The former Premier League midfielder has steadied the ship since taking over from Ruben Amorim at Old Trafford and strung together an impressive run of results.

Former Tottenham Hotspur stars including David Bentley had touted that Redknapp could do a temporary stint back at the club. Now, the manager himself has confronted the links and admitted he would be up for the challenge.

Redknapp told Sky Sports: "Would I fancy it? Of course I would do it, without any shadow of a doubt. But I am a realist - I don't live in (cloud) cuckoo land. It is very doubtful if I would get the job. But could I do the job? Yeah, of course I could do the job.

"What they need now is someone to go in, get down to basics, hard work - when you lose the ball, don't be embarrassed to run and try to get it back. When you lose (the ball), close down, work together, (get a) bit of confidence, make them believe in themselves. Somebody goes in and does that, they can get the results they need - but it ain't going to be easy."

Ex West Ham and QPR boss tempted by managerial return

Redknapp was first appointed as Tottenham Hotspur manager in October 2008 and led the team away from a relegation battle. He then took the side to Champions League status and recorded 98 wins from his 198 matches in charge.

The veteran is well known to football fans in the capital. Redknapp’s second managerial gig came at West Ham in 1994 and he spent a huge seven years with the club where he was once a player.

Redknapp oversaw 327 matches as Hammers boss, winning the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1999. Following his dismissal from Spurs, the manager went on to work at QPR for two and a half years. The former R’s boss oversaw two relegations to the Championship either side of a successful promotion campaign to get back into the top flight.

In other news, Tottenham handed another pre Arsenal blow as 'outstanding' player suffers ACL injury.