Events at White Hart Lane take an even more shocking turn

Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp has phoned up Sky Sports News to confirm he has agreed to succeed Juande Ramos as manager of Tottenham.

Shortly after their initial announcement confirming the exit of Juande Ramos, Gus Poyet and Damien Comolli, Spurs released a second statement confirming Portsmouth had reluctantly granted Spurs permission to speak with Redknapp.

This means that Spurs, who are supposedly well-run financially, will for the second time in a year be forced to pay a mammoth fee to buy out a manager’s contract. In January, Redknapp decided against leaving Portsmouth for then mid-table Newcastle so his decision to quit for the team bottom of the Premier League without a win is a huge shock, although the money has dried up at Fratton Park in recent months.

As far as his form in relegaton battles goes, Redknapp took Southampton down in 2004-05 but helped turn Portsmouth’s season around upon returning the following campaign and kept them in the Premier League. Is Redknapp the right man to turn Tottenham’s fortunes around? Is he making a big mistake? Let us know with a comment below.

SkyBet slash former England boss to 2/1

Terry Venables’ odds to succeed Kevin Keegan as Newcastle manager have been slashed from 33/1 to just 2/1 on SkyBet after a flurry of three-figure bets were placed on the former England boss earlier today.

It was reported on Sunday that Venables had been offered the job by Mike Ashley but turned it down. Keegan is still joint-favourite on Sky Bet and is just 11/10 to return with William Hill.

Venables has won La Liga and the FA Cup in his managerial career as well as taking England to the semi-finals of Euro 1996 but his last job was to assist Steve McClaren in failing to qualify for Euro 2008. Would he be a good choice? Let us know with a comment below.

The Italian isn’t a fan of Dennis Wise’s sense of humour

It’s widely reported that Gianfranco Zola will be announced as West Ham’s new manager within 48 hours despite his former Chelsea teammate Dennis Wise supposedly showing an interest in taking him to Newcastle.

Some reports suggest that Zola would prefer to live in London than Newcastle while others claim that the Italian is looking forward to working with compatriot Gianluca Nani.

However, the latest extract of Wise’s autobiography, which is being serialised on The Spoiler, exposes the real reason: Zola wasn’t very impressed by Wise’s practical jokes: