Harry Redknapp was very important to Tottenham Hotspur during his tenure as manager from October 2008 to June 2012. He is widely regarded as one of the key figures in the club’s modern era for dragging them out of crisis and establishing them as consistent top-four contenders in the Premier League.
When Redknapp arrived, Spurs were bottom of the Premier League table with just 2 points from 8 games, staring at relegation. He turned things around dramatically:
He stabilised the team and led them to mid-table safety in his first partial season.
In 2009–10, he guided Spurs to 4th place in the Premier League, securing qualification for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in the club’s history (via the group stage/play-offs route).
This was a landmark achievement, as Tottenham had never previously qualified for the modern Champions League format.
They reached the quarter-finals in 2010–11, knocking out AC Milan and becoming the first English manager in over two decades to take a side that far in the competition.
In 2011–12, Spurs finished 4th again (though they missed out on Champions League qualification the following season due to Chelsea’s Champions League win that year).
His overall record at Spurs included strong win percentages (around 49–50% in the Premier League across ~198 games), two top-four finishes in three full seasons, a League Cup final appearance (lost to Manchester United on penalties in 2009), and he won the Premier League Manager of the Year award in 2009–10—the second manager to do so without winning the title.
Redknapp’s style brought exciting, attacking football, and he nurtured or signed key talents like Luka Modrić, Gareth Bale (whom he called one of the best players he ever coached), and helped develop others during a transitional period. Many fans and analysts credit him with laying the groundwork for the club’s later successes under Mauricio Pochettino, as he shifted Spurs from perennial mid-table/lower-half strugglers to a club regularly competing for Champions League spots.
In rankings of modern Tottenham managers by legacy and impact, he often places highly (e.g., behind Pochettino but ahead of many others) precisely because of that first Champions League qualification and the turnaround from relegation candidates.
His departure in 2012 was acrimonious (linked to contract disputes and the pursuit of the England job), and the team struggled immediately after, but his impact endures. Even in recent years (as of 2026), Redknapp remains fondly remembered by many Spurs fans for delivering some of the club’s most successful and entertaining periods in the Premier League era, and he’s occasionally linked with returns during tough times. He wasn’t a trophy-winning manager at Spurs (no major silverware), but his role in elevating the club’s status and competitiveness was highly significant.
