Harry Redknapp will return to West Ham United, the club where he made his name as a player and manager, with mixed feelings this evening.

The Tottenham Hotspur manager lost his job at Upton Park in May 2001 after he criticised Terence Brown, the chairman. “I enjoyed my time there and was about to sign a new four-year contract,” Redknapp said. “They’d been asking me to sign for six months, but I said some things I shouldn’t have.”

West Ham were said to have been considering hiring Redknapp when Alan Curbishley left Upton Park in September, but Redknapp says that he was not approached. “I never spoke to them about going back,” he said. “One or two people thought they might be interested when Alan left, but it was just people guessing.”

Tottenham have won four times in the Barclays Premier League since Redknapp replaced Juande Ramos in October, but the manager has told Daniel Levy, the chairman, that he needs reinforcements when the transfer window opens in January. Robbie Keane, who has not settled at Liverpool since his £20 million transfer in the summer, has been linked with a return to White Hart Lane and Redknapp is said to be interested in Stewart Downing, the Middlesbrough and England winger.

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“I’ve had one meeting with the chairman about players,” Redknapp said. “He said no one will be spending fortunes. I don’t want to spend a fortune. If I find loans or players to do the job, I’d be more than happy.”

One player who is unlikely to move to White Hart Lane in January is Emile Heskey, the Wigan Athletic and England forward. “He is a free agent in the summer and I think he will wait until then,” Redknapp said. “Then he has the power. The different between £3 million and free is that he can name his price because a club will be paying nothing for him. I can see him waiting until the summer unless someone is really desperate to take him.”

West Ham United (probable; 4-4-2): R Green – L Neill, J Collins, M Upson, H IIunga – J Faubert, S Parker, H Mullins, V Behrami – C Bellamy, C Cole.

Tottenham Hotspur (probable; 4-4-2): H Gomes – V Corluka, J Woodgate, L King, B Assou-Ekotto – A Lennon, J Jenas, D Zokora, D Bentley – D Bent, R Pavlyuchenko.

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