Tottenham Hotspur dismissed their Spanish head coach, Juande Ramos, last night, after making their worst start to a league season since before the First World War, and installed the Portsmouth manager, Harry Redknapp in his place.

Spurs will pay the FA Cup holders £5m compensation. There had been speculation that the club would make changes since the defeat by Stoke last Sunday, which kept Spurs adrift at the bottom of the Premier League with only two points from eight games. The club then lost 2-0 against Udinese in the Uefa Cup on Thursday. Spurs have also parted company with Ramos’s assistant Gus Poyet and the sporting director, Damien Comolli.

Redknapp confirmed last night that he had accepted the Spurs offer and would be meeting the players this morning, before the crucial game at home against Bolton.

While it had been expected that either Ramos or Comolli would resign or be forced out, the dismissal of all three men at the top of the coaching hierarchy is a shock. Redknapp confirmed that he was contacted by Spurs on Friday while in Portugal on business.

“It’s a great opportunity for me. I loved my time at Portsmouth. The fans were great and we had fantastic success,” said Redknapp, who brought the South Coast club their first honour in 58 years last season when Portsmouth won the FA Cup, beating Cardiff City 1-0 at Wembley. “I’ve never been happier than I was there but £5m is good compensation.”

"For me it’s a chance to manage a big, big club before I retire. Spurs have got a decent squad on paper but it’s not a well balanced squad. There are skilful players but maybe it’s got a soft centre. Maybe the team need more strength and aggression. You don’t pick up just two points if you’re that good.”

The fall from grace of Ramos was extraordinary. Having succeeded Martin Jol, the most successful Tottenham manager in a quarter of a century, Ramos piloted Tottenham to the Carling Cup, beating Chelsea in the final in February. Results declined abruptly after that and the last straw for Levy appears to have been the team's meek defeat on Thursday versus Udinese.

It is not yet clear whether Levy will replace Comolli, whose dismissal may spell the end of the controversial sporting director position. Redknapp confirmed that Joe Jordan and Tony Adams, his assistants, will remain at Fratton Park and take charge of his former team today. "Portsmouth couldn't do better than hold onto those two and make one of them manager," he said.

Redknapp admitted he would consider signing players from Portsmouth in the transfer window if they became available. “It depends whether the club want to sell them,” he said. “If they did it would be an open market and we would be in there like every other Premier League club would be for one or two of the players.”

His priority will be to avoid relegation. “Having only two points after eight games is really a disastrous start," he said. "I have to try to keep them up. That is the only priority for me. We can talk about trying to win cups and everything else, but we have got to stay in the Premier League. Anything else is a massive bonus.”