Is Redknapp the right man for Tottenham?

Is Redknapp a Portsmouth hero or villain?

Harry Redknapp claimed instant success on the initial stage of his Tottenham Hotspur revolution at White Hart Lane yesterday, presiding over the club’s first Barclays Premier League victory of the season. The 61-year-old, who left the sanctuary of seventh-placed Portsmouth on Saturday night to replace Juande Ramos, sat in the dugout for Tottenham’s 2-0 victory against Bolton Wanderers that closed the gap to safety to three points, although his new team remain bottom of the Barclays Premier League.

After meeting the players for the first time at 11.30 yesterday morning at the team hotel, Redknapp said that he would have regretted turning down the opportunity of managing Spurs despite the club’s perilous state.

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• Is Redknapp the right man for Tottenham?

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He made one significant change by moving Luka Modric out of the midfield four and deploying him behind Roman Pavlyuchenko, the striker, but plans more sweeping changes in the January transfer window.

There is no clause preventing Redknapp from returning to Fratton Park to try to sign players. Lassana Diarra, the former Arsenal midfield player, is his prime target and he added that he wished that Jermain Defoe, the England striker, whom he brought to Fratton Park from Spurs for £7.5 million, was still at the North London club.

“Maybe I didn’t want to leave Portsmouth at the time,” Redknapp who has signed a three-year contract worth £3 million a season, said of his decision to turn down Newcastle United ten months earlier. “But I would have regretted turning down this for the rest of my life had I not had a go.”

Redknapp confirmed that Kevin Bond, his former assistant at Portsmouth, will join as coach. He also wants to bring his son, Jamie, on to the coaching staff, but the former Spurs player may yet wish to pursue his career as a media pundit. “Sky Sports pay him too much, I don’t think we can afford him,” Redknapp joked.

The manager will have full control of transfers after Tottenham dispensed with their sporting director system, announcing that they have parted company with Damien Comolli.

“I will pick the players. If we can deliver them, then great. I wouldn’t let anyone else buy my players,” Redknapp added. “I’m not going to ask him [Daniel Levy, the Spurs chairman] to go and buy Ronaldo. It’ll be up to him to bring the players in.”

Redknapp admitted that Portsmouth’s lack of financial leeway compared with Tottenham’s was crucial to him leaving and said that he was approached by Spurs about 18 months ago when Martin Jol was in charge. Paul Kemsley, the Tottenham vice-chairman at the time, wanted to remove the Dutchman, but the idea was overruled by Levy.

“At this stage, where Tottenham are, we need a fighter, someone that has inspiration,” Levy said. “Harry has inspired his teams to overperform.”

Tottenham’s bill for the managerial change is likely to top £10 million, half of which will be paid to Portsmouth by way of compensation. Ramos, who had three years remaining on a contract worth £3.5 million a season, will also need to be remunerated as will Gustavo Poyet, his assistant, and Marcos Álvarez, the first-team coach.

The Spaniard, who had written the matchday programme notes claiming that the team were united, will return to his home country less than a year after taking charge.

Portsmouth’s search for Redknapp’s replacement begins, with Sam Allardyce, the former Bolton Wanderers and Newcastle United manager and Tony Adams, Redknapp’s assistant at Fratton Park, in the frame.