Tottenham Hotspur confirmed Sunday the appointment of Harry Redknapp as manager after the bottom-ranked English Premier League club sacked Juande Ramos overnight.
Spurs also dismissed sporting director Damien Comolli and first team coaches Gus Poyet and Marcos Alvarez, dpa reported.
Redknapp leaves Portsmouth, with whom he had won the FA Cup last season.
Tottenham have endured an awful start to the season, taking just two points from their first eight games, and being beaten 2-0 by Udinese on Thursday in their first game in the UEFA Cup group stage.
In an interview with BBC radio, Redknapp revealed that it was on Friday morning that Spurs made their approach.
They have agreed a compensation package thought in the region of 5 million pounds (7.6 million dollars) with Portsmouth.
"It's a big opportunity to manage a big club before I retire," said Redknapp.
"I've had a great time at Portsmouth and we've had an unbelievable, successful time over the six years I've been here," Redknapp told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"But Tottenham made a fantastic offer to Portsmouth and it was difficult.
"It was a lot of money - I think 5 million pounds, crazy money really. Pompey couldn't sell a player in the (transfer) window so we sell the manager."