Harry Redknapp has left his position as manager of Queens Park Rangers due to his impending knee surgery.
The former Tottenham manager, who took over as Hoops boss in November 2012 and was in charge for 105 club matches, informed the club's chairman Tony Fernandes at 05:30 GMT yesterday about his decision to leave the club. Redknapp directed QPR to the Premier League last season, clinching the final promotion place through the Championship play-offs, beating Derby 1-0 after extra time.
The club is currently 19th in the Premier League and the 67 year-old Redknapp was worried that due to his surgery, which is due to take place in the coming weeks, he would not be able to come to the training pitch every day and give his full attention to the needs of the team.
The former head of Football operations Les Ferdinand and academy coach Chris Ramsey will take over the reins for now.
Some newspapers reported that he was one game away from the sack before the 2-0 defeat to Manchester United on the 17th January, but these reports were later dismissed by the club's chairman Fernandes.
Some would also argue that the timing of the departure was dubious, as it came a day after transfer deadline day. There is speculation that Redknapp was not happy with the club's dealings during the transfer window. The club's big target on the final day of the transfer was Emmanuel Adebayor because QPR are short up front, but Redknapp stated that "he was too much money" and the deal failed.
Less than three years ago Redknapp, the 2008 FA Cup winning boss, was the favourite for the England job. Yet for Redknapp it has all unravelled rather dramatically since his appearance at Southwark crown court in 2012 for tax evasion. Although he was cleared by the court, the England job went to Roy Hodgson who started preparing the team for the 2014 World Cup.
Since the England job saga, things have never quite seemed the same for Redknapp and many would argue that he should have resigned from QPR much earlier.
On his departure the former boss stated that he was confident that the Hoops would survive in the Premier League this year.