Neil Lennon’s patience has finally been rewarded by Celtic, who ended their interim manager’s long wait yesterday by appointing him as their new manager.

Tom Huddlestone and Darren Bent will be given the opportunity to stake a claim for inclusion in England’s World Cup squad during their final warm-up match against Japan tomorrow.

Robbie Keane has given his backing to Neil Lennon’s bid to claim the vacant manager’s job at Celtic.

Dimitar Berbatov has announced his retirement from international football. The Bulgaria captain says he is keen to concentrate on his club form with Manchester United, where he has had an indifferent time since he moved from Tottenham Hotspur two years ago.

Fabio Capello picked 30 players yesterday, but he could have summoned 300 and still been left with a hole at the heart of his England team.

These teams were heading in opposite directions when Tottenham Hotspur previously left Turf Moor, after a humiliating defeat that probably changed their destiny. They were indifferent in defeat yesterday, but departed in celebration. The glory of Champions League football beckons for Tottenham.

Few are better equipped than the veteran punter Harry Redknapp to appreciate just what a coup it is to have a place-bet bringing the payout of a lifetime. He has always known that his involvement with human athletes would be more rewarding than his hobbyist dabbling with the four-legged kind but the odds-calculator in him may be reeling euphorically at...

LEDLEY KING has given Fabio Capello a much-needed boost by declaring that he will be up to the rigours of a World Cup campaign despite the debilitating knee injury that severely limits the number of matches he can play for Tottenham and prevents him training between games.

Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham Hotspur manager, has been named the Barclays Premier League manager of the year.

Gareth Bale has signed a new four-year contract with Tottenham Hotspur.

Peter Crouch is refusing to give up hope that Tottenham Hotspur’s season can get even better by stealing third place in the Barclays Premier League from Arsenal.

Harry Redknapp will be rewarded with the offer of a new contract to celebrate Tottenham Hotspur’s first entry to the Champions League.

It was January 2009 and Harry Redknapp, sitting behind his desk at the training ground, was looking weary. He had been in his new job less than three months, but already, he said, he was fed up at having discovered, like so many of his predecessors, that Tottenham Hotspur were a soft touch.

Harry Redknapp believes his success in leading Tottenham Hotspur into the Champions League is evidence that English coaches are among the best in the world.

Tottenham Hotspur will play in the Champions League for the first time next season after a deserved victory over Manchester City, their rivals for fourth place in the Barclays Premier League, at the City of Manchester Stadium last night.

The league table never lies. Even in this most unpredictable of Barclays Premier League seasons, it has remained true to reality, which is why Tottenham Hotspur, the fourth-best team in England, deserve a longawaited crack at the Champions League and Manchester City, with all their riches, must face up to some harsh truths this morning.

Manchester City are considering legal action against Harry Redknapp after he claimed that the world’s richest club used their financial muscle to warn off Tottenham Hotspur from signing Craig Bellamy last season.

Roberto Mancini has challenged his Manchester City players to make history in tomorrow night’s crucial showdown against Tottenham Hotspur.

Peter Crouch and Patrick Vieria have played on some of the biggest stages in football but neither player needs convincing of the importance when Manchester City face Tottenham Hotspur at the City of Manchester Stadium tomorrow.

The joke is always on Tottenham Hotspur; the big club who are not really that big a club.

After all the calculating, all the safety-first pursuit of goalless draws against Manchester United and Arsenal, Roberto Mancini has what he planned for. On Wednesday night, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur play off for a place in the Champions League.

Tottenham Hotspur can clinch Champions League football next season with victory at Manchester City after Tom Huddlestone's solitary goal gave the north London club all three points at home to Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.

For once, the fairytale by the Thames was not just about Fulham. Ricardo Moniz, who was once a coach with Martin Jol at Tottenham Hotspur, was making his managerial debut at the age of nearly 46 in the second leg of a European semi-final. But, fortunately for Roy Hodgson, that tale had an unhappy ending.

Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham Hotspur manager, wants to sign Craig Bellamy and Micah Richards from Manchester City and is preparing to make bids for both players this summer.

As the first half ticked by and Dimitar Berbatov engaged in a familiar recital, spurning chances, not doing much and all the while portraying the anguished look of a man who has just missed the last bus home, Daniel Levy, the Tottenham Hotspur chairman, could have been forgiven a smug grin in the directors’ box at Old Trafford.

SIR ALEX FERGUSON declared the pressure is all on Chelsea after a Nani-inspired victory over Tottenham sent his side top of the Premier League, but Wayne Rooney’s season could be over, according to the Manchester United manager.

Carlo Ancelotti is so relaxed before the title run-in that he will snub Manchester United’s match against Tottenham Hotspur this lunchtime in favour of a trip to the cinema, but he will not be able to escape so easily if the Barclays Premier League trophy stays at Old Trafford.

Roberto Mancini, the Manchester City manager, believes that three wins from their remaining four fixtures will be enough to secure Champions League football next season, providing one of those victories comes against Tottenham Hotspur, their main rivals for fourth place.

The mystery of why Portsmouth owe Tottenham Hotspur £1 million for a player who has never been on the books of Spurs was solved yesterday. However, the full story does little credit to the South Coast club, who also announced that they will fight a decision by the FA and Premier League to deny them a place in Europe next...

SPURS TARGET PIENAAR Harry Redknapp has inquired about Everton’s Steven Pienaar as he seeks to add an attacking midfielder to Tottenham’s squad for what he hopes will be their first season of Champions League football, writes Duncan Castles. The Spurs manager’s options in central midfield have been limited with Jermaine Jenas out of favour or injured. Pienaar has only one...

Spurs rekindled the Premier League title race while boosting their own hopes of a place in next season's Champions League with a well-deserved victory over ten-man Chelsea at White Hart Lane.

The hope of a case of champagne from Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, will be the perfect antidote for Tottenham Hotspur’s walking wounded to inflict a second successive defeat on a title contender.

Carlo Ancelotti leads his Chelsea team into this evening’s match against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane believing that the hard part of his season’s work has been done.

Not sure of his place until 6.30pm on Wednesday, Danny Rose secured a spot in the Tottenham Hotspur hall of fame only 100 minutes later.

Arsène Wenger conceded last night that Arsenal’s title challenge had been all but wiped out by a damaging defeat against Tottenham Hotspur and a “goal in a million” from Danny Rose on his Barclays Premier League debut.

One of these days, Tottenham Hotspur might well come back around to making history of their own, but for now it does not get better for their supporters than to see an Arsenal title challenge crumble in a coruscating atmosphere at White Hart Lane.

Maybe it was the extreme pleasantness of the spring evening on which Sol Campbell made his umpteenth return to White Hart Lane. Maybe the verdict, 15 months ago, of a court that banned four Tottenham fans from attending football for three years for chanting an offensive song about Campbell also had something to do with the veteran’s muted welcome to...

Tonight’s scores

Harry Redknapp has expressed extreme surprise at Sol Campbell’s decision to rejoin Arsenal last January.

Arsene Wenger has confirmed that Robin van Persie will make his first appearance since November in tomorrow night’s North London derby at White Hart Lane.

Robin van Persie could make his first appearance for Arsenal since November in tomorrow night’s North London derby at White Hart Lane. The Holland forward has returned to full training, but Aaron Lennon has been ruled out of the match.

Portsmouth produced one of the most remarkable results of the season yesterday when they defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 at Wembley to reach the FA Cup Final.

Neil Lennon will tell the Celtic board that wholesale changes are required if the club are to recover their standing in Scottish football, regardless of whether the 38-year-old Northern Irishman lands the manager’s job in the summer.

THE last time Avram Grant took a team to Wembley, Chelsea lost in the final of the Carling Cup and the bitterness of the recriminations reflected a club not used to losing, least of all to Tottenham.

Peter Crouch can laugh about his most recent trip to Wembley — the evening his fiancée packed him off to the national stadium as if he had two left feet. A smart pair of shoes forms part of the dress code drawn up by Fabio Capello for the England team. As Crouch reached into his travel case to suit and...

Harry Redknapp absolved himself from any blame last night for Portsmouth’s plunge into administration as he reflected on his former club’s fate. The Tottenham Hotspur manager was swift to counter several accusations, chiefly, the belief among some Portsmouth fans that his spending was the trigger for the club’s financial mess.

Most players who win the FA Cup look back on the experience with pleasure. But David James, the Portsmouth and England goalkeeper, has mixed feelings about the club’s 2008 victory as he contemplates a chance to return to the Final when Portsmouth face Tottenham Hotspur in tomorrow’s semi-final.

Harry Redknapp’s preparations for Sunday's FA Cup semi-final against Portsmouth are being hindered by concerns over the fitness of a number of key players.

A point tonight would guarantee Newcastle United’s return to the Barclays Premier League, but as Tyneside prepares to celebrate promotion at the first time of asking, Chris Hughton is already taking steps to bolster his first-team squad for the challenge that lies ahead, targeting Alan Hutton, the Tottenham Hotspur right back.

There is no disgrace in drawing with Birmingham City at St Andrew’s. After all, Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, the top five in the Barclays Premier League, have met the same fate in England’s Second City this season.

Even when down to 10 men for the last 30 minutes, Portsmouth kept Blackburn at bay. Who knows what this team, doomed to relegation, might do to surprise us next Sunday at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham? Alas, they will be without their most influential and resourceful player, Jamie O’Hara — on loan from Spurs — and...

WELL, this could have been a whole lot worse for Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp. As it was, Darren Bent, the striker he discarded so casually in the summer, scored two goals but contrived to miss two penalties as Sunderland almost refused to take the victory in a hugely absorbing rollercoaster of a game.

Carlos Tévez scored a 12-minute hat-trick to lift Manchester City to within two points of Tottenham Hotspur in fourth place in the Barclays Premier League after Roberto Mancini’s men capitalised on Gary Caldwell’s second-half sending off.

AT LEAST he was being diligent but in hindsight Fabio Capello might have realised long before the end of this game that there were better ways of occupying his time. Perhaps the England coach, mindful that Vicente Del Bosque is still to show an inclination to pick Mikel Arteta for Spain, was planning to cast an eye over Everton’s Basque,...

HAVING risen so gallantly from the ashes a week ago to win against Hull, before crashing 5-0 in midweek to Chelsea, a severely depleted Portsmouth at least made a decent game of it against Tottenham.

Some Portsmouth fans will hurl abuse at their former manager at White Hart Lane today, but Harry Redknapp conceded yesterday that he can also expect jeering from Tottenham Hotspur supporters.

Neil Lennon says he wants to manage Celtic on a permanent basis.

Aston Villa may have lost fewer games than Manchester United or Arsenal, but they missed a big opportunity last night to join the elite in the Champions League when, as Manchester City faltered at home to Everton, they failed to overcome Sunderland. This was a good night, indeed, for Tottenham Hotspur.

Tottenham Hotspur marched into their first FA Cup semi-final in nine years last night after making inspired substitutions at the interval.

As a ten-stone lightweight who stands at 5ft 7in in his boots, Luka Modric could be forgiven for shrinking from the physicality of the Barclays Premier League, but only one aspect of life at Tottenham Hotspur gives him the shivers: the temper of Henry James Redknapp.