By Simon Austin
Harry Redknapp is close to taking over at Queens Park Rangers and admits it will be his toughest job in management.
The west London club started talks with Redknapp on Friday afternoon, just hours after Mark Hughes was sacked.
“I want it to happen, so it shouldn’t be that difficult a deal to do,” Redknapp told BBC Sport.
“It’s going to be a tough job but it’s a challenge. When you’ve only got four points at this stage of the season it couldn’t get any harder than that.”
QPR are bottom of the Premier League table, without a win in their opening 12 games.
They are four points adrift of 19th place – the same position Tottenham were in when Redknapp took charge at White Hart Lane in October 2008.
The 65-year-old said he was eager to complete his move to QPR and attend their Premier League game against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday.
“I want to go up and watch the game because I haven’t seen them (QPR) play live,” he said. “I’ve only watched the games on TV so I really want to watch them play.
“I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t get a deal done. If you want something to happen you’ll do it.”
Redknapp, who has been out of management for five months after being dismissed from his role at Spurs in June, hopes to meet the QPR squad before the game.
He said he expected this to be the toughest assignment of his managerial career, though he compared it to his second stint at Portsmouth, when he saved the club from relegation in the 2005-06 season.
“That would be the closest,” he said. “I went back to Portsmouth and they were struggling desperately and we managed to turn that round.
“That was a fantastic time for me, I really had a great time doing that, so let’s hope we can do the same for QPR.
“It’s a very similar club in many ways – small stadium and fantastic supporters who can make all the difference. The atmosphere they can create will make all the difference to us staying up or going down.”
But the former Spurs manager believes QPR possess the talent to improve their situation.
“There’s quality there,” he said. “The teams who have been down there with four points at this point of the season have all gone down, so let’s hope we can break the mould.”
QPR chief executive Philip Beard had left Loftus Road earlier on Friday evening and would not confirm whether Redknapp would be Hughes’s successor.
Redknapp briefly held an advisory position at League One Bournemouth and was named as a possible successor to Oleg Blokhin as Ukraine coach by the country’s national federation on Tuesday. Redknapp’s agent has recently returned from Ukraine.
Under his guidance, Spurs narrowly missed out on earning a spot in the Europa League with an eighth-place finish, before securing Champions League qualification in the following campaign.
Redknapp was installed as favourite to take over as England coach following Fabio Capello’s resignation in February 2012, but was overlooked by the Football Association in favour of Roy Hodgson.
Speculation that he would take the national team role coincided with a slump in Spurs’s form and Redknapp was dismissed by Tottenham in the summer after reportedly failing to agree new terms on his contract.
Redknapp kept a struggling Portsmouth in the Premier League during his his first spell at Fratton Park and repeated the feat on his return in December 2005, winning the 2008 FA Cup in his final campaign before leaving for Tottenham.
In between his reigns at Portsmouth, he was a controversial appointment at Pompey’s south coast rivals Southampton.
Redknapp was unable to avoid relegation at the Saints, overseeing the end of their 27-year stay in the top division before resigning with the club unable to mount a challenge at the top of the Championship.
Redknapp’s managerial record
Tottenham: Oct 2008 – Jun 2012 49.5% win ratio
Portsmouth: Dec 2005 – Oct 2008 42.5% win ratio
Southampton: Dec 2004 – Dec 2005 26.5% win ratio
Portsmouth: Mar 2002- Nov 2004 46.5% win ratio
West Ham: Aug 1994-May 2001 37% win ratio
Bournemouth: Oct 1983- Jun 1992 39.39% win ratio
