Then employed as Tottenham boss, Redknapp was heavily tipped to replace Fabio Capello when the Italian quit as England coach last year, only for the Football Association to appoint Roy Hodgson.

Having claimed his the terms of his Spurs contract forced the FA to look for cheaper options elsewhere, Redknapp has now said he would turn down England if the FA did come calling.

"I wouldn't take it (the England job) now, no. Not now, not in the future," Redknapp told Twentyfour7Football.

"That was my time, really, if I was going to get it. Last year there were a lot of things that went against me surrounding that massive contractual clause. People will always deny that is the reason, the FA couldn't say that and I won't say, but it didn't help me.

"I had such a badly loaded contract it was crazy, in Tottenham's favour. That's what you get for not reading your contract properly. It was a massive amount that someone would have had to pay to get me out of it.

"If they sacked me it wasn't so massive and that was a bolt out of the blue, a shock, I genuinely never saw it coming."

After missing out of the England job, Redknapp saw his contract at White Hart Lane terminated after failing to secure automatic Champions League qualification.

It was thought that Redknapp failing to hide his desire to manage England had angered Spurs chairman Daniel Levy and led to his dismissal, but the man himself believes club owner Joe Lewis had the final say.

"Was it Levy who cut the cord? It was other people, the owner of the club that decided," Redknapp said.