Harry Redknapp has said that failing to qualify for the Champions League did not have any bearing on Tottenham Hotspur's decision to sack him.
It has been confirmed that the 65-year-old has left White Hart Lane after four years in charge.
Many believed that Spurs' failure to qualify for Europe's elite club competition was the instigating factor behind Daniel Levy's decision to part company with Redknapp.
However, Redknapp said that the outcome would have been the same had Chelsea not won the Champions League.
"I still think the same outcome would have come if Chelsea hadn't have won it [and Spurs would have qualified for the Champions League]," Redknapp told Sky Sports News. "That's the feeling that I've got.
"Even if we'd have finished fourth [and qualified] I still think the chairman would have gone down the same road as he went down yesterday so, as I say, that's football.
"I had four great years at Spurs. I think it is all you can do, leave the club in better shape than you found it and one thing that I know, I did that for sure."
Andre Villas-Boas is the new bookmakers' favourite for the vacancy.