Should Tottenham sack Harry Redknapp if they fail to finish top four?

Harry Redknapp's Tottenham have been in rotten form recently

Earlier in the season, the praise was flowing for Harry Redknapp and Tottenham Hotspur, and rightly so.

Spurs looked like genuine challengers for the Premier League title and were playing what Sir Alex Ferguson described as "the best football in the country".

Their capitulation since throwing away a two-goal lead at Arsenal in February has been staggering though and they now have both Newcastle and Chelsea breathing down their necks in the race for a top-four finish, while Arsenal have overturned a 10-point deficit and now sit two points above their neighbours with a game in hand.

Spurs' loss in form has coincided with speculation linking their manager Redknapp with the vacant England job but now he ought to have serious question marks over his future at White Hart Lane regardless of whether The FA give him the nod.

With players like Gareth Bale, Luka Modric, Emmanuel Adebayor and Rafael van der Vaart in their team, Spurs should be a top-four outfit.

If they fail to qualify for next season's Champions League, this campaign would have to go down as one of underachievement and chairman Daniel Levy may struggle to keep hold of the club's big players for another year.

If Modric was desperate for a move away last summer, his urge would be even greater this time around as you get the sense if Spurs can't qualify for the Champions League this season given the position they were in and the players they have, it is only going to be harder for them to achieve it next season.

Modric's form itself has tailed off during Tottenham's slump - particularly his passing - and he is not involved in anywhere near as many goals as he should be, but teams like the two Manchester clubs are sure to circle if Spurs' poor form proves fatal to their top-four hopes.

Adebayor's loan finishes at the end of the campaign and it is hard to see him staying for another season of Europa League football, while his wage demands may scupper any move anyway.

And Bale, the jewel in Tottenham's crown, may even be tempted to move on in search of Champions League football if Spurs fail to qualify, so the closing weeks of this season are vital to the immediate future of the club.

Bale has looked more threatening on the left wing this season

Redknapp's insistence on playing Bale out of position on the right and in the centre has cost Spurs in recent weeks, as did his decision to play 4-4-2 at home against Norwich yesterday.

Their 2-1 defeat has left them looking vulnerable in fourth place, and Redknapp himself admitted after the game he had made a mistake with the formation.

He said they had "looked stronger recently with 4-3-3" so that begs the question: why did he change things?

That formation had worked perfectly well during the 3-1 win over Swansea, so it is difficult to see why Redknapp took the decision to revert to 4-3-3.

He has been heralded as something of a genius over the course of the last couple of years but is now being found out tactically and it could cost Spurs dear.

There is no doubt Redknapp has done a terrific job at White Hart Lane - he inherited a team rock bottom of the Premier League and turned them into a regular top-six side, including a campaign in the Champions League - but he now has the players at his disposal to turn Tottenham into a great team and he is wasting the opportunity.

Redknapp had a chance to push Spurs on - perhaps to the title - in January but wasted it by signing has-beens Louis Saha and Ryan Nelsen.

Saha has shown glimpses of quality but is simply not good enough for a side competing for a top four place, while Nelsen couldn't even get in the Blackburn side by the end of his time at Ewood Park.

Steven Pienaar was loaned out and although he never produced great form during his year at Spurs, he now looks fantastic for Everton and has proved he was more than worthy of at least a place on Redknapp's bench.

This season could still turn out to be a successful one for Redknapp and Tottenham.

If they were to win the FA Cup and/or finish in the top four, that would be superb for them and both those achievements remain realistic.

However, unless Redknapp can lead Spurs out of this slump soon their hopes will slip away and it may no longer be a case of whether he wants to stay at the club, but rather whether the club wants him to stay.

Redknapp is still likely to become England manager whatever happens in the remainder of the season, but Spurs' recent struggles must have raised a few question marks among fans and The FA over whether he is the right man for the job.

His tactical naivety and current inability to get the best out of a talented squad have been laid bare in recent weeks and it now may be that while Spurs were desperate to hold onto him not so long ago, they may not be too upset were England to come calling and give them a huge chunk of compensation this summer.

When you look at the job David Moyes continuously does at Everton on significantly smaller resources and a less talented group of players, Tottenham may now feel there are better managers than Redknapp available elsewhere.

Moyes' Everton are one of the teams to have beaten Spurs recently

This season could yet be a successful one for them, but one league win in eight tells its own story: Spurs are in horrible form and lack the momentum needed going into the battle for Champions League spots.

Speculation over the England job cannot be the sole reason for Spurs' poor form, and Redknapp should shoulder much of the blame.

His tactics and failure in the January transfer window are bigger reasons for Spurs' slump than the England speculation.

Redknapp's transfer dealings have often been the best part of his management over the years, but in January he seemed to forget where his side were in the league and signed completely the wrong calibre of players.

Spurs may yet finish in the top four, and should do given their fixture list, but if they don't Redknapp's future must be questioned seriously - regardless of whether he becomes England boss.

His side should have finished at least third given the first half of the season they enjoyed, and are now facing the unthinkable prospect of finishing outside the Champions League places.

The Harry bandwagon has ground to a halt.