Harry Redknapp has broken his silence on footage of him calling manager a 'German spy'. Former , and Tottenham boss Redknapp made headlines after being filmed discussing Tuchel's appointment at a charity event last month.

In the footage, he said: "I'll be honest with you, I think he's a German spy. I'm telling you. Seriously, he's been sent over to f*** us up. He has. I'm telling ya, he's like Lord Haw Haw in the war - 'We have your best soldiers captured' and all that." Redknapp also appeared to perform a Nazi salute while making his comments to a laughing crowd.

The 78-year-old has now addressed the incident in an interview with , saying: "No, don't go there. Oh my god, it was a joke, you know, that badly backfired. But it was only a joke. Hopefully he can do well with the England team. He managed a lot of the players at ."

Redknapp was linked to the England job during the peak of his Premier League management career, but he never took charge of the Three Lions. Tuchel is the first German head coach in England's history, and only the third foreign boss after Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello.

Tuchel oversaw World Cup qualifying wins over Albania and Latvia in his first two matches at the helm in March. And while he has an enviable trophy cabinet at club level, Redknapp has suggested that Eddie Howe should be the manager England chiefs look to in the long-term.

"I'm sure if the England job came up, he wouldn't be able to turn it down and I'm sure that will happen eventually," he said. "In this particular time, we needed to look for a manager and Tuchel was available. And he's got a very good track record."

about Tuchel's appointment when it was confirmed in October. He told Sky Sports News: "He's lost his job quite quickly at a couple of clubs.

"It's not like he's been a massive success. He's come and gone at a couple of clubs. I'm very patriotic, I think we should have an English manager but obviously the field was very small to choose from."

Tuchel will be back in the England dugout over the coming weeks for a World Cup qualifier against Andorra on June 7 and a friendly with Senegal on June 10.