Redknapp would leave Pompey with right pay-off

Harry Redknapp will meet Milan Mandaric today and offer to resign as Portsmouth's manager ­ but only if he is paid the amount he is due for the two years remaining on his contract.

Redknapp said last night that it was "going to be hard not to leave" the club after a row over Mandaric's plans to change his coaching staff and replace his 63-year-old assistant, Jim Smith. The chairman has also been angered by Redknapp's criticisms over Portsmouth's spending.

"I think the whole thing has gone too far now," Redknapp said. "I feel that strongly about Jim, despite what Milan says. I've not spoken to Milan since Saturday and his opinion then was that he felt it was time for Jim to move on and retire.

"Jim and I are disappointed with the way we've been treated after two fantastic seasons ­ we both feel very, very bitter about how it's all turned out. I love being with Jim, we bounce ideas off each other ­ and if he goes it'll be very difficult for me to stay. I'm not going to work with a foreign coach ­ I'll only work with someone I want to work with."

Redknapp added: "I've got a two-year contract and I think I've earned the two years I've got left ­ and I think Milan and I have come to a difficult situation honouring that contract. I've done nothing wrong but if Milan wants to shift us he's got to make sure he sorts us out. I can say I'm going to walk but leave myself wide open and not get paid ­ we've got to get our contracts paid."

Redknapp signed a new deal only two months ago and said at the time Portsmouth would be his last job in management. But there have been tensions with Mandaric for months. The chairman is concerned at what he perceives as a lack of coaching at the club, which has just survived its first season in the Premiership, and has made it clear that he does not want another summer of comings and goings on the playing staff, especially as the wage bill has doubled.

Redknapp explained: "Some people can't help but try and destroy things when they've gone well ­ and that's how it's been this week. We lost key players and only bought players in because we needed them ­ not for the sake of it."

Mandaric, who had approached the former Belgium coach George Leekens, returned to Britain yesterday after being in Europe on business. He insisted no decisions had been made. "It does not mean Jim or Harry will go ­ we need to resolve this, the dialogue is not finished," he said. "Harry's done a great job, we've stayed up and there were no problems and I told Harry 'maybe you can do something with the coaching' ­ there is no infrastructure at the club."

Today's meeting ­ before the final league match on Saturday ­ will take place at 5pm. "Harry is still my manager ­ I've not talked about him going," Mandaric said.