Was Harry Redknapp lamed by lack of transfer funds at QPR?

Did Queens Park Rangers manager Harry Redknapp limp away from a relegation dogfight? Or did he jump like a wily old fox before he was pushed?

Left empty-handed after the January transfer deadline and with no end to the dreadful run in sight, Redknapp cited a chronic knee problem that has rendered him incapable of coping with the demands of an EPL manager.

The pain had become so acute in the hours after Monday's midnight transfer cut-off, he had no option but to call QPR's Malaysian tycoon owner Tony Fernandes at 5.30am to resign on health grounds.

At least that's his story. There's no denying Redknapp's knees require surgery. But few are buying the gammy leg pretext for his resignation, and for good reason.

As fans of two of Redknapp's former clubs, Portsmouth and Southampton, will attest, this is the same manager who, when asked, infamously assured Portsmouth fans in 2004: "Am I joining that lot [Southampton] down the road? No chance."

He promptly became Southampton's manager and oversaw their relegation in 2005. Then in an act to make Judas blush, he returned to Portsmouth seven months later.

Conspiracy theorists - and there are many - believe the timing of his QPR departure and his parting insistence that he "still has another job left in me", renders the health excuse as lame as his sore legs.

His assistant coaches, Joe Jordan and Glenn Hoddle, did not, after all, follow him out the door because they were suffering sympathetic phantom knee pains.

Redknapp certainly felt humiliated by owner Fernandes taking to Twitter on Monday to publicly undermine him, declaring "no more chequebook" because he had "bought all the players [the] manager asked for in summer".

And he was rightly insulted by Fernandes' later tweet claiming "given the right motivation, tactics and coaching, we can achieve much more".

But such sleights would have been water off a duck's back for a battle-hardened pro like Redknapp. More likely is he quit in a fit of pique - furious at being denied access to the transfer market lifeline he so desperately needed to pull QPR out of the whirlpool sucking the club back down to the Championship.

But he had met his match at the EPL's most chaotic club, and the events of the past few days - including the dire 3-1 loss away to Stoke - weakened what was left of the resolve that defined him.

He knew that without new blood, the team under his management were doomed and the survival battle already lost.

Redknapp's thick skin has been eroding since 2012, when, three years ago this week, he was in the dock standing trial on charges of tax evasion.

He was acquitted and shortly after leaving court news broke that Fabio Capello had resigned as England manager and that he was widely expected to be next in line. But to his immense disappointment he was snubbed in favour of Roy Hodgson.

Then came more bad news - Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy ousted him from White Hart Lane.

Redknapp snapped up the QPR role left vacant by Mark Hughes in November 2012 and from day one set off on an emotionally draining, skin-of-the-teeth relegation-promotion-relegation rollercoaster.

You could forgive any man of pensionable age - he's 67 - for asking if he still has the energy to drag a group of mediocre players out of the mire.

He certainly looked a broken man when asked about the chastened transfer activity. Spurs striker Emmanuel Adebayor and club-mate Aaron Lennon spurned his approaches, with Lennon preferring a loan to Everton.

The deal for West Ham's Matt Jarvis was blocked because QPR had already had taken Mauro Zarate on loan from the club, and Redknapp had earlier missed out on Jermain Defoe, who joined Sunderland.

Then there was Jordan Mutch who was sold to relegation dogfight rivals Crystal Palace for £4.75 million (HK$56 million). Fernandes had tweeted that Mutch was "not in the manager's plans", even though Redknapp bought the player for £5.5 million last summer.

Redknapp knows you don't go into football management seeking job security. His future had been up in doubt since the end of last year.

Where his due diligence failed him was his failure to acknowledge that turmoil is to QPR as dough sticks are to congee. It's a club in a perpetual spin despite Fernandes' arrival in August 2011, promising a stable era. Fernandes is considered naïve, offering generous deals to waning stars whose motives revolved around money, not glory.

Redknapp's motives have also been questioned in the past, so much so that had he been allowed to sign new players, you wonder if his knee pain would have eased. And don't be surprised if there was a spring in his step after bookies offered 6-1 on him heading to Newcastle.