Harry Redknapp thanked Tottenham's fans for helping him end the most difficult week of his life on a high as the Londoners ripped Newcastle apart with a devastating performance at White Hart Lane.
Louis Saha scored his first two goals for the club and there were also strikes from Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Niko Kranjcar and Emmanuel Adebayor to move Spurs within five points of Barclays Premier League leaders Manchester United.
The performance was one of the team's best of the season and came amid a background of almost constant adulation from the home crowd towards their manager, who started the week in the dock but by Wednesday afternoon found himself in the clear and suddenly in pole position to take over as England's head coach following Fabio Capello's shock resignation.
The home support sang "Harry Redknapp, we want you to stay" on several occasions during the rout as they made it clear that they want the 64-year-old to snub England.
The Spurs manager claimed there still has been no approach from the Football Association (FA) over the vacancy, and instead chose to lavish praise on his team and the home fans.
"The crowd have been brilliant with me, they've been great and I appreciated their support," Redknapp said.
"This was the most difficult week I've ever had. I wouldn't want anyone to go through that and what it's done to my family was worse.
"But it's behind us now and the week's turned out good. Things turned out right and the lads played well today.
"It was a good all round performance."
The FA started drawing up a shortlist on Friday and some bookmakers have stopped taking bets on Redknapp being given the job.
The man himself admits he would consider the job but has promised to give Tottenham his full attention while he is in charge at White Hart Lane.
"Nothing's happened with the England job. No-one has spoken to me or (chairman) Daniel (Levy) about it," Redknapp added.
"It wouldn't be fair to anyone here to think about it. Daniel gave me the job, he brought me to the club when there was a public court case hanging over me.
"I owe him and we've been great for each other. At the moment I can't take my focus off Tottenham."
Should any one of the four-man team charged with appointing Capello's successor have been watching today, then they will have been impressed with what they saw.
Spurs raced 2-0 ahead after just five minutes through goals from Assou-Ekotto and Saha.
They had doubled their advantage by half-time thanks to another goal from Saha and Kranjcar's first strike for a year, before Adebayor slotted home a fifth in the second half.
Although Adebayor's contribution can not be overlooked - he played a part in every goal - Saha's two strikes on his first start were worthy of high praise too.
"Adebayor and Saha were unplayable in that early period and there was no stopping us after that," Redknapp said.
"There was some great finishing. I took the chance of playing Saha today.
"Some people questioned why I signed him but I've always thought he is a top player. If you can keep him fit, you have a real player on your hands."
The win puts third-place Spurs within five points of Barclays Premier League leaders Manchester City.
Perhaps more importantly, the Londoners are 10 points ahead of Arsenal, who occupy the last Champions League qualification spot.
Newcastle held Spurs to a 2-2 draw at St James' Park earlier this season but barely threatened today.
Manager Alan Pardew said: "Tottenham were irresistible today. Some of the things they were doing, they were doing for fun, Adebayor and Saha were a real handful for us.
"They had an extra bounce in their step after what happened to their manager this week.
"They all wanted to show they wanted their manager to stay but we should have done better for the first two goals.
"What we showed today isn't a true reflection of us this season, though."
Meanwhile, Adebayor admits England need Harry Redknapp more than Tottenham - but says the manager "has to stay" at White Hart Lane until the end of the season.
"He has to stay until the end of the season and from there we'll see," Adebayor told ESPN.
"He gives us confidence, he has done a lot for me when I was going through difficult moments.
"I think England need him more that Tottenham but I assure you he'll be here until the end of the season and then we'll see what happens."
Fellow striker Saha, who scored twice on his home debut, added: "He gives confidence to the squad and the players, it's a real joy to play for him.
"I've just been here a few weeks but I've seen a rise in confidence and already improved, and I owe him a lot."
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