The war of words between David Pleat and Glenn Hoddle, was inadvertently sparked off by Mr Pleat's candour, when intereviewed for The Times, but perpetuated with glee by the hacks from various arms of the press.
If you read the quotes that were attributed to David Pleat, such as Glenn
being "obsessed with 3-5-2", then it would be difficult to argue factually with what was
said. Mr Pleat has since said that with hindsight he should not have used the word "obsessed", but it is a fact. The wing-back formation was such an obsession with Hoddle that Spurs teams down to under 17 level were being forced to play it incessantly.
Of course there is a place for variety in tactics, but as I have written before, most teams were able to read the Spurs style like a book, and history shows that they often benefitted goal-wise too. This whole spat started after Pleat was interviewed before the televised game at Leicester, and you will find that most weeks, these games form the basis of lengthy features for the ardent football-reading public. Mr Pleat could hardly refuse to speak to the press on such an occasion, could he? Having been present at a number of question and answer sessions that Pleat has always been only too willing to attend, I do know that David Pleat finds it hard NOT to give a comment to questions, and it seems that on this occasion he was easily drawn into passing comment upon the ex-manager.
Following that, many papers leapt at the chance to spin negative headlines
on Spurs, as is their wont, and often mis-construed Pleat's comments. For example, Pleat
said about Hoddle words to the effect of - with my full support, Glenn "did" our money on
Sergei Rebrov. Some papers even described this as Pleat criticising Hoddle over the money wasted on Rebrov. Well, Rebrov was actually bought when George Graham was manager, and what
Pleat was saying was that Glenn acted with the board's support in letting Sergei go to Turkey on a loan deal, with little or no money coming Tottenham's way.
Perhaps Mr Pleat should not have made the comments about Glenn wanting to be
the best player on the training ground, but clearly, the club had been worried about
the lack of footballing progress after our ignominious cup exits last season. When Glenn
was primed by the tabloid press, one of the things he complained about was Pleat
effectively looking over his shoulder. I know that a year or two ago, Mr Pleat had an office
allocated at Spurs Lodge, and as head of the football arm of the club, he of course had every right to oversee events at the training ground.
Of course it is a pity that Hoddle has been drawn to make bitter comments, after it looked as if he and the club had parted on fairly reasonable terms, but the results since his departure provide the evidence for the correct decision made. In Hoddle's last three games, Spurs conceded 10 goals - 6 of them in embarrassing home defeats against Fulham and Southampton. Pleat's Spurs have conceded only one in five games; remain unbeaten (at the time of writing); and have 4 clean sheets to their credit.
I know which of the two I would rather have in charge, although it can only
be a benefit to the club to resolve the managerial vacancy sooner rather than later, to
prevent any more of this tit for tat journalism.
