Names left in the frame at the Lane

Today's decision by Giovanni Trapattoni to pull out of the running for the manager's position at White Hart Lane will have little effect on the club's continued search for a successor to Glenn Hoddle.

Now that the Italian has finally come to a definite position it will only accelerate chairman Daniel Levy's quest for a solution to his managerial problem.

From the outside it would seem that everyone with a coaching badge has been considered since Glenn Hoddle was sacked last September - there have been 75 names speculated on in total.

Some critics suggest that Trapattoni's decision leaves them back at square one and scrambling around for someone, anyone, to fit the bill.

But within the confines of Levy's office, he is confident that most of his main options are still on the agenda, although clearly the legendary coach was a significant target among the 75 names linked with the job by the media and punters.

As a result of all this, betting on the identity of the next Spurs manager has been the most frenetic in the history of new betting markets.

Exchange company Betfair today reported more than £4million of matched bets on the job.

Behind Trapattoni (£1.5m worth of matched bets), the most popular choices are Martin O'Neill (£345,000), Raddy Antic (£322,000), Alan Curbishley (234,000), Graeme Souness (£232,000) and Claudio Ranieri (£160,000). There could now be further names.

When Hoddle left, Spurs were linked with a host of top names and sources at the club indicated to Standard Sport today that they were still spoilt for choice.

It is no secret that Celtic manager O'Neill became their top target as soon as Hoddle's dismissal was announced.

But Spurs soon realised, as with any potential target, that trying to persuade them to switch clubs in mid-season would be a pointless exercise.

So the club's director of football, David Pleat, was asked to steer the team through stormy waters.

This was a role that Pleat initially relished but in the end it now looks to have brought him to the end of his Spurs career.

Poor results and the constant speculation over whether or not the new manager would be able to work with him has dogged Pleat since he accepted the position on a temporary basis.

The fans have now had enough and want him out and Levy must surely be coming round to that view even though he insists publicly that Pleat's position has never been a problem in discussions with any potential manager. While Pleat got on with the job of narrowly avoiding relegation to Division One, Levy scoured home and abroad.

Almost certainly encouraged by Pleat, he initially went for a continental type coaching set-up where the director of football looked after player signings and contracts and the coach was just responsible for the first team.

Levy depended heavily on the advice of England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, who recommended several close friends and colleagues, hence many of the names you see surrounding this article.

Therein lies the nub of Spurs' problem.

All these names have merely served to cloud the issue and leave the perception of confusion.

In reality, the 65-year-old Trapattoni was very excited by the prospect of taking on the job and gave Levy a verbal agreement to join Spurs after he had finished masterminding Italy's Euro 2004 campaign. Only his wife's illness has prevented him from becoming the next Spurs boss.

Levy will now pursue others who remain on his target list and may have already opted to change the structure of the system he wants to introduce. Ominously for Pleat, the director of football role now seems certain to be ditched in favour of some kind of technical director instead. A coach will still be required and that's where a young gun such as Mark Hughes or Peter Taylor comes in.

The upshot of that is likely to be the end of Pleat's association with the club once more.

Levy has now wisely recognised that a different regime is required if Spurs are to give themselves a fighting chance of enticing the right man.

The potential is certainly there among the playing staff and Pleat must take some of the credit for the current crop of youngsters, but it requires a new broom to sweep right through.

Only one person knows who those men are and he must ensure he makes the right decision, otherwise the list will just get longer.

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