Glenn Hoddle believes Tottenham’s current predicament must force a major rethink, but said shrewd recruitment and decision-making can get them back on their feet sooner rather than later.
Tottenham head into the final day of the Premier League season with the very real possibility of relegation still looming over their shoulder.
Spurs needed just a point against Chelsea in midweek to condemn West Ham to relegation, but a 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge means there is work still to be done against Everton on Sunday.
Roberto De Zerbi’s side only need a point to survive, and could even afford to lose if 18th-place West Ham fail to beat Leeds United at home.
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Even if Tottenham avoid the drop, it would mark a second successive 17th-place finish in the league for Spurs and one that Hoddle believes must spark a major rethink at his former club.
‘The Europa League triumph really papered over the cracks,’ Hoddle told Metro. ‘There’s been a crack there for quite some time.
‘The system is clearly not working at the moment, and needs to be revised. If this were any business, that’s what they’d be doing. They’d be stripping it down and saying, this ain’t working, let’s get a new CEO or new board and go from there.
‘What I’m hoping is that we stay up and the fear of going down, the fear of actually thinking about it and getting so close to dropping, actually ignites something in the club from above the playing staff, above the coaching staff, that this can’t happen again. That’s got to be a crossroads, which is the lowest crossroads. That’s got to be the lowest one.’
Spurs have long faced criticism from fans for their stringent wage structure and lack of ambition when it comes to squad investment, and Hoddle urged those in charge to get back to basics when it came to the club’s running.
‘I think the owners have got to look at it as a football club first and foremost,’ he added. ‘Everything’s got to revolve around that and aimed at that, rather than being an asset.
‘We have a great stadium, and it’s bringing in great income, but if the income comes in, spend it on the club, spend it on the football club. The history of Tottenham is a football club. It’s not anything else and never will be.’
He continued: ‘Rather than looking at it negatively, I think you’ve got to see it as a challenge. You’ve got to look at the positives out of it and take on the challenge.
‘That comes from the staff, the players, the staff. When I say staff, it means the recruitment, it means everything. The money that’s going to be made available to go and build a squad.’
Who will be relegated on final day
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Tottenham
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West Ham
But Hoddle was also quick to look for positives, highlighting the superb turnaround at Manchester United under Michael Carrick as evidence of how quickly the right formula can be found.
‘You’ve got everything there,’ he said. ‘The infrastructure’s there, the training ground, the stadium. A lot of clubs do it the other way around, but everything’s there.
‘They’ve now got to focus on getting this quality. That doesn’t mean you have to spend millions and millions and millions. There are quality players around Europe and in Britain, and it’s the recruitment that has to be really looked at.
‘But football’s a funny business as we know. You could say it could take seven, eight years, like Arsenal, but you could turn around very quickly. Look at Manchester United within one season, it can happen very quickly like that.
‘Look at Eddie Howe when he went to Newcastle when they were second from bottom. They were in the relegation zone and look what happened. He got them a trophy and they played in the Champions League. It can happen very quickly with good management and good players.’
Glenn Hoddle was speaking courtesy of BOYLE Sports, Home of the Early Payout. 18+ BeGambleAware.
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