Hoddle: Make Pleat boss

"So I say 'give him the job' - he's started well and we should see where he can take it from here.

"Who knows? Maybe success will come under him. This is a genuine shout from a fan. Most of the fans want him and it's important to take that into account."

Meanwhile Dean Richards today told Spurs fans that it is only a matter of time before striking misfit Helder Postiga comes good.

Postiga missed two glaring chances to put Spurs three-up at half-time against Arsenal and is still without a goal since his £6.25million move from FC Porto in the summer. Spurs rued the missed chances following Darren Anderton's fifth-minute opener, and second-half goals from Robert Pires, and a fortunate deflected shot from Freddie Ljungberg gave Arsenal a lucky victory.

But Richards said: "Helder had two good chances and on another day if he had taken just one of them, things might have been different. For us to have gone in at half-time two or three up would have been a big boost for us.

"Helder worked very hard against Arsenal and in training he is banging them home for fun, but their 'keeper spread himself well to stop him twice.

The hardest thing in the world to do is put the ball in the net. You cannot knock Helder. He got into two positions to score and if he keeps doing that it won't belong before he gets a goal.

"We have got to punish good teams like Arsenal because they are always going to have a spell in the game where they are going to punish you."

Richards exonerated Stephen Carr from accusations that he deliberately elbowed Thierry Henry in the first half. Henry was left gasping for air after his clash with Carr and Arsenal physio Gary Lewin was initially concerned about Henry's ability to breath as he lay prostrate on the ground.

But Henry soon recovered and Richards says the clash was nothing more than an accident. He added: "Stephen tried to raise his hand to jump and caught Thierry across his windpipe. There was no intent from Stephen it was just an unfortunate accident. Everyone was concerned for Thierry at one stage because he was so still but thankfully he got back to his feet and was alright."