Pleat's job is safe

David Pleat: staying at Spurs

14 April 2012

David Pleat's future at Tottenham looks secure no matter who becomes the club's next permanent manager.

The 58-year-old director of football will be in charge of the first team until the end of the season when it looks increasingly likely that he will be replaced by a long-term successor to Glenn Hoddle.

There have been suggestions that the new man will not want to work with Pleat - or any other football figure overseeing his work - but chairman Daniel Levy has confirmed to Standard Sport that Spurs will have a director of football next summer.

At yesterday's AGM at White Hart Lane, Levy said: "Nearly every major overseas club has a director of football in some form. We have probably had at least 30 approaches from well-known managers, so having a director of football is not a problem.

"David is not finding it an easy job to manage the first team along with all the other responsibilities. It cannot be one person that does both those roles."

Levy also gave a strong indication that Pleat is not his first choice for Spurs' "most important managerial appointment".

He said: "I know exactly who I want to lead this club next year. I have every confidence he will arrive here in the summer."

Martin O'Neill, Alan Curbishley and Graeme Souness have all been linked with the job.

Asked specifically about O'Neill, Levy said: "It's natural that Tottenham is going to be associated with lots of good managers. Martin's a good manager but he's one of many good managers."

Despite Pleat's stop-gap status and the £12million Spurs spent last summer, Levy has not ruled out signing new players.

He said: "If appropriate opportunities are available we will consider them. The amount of money we spent last summer was second only to Chelsea and is not something which is sustainable - you can't really spend more than you earn, but we will continue to invest in new players."

Tottenham would have more cash at their disposal if Joe Lewis - the Bahamas-based billionaire behind the club's largest shareholder Enic - became more actively involved.

However, Levy dismissed suggestions that Lewis could emerge as Spurs' answer to Roman Abramovich.

He said: "Mr Lewis continues to be a supportive investor but we will not see the sums of money invested that Chelsea have at their disposal." Levy also refuted claims that Abramovich had talked to officials about buying Spurs before settling on Chelsea.