Safe hands, but Pleat is anxious

He should know. The high point of a management career that also embraced Luton, Leicester and Sheffield Wednesday was probably his year in charge in 1986-87 when Tottenham finished third in the old First Division, were beaten by Coventry in the FA Cup Final and knocked out of the Littlewoods Cup in the semi-finals by Arsenal. "Some people called me the nearly man," he said ruefully.

What few realise is that in the summer of 1986, having accepted Tottenham's offer to succeed Peter Shreeves, Pleat went to the World Cup in Mexico for ITV and persuaded Hoddle to abandon plans to move abroad and play with Spurs for one final season.

What a season it turned out to be! "I put Hoddle in that Platini position," recalled Pleat. "You know, the second striker like Bergkamp or Zola."

He didn't really want to talk about Hoddle's recent problems at White Hart Lane though he acknowledged that, because of his cult status as a player at the club, expectations of managerial success were higher than might have been the case with another coach. "He did the job as he saw fit and he worked really hard at it," he said.

From the walls in Pleat's office at Chigwell hang three large photographs: Clive Allen, 49-goal striker in 1986-87, Richard Gough, defensive colossus that season, and the club's double-winning legend from 1961, Danny Blanchflower.

"Gough epitomises leadership and Allen a singleminded determination to score goals," smiled Pleat. "Blanchflower? Well, he's simply what this club is all about."

And what exactly is that? "Playing with creativity and style," he replied. "I was from Nottingham but I remember watching the double side beat Forest 4-0 in 1961. I remember watching him (pointing to Blanchflower) and Baker passing to each other and playing their way out of trouble in the 18-yard box right in front of me.

"It's an indelible memory. Bill Nicholson had a wonderful footballing team and this club has been striving to emulate that for more than 40 years." Pleat, now 58, began his management career at Luton in 1978. He's currently in his third spell as caretaker at Tottenham and is once again enjoying the adrenaline rush that's not so obvious when you spend each day sat behind a desk.

His team knocked Coventry out of the Carling Cup last week and drew 0-0 with Manchester City on Sunday. Tomorrow they face Everton at White Hart Lane. "Yes, I'm a little anxious," he said. "It's important that we don't sit too deep because the crowd will get at us if they think Everton are having all the possession."

He's studied the reports on Everton but he's noticing that times have changed. "Reports are helpful but they're not as important as they once were because teams are rarely the same in successive weeks," he explained. "When I started in management you could have a good guess at the opposition's team. Today their line-ups change so often that you rarely have a clue until 30 minutes before kick-off."

Pleat believes most clubs will eventually adopt the Continental style of management, where a long-term technical director works with a firstteam coach who might change clubs every two years. "The days of longterm team building are over," he said.

More immediately, Pleat is concerned with the short term at Tottenham. He's made the Republic of Ireland full-back, Stephen Carr, his captain, hoping he might be able to persuade the player to commit himself-beyond the remaining two years of his contract. "If the team does better and he sees some light he might want to stay," he said. "He's been with us since he was 14 and we need his leadership."

Pleat knows he's short of the Gough-Mabbutt-Roberts type of player. "Many years ago Malcom Allison said my Luton team were very good with the ball," he recalled. "What he really meant was that we weren't very good without the ball.

"I've been thinking a lot about that recently because this team ain't too bad with the ball. But we need a shape and a system that can cope when we lose the ball. I'm also concerned with width on the left, good legs in midfield, compensating for the absence of a natural tackler in midfield. We're not bad up front or at the back but I've got to sort out my best midfield combination."

Is he looking as far ahead as the January transfer window? "No," he replied. "I don't need to. That'll be for someone else. I have a view about the new manager and I'll give my view to the board. I'm here to give them advice when they ask for it and to help the manager, whoever that might be, in any way I can."

As Tottenham's long term strategist, Pleat will have a say in determining who succeeds Hoddle. It could be him, though he said that, rather like Trevor Brooking at West Ham, he'd like to have a good run at it and bow out in a blaze of glory. "I am the caretaker and I want to enjoy it for as long as I can," he said.