Sugar: I always wanted Hoddle

Those who know Sugar should not be surprised by this conversion. The public image of this £500 million self-made man was fuelled by an abrasive nature and, at times, acid tongue.

However, it was never a true reflection of him. In private he could be charming and funny, especially when poking fun at some of his time at Spurs.

He even sounds today like a true fan, something he was often criticised for.

"I always enjoyed watching the game and I am still very enthusiastic," he said. "I have been a great supporter of the club since I was a kid. People misunderstood that. I was branded as a money person who was only interested in profits. The fact is I am there regularly these days and I am very much up to date on what's going on."

During his time in charge, Spurs won just one trophy, the Worthington Cup in 1999 after beating Leicester City 1-0 in the final at Wembley.

Success that day was never built on and within two years both Sugar and manager George Graham were gone, replaced by Glenn Hoddle, Enic and a fresh wave of optimism.

Victory at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Sunday would restore the club to the position it was in three years ago. So what's the difference now?

"There was a swell, despite all the things we were trying to do, of disappointment among everyone and the club attracted a lot of criticism and a lot of that was directed at my regime," he said.

"You make mistakes and if you look back, my start at Spurs was very problematic. I started off with an acrimonious altercation with God's gift to football (a reference to his legal battle with Terry Venables over control of the club in 1993) and some people have said, quite rightly, that I might have won a battle then but lost the war.

"Particular people involved had a lot of support in areas of the media and there was a constant bickering that went on for many, many years and that was no good for the club. It's all about public perception and despite all the things I was trying to do I still never really got the message through that I was trying my best.

"At the end of the day it was the right move for me and the club.

"What we have got now at Spurs is self belief," he continued. "It all starts with the fact they have got a manager now in Glenn Hoddle who is unquestionably a Tottenham man and that's the best starting point really, when you have a man who has a passion for the club.

"I think it's also been brought about by the end of the 10-year Sugar era. I think it was a good thing that there was a change and it's given the club a new lease of life.

"Clubs the size of Tottenham go through eras and at the moment it's going through a new start. Sometimes a change is what is needed to turn things around and move on to positive things."

Sugar's involvement with Spurs started in 1991 when he bought 40 per cent of the club for £8m. He went on to become chairman and after seeing off the challenge from Venables tried to turn the club around.

Despite spending a net total of £48m on players during his time in charge he never brought the success or the flair Spurs fans demanded.

So last year he sold 27 per cent of his holding to Enic, the leisure company run by another lifelong Tottenham supporter, Daniel Levy, for £22m.

Within weeks Enic had sacked Graham as manager, replaced him with Hoddle and launched a full-scale review of the way the club was run.

Enic used a previous written warning Sugar had given Graham about leaking details of his transfer budget to the papers to get rid of him. Although Enic subsequently had to pay Graham £750,000 compensation there's no doubt his actions smoothed the path for Hoddle's succession.

After falling out with Graham, Sugar called his former manager a "gutless coward". He admitted employing him was his biggest mistake at Spurs, but what does he think of Hoddle?

"I always wanted to get Glenn when I was in charge," he said. "But every time the job came up it never really worked out. He's there now and since he has come to Spurs he has been very good for the club.

"Starting at Swindon and then Chelsea, England and then Southampton at the other end of the Premiership, it really has been a tremendous training for him.

"I am sure he is the first to say he has made mistakes and done things in the past but he is not just a player who has recently stopped playing and turned a manager.

"He has a lot of experience and now he is at a club he probably always wanted to manage and he can put all that experience to good use.

"We have got a manager here now who realises, through his experience at other clubs, that the short-term fix of irrational spending is not the thing.

"It's important to get the right mix of youth and experience which is what Glenn has done. Bringing Teddy Sheringham back was an excellent move and Gustavo Poyet and Christian Ziege have been great signings.

"But the thing to do is build things up for you are loyal and love the club.

"Glenn has got a five-year plan, and that has to be the right thing to do. I know Spurs fans have heard it all before but the right way forward is to nurture and bring young players through, not just buy players.

"In the 10 years I was at Spurs we spent more money than Manchester United.

"With figures like that you have to look at the managers of the clubs and how well they have spent the money.

"Arsenal spent millions on players in that 10-year period but sold a load and ended up with £5m in the kitty.

"It begs the question, was the money spent well during that time? George Graham spent more money at Tottenham than he has ever spent in his life before and spent more than any other manager in the club's history.

"It was the same at Leeds and it's interesting that every single player he purchased was sold or disposed of after he left. It just goes to show that some people might not know what they are doing or have agendas which might be different to a manager who has the club at heart.

"But the way Spurs are going now they are spending their money very well."

Sugar also thinks the club's youth policy is working well under director of football David Pleat. And he believes the focus on young players from Britain and Ireland will stand the club in good stead compared to Arsenal where manager Arsene Wenger tends to look abroad. "If you analyse what Arsene Wenger has done at Arsenal," he explained. "He has plucked the best gems from France and got them at bargainbasement prices and it's worked very well for them.

"But in my view he has a dilemma. The policy is right but the problem they have is keeping them there.

"Spurs have got a much better chance, we have got boys like Ledley King, Anthony Gardner, Simon Davies, Stephen Carr and Gary Doherty who have been given their first opportunity of playing Premiership football and performing at Spurs. That will hopefully inspire loyalty."

But the policy did not work with England centre-half Sol Campbell who quit the club after more than a decade at White Hart Lane to join the Gunners.

He said: "That's true. But as far as Sol is concerned he moved at a time when the club was changing management and we will never know what the real situation was.

"We battled for two years to make him sign again, he didn't want to and he had that in his head for all that time.

"Lots of people said to me he will sign. I always said he would not. He had it planned in his mind to leave, he did and that's the end of it really.

"I am not convinced, and neither is the rest of the world, that he has made a good move. We will wait and see."

Sugar is now back doing what he says he enjoys, turning the latest technology into affordable home gadgets. His new project is the Amstrad e-mailer plus, a phone with e-mail and internet access.

Sugar's rags-to-riches story started in the Sixties when he began his empire with just £100. Within 20 years he had built his company Amstrad into a multi-million pound corporation by specialising in mass market computers and satellite television dishes.

Sugar floated the company in 1980 and within eight years it was valued at £1.2 billion with profits of £160m. He was knighted in 1999 and is now estimated to be worth £500m.

He's still true to his Hackney roots though and recently agreed to give £1.3m to save struggling theatre the Hackney Empire. His donation to the Hackney Empire Appeal, chaired by comedian Griff Ryhs Jones, saw the campaign hit its target.

"I don't have any more work as far as Spurs is concerned," he said. "So Amstrad is the most important part of my business life and the new e-mailer is occupying my thoughts at the moment.

"Technology is where I am an expert, I have spent 37 years in the business. I never professed to be an expert in football. But despite what people said I did learn a thing or two during my 10 years at Spurs."

And if Tottenham win on Sunday he will allow himself a broad smile, even though he's no longer in the hot seat.