The heat's on Pleat

If there were signs of improvement, or more to the point, of a permanent managerial appointment for next season, then murmurings among the crowd might be different.

Pleat refers to "the brief " he was given but no one has yet explained what this is, or was.

One can assume initially it was to avoid relegation after the sacking of Glenn Hoddle just six games into the season. When Pleat was asked to take temporary charge, Spurs were in the bottom three.

Although Spurs are still struggling, the drop looks like being avoided and Pleat deserves credit for this. But given their form it is fair to argue the team may not get anything from their next three matches, against Bolton (away), Arsenal (home) and Aston Villa (away). This leaves them with a potentially massive game against Blackburn to take them

over 40 points and to safety, in the penultimate match of the season.

Not too long ago "the brief " might have also included a potential UEFA Cup place following a half-decent run earlier this year. But this has now evaporated although the players still respect Pleat, especially his knowledge of football, and admit they are as much to blame for the predicament.

What role Pleat has played in the search for a manager is the other key question about his "brief ". As the director of football with whom the mystery man would have to work it would be natural for him to have an input.

But as Standard Sport has reported, it now seems the top choice, Giovanni Trapattoni, will reject the club's offer because

Pleat will retain total control over transfers. Everyone knows there was no love lost between Hoddle and Pleat. When Hoddle departed, he warned that no manager would be able to work with Pleat who, he claimed, undermined everything he tried to do.

It is not unfair to question whether any credible candidate would work under this structure. Spurs insist this is not the case and that Pleat's role has not been an issue with any of the targets, including Trapattoni, that they have spoken to. But that does not mean the system is set in stone and if the right individual was to become available things could be reassessed.

Spurs may have a top-class solution which they have kept under wraps. But speculation they are considering coaches such as the former France boss Roger Lemerre, who has never managed a top club, or Raddy Antic, a Pleat acolyte recently sacked by Celta Vigo, is below a club of their standing.

Plans to appoint Trapattoni in January fell through so Pleat was handed the post until the summer. There is no doubt Pleat would love one more crack at the big time but has so far refused to throw his hat in the ring.

He was hoping results would leave Spurs with little choice but to consider him as a real candidate. This hasn't happened.

Pleat wrongly believes much of what is written about him is done so in the form of personal attacks and yet he seems impervious to or unwilling to acknowledge the fact he has been responsible for team selection and tactics since September. This includes the still hardly believable FA Cup defeat by Manchester City.

He does not appear confident of his own future and ducked a question about this after the defeat at Southampton last month. His tendency to put his foot in the mouth has done little for the club's image. Often flippant and sarcastic with sections of the media, his undoubted football knowledge is overshadowed by his own indefinable 'Pleatyisms' that fall short of being funny or remain so obscure that the listener has no idea what he is talking about.

More defeats before the end of the season will weaken Pleat's standing with the fans further. But the key question is with who else?