Shadows over Hoddle lead to summer summit

Spurs board summon fans' old idol as questions over his strategy and his style continue. Jason Burt investigates

It will be a long, hot summer at Tottenham Hotspur. "Things are going to build up a little bit," is how one source puts it. "Things" such as the position of the manager, Glenn Hoddle, and just where he, and the becalmed club, go from here – and if they are to go there together.

A day of reckoning, in every sense of the word, is already scheduled. Hoddle will meet with the club's board of direct-ors after the end of the season. Nothing unusual in that, except the agenda may not be to his liking. Hoddle will be told of the dissatisfaction covering everything from the on-field performance – witness Friday's abject showing against Manchester City – to his management style, to his transfer dealings.

If he stays, his budget will be less than he expects. Targeting players such as Harry Kewell, whom he is thought to covet, is a waste of time. If Hoddle goes, his payoff will also be less than has been speculated. The Tottenham manager is two years into a five-year deal, worth around £1.5m a year. But if the board decide to let him go they will not have to pay up in full. Hoddle, as with most contracts in recent years, will have a termination clause which allows for a fixed fee, paid on a depreciating scale.

The very act of having to appear before the board is not something he enjoys. The relationship between manager and directors has deteriorated, as has been documented, especially after the FA Cup débâcle at Southampton, which, together with the defeat at Burnley in the Worthington Cup, has hit revenues hard. Spurs made £5m on the cups last season and are well adrift of that total.

There have been complaints that Hoddle has become remote and does not readily communicate with his bosses, as if he feels he does not have to keep them informed. Such concerns have even reached the City.

And now a new issue has emerged. Hoddle has made much, justifiably, of the club's injury list. Yet mutterings have been heard over the decision to send no fewer than 11 players to see an Argentinian doctor, Dario Rubens Oliva, based in Milan. It has been a costly exercise and, despite testimonies from players such as Mauricio Taricco, one that is regarded as having had dubious benefit.

The first question Hoddle will face is one of strategy. Two years ago, his proposal was to achieve European football within two years. To do so, he said he needed to bring in experienced players: Teddy Sheringham, Gustavo Poyet, Christian Ziege and, more recently, Jamie Redknapp. The fees were minimal, the wages considerable, and the latter pushed up the overall bill at a time when football was economising. It was a short-term, costly fix and, despite last season's Worthington Cup near-miss, it does not look like being successful.

The second question is over his transfer dealings. Signings such as Milenko Acimovic, Goran Buncevjevic and Kazuyuki Toda have not worked. Toda, a Japanese international who appeared as a substitute on Friday, is unlikely to feature regularly in the first team, with doubts over his stamina and technique.

At the same time, it is felt, Hoddle has failed to raise cash when asked to do so. Only Ian Walker, Luke Young and, to a lesser extent, Stephen Clemence have brought in money. The board are unhappy at Hoddle's handling of Sergei Rebrov, the £11m record signing, admittedly from the George Graham era, but who was regarded as "Hoddle's kind of player". It is felt that Rebrov was never given a chance and, in not playing him before his loan move to Turkey, his value fell to such an extent that his fee may have to be written off.

The Rebrov affair leads on to Hoddle's management style – something that has been publicly aired, with complaints from several players. Even those inside the club were upset at the way he handled the popular Steffen Freund, whose contract is not being renewed, and Sheringham, the club captain, who is also definitely not staying but has still, even at this stage, not been officially told so. There is also no possibility, apparently, of Sheringham succeeding Hoddle, as has been mooted.

Then there is a perceived mistrust of youth. The Belgian player Jonathan Blondel has complained at the lack of first-team opportunities, while it has been remarked upon at the club that several young squad members who have gone out on loan have prospered until their return.

It has led to an atmosphere, almost a paralysis, breeding fear that young talents such as Stephen Carr, out of contract next year, and Simon Davies, in demand and possibly unsettled, will go, as may Matthew Etherington, another popular player. Everyone at White Hart Lane is haunted by the way they lost their biggest asset, Sol Campbell, to Arsenal on a Bosman ruling. Any further haemorrhaging would be difficult to manage.

It all amounts to a possible breakdown of trust: over players, over transfers, over style, over strategy – even over tactics. Hoddle may well be given another year, and may well use the summer to initiate a clear-out. In his defence he will claim, with justification, that he has been somewhat constrained.

But it was never meant to be like this, and it is hard to believe that Hoddle's stock has fallen so sharply at the club where, as a player, he did more than any other to try to bring back those glory, glory days.