London – Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Glenn Hoddle would be interested in returning to the club to succeed the sacked Andre Villas-Boas, a source close to him revealed on Tuesday.
Technical coordinator Tim Sherwood, a former Spurs midfielder, has been placed in interim charge of first-team affairs following Villas-Boas's dismissal as manager on Monday.
Hoddle, 56, has not worked as a manager since leaving Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2006, but he appears eager to return to Spurs, where he made his name as a player before becoming coach in 2001.
A story published on a website co-founded by Hoddle on Tuesday said: “Zapsportz.com understands that Hoddle will certainly help if the club makes an approach.”
Hoddle has received backing from his former Spurs team-mate Ossie Ardiles, who also managed the club between 1993 and 1994.
“For me, the man for the job is Glenn Hoddle,” Ardiles told British radio station talkSPORT.
“I think he is a wonderful manager and he is a lot more mature, so I think he will be a wonderful choice. He knows everything about the Premier League and Spurs especially.”
Villas-Boas's dismissal prompted Manchester United manager David Moyes to express relief that he has worked for three clubs that have prioritised patience over quick-fix solutions.
Villas-Boas was the fifth Premier League manager to be sacked this season, but Moyes's position at United appears secure despite a difficult start to his career at Old Trafford.
The 50-year-old Scot was also given time to find his feet at previous clubs Preston North End and Everton, where he spent four and 11 years respectively, and he says he will always be thankful for that.
“It makes me realise how lucky I have been at the clubs I have been at,” said Moyes, ahead of his side's trip to Stoke City in the League Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday.
“I worked for great people at Preston, great people at Everton, and my short experience at Manchester United tells me I am working for really good people here.
“Maybe some of the other managers haven't been as fortunate as I have.”
West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce, whose side visit White Hart Lane in the League Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday, said that Villas-Boas had been given precious little time to assimilate the seven new players signed by Spurs during the close season.
“To get the team playing together as a team and understanding each other in such a short period of time is nearly impossible,” he said.
“You would have to be a miracle worker to get everyone functioning to the best of their ability when they have just arrived from a foreign country into a different culture that they have never played in before.”
Thrashed 5-0 by Liverpool in the Premier League last weekend, Spurs return to league action at Southampton on Sunday.
They will be without captain Michael Dawson and midfielder Paulinho, both of whom are suspended, against West Ham, while holding player Sandro is expected to be out for around a week with a calf problem. – Sapa-AFP