Soccer: In the running: five possible successors: MARTIN O'NEILL (Celtic) Believed to be Spurs' most wanted, but would he want them? Now used to being involved in title tussles - albeit in Scotland - and Champions League showdowns. There is no realistic prospect of either at Tottenham.
ALEX McLEISH (Rangers)
Like O'Neill, McLeish is kept busy at Ibrox by thoughts of championships, cups and top-level European football. A long-term candidate to succeed his former Aberdeen mentor Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford.
GRAEME SOUNESS (Blackburn)
Forging an excellent reputation with Blackburn, a club he transformed since their relegation in 1999. They have qualified for the UEFA Cup in each of the last two seasons and he would surely want to see it through at Ewood Park.
RADDY ANTIC (Unattached)
The Serbo-Montenegrin played under Pleat at Luton in the 1980s and has forged a decent reputation in Spain, where he rescued Barcelona's campaign last season. Has already expressed an interest in the vacancy.
JOE KINNEAR (Unattached)
A former Spurs player and currently out of work after his bizarre sacking by Luton this summer. Did a superb job at Wimbledon before heart problems forced him out, but would he be a big enough name to satisfy Spurs fans?
Matt Scott
Glenn Hoddle admitted last night that he is "shocked and disappointed" to have been sacked as the manager of Tottenham.
Hoddle was dismissed after Saturday's match against Southampton - a 3-1 home defeat that saw Spurs sink into the Premiership's bottom three.
Having left Swindon, Chelsea and Southampton of his own accord and been sacked by the Football Association as England manager after his unwelcome comments about the disabled, Hoddle has been sacked for the first time for a poor run of results.
"I am shocked and disappointed to have parted company with Tottenham over the weekend, only six matches into the new season," Hoddle said.
"I have been a dedicated professional and also a lifelong Spurs fan, and no one could have tried harder to turn things round for the club. I have built a great squad that, when fully fit, can go on to do very well this season. I feel sure this turning point will happen very soon."
Though the director of football, David Pleat, has taken charge, he is not inclined to manage the club on a long-term basis and the Spurs board is seeking a successor for Hoddle.
"We will all focus our minds on the immediate future," Pleat said ahead of his first game in charge, in the Carling Cup against Coventry City tomorrow.
"We've got to be positive and get back on the winning trail, which breeds confidence. Decisions have been made and the club has got to go on. We've got to try to stabilise things as players will have all sorts of thoughts going through their heads. There is no future in the past - that is sad, but true."
Daniel Levy, Tottenham's chairman, does not return from his honeymoon until next week but has been in regular contact with his fellow directors.
Already, though, several candidates have ruled themselves out of the running.
The Blackburn manager Graeme Souness, who was believed to be interested in a return to London and is a former Spurs player, is understood to have his admirers on the Tottenham board.
However, the Scot declared: "I couldn't be happier than I am at the moment. There are few jobs anywhere as good as this."
Another possible contender is Rangers' Alex McLeish, though his club claim that their manager has already agreed terms on a contract extension at Ibrox, dismissing the link with Tottenham as "nonsense".
"Alex shook hands with the honorary chairman David Murray on his contract a few weeks ago," said a Rangers statement. "Everything will be finalised shortly."
Tottenham are understood to be impressed with Martin O'Neill's credentials but would target the Celtic manager only if they felt he would aspire to join them. The Spurs board is not confident of this.
Raddy Antic, who stepped into the breach at Barcelona after the dismissal of Louis van Gaal last season, has already hinted at a willingness to apply for the post and he has the support of Pleat.
"Of course I would be interested," Antic said, "but I'm in Madrid and they would have to come to me. To work in England would be attractive."
Pleat and Antic have been close since the Serbo-Montenegrin's spell as a player at Luton in the 1980s and Pleat is sure to sound out Antic about the job. Antic would have a harder task in persuading Levy that he is the man to take the club back into Europe.
The Charlton manager Alan Curbishley's ability to work on a tight budget makes him an admired manager and Spurs may be ready to offer him a route to one of England's traditional "Big Five" clubs.
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