Spurs switch their sights to Tigana
By Mihir Bose (Filed: 17/05/2004)

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy, still seeking a permanent manager for the north London club, has met up with Jean Tigana, the former coach of Fulham.

Jean Tigana

Jean Tigana Stories

The choice of Tigana would not go down well with Tottenham fans. They will recall that although his Fulham reign started well, taking them into Europe for the first time through the InterToto Cup, he left under something of a cloud. There were problems over both transfer policy and results on the field.

He left the club in such a troubled state that Fulham were considered prime relegation candidates this season until his successor, Chris Coleman, proved the sceptics wrong.

But the fact that Levy has now turned to Tigana shows how desperate his search has become. When he sacked Glenn Hoddle just six games into the season, Levy said he knew the manager he wanted to replace him. Various names were bandied about, principally Italy's Giovanni Trapattoni, but nine months later Levy has failed to produce his man.

In the three years Levy has been chairman, Tottenham have sacked two managers. Insiders say they want to get this third appointment right but an announcement may not come until next month. The overtures to Tigana suggest that Levy's options are quickly running out.