Tottenham are searching for their fourth head coach in 295 days after sacking Igor Tudor with icon Glenn Hoddle among those under consideration for what would be a sensational return.
Hoddle, 68, has not managed for nearly 20 years, but Spurs have spent a week exploring options since the punishing defeat by Nottingham Forest deepened relegation fears.
Sean Dyche, sacked by Forest in February, leads the betting but has distanced himself from the job and Roberto De Zerbi, who is not keen to take on another new challenge before the summer, has drawn objections from some sections of supporters for his role in rebuilding Mason Greenwood’s reputation at Marseille.
Chief executive Vinai Venkatesham and sporting director Johan Lange will be wary of options from the same mould as Tudor, who was unfamiliar with the club or English football, although there has been contact with former Monaco boss Adi Hutter.
Under the Croatian, previously in charge of Juventus, Spurs picked up only one point from five Premier League games since replacing Thomas Frank and crashed out of the Champions League.
Hoddle has made clear he is willing to help, as have others who managed the club in the past, including Tim Sherwood and Harry Redknapp.
Others with a Spurs background more recent coaching experience including Chris Hughton and Ryan Mason are out of work and have been linked.
Spurs are also reluctant to commit to a new boss on a long-term deal because they want to select from an open field in the summer, which would include former favourite Mauricio Pochettino, who is committed to the United States until after the World Cup.
Hoddle is recognised as a one the greatest Spurs players of all time and managed them for two and a half years from March 2001.
He has not managed since leaving Wolverhampton Wanderers in the summer of 2006, although he was briefly part of Redknapp’s coaching team at Queens Park Rangers.
Since leaving QPR in 2015, he has spent most of his time in football working on TV as a co-commentator and pundit on TNT Sports and suffered a heart attack in 2018.