Soccer: Glenn Hoddle was sacked by Tottenham last night after two-and-a-half years of underachievement at White Hart Lane.

The much anticipated announcement came with the club struggling third from the bottom of the Premiership having picked up only four points from their six games. To compound his woes it was Hoddle's former club Southampton who hammered the final nails in his coffin on Saturday.

That was Tottenham's third successive Premiership defeat. They have won only once in 26 matches since Christmas and have lost five of their past six home matches. Hoddle's failings in man-management prompted a decision that will give little pleasure to the Tottenham chairman, Daniel Levy. He made it his priority to appoint Hoddle and stood by him when colleagues called for a sacking.

The pressure had been mounting after the club's miserable start to the season following a summer when, with little money splashing around in the transfer market, Hoddle appeared quite flushed by spending £12million on the likes of Freddie Kanoute Bobby Zamora and Helder Postiga.

There was much talk that the fans would "get their Tottenham back" when Hoddle replaced George Graham in April 2001, but instead they have got a Tottenham going backwards.

"Following two seasons of disappointing results there was a significant investment in the team during the summer in order to give us the best possible chance of success this season," Levy said. "Unfortunately, the start to this season has been our worst since the Premiership was formed. Coupled with the extremely poor second half to last season, the current lack of progress and any visible sign of improvement are unacceptable.

"It is critical that I, and the board, have absolute confidence in the manager to deliver success to the club. Regrettably we do not. It is not a decision we have taken lightly. However, we are determined to see this club succeed and we must now move forward.

"Glenn occupies a special place at this club. Today's decision in no way detracts from the fact that he was one of our greatest players. He will always be welcome at White Hart Lane. I should like to personally thank him for his determination and commitment and wish him well."

Spurs greatly admire Martin O'Neill, whose contract at Celtic could be bought out for about £1.2million, but whose willingness to trade the Champions League for the challenge of rebuilding Tottenham is uncertain.

Graeme Souness, a former Spurs player, is also well regarded and Charlton's Alan Curbishley and Rangers' Alex McLeish are among others who have supporters in the boardroom. The Tottenham director of football David Pleat has been placed in charge until a successor can be found.