Hoddle thinks a lot of Spurs' latest signing

Adrian Curtis13 April 2012

Glenn Hoddle has nearly everything in place for his opening Premiership game as Tottenham manager. In addition to the experienced internationals he's signed - Teddy Sheringham, Gus Poyet and Goran Bunjevcevic - Hoddle has also got the backroom team he wants.

This now includes top sports psychologist John Syer, who has finally started work for Spurs after leaving Southampton.

Tottenham, who play Aston Villa at White Hart Lane on Saturday, have already started to benefit from Syer's arrival as they were beaten just once in their 10 pre-season friendlies.

Hoddle originally wanted the country's leading team-building expert to join the club when he quit Southampton to replace sacked George Graham last season.

The psychologist had worked with Hoddle when he was a player with Spurs in the Eighties and Syer was credited with being one of the factors in Southampton's upturn in fortunes.

However, because of the animosity surrounding Hoddle's departure from The Dell, he was unable to take the mind-games guru with him.

Hoddle had intimated last season that he might have to bring in a different member of the Sporting Bodymind team to work with the players.

But the Spurs manager insisted today that Syer had been set on linking up with him once more as soon as the season was over.

Hoddle told Standard Sport: "There was never any doubt that I wanted him. I wanted to take him when I first came to Tottenham. He has not been under contract at Southampton and was always going to join us this summer."

Syer - who played hockey for Scottish Command, volleyball for Great Britain and was national coach and director of the Scottish Volleyball Association for a decade - has extensive experience having worked with Chris Boardman and the British Cycling Federation for the last 10 years and American Football team the Cleveland Browns.

Syer formed his company in 1979 and pioneered sports psychology in mental training during the Eighties. He also worked with Watford and Queens Park Rangers. He and partner Chris Connelly have now worked with national sporting teams in Britain, Europe and the USA.

Although it would be easy to make disparaging judgements about Hoddle's appointment - he has in the past been happy to use faith-healer Eileen Drewery - he is one of a number of managers who believe in the power of positive thought.

Middlesbrough and England coach Steve McClaren, for example, is a big fan of sports psychologist Bill Beswick and he has joined the Riverside backroom staff as assistant manager.

Syer's work with Spurs between 1980 and 1985 clearly had an effect on Hoddle.

And Southampton club captain Jason Dodd believes Tottenham's players can gain from his input.

The Saints defender said: "The biggest change for us under Glenn Hoddle were the meetings John Syer chaired.

"He would get the back four together, then the midfield and then the strikers and encourage us all to talk about issues we are not happy about on the pitch.

"These are intended to clear the air and make sure we all understand what our jobs are. It means we can get anything off our chests.

"If I am unhappy about Dean Richards not covering me in certain areas of the pitch, I can tell him what I expect from him and vice versa. He also looks after the foreign players at the club and makes sure they are all happy with things.

"Glenn also likes the players to ask him things in team meetings even if it means going over tactics again and again.

"He wants everyone to understand what is expected of them and would rather see you put your hand up over and over again rather than go on the pitch unsure of what it is he has asked you to do.

"All this communication has been vital for us." For the moment, Hoddle has injury problems on his mind with a number of key players doubtful for Saturday's game.

Spurs still have concerns about the fitness of Teddy Sheringham and Tim Sherwood, but Steve Carr's damaged knee has already ruled him out.

Hoddle remains uncertain whether Sheringham's Achilles will respond to treatment in time.

He said: "Teddy's injury really needs good manmanagement to make sure it doesn't become a longterm thing. There is a possibility Teddy could be out, but we will have to wait and see."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in