Spurs are about to get left at home as Manchester pair and Chelsea kick on

By Leo Spall for the Daily Mail

After making it to the quarter-finals of the Champions League last season, Tottenham should really be pushing ahead.



Instead, as they procrastinate over where a new stadium should be and how much it should cost, they are set to stand still as Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City move on to the next level.

Tough talk over Luka Modric and Gareth Bale is all very well. So is having a good old snigger at the difficulties of their neighbours and hated rivals, Arsenal.



Transfer tussle: Europe's biggest clubs are keen on Tottenham pair Luka Modric (left) and Gareth Bale



But anyone from Tottenham making fun of the major fault lines appearing in the Arsene Wenger project should prepare for it to come back to haunt them.



Sooner rather than later, too, based on the way things are going with the so far illusory new 56,000-seat stadium that is supposed to secure Spurs' future.

If Arsenal are to become the top four's selling club because they are not winning trophies or will not pay the highest wages, what is going to happen to Spurs?



Tottenham, restricted by the 36,000-seat White Hart Lane, are already seen as vulnerable to big-money bids for their best players as they reside on the rung below the genuine title contenders.

The cost of them climbing is prohibitive without a bigger, new home that can accommodate the fans on their waiting list and significantly increase their income.



Manager Harry Redknapp's magic wand cannot be waved every season and the longer Spurs do nothing, the worse things will become.



Yet, it is nearly three years since Tottenham announced they were going to build a new stadium next to White Hart Lane.

It is eight years since they started buying up and taking options on properties surrounding their ground to facilitate the move.



No-one is any wiser about where Spurs will be playing in a decade though.



The Northumberland Park Development Project, as the plan for a new ground near their historical home is called, has been on and off like a strobe light at a nightclub.



The current position is that it has planning permission and could be revived if the government agree to contribute to the £450million cost from its Regional Growth Fund.



Spurs' bid for funding has just been submitted but they will not know if they are one of the lucky few until around October.



Due diligence and negotiations over the amount they might get from the £950m pot could take a further six months and Levy should not hold his breath.



Of the 450 who applied in the last round for cash, 400 missed out, and a long-term strategy for growth and job creation is required of all successful applicants.



Only so much one man can do: Spurs manager Harry Redknapp (right) is facing a huge season

Spurs' own estimation of new employment is 200 temporarily in construction and 300 permanently on the site, complete with N17 hotel.



Even if a grant looks likely, it doesn't mean the project will go ahead. The cheaper option remains the Olympic Stadium and, simultaneously, Spurs are still seeking to overturn the decision to grant West Ham the lease there.



No place like home: But White Hart Lane only holds 36,000 supporters

Chairman Daniel Levy wants them to move there regardless of fans' objections. But what happens if they are denied funding and judicial reviews and a relationship between a director of West Ham and the Olympic Park Legacy Company don't stop the east London club moving in to the Olympic Stadium?



Tottenham will be stuck where they are with all the limitations on their income intact and the best part of a decade will have been wasted.

Small change at Chelsea is a big sign of things to come



In the backroom staff purge at Chelsea that has occurred since the arrival of Andre Villas-Boas, assistant first-team coach Paul Clement has been one of the men to go.



It is possible that the Portuguese saw him working with the academy when he was last employed at Stamford Bridge as an opposition scout and didn't like what he saw, but unlikely.



So who has decided that the coach who won the approval of Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti is not up to the job?



All change: Paul Clement (right) has followed former boss Carlo Ancelotti out the door at Chelsea

It is just a guess, but Michael Emenalo, he with the reputation of a good relationship with Roman Abramovich, is the one key member of the management backroom to remain in his job during the succession.



Steve Holland, who succeeded with Chelsea's reserves last season, has replaced Clement and is also a good coach but his promotion proves that Clement's role was not simply surplus to requirements.



To most this will be seen as a small and inconsequential change, but it is the first sign of interference and the Villas-Boas reign has hardly started.





