Hoddle, Perryman, Armstrong, Jennings, Taylor, Pratt, Neighbour - all Tottenham legends who suffered relegation - no team is too good to go down

But if he believes they already possess too much talent in their ranks to avoid relegation he should perhaps brush up on his history in the same way he has taken to learning English.

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A quick scan through the record books shows that Spurs were relegated 30 years ago with a squad brimming with names who have become White Hart Lane legends.

The Hall of Fame team included Pat Jennings, Glenn Hoddle, Steve Perryman, Ralph Coates, Gerry Armstrong, John Pratt, Willie Young, Peter Taylor, Terry Naylor and many more.

And the manager in charge when they dropped into the old second division after losing 5-0 to Manchester City was Keith Burkinshaw, who later led them to FA Cup and UEFA Cup glory.

To be fair, the damage was done under the wretched command of Terry Neill, who had previously played for Arsenal and then moved down the Seven Sisters Road to take the controls at Highbury.

Spurs finished bottom of the table in the 1976/77 season with just 33 points from 42 games coming from 12 wins and nine draws and the poor Spurs faithful had to endure 21 defeats just a few years after they had dominated Europe by winning the UEFA Cup for the first time.

That, of course, was during the reign of Bill Nicholson - and the UEFA Cup was arguably tougher to win than the European Cup which was only contested by national champions.

Teams who finished second, third and fourth in their domestic leagues and, who were often on their way to becoming champions in their homeland, all slugged it out in the UEFA Cup - a rather different tale than today's sorry state of affairs.

Tottenham's start in the 76/77 campaign saw them lose 3-1 at Ipswich and 2-0 at home to Newcastle before they picked up their first point with a 0-0 draw against Middlesbrough at the Lane.

They then won 3-2 at Manchester United and 1-0 when Leeds visited London but fell to Liverpool and West Brom either side of a draw with Norwich.

An embarrassing 8-2 defeat at Derby was followed by a 1-0 win against Birmingham but they were soon losing again with Coventry returning to the Midlands with maximum points from a 1-0 success.

Despite the slow start the first 11 games saw them yield significantly more points than the 2007/08 Spurs side even though they collected just two points for a win in the old days.

Although Spurs were promoted straight back to the top flight it's not a path fans, directors or management will be keen to follow in the modern era.

SPURS SQUAD 76/77 (followed by appearances and goals)

Gerry Armstrong 21, 3; Ralph Coates 31, 3; Alfie Conn 13; Barry Daines 19; John Duncan 9; John Gorman 15; Glenn Hoddle 39, 4; Pat Jennings 23; Chris Jones 31, 9; Glen Keeley 6; Don McAllister 12, 1; Neil McNab 10; Ian Moores 17, 2; Terry Naylor 40; Jimmy Neighbour 7; Keith Osgood 42, 7; Steve Perryman 42, 1; John Pratt 34, 4; Peter Taylor 32, 8; Willie Young 19, 1.