The real Hoddle: he listens, he laughs, and he doesn't just dictate

Loyal lieutenant lifts the lid on his enduring alliance with the Spurs manager, a man he says has been misunderstood

They make an incongruous pair. As someone mischievously described them in their England days, football's Captain Mainwaring and Sergeant Wilson, although somehow you can't see John Gorman asking Glenn Hoddle: "Do you think that's terribly wise, sir..."

But the chemistry clearly exists, even though eight years separate the perenially youthful Hoddle, who was born 45 years ago in Hayes, Middlesex, and who remains a complex blend of light and shade, and the senior partner, Gorman, a son of Winchburgh, near Edinburgh, a man whose fiery-eyed demeanour belies a sensitive soul.

They first met, relatively briefly, as players at White Hart Lane in the late Seventies, the former in the infancy of a career that was to conclude with him being regarded as one of England's most extravagantly talented performers; the latter an attack-minded left full-back who had previously played 229 games for Carlisle United. But from that initial friendship, an affinity blossomed which has endured to this day.

In truth, there is always a suspicion about any long-standing managerial partnership in football. The assumption is that one just needs the other merely to bolster his ego or, if one were to be really unkind, that one regards the other like Harry Corbett did Sooty.

Yet, like Brian Clough and the late Peter Taylor, Hoddle and Gorman do appear genuinely to operate together to their mutual benefit. "People sometimes have the wrong idea about Glenn," says Gorman, assistant manager at Spurs. "He's a good listener and assesses very carefully what you've got to say. If you tell him 'No, Glenn, I fancy that player or another', he takes it in and, though he may disagree at first, does change his mind. His mind's not just one-track, he doesn't just dictate. He's always open to suggestions, even when it comes to changing players' positions. He values your opinions."

He adds: "We know each other inside out. We're always thinking on the same lines. During the match I've got him talking to me through my earpiece [when Hoddle watches from the directors' box]. He'll say 'Tell them to do such and such', and I'll say, 'Don't worry I've just told them that'."

It is Friday afternoon when we talk at Tottenham's Chigwell training ground where Gorman is a busy, bustling character who is ever-watchful of the players around him. "Glenn and I are continually talking together while we're travelling, or we sit in the office going over tactical ideas for hours, throwing ideas against each other, watching teams on video," he say. "We don't have major arguments [he smiles], but we do beg to differ on occasions. But that's natural.

"Contrary to what some people think Glenn's got a wonderful sense of humour. He's actually very funny. People take the mickey out of him and say he's got no sense of humour, that he takes himself too seriously, but he's always ready with a joke. He's also good company. We go out socially together as well; our families get on well."

They have gone their separate ways at times, of course, after Hoddle departed Swindon for Chelsea and again after both left England. "People say, 'Oh, you just go everywhere with Glenn', and that's the strange thing, because I haven't," says Gorman. "I was on my own at Swindon for a season and in that period after I left England I was with Ipswich, West Brom and Reading before I joined up again with Glenn again at Southampton."

Spurs meet one of those clubs, West Bromwich Albion, this afternoon at home, although Gorman is hardly their most famous old boy. Blink and they'd have missed him. "I had been at Ipswich when Dennis Smith asked me if I'd come and give him some help pre-season. I agreed, but then Dennis got sacked and I became caretaker. Brian Little eventually got the job and he said he'd like me to stay. I got on well with Brian. We worked pretty well together. But eventually I went to assist Alan Pardew at Reading before Glenn and I got together again at Southampton."

He adds: "It was a hard decision to leave West Brom. I had a good rapport with the fans. It's no surprise to me how well they've done. Even then they had high ambitions, and so did the fans, particularly those who remembered the glory years there. Last season was a wonderful one for them. Everything went right."

You suggest to Gorman that he must still harbour regrets deep down that he hadn't established himself as a manager. "A few years ago, I would really have liked to be running the show," he says. "If West Brom had offered me the job then I think I'd probably have taken it. You always like to be your own man, don't you? Glenn always understood that, too. But if I'm being really honest I'm probably at my best being assistant manager."

The pair had first set out on their managerial tandem at Swindon in 1991. "When we were here [at Tottenham] as players we just clicked despite the age gap. Then Glenn went to Monaco and we kept in touch. I went out to visit him. He came out to America when I was playing out there. I was actually at Orient when he rang me out of the blue. 'John, I want you to come and work with me as my assistant,' he said. 'I've got my first chance as player-manager'." Gorman didn't hesitate. "I had no doubts that Glenn would succeed. He was so confident of his own ability and had so many positive ideas."

Gorman adds: "It didn't really surprise me that he called. We'd talked so much about the game when he was at Monaco, and we were both so enthusiastic about how it should be played. Take 4-4-2, I don't dislike it exactly because I used to play in that system, but I don't like straight lines. Glenn's the same as me. I like a lot of movement and short passing. I like wing play. I like the ball to be played on the ground."

Swindon won promotion and Hoddle won Ken Bates' approval and was invited to Stamford Bridge. Gorman decided to remain at the County Ground. "I did enjoy my time at Swindon, but it was very hard," he recalls. "I'd like to have it over again, because I'd be better for it. It was the Premier League, and Swindon weren't ready for it really. But at least we played the way I wanted to play football. I could have maybe done what West Brom's doing now, but I didn't have the players to do that. I felt that the only possible way to get success with the players we had was to play attractive football and try to go forward."

He adds: "If you didn't get the result, at least you could keep your head high, because you've had a try. They were my principles and I've never changed them. Even now, Glenn's tactically more defensive-minded than me, surprisingly enough. That's why he'll often allow me to work on the attacking things in training. I like that side of it."

Back together again at the club where they first met and, with Spurs having enjoyed a promising start to the season, this was how things were meant to be. That rare character who is content to be number two is thoroughly enjoying life back in the fast Lane.