Tottenham are rapidly achieving the latest 'club in crisis' tag after a thrashing by relegation-fighting West Ham and yet more players revealing their discontent this week.

Glenn Hoddle is refusing to be swayed by the bad vibes coming from the club and, following the 2-0 defeat to the Hammers on Saturday, insisted that his ambition was still to qualify for Europe via the Premiership.

However, when faced with the supposed ill-feeling at the club, with Ben Thatcher and Steffen Freund being quoted in the national press questioning the players' relationship with the manager over contract talks, and club captain Teddy Sheringham still not being offered a new contract, the Lilywhites will have to pull together and buck up their ideas to finish in the top six.

Hoddle's tactical acumen was certainly called into serious question once again at the weekend, with the makeshift forward line of Teddy Sheringham and Gary Doherty not causing the frequently questionable West Ham defence any problems whatsoever.

In contrast, the recently transferred Les Ferdinand and England starlet Jermaine Defoe terrorised the Spurs back-line and it was no surprise when Ferdinand drove in the first goal.

It was Ferdinand who was also responsible for the second goal, using his strength to knock the ball from Kasey Keller's grasp and into the path of Michael Carrick, who made no mistake in extending the East Londoners' lead.

The sale of Sergei Rebrov and Ferdinand in January left many Tottenham fans questioning the club's ambition for a place in Europe but following the game, Hoddle refused to take the blame for selling Ferdinand.

He said: "Les was smashing for Tottenham, but he made it very clear to me that he wanted to leave."

Spurs will now have to win at least two-thirds of their remaining nine games to be in with a good chance of finishing in the top six, and Hoddle added: "We must not play like that in the remaining games and if we do perform like that again, we will not achieve our ambition.

"West Ham deserved their victory but we have to bounce back against Liverpool."

Spurs face Liverpool at White Hart Lane on Sunday, March 16.