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Pleat: I'm for Spurs Olympic Stadium bid

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David Pleat has backed Spurs in their bid to move to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford.

The former Tottenham boss commended the club for their "brave move" to challenge West Ham in the bidding process.

He believes the supporters are open to it, despite sporadic protests against the plans.

"If you did a straw poll of supporters you would be surprised. Most would not worry about going an extra five miles when they come from 20 to 30 miles away," he said.

Pleat believes that Tottenham's plan to tear down the stadium should not stand in the way of their bid, despite the UK's assurances to the IOC over the athletics legacy the games would have.

Most fans would not worry about five extra miles

"In international sport no-one keeps their promises so I don't know who would worry about that. I'm sure in a perfect world if they regenerated the area here and turned the stadium around then Tottenham would want to stay put," he said.

Speaking at Meir Panim's panel discussion, Football - Just the Job for a Nice Jewish Boy event at White Hart Lane, Pleat defended West Ham's embattled coach Avram Grant, and criticised Martin O'Neill.

"A lot of people in this country don't understand that he did very well in Israel with the national team. If he comes through this I will admire him immensely.

"It is a very difficult wicket he is on. I'm delighted that Martin O'Neill did not accept the offer. He had the opportunity but he was not brave enough to take it."

Avram Grant failed to guide West Ham to the Carling Cup final after a 3-1 defeat at Birmingham on Wednesday. The Hammers lost 4-3 on aggregate.

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