George Graham will be pleasantly surprised if Tottenham's new owners throw him a bundle of cash to bring in the players he feels are badly needed at White Hart Lane.

But the Spurs manager, who some believe is on borrowed time now that Sir Alan Sugar is about to quit as chairman after the £22m-plus takeover by the ENIC group, is committed to rebuilding his squad into a top Premiership force - with patience and fortitude if necessary.

Daniel Levy, the managing director of ENIC - who have not been renowned for releasing large amounts of money to buy players at the five other European clubs in which they have financial holdings - has already stated he will not interfere in the ''football'' side of Spurs.

Graham will seek to gauge the ''ambitions and desires'' of the new owners but points out: ''If you look at my record you will see I've never been a great spender in the transfer market at any of my clubs.

''All of them, including Arsenal, were in the red when I went there in any case.

''Big foreign signings are great for the fans and you always want to sprinkle your side with them, but I've always preferred to build teams gradually and in stages.

"I believe that's the way to make sure that success, when it comes, has a good chance of being lasting success.

''It is no secret either that I believe we need five or even six new players here to make us competitive enough to really challenge the top two or three in the Premier League.

''It would need massive investment but I don't expect to be handed £50m just like that.

''I've talked about that figure before because it is probably the least it would cost to buy five top players now but I'm not stupid enough to demand it.

''I don't know what to expect from the new owners, but I'm looking forward to getting together with them to see if they have the commitment and desire for the club that I have.''

Levy has guaranteed Graham's job for at least the rest of the season and the manager still has another year on his contract after that.

But having finally forced Sugar to step down, the dissidents will now want to see Graham go too as he was the unpopular chairman's controversial appointment.

There is already a growing clamour to recruit Glenn Hoddle, even though he has only recently signed a new two-year contract with Southampton.

And there is almost certain to be a bigger cheer from Spurs fans for Terry Venables returning to White Hart Lane today for the first time in seven years as boss of Middlesbrough