Alex on track

Having been thrust into the limelight spectacularly two years ago by taking Exeter to a a famous FA Cup performance against Manchester United, Alex Inglethorpe is now working at White Hart Lane to ensure that young talent is given the best chance of success with Spurs.

That variety in coaching is something that fires Inglethorpe's imagination, and is also a facet of the Pro Licence course that he believes makes it wholly worthwhile.

Inglethorpe told TheFA.com: "We've got people who have worked in Academies, reserve team football, first team, and all four divisions are represented as well.

"You have people with international experience and then also lower league experience and everyone contributes to the discussions.

"The varied opinions are great and everyone has something different to bring to the table.

"Sometimes these courses can be affirmation that what you are doing is right, and it's nice when people you respect are doing similar things to yourself.

"Sometimes it corrects your thinking, it gives you food for thought, and occasionally you are able to contribute something that perhaps other people haven't thought of. It covers most bases."

Still only 35, Inglethorpe has made rapid progress in recent years and with the Pro Licence on his CV is hoping to make an impact on the youngsters at Tottenham Hotspur.

"I'm working at the Academy now at Spurs, and I'm fortunate in that I have a lot of good people working alongside me," Inglethorpe admitted.

"The planning we do for next season is based around the opinions on the medical side, the fitness coaches, and then the football side of things from us the coaches.

"So there's a lot of people putting the plan together that we believe will give us the best opportunity of having everyone fit at the end of pre-season, and more importantly that everyone is tactically sound on what we are going to do. The way we prepareis probably a bit different to say Mick McCarthy, who is also on this course."

Inglethorpe also believes that coaching is a dynamic process, but that keeping ahead of that movement is the key to remaining successful.

"I think we're evolving all the time," Inglethorpe said. "With the influx of players from abroad into the Premier League, we're learning a lot from the world class players from other countries who are now playing in England, we're also learning from foreign coaches and managers.

"But I don't think we need to come too far away from what England has to offer, I think it is a fantastic footballing nation and we can give an awful lot back.

"In terms of our tenacity and our natural qualities, it's just a case of adding to what we already have and we would have a formula that would be very difficult to beat."