Tim Sherwood has been offered the Tottenham job until the end of the season, but warned to scale back his demands by Chairman Daniel Levy.
The pair were involved in a game of brinkmanship during meetings at Tottenham's Enfield training ground yesterday, as Levy attempted to end some of the uncertainty around the club, but also leave the door open to approach Holland manager Louis van Gaal after the World Cup.
Sherwood shocked Levy and Spurs officials by asking for an 18-month 'manager's contract'. He earns around pounds 500,000-a-year as technical coordinator and Levy is reluctant to give the 44-year-old much of a pay rise to become head coach until the summer.
Sherwood has been acting as interim head coach and insisted he wanted long-term assurances after guiding Tottenham to a 3-2 victory over Southampton on Sunday.
But Levy, having met Van Gaal and been told he would be interested in the post after the World Cup, wants to keep his options open past the end of the season.
Sherwood has been told he is being offered the chance of a lifetime to cut his managerial teeth at a club the size of Tottenham. Spurs believe all the risk involved in giving him a chance until the end of the current campaign is on the club's side and that is commitment enough.
Franco Baldini, the director of football, was not involved in yesterday's talks but the Italian recommended to Levy that Sherwood should be confirmed as head coach until the end of the season, at which point the club can reassess their options.
While appreciating Sherwood's honesty and ambition, Tottenham officials were surprised by the bold nature of his public demands in the immediate aftermath of the Southampton victory.
Sherwood's understandable fear is that Van Gaal, or another high-profile candidate, could be brought in after the World Cup, regardless of how well the caretaker manager does.
The former midfielder also wants to start making decisions that he feels will benefit Tottenham in the long term and that is made almost impossible if he accepts a temporary role.
If the club did move for 62-year-old Van Gaal after the World Cup, Sherwood could be offered the chance to stay on as his assistant with a view to taking the top job on a permanent basis. But Sherwood has claimed he is not interested in being a No?2.
Glenn Hoddle has made it clear he would be prepared to return to Tottenham and take the reins until the end of the season.
Sherwood is due to take charge of the team again for the Boxing Day clash against West Bromwich Albion and left back Danny Rose has revealed it is not just Levy who Sherwood has challenged.
According to Rose, Sherwood laid into his players during his first training session as interim head coach and has already written a new set of rules that must be observed while he is in charge.
"People may think that Tim is not a big name or doesn't have a big CV, but you know he will take no nonsense from anybody," said Rose.
"His first training session, a couple of lads rolled out on to the training pitch late and he got us in a circle and said it was unacceptable.
"Fortunately, it wasn't me who was late. Tim set out some new rules and you know not to mess with him, and that's good."
Asked what Sherwood's rules covered, Rose replied: "Punctuality, when we go down to eat, team meetings. Stuff on the training pitch as well. When he speaks, you've got to listen. It's great."
Rose had problems with his own discipline early in his Tottenham career and the 23-year-old is grateful to Sherwood for helping him realise he needed to work harder.
"About four years ago I sat down with him and Harry Redknapp, and they told me I needed to train a lot harder to have a chance in the team," said Rose.
"I didn't get that many chances under Harry. But from when I did change my attitude on the training pitch, I won Tim over and from then he has always been pushing me to try to get into the team - along with others like Jake Livermore, Nabil Bentaleb and Andros Townsend.
"Tim has been backing me and a lot of the other youngsters for a good three or four years."
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