It was a match that Tottenham, and Hoddle in particular, desperately needed to win. But Southampton were in no mood to let it happen, with two goals from James Beattie and one from Kevin Phillips sealing an impressive victory.
Saints fans are not too fond of Hoddle after he ditched the club to move to Spurs.
The result takes Southampton up to fourth in the Premiership and cements their best start to a season for 20 years.
They went ahead as early as the second minute, when Matt Oakley swung over a corner from the left and Beattie thundered home a header from eight yards.
The goal left Tottenham stunned, but the fans stayed with them as they battled to gain a footing in the match.
Spurs almost replied instantly when Freddie Kanoute headed against the bar, but as the first half wore on the home side grew more restless.
Hoddle came down from his seat in the stand to try and address his team's problems after 31 minutes, and he was almost rewarded when Steve Carr raced down the right wing, cut inside and unleashed a lot shot that fizzed only narrowly wide.
Southampton, though, continued to show some neat touches and they fired a warning shot when Stephane Dalmat lost the ball in midfield and Kevin Phillips hit an instant 20-yarder that fell only inches wide.
Tottenham obviously didn't heed the warning because on 42 minutes they conceded a free-kick 25 yards out and Beattie stepped up to smash it into the top right-hand corner of the net.
Not surprisingly, Spurs were booed off by their own fans at half time and things were to get even worse.
Southampton came out firing on all cylinders after the break and immediately took charge.
Michael Svensson missed a chance to make it 3-0 before Beattie smashed another free-kick from 35 yards, but this time saw it saved.
Graeme Le Saux, who was outstanding all afternoon, also had a shot saved and the third goal eventually came after 59 minutes.
It was a superbly worked one, too, that started with Chris Marsden and ended with Le Saux sending over a perfect, low, left-wing cross that Phillips turned home instinctively.
It was only at 3-0 down that Tottenham finally made a real effort to get back in the game.
Kanoute reduced the arrears when he turned home a cross from fit-again Robbie Keane, who had been brought on at half time along with Darren Anderton.
Another substitute, Helder Postiga, also forced a save out of Paul Jones, but really Southampton should have made it 4-0 when Phillips broke the offside trap but shot against the bar.
In the end it was a superb victory for the Saints and a miserable, miserable afternoon for Spurs and Hoddle in particular.
Tottenham: Keller, Bunjevcevic, Gardner, Richards, Carr, Dalmat, Redknapp, Ricketts, Taricco, Kanoute, Zamora. Subs: Burch, Anderton, Konchesky, Keane, Doherty.
Southampton: Jones, Dodd, Lundekvam, Michael Svensson, Le Saux, Fernandes, Oakley, Marsden, Telfer, Phillips, Beattie. Subs: Niemi, Anders Svensson, Higginbotham, Prutton, Ormerod.
Referee: A D'Urso (Essex)