The footballing press has lost the run of itself over the last week and the hunt for a new head coach for Tottenham has begun to make fans on blogs, message boards, and social media platforms closely resemble that scene out of Monty Python’s Life of Brian with the search for a Messiah, which famously includes John Cleese yelping, “I should know, I followed a few!”
A source close to the club calmly tells me that the activity external to the club doesn’t reflect the wildly animated postulations outside it. I’m given to understand that whilst there were numerous names loosely jotted down, a wish list has never existed. Naglesmann never met with anyone from Spurs and indeed the cost of securing him – if he were available could be prohibitive. Erik ten Hag was also a consideration, but he also never met with anyone from Spurs – which was particularly amusing as one very large social media account ran with the suggestion the parties did meet, but Tottenham’s board was concerned with the Dutchman’s spoken English! Which of course is quite excellent. They never met – so the hokum is academic anyway.
Brendan Rodgers would not only be dearer than anyone yet named to land – but also require him to do a 180-degree turn on his recent quotes, where he didn’t sound vaguely like an interested party.
This of course didn’t stop Football Insider believing that Levy would go all-in for the Foxes boss regardless.
There have also been claims that a new gaffer will be landed in a matter of weeks. My source tells me that this of course might happen, but it is more likely that young Ryan will be involved for a good while yet.
Levy didn’t fore Mourinho on a whim exactly, but it wasn’t his usual modus operandi and so on this occasion, talks with a replacement had not already been on the boil for a few weeks. Therefore, this is the beginning of the process, and the board’s toughest one yet.
When your job description effectively says you’re looking for someone more suitable than Mauricio Pochettino or José Mourinho, that’s a specialist role you’re advertising. A job description that will ask more questions than it answers.
In the current circumstances with the pandemic, I would say a conference call does count as a meeting.
Well, that’s quite a bit to be going on with for the time being! All so bloody correct, isn’t it? Baldy is clueless and he gets six million a year for being so! It’s a real sickener on all counts.
If Mourinho’s star hadn’t been going down, he wouldn’t have touched it with a bargepole, either! Only an upcoming manager seeking an up grade is likely to take the job (and if they do their homework sufficiently they should avoid it!) or one on the way down (what was it they used to say about Crossroads being a retirement home for actors? Are we perhaps the footballing equivalent for managers?)
Well said! I wonder who will be brave enough to accept the poisoned chalice this time? Will we see the ENIC quick patch/Band-Aid to drag the dregs to Europe or will we see a youngish manager given real financial support in the market and enable him to build a vibrant young side? Any guesses? : )
Benitez is somewhat similar to Mourinho, very pragmatic and I suspect very risk averse. I would like to see the appointment of somebody who played the sort of football that Man City play. Hang on a minute , we used to play that style under some fellow called Poch, didn’t we?
[…] MORE: A few home truths about Tottenham’s manager hunt […]
Spot on Marbella. Some deluded Spurs fans still seem to think this club is a desirable destination for top coaches when the truth is that anyone worth having wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole all the time Levy is around. Would you want to be told which players to buy by your accountant and then be held responsible for his decisions? Me neither.
Well if you’ll forgive an observation, but some authors on this very site are as guilty as the next when it comes to bandying around managerial appointment clickbait!
I do like to think Levy has the sense to avoid someone that will be deeply unpopular (ie Southgate, Martinez etc) but I think he’d find it hard to turn down Rafa if he becomes interested.
Demonstrations won’t make a jot of difference. Yeah, ENIC would like to see the stadium full and have the season ticket money in the bank but, in comparison to the TV money, it’s peanuts and doesn’t give us any real leverage. Our only hope is that some lunatic with £2bn+ presents himself at the door or uncle Joe turns up his toes and his estate decide to divest themselves of the club (leaving us the debt of course). The other alternative is we get relegated. Sorry but apart from those options nothing will make the slightest difference. Whistle and pee in the wind if you prefer.
Spurs are seen as a toxic club from objective commentators, run by a tone deaf megalomaniac who seems to be under the mistaken impression that he knows more about football than the managers he employs, then inevitably sacks them. Some fans would say that Chelsea do the same but the difference is they generally appoint a better class of manager and that they back him in the transfer market.
I won’t dwell on the fourteen managers in twenty two years or the pathetic triumph of one piece of silverware but it is indisputable that Levy never backs the manager. From AVB who at least came out and told the truth about him, to Martin Jol who found out that he had been sacked at half time, to the purchase of Darren Bent without Jol’s approval or even knowledge,. To Harry Redknapp’s tenure when he was given Saha and Nelsen, to not backing Poch after being warned “to be brave” and then employing a once very successful manager but not backing him either by signing Gareth Bale, a vanity project by Levy but a signing that Mourinho didn’t want.
He also sacked Paul Mitchell for doing his job properly, incidentally Monaco are in third place, having been a shambles prior to his arrival.
What self respecting manager wants to work for Levy and when I hear all that drivel about the world class facilities, I generally laugh or yawn.
I can only hope that many Spurs fans demonstrate against Enic and Levy tonight, because unless there are serious protest against this toxic regime, nothing will change.
Levy tries to spin managerial change as heralding a new and different phase. It isn’t. It is just a different version of the same phase. As East Stand puts it 14 managers in 22 years. You have to ask who choses who choses and there is only one answer. No doubt one or two of that illustrious 14 have been duds-but all of them? Come on. Only so far the spin will stretch and it’s just about at breaking point imo.
Graham Potter win 2 nil yesterday so he should get the job
I’ve only been a fan for half that time, but just off the top of my head:
– reinforcing our title charge under Redknapp with Saha and Nelsen
– allowing Adebayor to con us into an expensive permanent contract
– replacing Bale with the “magnificent seven” as suggested by Baldini, I think
– refusing to back Poch when it was apparent a rebuild was needed
– signing absolutely no one for a year
– never getting any solid backup for Kane, which may or may not be responsible for his injuries and may or may not end up shortening his career
– hiring “Mitch” and sending him on his way when he actually suggested signing decent players for affordable prices
– never addressing the glaring flaws of the squad and managing the succession of players like Modric, Bale, Dembele, Toby and Jan
– allowing the squad to fester because we wish to sell sh*t players at a premium
– pouring over 300M of the club’s money into a NWO arena instead of taking the final step and signing players to make us regular title contenders
– accummulating outstanding debt in building a stadium, where you can see Sissoko-Winks feature in CM and Dier-Sanchez at CB
– firing Poch and hiring Jose only to fire him as well, a week before the one game we would want him in charge for
There’s a lot more, but I still have things to do today.
Have we seen anything over the last 22 years that brings us to a different conclusion to the one held by Redknapp junior?
Oh yeah, all spin, smoke and mirrors to distract from the actual chaos created by spreadsheets dictating the football side.
levy likes to make the whole thing look like some kind of oiled machine, even when he sacks managers. Levy’s trouble it that he takes everyone for a fool, he’s completely out of touch with reality.
Little to add, apart from the immortal words of one Jamie Redknapp:
“They are f***ing clowns there“
Who in their right mind would take it?
The main problem the owners now have is convincing anyone decent that managing Spurs is going to be good for their career.
Just think about looking at the club from the outside, not as a fan but as a complete outsider;
So they’ve had 14 managers in 22 years.
They sacked the guy that got them into the Champions League every season and months after taking them to their first ever Champions League final. Then one of the most decorated managers in history only lasts 18 months!?
On the outside you must be thinking “what the f*ck is going on there? They’ve just got this amazing stadium and the team are going backwards and they haven’t backed their last two managers! No thanks, I’d rather enhance my reputation elsewhere than risk it under Levy…”
Levy has turned the Spurs job into poisoned chalice, a thankless task where you do as you’re told and your expertise is constantly disrespected by a meddling boardroom…
Levy obviously had Mourinho lined up before he sacked Poch.With the club on the cusp of a final Mourinho was abruptly dispensed with and no replacement is remotely in the frame.You couldn’t make this up.
I read somewhere yesterday that Spurs are in no hurry to appoint a manager until the season finishes.This sounds like classic Levy PR because every possible candidate is giving the job a wide berth.Classic Levy amateur hour.
I was under the impression that Ten Hag had a Zoom conference call with Spurs unless that doesn’t count as a meeting. As I have mentioned before, Levy sacked Mourinho at the optimum moment to pay him the least compensation. You would have thought that a managerial shortlist would have been drawn up if you were a properly run club. The good news for Perry Mason is that Harry Redknapp is also off the list as he has just accepted a part in Eastenders and has started a full on bromance with Danny Dier, perhaps leading to a sequel of Football Factory.
In the unforgettable words of Harry’s son, “They’re all a bunch of fu**ing clowns down there”, and whilst I find him a major irritant and general gobsh**e, in this particular instance, I completely agree with him.
He’ll be at Munich in 2 years 😨
God help us then again Ryan might turn into the next Nagelmanns didn’t he start about 29 at Hoffenheim ???
Levys looking for someone who will play along. No rebels, no ambitious characters, just someone who will tow the party line and fit quietly into the “different” way ENIC fc do things. ie, ignore the football.
Somebody just happy to be there. Scott Parker should avoid the job like the plague if he wants to be a serious manager. Ryan Mason maybe a permanent fixture. I think he’s perfect for ENIC fc…..poor sod.
If this is meant to reassure anybody then it isn’t doing a very good job. It suggests that once again there has been no thought, no cohesion and no clue. You would like to think that with the appointment of Mourinho and his track record that the club would have a list of potential replacements that they would have sounded out and then efficiently approached over the weeks leading up to Mourinho being sacked. That is recruitment 101. Basically it is another example of how amateur Spurs can be. Pathetic really.