Alex McLeish says Nuno Espirito Santo will be unhappy and lonely at Tottenham following reports that some of his players are not enjoying working with him.
The Portuguese boss is still building a relationship with his squad members after joining the club in the summer.
Things aren’t moving as fast and well as he would have liked and it shows in some of their on-field performances.
A source had told Football Insider that some Tottenham players are unhappy with Nuno Santo’s mode of communication at the club.
This is affecting their relationship with him and it is probably one reason they have been struggling in some of their matches at this start of the campaign.
The report says he has just a few allies in the dressing room and this isn’t helpful to a new manager who wants to become successful at the club.
McLeish knows what it means to be a manager and understands how hard things would be for Nuno following those revelations.
“That’s disappointing to hear,” the former Scotland boss told Football Insider.
“It can be quite difficult for the manager. He will feel a sense of loneliness and maybe a wee bit of anxiety.
“He’s still a young man, he’s vibrant, he should still have great self-belief in himself.
“If these kinds of rumours are coming out then, I’m sure the manager doesn’t want to hear that.
“The difference between this job and the one he had previously at Wolves is the backers, the bosses, gave him tremendous assistance in buying new players.”
Of course, it doesn’t help one jot that the players will realize that Nuno was some way down the bald one’s list of preferences.
Stein would mix with the players a bit and share their jokes but he was careful to maintain a distance between himself and the players -even if helping them out with any personal problems – which I’m sure was the same with Bill Nicholson and the other “greats.” It’s for this reason that there’s a potential problem if you appoint a manager young enough who has perhaps played with some of the players he now has to try and manage.
Well if he is as evasive with the squad as he is with answering a question I can kind of understand where this is coming from.
I want Nuno to succeed, but I always want a coach/manager who has a backbone and bit of bite.
The club just seems so rudderless
I imagine what you are saying here is not far off the mark!
Jock Stein used to say that you shouldn’t get too fond of your players because they’ll let you down.
You talk about 4 points off the top as if it’s actually going to be relevant? Might as well be 40 I fear, unless we can have a massive clear out in January and Levy break the habit of a lifetime and actually bring in some quality in attacking areas.
I know most managers try not to be overly friendly with the players but if reports that Nuno won’t talk to the players outside training are true I don’t think that’s a great way of getting a good atmosphere in the group.
I can’t be sure but Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp don’t give the impression that outside training they are unapproachable. They seem quite relaxed with the media unlike Nuno who looks as if he’d rather be at the dentist.
Given the deadwood and their obvious festering of unrest, it’s difficult to see any manager being successful unless Levy clears them out as he had to do with aurier. Can’t see that happening 5hough.
Which bosses gave him tremendous backing? Not Levy, surely?
I bet these are the same players we should be getting rid of.. The same players I watch who go missing. The same players who jog around smiling and laughing when they are losing heavily like it’s a casual game in the park…. I bet his few allies are the few players we should keep. The proper pros like Lloris, Hojberg, Lucas, Son, Kane would not be bad mouthing the boss after a handful of games.. 7 games in, 4 points off top.. It’s early days still… Twits on twitter calling for the managers head are equally as embarrassing.. Up the Spurs..