Tottenham Hotspur‘s hunt for a new manager is into its 60th day after moves for Paulo Fonseca and Gennaro Gattuso collapsed on the same day.
It was expected that Fonseca was set to be appointed this week, but talks broke down on Thursday.
The former Roma boss fully expected to take over after reaching a verbal agreement, though there were still some finer details to be ironed out regarding his backroom staff.
While it was initially reported that financial issues had forced Spurs to pull the plug, i understands that the club withdrew their interest in Fonseca of their own accord.
Their new director of football, Fabio Paratici, was alerted to the sudden availability of Gennaro Gattuso, his preferred candidate, when the Italian – represented by so-called super-agent Jorge Mendes – left Fiorentina after just 23 days due to a dispute with the board over signings.
As news of Tottenham’s interest in the former AC Milan midfielder broke, the hashtag #NoToGattuso began trending as fans shared some of his previous comments on women, same-sex marriage and racism.
In 2013, when Adriano Galliani appointed Barbara Berlusconi to share his role as Milan chief executive, Gattuso was reported as saying that he “can’t really see women in football”.
During the 2008 European Championship, he further commented that “in church marriage should be between a man and a woman”.
Five years later, when Kevin-Prince Boateng was the subject of racist abuse while playing for Milan, Gattuso told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera: “I’ve lived five kilometres away from Busto Arsizio for years and that area is full of foreigners. There are no racists in Busto. What happened yesterday was the fault of a group of imbeciles.
“How many times have there been boos against white players in the past? It’s happened to me to, but I didn’t give it any importance.”
It is not the first time Gattuso has had bad blood with Spurs, appearing to try and headbutt former assistant manager Joe Jordan in a heated clash at the end of a last-16 Champions League clash.
The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust confirmed it had informed “the decision-makers at the club” of the widespread “concerns around potential managerial candidates”.
Alarm bells also rang over Gattuso’s managerial record, particularly as he has lasted less than six months in four of his seven posts so far.
Who are the candidates now?
In short, who knows. Paratici and Daniel Levy appear to be lurching from one candidate to the next without much of a coherent plan. First, they opted for nostalgia with the potential return of Mauricio Pochettino, whom PSG could not be persuaded to let go.
Next, it was Antonio Conte, the serial winner and highest-profile option, but again talks broke down with the Italian concerned over Spurs’ transfer plans.
Other favoured candidates, such as Julian Nagelsmann and Erik ten Hag, committed their futures elsewhere, with the former taking the Bayern Munich job and Ten Hag signing a contract extension with Ajax (though he is still not out of the running entirely).
Next Spurs manager odds
(Odds according to Betfair Exchange as of Friday morning)
- Roberto Martinez: 7-1
- Erik ten Hag: 8-1
- Graham Potter: 10-1
- Scott Parker: 13-1
- Nuno Espirito Santo: 14-1
- Mauricio Pochettino: 20-1
- Antonio Conte: 20-1
- Eddie Howe: 28-1
- Christophe Galtier: 30-1
- Julien Lopetegui: 30-1
- Ralf Rangnick: 33-1
Gattuso’s odds were as short as 4-9 on Thursday evening, but now that he is understood to be out of the running, Roberto Martinez is the bookmakers’ favourite.
The Belgium boss, who is currently leading the Red Devils at Euro 2020, last managed in the Premier League with Everton. The Toffees sacked him in May 2016 with the club 12th in the table.
With Conte, Fonseca and Gattuso all having coached in Serie A, it increasingly appears that it is a narrow pool from which Paratici is currently fishing, though Brighton’s Graham Potter and Fulham’s Scott Parker are also in the reckoning. Parker though has reportedly been approached by Bournemouth as well.
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from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3q5Q5ut
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