Tottenham Hotspur are likely to see a change in the dugout before the start of next season, with Antonio Conte’s future at the club in serious doubt…
Who could replace Antonio Conte at Spurs?
Spurs responded well to their midweek Champions League exit by defeating Nottingham Forest 3-1 in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon but it seems unlikely that the Italian head coach remains at the helm much past the current campaign.
It means chairman Daniel Levy will oversee the search for his 12th manager in 22 years and a worrying name has emerged as a potential candidate, according to Italian media.
Il Messaggero (via Calcio in Pillole) claim that former Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri is in the sights of the north London outfit, alongside other Premier League teams like West Ham United and Everton, though the latter has since opted for Sean Dyche.
Is Maurizio Sarri in the running?
Levy’s track record with ex-Blues managers is pretty shocking and at the very least, it would put him at risk of further alienating the Lilywhites fanbase, not to mention the fact that the 64-year-old would rank pretty highly on his list of managerial disasters.
It wasn’t too long ago that their chaotic search ended up with the club appointing Nuno Espirito Santo, only for his tenure to last a whopping 17 matches and the prospect of hiring Sarri would do nothing to fix the negativity around N17 right now.
Of course, the Italian has a Europa League title to his name but the Stamford Bridge outfit flopped in the Premier League under his leadership and then again, past success means very little if you’re coming to Tottenham – even Jose Mourinho couldn’t get a tune out of the club.
However, it’s Sarri’s poor man-management and “very stubborn” methods – in the words of former Chelsea defender Mario Melchiot – that make his potential appointment a complete disaster.
Known to “clash with the players,” according to Football Insider pundit Noel Whelan, the current Lazio manager would bring another dogmatic, defensive-first system to a club starved of creativity and attacking juices and whilst many will remain loyal to the cause no matter who is in the dugout, fans have become restless in recent months.
Such claims have also been backed up by ex-goalkeeper Rob Green, who heavily criticised Sarri during his time in west London to The Athletic.
“I just spelled it out. I told him, ‘You have no plan B. You’re a transactional kind of manager. The players in the group are not the kind to speak to you like this — they care very much but are scared to say something to you like I am. I don’t care because what are you going to do — drop me!?’” he said.
Mourinho, Conte and possibly Sarri – it could be Levy’s biggest disaster yet, with the 64-year-old likely to be a worse-received candidate than even Nuno, given the evidence above.
AND in other news, Tottenham: £180k-p/w star is “looking older by the week”…