When one of the most unsurprising things in football finally came to fruition and Conte departed, all Spurs fans looked to the future and the list of potential managers to take their turn in the dugout.
This season has seen the merry-go-round of EPL managers spin ever faster and now it’s Tottenham’s turn to join what is becoming a familiar ride. Choosing a new manager is not just an opportunity for a reset at the club, it is a huge market for bookmakers such as William Hill. Let’s look at the four favourites from that market and assess the pros and cons and likelihood of each.
Brendan Rodgers
Is it merely a coincidence that the Northern Irishman parted company with Leicester at just the right time to put himself in the frame for the Spurs job? Perhaps. Rodgers is a manager whose style of play is certainly positive.
His teams tend to play attacking, dynamic, possession-based football so that at least is in the fifty-year-old’s favour. Rodgers’ reputation does appear to be greater than the stats and facts behind it suggest it should be. His time at Celtic was impressive but it is hard to judge anyone from their time in Scotland, as Steven Gerrard proved.
Swansea was a success, but that is a world away from what he would be working with at Tottenham. So we only have his time at Liverpool and Leicester, and if we are being harsh neither was a success. One FA Cup is all there is to show for his seven years at those clubs.
The next manager at Spurs will be tasked with two jobs. Establish them as a top-four side and get silverware into the trophy cabinet. Talented though Rodgers undoubtedly is, he has not proved he can do either of those things.
Mauricio Pochettino
Mauricio Pochettino is for many Spurs fans the man on the top of their list. There is little doubt Poch’s reign was as good as it has got in recent years and he had a clear affinity with the club.
Doubt remains about what terms he and Levy left upon and whether it is a relationship that can be made to work again. Recent reports suggest that from the Uruguayan’s side at least that should not be an issue.
Pochettino will no doubt consider that he has unfinished business in North London, but there is also the familiar cry of “never go back” which though not always something that is borne out, is more often than not.
Julian Nagelsmann
Nagelsmann jumped to an early lead in the odds for the new manager. He is available which goes in his favour, but his time at Bayern was not a success. Like in Scotland, winning the title with the Bavarian giants, though an achievement, is still doing it when practically the entire opposition has one arm or leg tied behind their backs.
The competitiveness of the English Premier League is a whole different ball game.
His spells at Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig were impressive however, and he does fit the profile of a young manager on the up. It does remain to be seen how his experience at Bayern will affect him though.
Graham Potter
If Potter had not left Brighton to join Chelsea it is very likely that he would be very much in the running for the job at Spurs.
He is a young, progressive-thinking, English manager who achieved incredible things at Brighton. He is someone you could build a squad with, developing a philosophy and style of play that would set the foundations for years to come.
His experience at Chelsea however make it very unlikely that he will come to Spurs at least in the near future. Leicester would seem a better fit. Which does not help Tottenham.
Everyone on the shortlist has pluses and minuses working for and against them. Managerial appointments never come without risk, but you have to think with the nature of the Premier League at the moment, and the number of teams fighting for those top four places, this has to be one that they get spot on.
