DANIEL LEVY is facing the biggest crisis of his 22-year tenure as Tottenham chairman.
After five years of one disastrous decision after another, Levy watched on at St James’ Park as his side were humiliated 6-1 by Newcastle over the weekend.
Levy promptly responded by holding a crisis meeting with his senior Player Committee on Monday morning, with acting head coach Cristian Stellini sacked just hours later.
After Fabio Paratici’s resignation last week following his worldwide football ban, Levy finds himself with no manager, no managing football director and virtually no hope of securing a top four spot.
To compound the situation, fans’ favourite Mauricio Pochettino is on the verge of joining Chelsea, after Spurs stubbornly stuck to the staggering decision not to call on the most successful manager of the ENIC era for a second stint.
With fan protests growing against the current ownership, SunSport examines the steps that will have to be made by the under-fire Spurs board as they somehow attempt to navigate this period of uncertainty in the coming months.
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With Stellini out the door, Ryan Mason will again step into the breach as caretaker boss, having done so following Jose Mourinho’s exit in 2021.
Mason’s popularity with fans and players alike may buy the Spurs board time, but not much.
Supporters had chanted for Pochettino at recent home games, but that ship appears to have sailed.
The man that may appease fans most is Julian Nagelsmann, who pulled out of the race to become Chelsea boss last Friday.
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Nagelsmann is reportedly warming to the idea of joining Spurs, but only on his terms.
The 35-year-old would want a major say in transfers if he were to hop aboard a new project in North London, while he would only be willing to start at the end of the season.
Should Tottenham fail to get a deal done with the ex-Bayern Munich boss, the vast majority of fans would like to see a similarly young, ambitious coach with a reputation for progressive, front foot football signed up.
Spurs’ dalliances with win-at-all-costs managers in the shape of Mourinho and Antonio Conte have failed miserably – it’s time for the Lilywhites to get back to what made them so good under Pochettino.
REPLACING PARATICI
Levy had expected Fabio Paratici to play a major role in the appointment of Spurs’ next manager.
But with the Italian now departed, the 61-year-old has yet another role to fill – and a crucial one at that.
Former Bolton right-back Gretar Steinsson was appointed as performance director under Paratici last summer and is thought to be fulfilling a number of his former boss’ duties.
But Tottenham are believed to be looking to replace Paratici with an external candidate in the coming months.
They have already appointed Scott Munn as chief football officer, with the former City Football Group exec set to begin on July 1 – and Paratici’s replacement set to report to him.
Levy now faces a delicate balancing act appointing both a manager and managing football director whose visions will align – with doubts that he will be able to achieve it.
SQUAD OVERHAUL
There’s no sugarcoating what a shambles Tottenham were on Sunday. There was no cohesion, no quality and seemingly very little effort on display at St James’ Park.
But despite how they appeared against Newcastle, and have done for much of this season, this Spurs squad is not all bad.
Even aside from established stars Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, the North Londoners possess an intriguing younger core including the likes of Cristian Romero, Yves Bissouma and Dejan Kulusevski – players whose potentials Spurs seem to have only scratched the surface of.
Among those rough diamonds worth sticking with, however, are many players who would probably be best served moving on, both for their own sake and the club’s.
Moving on a large number of players in one window is a tall order and probably unrealistic.
But it’s probable that the likes of Hugo Lloris, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Davinson Sanchez, Ivan Perisic, Eric Dier, Ryan Sessegnon, Japhet Tanganga and Emerson Royal could all do with exiting, should Spurs find the right deal.
Exactly who stays and who goes will surely depend on who Tottenham select as their new manager and managing director of football – and the system they opt to deploy next term.
But it appears certain that Spurs will have to begin by prioritising their leaky back-line which still still regularly features Dier, Sanchez and Ben Davies – players that were back-ups five years ago.
HARRY KANE DECISION
Last time Kane tried to leave Spurs the club found itself in a strong position, with the forward having had three years remaining on his contract.
This summer, his deal will have only one year left.
SunSport revealed last month that Manchester United had made contact with Kane’s camp via intermediaries, and had been encouraged by the exchange.
The Red Devils feel that Spurs will lower their £100million asking price if and when they fail to qualify for the Champions League.
If Tottenham can’t convince Kane to sign a new contract, they will find themselves at an uncomfortable crossroad.
They can either let his deal run into its final year, and risk letting him leave for free to whomever he chooses in a bid to spend as long as possible trying to convince him to stay.
Or they can finally pull the plug, letting Kane go and focusing on how to move forward without their all-time leading goalscorer.
Should they plump for the latter, no new signing would be able to replace Kane on his own.
The only way to match his impact would be by committee – finding a new system and approach that can make it easier for whoever they field up top than Kane has had it in recent seasons.
RETURNING LOAN PLAYERS
Tottenham currently have 11 players out on loan, with only Destiny Udogie among them having not played for the first team before.
Those out on loan cost Spurs north of £200m, and feature expensive flops such as Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso, who they have previously largely written off but struggled to sell.
With Ndombele, Lo Celso and Udogie, as well as Sergio Reguilon, Djed Spence, Harry Winks, Bryan Gil and Joe Rodon – in addition to youngsters Harvey White, Troy Parrott and Dane Scarlett – set to return, Spurs’ new boss will have to assess which previously discarded players he may be able to get a tune out of.
If Tottenham’s next manager thinks they can utilise even just two of these players, it could save the club a fortune in replacing them.
While it would also allow them to focus their budget on different areas, with the defence in particular in need of an overhaul.
It’s already been confirmed that Spurs will play West Ham in Perth in July, and it will be fascinating to see which outcasts will be given an opportunity to impress during pre-season.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
