IF former Tottenham defender Ramon Vega is right, then Daniel Levy has a big problem.
As Spurs’ managerial search dragged into its 60th day, with Arne Slot the latest boss to rule himself out of the role, Vega delivered a devastating verdict on the state of his old club.
His assessment was essentially ‘the word is out around Europe to all prospective managers, don’t go near it.’
That coaches, players and agents are all talking to each other about their experiences with the North Londoners and the feedback is not great.
Vega wrote on Twitter: “The Tottenham board are underestimating how small the technical football world is (coaches, current and ex-players and of course agents regarding the potential Spurs job and the reputation of the club).
“They all talk to each other referencing their experience with the club in the past and present.
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“I can tell you here that over 99 per cent are saying the same.
“It’s not a question of who is going to manage next season, the questions are way more profound. It’s the overall attitude and handling of the club decision-makers that makes this club today so uncertain and not united for anybody to come in.”
Vega, 51, played for the club 84 times during a spell between 1997-2001, winning the League Cup in 1999. Tottenham have landed ONE trophy since, the League Cup again in 2008.
Spurs is still very much in Vega’s heart, as proven by his regular Twitter commentary.
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Though the former Switzerland defender is not afraid to go in two-footed when it comes to verbals. He branded Spurs ‘the new Mickey Mouse club’ after Saturday’s embarrassing home defeat to Brentford.
To have such a stinging observation from an ex-player is not a good look.
And it will have fans questioning whether Vega’s claims are why their managerial search appears to be stalling like it did in the chaotic summer of 2021.
That year Spurs had sacked Jose Mourinho a week before the League Cup final, putting Ryan Mason in interim charge — as they have done now — and proceeded to lurch from candidate to candidate to replace the Special One.
The list went from Julian Nagelsmann, to Mauricio Pochettino, to Hansi Flick, to Antonio Conte, to Paulo Fonseca, to Gennaro Gattuso, before the Londoners landed up with Nuno Espirito Santo 72 days later.
The grumpy Portuguese lasted just 17 games before he was axed and Conte was convinced to take over.
It was a tumultuous period that Tottenham and chairman Levy are desperate not to repeat.
Conte went in March after publicly tearing into Tottenham’s players, despite them being fourth in the Premier League table — and in a Champions League spot. His assistant Cristian Stellini took over but was sacked after the 6-1 humbling at Newcastle.
That meant another call for Mason, with Tottenham now struggling to even qualify for next season’s third-tier Europa Conference League.
Club insiders would say that attracting a manager currently employed elsewhere — as appears to be the intention — means having to wait until the season finishes to appoint them.
But as the clock ticks on, fans are understandably fearing a repeat of two summers ago.
The social media following for Spurs went into a frenzy yesterday at the news Slot would not be coming to N17.
Fans had already come to terms with the fact their hero Poch would not be returning and that Nagelsmann and Burnley chief Vincent Kompany were not showing up, either.
But Slot was someone many Tottenham supporters felt they could get behind.
Indeed, the Dutchman seemed to many a perfect fit — a charismatic coach on his way up with a track record of building squads quickly and playing easy-on-the-eye football.
Though Spurs insist they never spoke to Slot, nor his club Feyenoord, it is understandable if supporters feel like it is back to square one now he is staying with the Dutch champs.
The sense of rudderlessness is compounded by the fact the club are still searching for a new director of football. Fabio Paratici resigned last month after being caught up in a financial malpractice scandal in Italy, causing embarrassment by association to Spurs.
Spurs would prefer to fill the DoF role before appointing a new manager — Roma’s Tiago Pinto and former Leverkusen supremo Tim Steidten are in the frame — but it is not a deal-breaker.
The pressure is cranking up on chairman Levy to get things right after all the wrong calls of the last few years, for which he put his hands up in the club programme on Saturday.
He also promised the club would work “relentlessly” to get back on the path to success after failing to win a trophy for FIFTEEN YEARS.
Though fans will be wary of that final pledge having heard something very similar in 2021 and ending up being bored to tears by Nuno.
Levy now has Ange Postecoglou, boss of Vega’s old club Celtic, in his sights.
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It is up to the Spurs supremo to prove the Swiss wrong by landing one of Europe’s top coaches.
And in so doing, show Tottenham is still the place to be for premium managerial talent.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
