Sport
Six contenders to be the next Tottenham manager
Jose Mourinho’s sacking has been coming for a while but for Tottenham to confirm the news at the start of the week they play in the Carabao Cup final still came as a surprise. Ryan Mason has been confirmed as interim manager until the end of the season and, after beating Southampton in his first match, will next take Spurs to face Manchester City at Wembley, which itself is some story after the 29-year-old was forced into early retirement by a terrible head injury. Spurs will hold off making a permanent appointment until then, so here are six names in the frame to be the next Tottenham manager.
Six contenders to be the next Tottenham manager
Julian Nagelsmann
Heading the betting odds to be next Spurs manager in the aftermath of Mourinho’s exit is Nagelsmann, who is still just 33 despite being touted as a managerial great of the future for some time.
Nagelsmann cut his teeth at Hoffenheim – leading them to Champions League qualification for the first time in the club’s history – earning the chance to take over at RB Leipzig in 2019. Nicknamed ‘Mini-Mourinho’ early in his career, Nagelsmann has turned Leipzig into contenders for the Bundesliga title, while they also reached the Champions League semi-finals last term.
Spurs would face competition for Nagelsmann, however. Hansi Flick’s announcement that he plans to leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season frees up the top job in German football.
Nagelsmann – along with Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp – will surely be among the front-runners for that post. He has hinted at being interested in a switch to the Premier League in the future but has also signalled an intention to see out his Leipzig contract, which has two years to run.
Brendan Rodgers
Rodgers has long been linked with Tottenham and the Northern Irishman is continuing to put together an impressive body of work at Leicester City. While the Foxes narrowly missed out on Champions League qualification last year, they are again in the mix, outperforming the likes of Spurs, Arsenal and Liverpool in the Premier League.
Booking a place in the FA Cup final, where Leicester will face Chelsea, is another feather in the cap for Rodgers, but he may be wondering if he can take the club much further. Ex-Liverpool boss Rodgers has experience managing in European competition and under huge expectation levels from his time at Celtic, so could he be the right fit to replace Mourinho?
A long contract at Leicester – his deal runs to 2025 – could make Rodgers expensive to appoint as the next Tottenham manager.
Max Allegri
Allegri has gone off the radar somewhat with the Italian approaching the second anniversary of his surprise departure from Juventus. The Italian has a spectacular CV, however, boasting six Serie A titles and four Coppa Italia crowns, though his Juve side tended to fall short in Europe.
There have been suggestions Juve might try to tempt Allegri back after a poor season under the leadership of Andrea Pirlo, while he is also reportedly of interest to Bayern. But Allegri confirmed in a rare interview late last year that he wants to manage in the Premier League. Few available coaches can match the 53-year-old’s record of success and he would be an interesting option to become the next Tottenham manager should Daniel Levy pursue him.
Eddie Howe
Also available as an option to Spurs is Howe, who left Bournemouth after their relegation from the Premier League and would unquestionably be interested in becoming their next manager.
Howe has long been tipped for a big job and, having earned praise for the Cherries’ attractive, attacking style of play, he might be an interesting option for Tottenham.
Howe struggled during a short spell at Burnley, though, while his teams do not tend to be defensively sound. With Spurs having issues at the back, perhaps he is not the right fit.
Rafa Benitez
A manager who could be relied on to fix that leaky defence is Benitez, with the Spaniard open to a Premier League return after a lucrative spell in China that followed leaving Newcastle United.
Former Chelsea and Liverpool manager Benitez is one of the most experienced leaders out there, but he has a tendency to ruffle the feathers of his superiors.
If Spurs chairman Daniel Levy wants to appoint a more amenable character as the next Tottenham manager, following a spiky Mourinho era, Benitez might not qualify on those grounds.
Scott Parker
Former players tend to make popular appointments, which means Parker might make the Spurs shortlist, especially if he can beat the odds and lead Fulham to Premier League safety.
Parker has won plaudits for the Cottagers’ battling qualities but they tend to line up quite defensively, which might not suit Spurs given the club’s preference for attacking tactics.
With just a couple of years of experience under his belt, Parker will surely need to bide his time before landing a job like Tottenham.
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