The longest 72 days of Daniel Levy's career: Inside Tottenham Hotspur's epic manager hunt
Key takeaways:
-Mourinho was sacked before the end of the season because he was prioritizing the cup final over chasing champions league over the final 6 games of the season.
-Steve Hitchen, Spurs’ technical performance director took over drawing up a list of candidates as Levy dealt with the Super League blowback
-It was already too late to try for Julian Nagelsmann.
-it was never believed Brendan Rodgers would leave Leicester for them.
-Southampton’s struggles down the stretch removed Ralph Hasenhuttl from the list.
-Scott Parker and Graham Potter were considered for long term rebuilds but both were thought to not have enough experience.
-Ralf Rangnick and Roberto Martinez were candidates.
-Hansi Flick was the number 1 option from the start, but Tottenham was unable to convince him to choose them over the German national team.
-Erik Ten Hag was considered no more than a very good alternative, but Levy never sought him after missing out on Flick and Poch.
-Pochettino, after a series of conversations with Tottenham, seriously considered returning, but PSG never had any intention of letting him leave.
-Fabio Paratici was hired as senior football executive, and immediately connected Tottenham with Antonio Conte.
-Conte raised no issues over salary or terms in their talks but warned Tottenham that if they had any doubts, they should not hire him. Eventually it was clear Conte was having second thoughts, and a week later the deal was off.
-Nobody knows why but it is possible Conte reconsidered Tottenham’s financial ability and/or competitiveness.
-Paratici and Paulo Fonseca agreed to a two years contract in early June, but when meeting to decide final terms, There were disagreements about transfer policy. There was no clear plan for the backroom staff. Fonseca felt Levy’s vision of attacking football was at odds with Paratici’s insistence that they fix the defence. The deal was dead.
-If Paratici had stayed at Juventus this summer, he would have brought Gennaro Gattuso in to replace Andrea Pirlo. But Paratici left and the club brought back Max Allegri instead.
-Levy pulled the plug on the Gattuso hiring due to the backlash from the fans.
-At this point it was far too late for any previously interested candidates like Potter and Levy wanted to keep the final stages private.
-Paratici had another idea: going back to Nuno. (Nuno, like Gattuso, is a Mendes client.) Paratici had been a long-term admirer of his coaching career, and his work in Portugal and Spain before his successful spell at Wolves. Paratici argued that Nuno’s teams played better football than some thought, and pointed to how he had coached improvements from many of his Wolves side. Levy was not initially sold, but Paratici made a strong case. By the end of last week, Nuno had edged past Potter and was the new favourite for the job.