An agent has explained why a Tottenham coach called it a day with the club recently.
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Tottenham’s decision-making over their interim boss saw one coach decide to quit just weeks into his time at the club. Spurs have had a turbulent few weeks, with Thomas Frank getting the boot amid a disappointing domestic campaign that saw the club drop to within five points off the relegation zone.
Since then, former Juventus boss Igor Tudor has been brought in on a short-term deal, and a heavy North London derby defeat has seen Spurs sink to within four points of the drop zone.
Tudor has his work cut out to turn this ship around, even if relegation is unlikely with the strength of the squad Tottenham have at their disposals. The Croatian is going to have to deal with injuries aplenty and an apparent confidence crisis, while he also has to manage the workload of the Champions League, with a round of 16 tie lying in wait.
At this stage, barring a miracle turnaround, Tudor is only going to be in charge until the summer, with his contract only running until then. But even short term bosses get the chance to install their own coaching staff, and that step is a must given coaches typically follow a manager out the door.
That was the case with Frank, while John Heitinga also left just weeks after being added to the coaching staff. In an interview on the Kieft Jansen Egmond Gijp podcast, Heintinga’s agent, Rob Jansen, explained: “He was allowed to stay. They even asked him to stay. All other coaches, all Scandinavian, left. And after three weeks, they told him: ‘Please stay and see out your contract here.’ That’s quite an achievement for someone who worked there for three weeks.
“He said, ‘Yes, but now Igor Tudor, a Croatian coach, is coming with a whole staff for three or four months’. That man is always hired for emergency jobs. That almost never works. Why they did that is a mystery to me. And then another coach will come in. So, you can leave twice. That new coach will also come in with 45 people. He said, ‘This is pointless, Rob. I have to leave now’.”
Many have asked the same question about why Spurs have turned to an interim boss, and perhaps more importantly, why they have turned to a manager with no Premier League experience at all when hiring an interim boss.
Tottenham are likely to have targets in mind for the summer, whether it is Mauricio Pochettino or someone like Andoni Iraola, and their thought process is likely that they just want to get to that point intact, and they believe Tudor can get them to that stage.