Tottenham Hotspur have been slammed after Dougie Freedman rejected the chance to become their sporting director.
Freedman is widely regarded as one of the best in the game due to the deals that he pulled off while at Crystal Palace.
It was reported at the start of March that the 51-year-old was a contender for the post, but Miguel Delaney of The Guardian claimed that he had said no on 27 March.
Tottenham’s search will continue, seemingly with the former Nottingham Forest manager out of the running.
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What was said about Tottenham and Dougie Freedman?
John Wenham did not like the news that Freedman had turned down Tottenham, and he also believes that the sporting director appointment should wait until a permanent manager has been appointed.
Speaking exclusively to Tottenham News, he said: “It is quite disappointing, I think Dougie Freedman would have been a fantastic choice for Sporting Director.
“Obviously, he did very good work at Crystal Palace, bringing through a lot of their great young English players; he has a good reputation in the game as a whole.
“Another article mentioned they were still looking at Paul Winstanley, who has evolved at Chelsea in that capacity, amongst others. So, it seems like they are still desperately looking for a new Sporting Director to come in the summer.
“It would make more sense for the manager to come in and then him to pick a Sporting Director he would like to work with, but it just sort of shows, unfortunately, the kind of amateurish style Tottenham are being run at the moment, where nobody really knows what they’re doing or what decisions need to be made.
“Amateur is the word, unfortunately, you remove Daniel Levy from that situation, he’s got years of experience to his name.
“These new directors and new owners of the club do not have those experiences of football management in the Premier League, but also just the game of football.
“None of those directors on the board has kicked a ball at any level, and they don’t have that in-game football knowledge, which is hugely problematic.
“Levy’s a businessman at the end of the day, but he used to go and watch Tottenham as a kid, he was a season ticket holder growing up and did know his stuff, I know he was a businessman, but he knew a lot more about football than the subsequent duo [Vinai Venkatesham and Johan Lange] do, whose reputation is basically in tatters.”
What next for Tottenham?
Surely Venkatesham and Lange have to leave their posts in the summer; that should be the first step to restoring Spurs.
The club has been nothing short of an embarrassment since the duo took over football operations from the departing Levy.
If the Lilywhites are to move forward and get back to where they belong, they need a new sporting leadership at the helm.
That starts with a new sporting director, but as Wenham argues, perhaps the new manager needs to be in the door first, so that they can work together.