Stop dreaming, coaches that are not coming to Tottenham Hotspur

It will be one month tomorrow since Daniel Levy sacked Jose Mourinho as manager of Tottenham Hotspur. Since then, Tottenham has been led by interim manager Ryan Mason and has been linked with a number of names for the permanent job. While the permanent replacement seems to be forthcoming no sooner than the end of the season, we do know a number of names who will not be the next Tottenham manager.

Top names out for Tottenham

The original thinking behind the timing of the sack of Jose Mourinho was that Daniel Levy was getting in front of Bayern Munich to land his top managerial target, Julian Nagelsmann. The coach of RB Leipzig is seen as a young, bright tactician in today’s football world.

Of course, just a week later Nagelsmann was signed up to a new club from RB Leipzig but that club was Bayern Munich. It seemed that Nagelsmann had managed to leverage the Spurs’ interest into exactly the role he wanted, the big job at German powerhouse Bayern Munich.

As Nagelsmann fell out of the picture, new big names emerged for Tottenham Hotspur. However, like Nagelsmann before those names quickly disappeared from the frame as well.

Not next Tottenham manager – Erik ten Hag

After Julian Nagelsmann fell through, it was on to the next big name and potential fan favorite. Erik ten Hag, the manager of Ajax was the next big name in the frame.  The potential of ten Hag coming in came and went almost as quickly as his name being thrown about, as the manager extended his deal with Ajax on May 10.

Of course, ten Hag is apparently still not out of the running, however, despite just putting pen to paper only eight days ago on a contract extension.

Why after just signing a contract Erik ten Hag is going to turn around and leave that contract would be strange, almost as strange as the idea of Brendan Rodgers taking charge of Tottenham.

Not next Tottenham manager – Brendan Rodgers

Brendan Rodgers, the current coach of Leicester City, is another name that has been thrown around a lot in connection with Tottenham Hotspur.  My mate here at HotspurHQ has Rodgers as the number one option. The real question for Rodgers would be why come to Spurs?

I am not saying Leicester is a bigger club than Tottenham that simply is not true. However, is Leicester City more prepared to win now, with a supportive owner and happy fan base? The answer is yes to all three of those.

Yes, Tottenham is a team that can win now under the right approach and leadership but as we have seen Leicester City just lifted the FA Cup and is one win away from guaranteeing the Champions League next season.

The bottom line on Rodgers is that he is not going to leave his current situation until Jamie Vardy does and who can blame him.

And just as Rodgers would not leave Vardy and Leicester for the uncertainty of Tottenham, neither would old boss and still fan favorite Mauricio Pochettino.

Not next Tottenham manager – Mauricio Pochettino

Another manager in a similar situation to Brendan Rodgers is former Tottenham coach Mauricio Pochettino.

First, Daniel Levy would have to admit to being wrong if he were to re-hire the Argentine, which is not very likely to happen. Even more, critically is that like Rodgers at Leicester City, Mauricio Pochettino is in a better situation as coach of Paris Saint-Germain than he would be at Tottenham Hotspur.

In just the last two weeks, Neymar has signed a contract extension taking him to 2025. Who in their right mind would leave the certainty of Neymar and likely Kylian Mbapper for the next four years for the possibility of maybe keeping Harry Kane, if you believe Sky Sports.

Maybe one day in the future Mauricio Pochettino will return to north London and achieve the goals he never did in his first round with the club, maybe. However, that is not going to be next season. Just as Pochettino’s mentor is not about to leave his club for Tottenham either.

Not next Tottenham Manager – Marcelo Bielsa

The thinking is kind of simplistic really. If you cannot get the student why not go for the teacher. We know Mauricio Pochettino is a disciple of fellow Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa. We also have now seen what Bielsa can do with a club in the Premier League this season with Leeds.

His all-out style and intensity is something that would certainly endear Bielsa to the Tottenham faithful. That same personality has certainly done that at Leeds, which is a big part of why he would not leave.

Tottenham is in a better place than Leeds but Bielsa is adored at the club currently. As outsiders have seen over the last two seasons, it really is a fine line between fan adoration and them wanting your head. To say that the fans had a major role in both the firing of Pochettino and the sacking of Mourinho is likely no understatement.

Bielsa has brought Leeds back from the wilderness and has done it with style. No chance he leaves.

Where does Tottenham go from here?

At this point, we know there is a shortlist, and likely two of the names on it ten Hag and Ralf Rangnick are likely not coming. Although Rangnick has not officially been crossed off and is not on our list today.

This leaves Graham Potter and Roberto Martinez. Given Martinez has not coached club football in several years, this is certainly an uninspiring choice. Maybe he wins the World Cup this summer and that gives him a boost but still, not exactly someone fans are dying to see.

Graham Potter does show some promise but was certainly not the first name on the list. 

So who does Tottenham end up hiring? We do not know, we just know it is not Nagelsmann, ten Hag, Rodgers, Pochettino, or Bielsa.