Tottenham breaking all the wrong records in search of new manager

Tomorrow marks 50 days for Tottenham without a permanent manager, the longest period any club in Europe has gone without a gaffer.  

On May 31, on the 43rd day without a manager, Spurs became the only club to operate devoid of a manager for that timeframe.

A week later, after a near miss with Antonio Conte, and Spurs are no closer to signing a manager. Supporters lost patience a long time ago with Tottenham’s top brass’ inability to run the club with any semblance of cohesion and direction.

It’s one thing to fire a manager who was consistently underperforming, but it’s another entirely to sack him six days before an opportunity to accomplish what he was hired for in the first place, to win a trophy.

And while I still agree with Jose Mourinho’s dismissal, I can’t accept the peculiar timing of his sacking in conjunction with the complete absence of a contingency plan.

And now, seven weeks later, Spurs are once again in world football headlines for all the wrong reasons. The merry-go-round of candidates continually spins, with Spurs being linked to more names than Lou Bega’s one hit wonder Mambo No 5.

The intrigue, at first, was as compelling as watching football. But as weeks elapsed, intrigue quickly morphed into frustration, even disillusionment.

Now Tottenham are in danger of remaining manager-less as Euro 2020 commences, an unthinkable outcome when Mourinho was shown the door on April 19.

Maucirio Pochettino is still one of the bookies’ favourites to take the job, but PSG is remaining steadfast on their stance on releasing the Argentine gaffer. It appears Tottenham are about to go back to the well and reignite their advance on Dutchman Erik ten Hag, who recently signed a contract extension at Ajax.

While rumours pile up, nobody knows — and that apparently includes Tottenham’s top brass — who the next manager will be or when he will be hired. At this point I wouldn’t be surprised if Tottenham are forced to wait for Roberto Martinez to become available after Belgiums’ exit from Euro 2020.

But at this stage all bets are off, as Spurs fumble their way through what will soon be a two-month span without any maestro to pull the sagging and directionless strings.