You have to admire new Tottenham sporting director’s brass balls

Whether you agree or disagree with Tottenham’s managerial appointee, you have to admire the conviction Fabio Paratici showed in making the swift and decisive choice. 

Paratici, who hasn’t even been confirmed as the new sporting director, didn’t take long to make an impactful splash at Tottenham. Working behind the scenes for an unknown period (no more than a couple of weeks), Paratici placed Paulo Fonseca in his crosshairs and, with Daniel Levy’s endorsement, got his man.

Paratici probably had Fonseca in mind prior to being approached by Spurs to take on the sporting director role at the club. The Italian talent-sourcing mastermind not only has a knack for hand picking talent but also shows unabated commitment to getting those in his crosshairs to sign on the dotted line.

It’s an admirable quality, one that has carried great influence in getting him where he is today. Some decisions, when making weighty choices with such bravado and unwavering self-belief, are bound to go awry. Nobody can act with such decisiveness and assuredness without the incumbent risk of, once and a while, making the wrong call.

Paratici ascended to his highly influential post at Juventus, one of the world’s most distinguished and preeminent clubs, thanks in large part to his self-belief and ability to make colossal decisions with in a resolute manner.

He knows acutely how Fonseca operates and obviously vouches for the 48-year-old Portuguese manager. And it’s clear Paratici has absolutely no qualms with betting his reputation and position — prior to it even being confirmed — on his latest monumental selection.

Levy undoubtedly gave Paratici his blessing to go after Fonseca, but this decision has the Italian’s fingerprints all over it. Levy is cunning enough to provide his new sporting director with the autonomy to make a call of this magnitude.

Success or failure, Levy is one step removed from the hiring of Fonseca. If the Portuguese gaffer is a success at Hotspur Way, Levy can take credit for bringing Paratici aboard, empowering the Italian sporting director to do what he does best, make decisive calls in high-pressure situations.

Alternatively, if things go sideways during Fonseca’s tenure, Levy has a scapegoat. Paratici would, in Levy’s eyes, be culpable for taking a chance on the former Roma manager.

So regardless of which way the cookie crumbles, you have to admire Paratici for his courage and conviction in an incredibly high-stakes game. He’s got brass balls, and every Spurs supporter hopes the appointment of Fonseca turns out to be one of Paratici’s many masterstrokes.