Tottenham Hotspur do not seem like they have any clue what they are doing with their manager situation. After his father passed away over the weekend, Igor Tudor may want to step away from managing the club, which is undoubtedly a stressful endeavor in and of itself without having to deal with a personal tragedy on top of it all.
And Spurs are desperate at this point, having lost a crucial relegation six pointer in blowout fashion to Nottingham Forest. Tudor has earned Spurs just one point out of 15 total, and while he cannot be blamed for the club's issues, Spurs are so desperate that it does not matter.
Roberto De Zerbi appears to be Tottenham's No. 1 manager target right now, much to the annoyance of their fans, but it is almost impossible to envision him taking over the club in a pinch. Tottenham Hotspur are scrambling for an emergency replacement, and the transfer rumor mill has pointed in the direction of former Eintracht Frankfurt and Monaco coach Adi Hutter.
Tottenham have started talks with Adi Hutter
According to a new report from French outlet L'Equipe, Tottenham are so far long the Hutter track that they have actually already engaged in talks with the manager about taking over. Now, nothing is advanced or imminent yet, but it is serious that Hutter and Spurs are already in touch and at the table.
That is more than can be said for any other manager candidate at this point. De Zerbi and Mauricio Pochettino are valid, credible names who have been linked frequently, but Tottenham have not engaged in active talks with either of them.
L'Equipe, who covered Hutter closely during his time in Monaco, are saying that there are talks now. Hutter is almost by default the favorite to take over for Igor Tudor, should the Italian manager and former Marseille coach receive his walking papers, which seems more likely than not to happen before the March international break ends.
Hutter is actually a decent coach, but it is doubtful he improves Tottenham in the immediate term, which is what Spurs are hoping for by making a hire right now for Tudor. He crafted some exciting attacking football in Frankfurt, and he wasn't bad in the Bundesliga after that at Borussia Monchengladbach, memorably blowing out Bayern Munich 5-0 in historic fashion. At Monaco, he made it to the Champions League and coached well before, as with his other jobs, unfairly getting fired soon.
The thing is, while Hutter has a decent track record, he's never managed a truly big club like Tottenham, he's never saved a notable club from disaster, and he's never coached in the Premier League. He is the great unknown when Spurs need a sure commodity to save them.