LAST UPDATE | 1 Nov 2021
NUNO ESPIRITO SANTO has been sacked as Tottenham boss after only four months in charge.
And the club are already in talks with former Chelsea and Inter Milan manager Antonio Conte, the PA news agency understands.
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy and managing director of football Fabio Paratici are understood to have met on Sunday to discuss Nuno’s fate after Saturday’s 3-0 home loss to Manchester United, the team’s fifth defeat in 10 Premier League games this season.
And a statement from Tottenham on Monday morning said: “The club can today announce that Nuno Espirito Santo and his coaching staff Ian Cathro, Rui Barbosa and Antonio Dias have been relieved of their duties.”
Paratici said: “I know how much Nuno and his coaching staff wanted to succeed and I regret that we have had to take this decision.
“Nuno is a true gentleman and will always be welcome here. We should like to thank him and his coaching staff and wish them well for the future.”
Tottenham added that “a further coaching update will follow in due course”.
Club announcement.
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) November 1, 2021
Former Chelsea and Inter Milan boss Conte is believed to be the leading contender to succeed Nuno.
The club had been in discussions with Conte during the summer before appointing Nuno as successor to Jose Mourinho.
A deal between the parties being reached would see the Italian return to the Premier League just over three years after leaving Chelsea.
Conte’s two years in charge of the Blues saw them win the league title in 2016-17 and then the FA Cup the following season. He departed Inter Milan during the summer after guiding them to the 2020-21 Serie A title.
Brighton manager Graham Potter, ex-Roma boss Paulo Fonseca and Sergio Conceicao, currently in charge at Porto, are other names that have been spoken about as potential replacements.
Tottenham appointed former Wolves boss Nuno as successor to his fellow Portuguese Jose Mourinho on 30 June having gone through a number of candidates.
The 47-year-old, who Spurs had previously previously rejected due to his playing style, was handed the role with Paratici convincing Levy that he could fit the bill.
The 17 games Tottenham have played in all competitions since then started with a 1-0 win over Manchester City but have featured seven defeats, and the team has often been poor to watch.
The losses to West Ham and Manchester United in their last two Premier League matches have seen them go two hours and 16 minutes without having a shot on target.
With Nuno having already come under fire after losses to Crystal Palace, Chelsea and Arsenal, the mood significantly soured during Saturday’s game when sections of the crowd chanted ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’ and booed at the full-time whistle.
Supporters reacted badly to the manager taking Lucas Moura off early in the second half and continued to make their displeasure known throughout the contest.
Nuno, who took Wolves from the Championship to the top flight and into the Europa League during his four-year tenure there from 2017, departs Tottenham with the team lying eighth in the Premier League.
A statement from the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust said: “We take no pleasure in seeing the 14th manager of (owners) ENIC’s reign depart the club today.
“Nuno Espirito Santo conducted himself with integrity, good grace and civility throughout his short time at Spurs and, although clearly not the right fit for Tottenham, we wish him and his coaching staff Ian Cathro, Rui Barbosa and Antonio Dias well for the future.
“Of immediate concern now is where our club goes next. We reiterate the questions around strategy and vision first posed to the club’s board earlier in October. There is growing concern among fans about the direction of travel at Tottenham Hotspur.
“Fans want and deserve to know what the short and long-term plans are, on and off field, how the club’s board is correcting past mistakes to avoid repetition, what key milestones are being set and how they are measuring success.
“Fans want reassurance that the club’s board has a clear philosophy and vision, and the ability to implement it. Bland statements about being focused on success on the pitch and football families are not sufficient.
“For two years now, there has been obvious regression. The club’s board needs to show unequivocally that they have both listened to the voices of concerned fans and are acting positively on those.
“Now is the time for strong communication and accountability. We call on the board of Tottenham Hotspur to put fans and football first at what is a vital time in the history of our club.”
Obviously, getting beaten by United is unacceptable to any Board of Management.
@Irish Guy: united and every other London club this season
@Irish Guy: love it
@Irish Guy: getting beaten by the most successful English club ever should be a badge of honour :)
@Hugo Bugo: didn’t know they played Liverpool?
Should have sold Kane and began rebuilding. Difficult to see where they’ll go from here considering how hard it was for them to get a manager after Mourinho sacking.
@Tomas Ryan: Kane has given up completely, no interest being there
@Sam Murray: he said it himself over summer he wanted gone. While I think Kane us a fool for signing a 5 year or whatever contract then turning around next summer and asking to leave, Levy is just as bad if he thought Kane would play his heart out for a team he made clear he wanted no part in
Not the managers fault the players are useless
Hello? is that Antonio Contes agent? Yeah get him on a plane ASAP.
@David Lawlor: no decent manager is going anywhere near that jokeshop while Levy is pulling the strings. When successive managers struggle, with a decent squad under the same Chairman it’s clearly not the managers. Spurs are going through what Arsenal fans hounded Wenger out for, they ploughed all their money into stadium redevelopment but don’t have a Top Six squad (chopping and changing managers every year has destroyed Delle Ali one of three real quality players they have), but still expect managers to do miracles every season while Levy interferes….
@Sea__Point: conte in london today for talks.
@Sea__Point: Alli is nowhere even near the top 6 best in the squad. He is criminally lazy and got several chances to step up under Poch when both Eriksen & Kane were injured – he didn’t.
He needs to move on to reinvent himself but Spurs didn’t ruin him at all
@Sea__Point: delle Ali is a bad player who makes no effort in training. That’s why Jose wouldn’t play him. Can’t blame the changing of managers on a player being bad in training and having a bad attitude. Levy is going nowhere, sure he owns about half of the club.
@David Lawlor: he’d hardly join them now after turning them down in the summer,would he….
@Joe Gorham: seems he would. According to multiple sources he’s in London now talking to them.
@Sea__Point: your comment was going well up to the Dele Alli is a quality player bit, I stopped reading then…
So he won half of his PL games in charge. Bad form to sack him really considering they only won half their PL games last season.
@Shane Lad: it’s down to the style of play goals scored is relegation form and goal difference is by far the worst in the top half of the league, he was never the right man for the job if they wanted to play exciting football butit is quite unfair to sack him now when he could have seen them thru a rocky time once kane is gone and possibly fought for a cup or two
@colm connolly: He was always a strange choice. Did well at Wolves where the fans were happy to have a manager take them out of the championship and keep them in the Prem. He did that as well as FA cup semi final, getting into Europe and played decent football. Basically overatchieved. Expectations at Spurs totally different. And unrealistic. Shows how desperate Levy was to appoint someone ( and is again).
With a misfiring/uninterested kane, did they expect to be doing much better than 8th? Felt bad for Nuno the other day.
Nice man but just completely out of his depth, definitely didn’t help his talisman packing up on him either. We definitely should’ve cashed in on Kane when we could, now we are mangerless, the worst squad depth in the big 6 and having a shocker in that makey uppy Europa League
Son, Romero & Lloris are the only ones who can say they leave it all out there, the rest are just coasting as was obvious in hammerings from Chelsea, Palace, United & Arsenal
@Sam Murray: BS, Nuno is a talented manager that will not be a free agent for long. Spurs are a basket case of a club & it Levy who is out of his depth.
Poor Nuno sacked
Spurs recruited him replacing Mourinho. They took an interest in him for what’s he has done at Wolves They were hoping that he would restore it’s pride. Nuno made a good start. They made some good runs until it begun to get rocky. Watching them last Saturday, they didn’t look that strong as I thought. Did they have confidence ? Do they get on with each other ? Do they really miss their mentor Pochettino who was sacked two years ago over players scandal Spurs now continue to look for a replacement having Conte their top list The fact is that Conte wants his owns rules eg transfers. Wish Nuno the best of luck in his future. May his next path be easier for him. Maybe his homeland would be suitable.
It’s terrible to see a good man used and abused.Used as a filler till someone else comes along and abused by the so called players who if they have any skills did not show them at any time this season.
Sack Kane would be the best move.
Levy has totally f..ked up that club.
@Davy Evans: I think the players have done more damage than him. They don’t look interested at all. Kane doesn’t want to be there, it’s the same with the United players. Manager after manager trying to get the best out of them but it’s just not working.
@K C: Top players only play for top managers these days. Right or wrong, that’s the way it is. Kane didn’t down tools when Pochettino was there. Levy sacked Redknapp when they were flying, sacked Pochettino when they were flying. Got Jose in and through him out straight away. (Like him or loathe him, he’s a top manager.) Ask any Spurs fan in London, they’d prefer Levy out.
@Davy Evans: top players play for every manager. Jose is a top manager. I’m a united fan and I like him. Of course they would like levy out but that isn’t going to happen because he owns half of the club. Most united fans want the glazers gone but it’s not going to happen. Have to be realistic.
@K C: Don’t agree with top players playing for every manager. Kane certainly isn’t playing now. They are so powerful now that if they don’t like a manager, they down tools. Pogba with Jose is another example.
If they could tempt Graham Potter, he should be their first choice
@Seàn Mc: that set of players won’t play for him. Then again they probably won’t play for Conte when he turns up next. Serious attitude problem within the squad seems to be undermining every manager.
@Nag Damnit: if Potter was hired, that’s an appointment for the long term. Levy would have to be willing to get rid of players Potter felt weren’t pulling in the right direction. He’s a phenomenal young manager.
Sad to see this happen…this is how football players (I use this term lightly) react today…All the Spurs superstars did not come out to play and the manager falls victim….
Levy out
Always welcome…
They obviously penny pinched on Conte, and got Nuno, now they’re gonna go back to conte…that’s so spursy lol
Madness
Player power wins again
Should have played Doherty more often.
Whoever replaces him will struggle too. That squad is pitiful.
@Ed: Yeah, that is the real story at the club in recent years. Just haven’t kept up in recruitment.
Bring Harry back
So the plan was to lose to United so that Nuno would be sacked and replaced by Conte who should be going to United – genius
Correct decision