The football world was stunned by Spurs sacking Mauricio Pochettino after five-and-a-half years in charge and Daniel Levy is now looking for the next Tottenham manager.
Pochettino leaves North London with Spurs languishing in 14th place in the Premier League table. He steered the club to the Champions League final last season, but lost to Liverpool.
A downturn in Tottenham’s form since that European defeat is behind Pochettino’s departure.
“Domestic results at the end of last season and the beginning of last season have been extremely disappointing,” Spurs chairman Levy said in an official statement.
Under Pochettino, Tottenham built a young squad of talented players who consistently finished in the Premier League top four.
Spurs have won one domestic league game since September 14. That came against Pochettino’s former club Southampton.
Tottenham were eliminated from the EFL Cup by Colchester United. They lost 7-2 at home to main Champions League group rivals Bayern Munich.
Who next in the Spurs hotseat then? Here are the main contenders to be next Tottenham manager.
Past Premier League bosses prominent in market
A high-profile job like this sees an inevitable link to Jose Mourinho. The Special One had real success in two spells across London with Chelsea.
Besides Premier League titles with the Blues, Mourinho guided Manchester United to the Europa League. He heads the early market with bookmakers on yet another coaching vacancy.
Rafa Benitez, meanwhile, has said he wants to return to English football one day. The Spaniard did a great job with Newcastle United and won the Champions League with Liverpool.
Benitez left St James’s Park over the summer and is currently coaching in China with Dalian Yifang. This is the kind of opportunity that could tempt him back to the Premier League.
Napoli boss Carlo Ancelotti coached Chelsea to a league and FA Cup double. His stay in England seemed all too brief, especially as he’s gone on to great things elsewhere.
The problem with his current role in Naples is other managers have tried and failed to knock Juventus off their perch in Italy.
Any of these three bosses would make a fine next Tottenham manager. They all bring different tactics and approaches to the table.
Howe, Nuno, Rodgers also contenders for next Tottenham manager
It’s not just past Premier League coaches, but present ones being linked with Spurs too. Eddie Howe has taken Bournemouth right through the Football League across two spells.
The Cherries boss has since established his south coast side in the Premier League. Bournemouth are at their ceiling finishing in mid-table, so will this talented young manager move?
Wolves reached Europe thanks to finishing seventh under Nuno Espirito Santo last season, meanwhile.
Replicating that success while juggling Europa League football is proving difficult, but the Portuguese coach doesn’t have the squad depth to coach.
Nuno also has big club experience under his belt thanks to a spell with Valencia. That side has one of the more demanding fanbases in La Liga.
Leicester City’s Premier League title win might not be a fluke after all, if Brendan Rodgers keeps things up at the Foxes.
His stock is very high and the former Liverpool boss has always been ambitious. Rodgers promotes homegrown talent side-by-side with overseas youngsters.
That mirrors the Tottenham approach taken under Pochettino. Whether Rodgers would consider leaving Leicester right now remains to be seen.
Allegri and Nagelsmann foreign newcomer options
If Levy wants to look outside of proven Premier League bosses to take Spurs on, then Max Allegri is the top Italian coach out of work.
Now on sabbatical after leaving Juventus following a sustained period of domestic dominance, he’s another like Mourinho that has a high profile.
Allegri doesn’t mind inheriting a good squad and building on groundwork laid beforehand. The Old Lady started their stranglehold on Serie A under Antonio Conte which he continued.
A somewhat left-field option for next Tottenham manager, but surprisingly short in the betting is Julian Nagelsmann.
This highly touted coach was German Football Manager of the Year in 2017 when at Hoffenheim.
He has since moved on to RB Leipzig. Nagelsmann is only a few months in to a four-year deal with the Bundesliga club.
As he started managing very young and is only 32, he’s of an age with Spurs’ senior players. That can be problematic.
In one of the liveliest and most volatile betting markets out there, who will be next Tottenham manager could change in the blink of an eye.
