The 2022/23 Premier League season closes with a game that essentially sums up Tottenham’s season, a decent win that was against a shocking footballing side, that meant nothing to anyone and ultimately taught us nothing we didn’t already know. The summer holiday in footballing terms is somewhat of an optical illusion, and whilst most of us will be thinking of better ways to relax and enjoy leisure activities that are still guaranteed to keep our minds firmly occupied such as Syndicate Casino games the reality is that the time soon flies past and next season’s fixtures will be released on Thursday, June 15, at 9 am in the United Kingdom. Dates for all of the 380 matches will be released at that time. The 2023-24 season will actually start on Saturday, August 12, which is naturally just a matter of weeks.
Spurs have a lot more to address internally than most, and specifically, there is the small matter of a head coach. The season just gone has been a masterclass of bad decisions from the club’s board. After struggling to get Antonio Conte to commit some while ago, and having to make do with the limited talents of Nuno Espírito Santo, who lasted just 17 games. Conte eventually was persuaded and after doing a reasonable job with the resources to hand, eventually blew his top after watching a two-goal lead against a then bottom-of-the-table Southampton side turn into a three-all draw. His assistant Cristian Romero failed to impress as a stand-in and eventually, Spurs installed their third coach of the season, Ryan Mason. Mason is clearly an affable chap with the club’s best interests in his heart, but as a coach, just two wins from seven games did not provide any reasons to consider him again for any further managerial involvement.
There’s also the small matter of a director of football to be addressed, and in Simon Jordan’s column for the Mail Online today, comes the rather concerning suggestion that Fabio Paratici is still involved with recruitment ‘hints and tips’ at Spurs, despite the Italian having been banned from participating in football by FIFA. The allegation would be a deeply unwelcome twist in the tale for a club that could theoretically face serious investigation.
Coaching candidates for what ought to be seen as a big job have been dropping like flies in recent weeks. Julian Nagelsmann was heavily linked with the position in N17 and literally the day after THFC distanced themselves from the German, the more forward-thinking sections of the football press such as Fabrizio Romano called out the club for seeking to limit the damage of being turned down by the former FC Bayern Munich boss. Feyenoord’s Arne Slot flew in to talk with Daniel Levy, and 48 hours later, he was announced as staying with his Dutch champions.
One gets the sense that the board of this club has run out of ideas.
