Daniel Levy has appointed 11 full-time managers at Tottenham Hotspur and fired every single one of them, with Antonio Conte the latest through the exit door after the club confirmed his inevitable departure on Sunday night. Conte is simply the latest high-profile coach to be the fall guy for the longest-serving chairman in the Premier League.
Sooner or later, there will be a 12th appointment. It could be Julian Nagelsmann, out of work since being fired by Bayern Munich last week, or Levy might opt to hire Mauricio Pochettino for a second time. Oliver Glasner, the Eintracht Frankfurt head coach, is another candidate having guided the German club to Europa League success last season.
No matter who succeeds former Chelsea, Juventus and Inter Milan coach Conte at Spurs, he will have to crack the code of working with Levy and achieving his lofty ambitions. He will also be expected to do it without the ability to compete financially with Tottenham’s Big Six rivals. And if he fails, it won’t be the players or Levy who pay the price. That’s how it worked out for Conte, Jose Mourinho, Harry Redknapp, Andre Villas-Boas and so many others, even Pochettino who guided Spurs to a Champions League final in 2019.
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Levy, who assumed his role in February 2001, is not unique in removing the manager when storm clouds gather above his club. In football, it is usually too expensive to clear out a squad of under-performing players, while the chair or chief executive rarely accepts culpability for recurring failures by removing themselves from their position. Firing the manager is generally the quickest, easiest and least expensive option.
You will often read of eye-watering compensation figures paid out to sacked managers. Mourinho received a £16 million payoff when he left in April 2021, less than a week before Spurs were due to play Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final, but that amounts to the transfer fee for a second-choice full-back nowadays. Imagine how much it could cost to get rid of 8-10 players and replace them at the same time? That’s why managers are the first to go when times get tough.
Levy’s decisions throughout his 22 years deserve greater scrutiny. Removing Conte seemed a foregone conclusion following his cutting remarks about the mentality and desire of Tottenham’s players after the recent 3-3 draw at Southampton, but it didn’t have to be.
