One man’s meat is another man’s poison, or so they say.
Well, this could have rung true in the case of Tottenham Hotspurs when it comes to the differing tales of the two managers involved. One, supposedly claimed by his critics to be punching way above his category, has just only been shown the exit very abruptly last week after the team he had helmed for all of 124 days went down in shambles to a defiant, re-structured Manchester United squad bragging a formation different from Soskjaer’s usually preferred one.
The other manager, Antonio Conte – a reputed hot-shot well-acquainted with, and more than adequately proven in, the science and craft of winning titles across the continent – is reportedly on the verge of becoming the new Spurs gaffer and who will allegedly also be given a whopping £150m transfer war chest to turn things around at Tottenham.
The club’s influential director of football, Fabio Paratici, had moved at atmost the speed of light to identify the Portuguese’s replacement with supposedly a deal in principle now agreed for former Chelsea boss Conte. And it has been learned that a plump deal has been put together for the former Inter Milan boss, who has a long-term relationship with Paratici, has been offered an 18 month contract with a pro-rata salary of around £13million, taking his overall earnings across the initial contract to close to £20m. And he will also be backed heavily in the transfer market, according to The Sun.
A very sweet deal, indeed. So what actually went wrong for Nuno?
Was he the poor victim beguiled and suckered into the short end of a deal doomed for failure from the very beginning as some industry observers and pundits had already forecast? What part did club chairman Daniel Levy play in all of this and, more pertinently, why did he sanction a deal he had allegedly been warned to stay clear from? Did the usually tough, no-nonsense chairman really believe that Nuno was the ideal person to re-shape, and lead, his team to trophy honors?
The Spurs season has obviously not gone to plan at all after the initial period and they currently sit ninth after five defeats in their first 10 games.
In just 52 days after having been named the league’s Manager of the Month, Nuno Espirito Santo went from hero to zero and was promptly given the boot by Levy. How did something so incongruous happen? Was there another story behind the scenes that outsiders beyond the Tottenham grounds were totally unaware of?
Some may argue that his sacking was extremely inopportune and premature and that he wasn’t given anywhere near enough time to implement his ideas.
Others will point to the clearly disconcerting manner of the five defeats during his 10 games in charge and his last season at Wolves as incriminating evidence that things were never going to improve with him at the helm.
For an unbemused, disgruntled Levy, it was clearly the latter and that was enough for him to stop the rot and change into his slasher outfit, reach for his trusty hatchet and head out the door to do what he does best.
To his credit, the decapitated Nuno had, to all intents and purposes, launched off his Tottenham venture with a flying start – one that was, in hindsight, probably too perfect and that papered over the cracks hidden not too deep within a structure whose foundation had already been subjected to great stress from the previous management under a Jose Mourinho unfortunately not in his peak.
And in this case, the laws of gravity dictate that whatever goes up must inevitably come down – and for Nuno, his crash back to reality was a whole lot sooner than expected.
Prior to their abject dismissal by a Manchester United side that had actually been badly bludgeoned and pinned back on the ropes for the major part of an earlier match by a belligerent and clearly superior Liverpool, a cacophony of venomous jeers, heckles and boos reverberated around the £1-billion glittering Spurs stadium when Nuno subbed off Lucas Moura for Steven Bergwin, which led to ominous chants of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ while a hawk-eyed Daniel Levy, hatchet in concealment, keenly viewed the proceedings from way up high and quietly listened to what the fans were spewing out, making their thoughts clear.
It is indubitably quite the downfall after what was the perfect start to life in north London for Nuno. One which was probably unnecessary especially after the fairy-tale beginning that saw an ambassadorial Nuno graciously and gingerly managing Harry Kane’s immensely difficult and sensitive transfer saga with sincerity, humility and poise, in the process eliciting high hopes that this well-mannered coach with the quiet demeanor could well be the real chosen one to fit the bill at Spurs after a tumultuous two years under the temperamental Jose Mourinho.
And for a flicker of perfect football moments, it appeared to be that way. Nuno, presented with his first challenge, displayed his Tottenham side to be an even match with reigning champions Manchester City for their opening game of the season, noticeably with the usually dependable skipper-cum-top-goalscorer-turned-prodigal-son, Kane, conspicuous in his absence from the squad.
And the former Molineux boss passed this acid test with flying colors, as an inspired Son Heung-min and his cohorts ran City ragged to record unquestionably their best performance to date under their new manager.
Fast-forward a week and Nuno and the boys chalked another win, this time a 1-0 win over his former club, Wolves. This was where the first cracks were beginning to appear right under the surface, although still barely noticeable. Spurs were actually barricaded into their own half and were under immense pressure to mount any meaningful attacks but were fortunate enough to be able to just eke out a victory at Molineux. The warning signs had probably been missed due to the attention being focused on Kane who had made his return to the fold and received a warm welcome back from the spectators, although he clearly struggled to find the back of the net.
However this being only Nuno’s second game, the smoke signals escaped undetected as it was only natural and fair that he needed more time as he was still so new to the club. It was definitely too early, and possibly foolish, to try to read too much into all that was happening then in the second match.
So Spurs actually continued to fly except that this time terra firma seemed to be a lot closer. The return back to north London the following weekend saw Nuno’s men pitted against a newly-promoted but definitely unfancied Watford. Again, the Spurs side found themselves uncomfortably restrained back in their own half and with no real, clear identity going forward, despite both Kane and Son leading the line of assault.
Son was the one who eventually broke the deadlock and sealed all three points against the Hornets. Spurs again proved lucky this time around, prettily perched at the top of the table with three clean sheets and nine points, so what did it matter then if the flaws were already beginning to manifest?
It was indeed the perfect start for Nuno and his efforts were recognised by the Premier League, and he was deservedly named as Manager of the Month for August. At a tangent to all that was happening then for Spurs, arch rivals Arsenal were dejectedly sitting rock bottom of the Premier League, so all was truly well in the white side of north London.
But just like the unreal, eerie calm before a perfect storm hits, everything can and will change in a zany football instant when all the elements act up malevolently in a conspiracy to befuddle and hurl everything in its path into total disarray and mayhem.
The season’s first international break intervened to take precedence in the football calendar and the Tottenham entourage returned to play in their first London derby of the campaign when the league resumed. This encounter against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park was their first of four matches stretching across September and October.
Just like Spurs were trying to acclimatise to the playing styles of Nuno, the Eagles were also trying to strike a new balance under new boss Patrick Vieira. The only difference was that, unlike Nuno, the former Arsenal legend and hero had a concrete game-plan.
As the match ensued, Viera’s Palace tore asunder a hapless Spurs side in south London, wreaking total havoc and beating Nuno’s 10-men 3-0 in what was actually the beginning of a tempestuous end for the out-of-depth Portuguese.
Despite the emphatic defeat to a London rival no doubt being extremely unbearable, it was still early days for Nuno. Hopefully achieving a one up on bitter enemies Chelsea back at home the following week would steer the ship into a quiet harbor for shelter and repairs. However, the woeful dirge sung by the Sirens in waiting spelled only calamity for Spurs as they sailed unsuspectingly again into another perfect storm only to record a second successive 3-0 defeat against Thomas Tuchel’s mighty Blues.
The second massive defeat saw Nuno’s stock take a deep plunge with the Spurs faithful, and fans were already beginning to get anxious and vocal despite just being five games into their new manager’s reign.
Of course, Nuno could have easily been cut some slack considering his side were up against the reigning European champions who had managed to pluck victory from a dominant Manchester City in the past campaign. Still, it must also be said that Nuno’s boys actually put up a bit of fight in the first half.
Next match in the agenda was against the Gunners – and this was a definite must-win-or-else match.
(Please wait for the conclusion to this 3-Part Series)