MANAGER MADNESS HITS CLUBS Spurs, Everton and Palace in struggle to find right gaffer MESS OF FILLING THEIR HOTSEATS
THREE of England’s biggest clubs are making a right mess of finding their next manager.
It has been farcical to watch Tottenham, Everton and Crystal Palace give their fans sleepless nights as they try to fill their hotseats.
Spurs have have more candidates than former owner Sir Alan Sugar’s Apprentice TV show, while Palace seem to have been knocked back twice — once when the deal was announced in the media.
And Everton have got themselves into such a mess that they are appointing a Liverpool legend who called them a “small club” and used to wind the fans up something rotten.
That has led to anti-Rafa Benitez banners and graffiti at Goodison Park with more sinister actions near the Spaniard’s house.
Looking at Tottenham, it looks like the Londoners have focused on either Belgium boss Roberto Martinez or Brighton gaffer Graham Potter — unless they can persuade Mauricio Pochettino to return.
That’s quite a contrast and it will take plenty of persuasion to convince Martinez to walk away from the world’s No1 international side to come to the Lane.
There’s clearly not much money to spend otherwise one of the other big names would have taken over.
And it’s a long list of managers who seemed to have snubbed Spurs — Pochettino, Antonio Conte, Julien
Nagelsmann, Paulo Fonseca, Gennaro Gattuso, Nuno Espirito Santo and Brendan Rodgers.
It has even got to the stage where Jurgen Klinsmann was pitching for the job on live telly.
The latest hope for Spurs is that Pochettino will ride to the rescue.
Happy
After France were knocked out of Euro 2020, it looks like national gaffer Didier Deschamps will be shown the door.
And Paris St Germain would be more than happy for him to take over — meaning Poch would be free to come back to Tottenham.
Zinedine Zidane is the man most likely to take over the French side and he’s one of the few names who hasn’t been linked to Spurs! So maybe there’s some hope for the Londoners to have their new manager in charge in time for the new season.
Across the capital, it looks like Patrick Vieira may take over at Palace after Lucien Favre pulled out despite it being widely reported that he was the Eagles’ new gaffer.
The former Arsenal skipper has a mixed record as a manager but has come out of nowhere to become the No1 pick to succeed Roy Hodgson.
He looks the only option for the south Londoners with Sean Dyche almost certain to stay at Burnley.
But the most controversial choice is Rafa Benitez taking over at Goodison Park.
There has been uproar with Everton fans who don’t want “the fat Spanish waiter” as they call him in
charge of their club. But owner Farhad Moshiri wants him at Goodison Park.
He’s looking at his title and Champions League-winner CV and not his links with Liverpool.
It looks a matter of when and not if Benitez is being unveiled to the Everton faithful — complete with a blue scarf around his neck!
Stick
The deal has been on a knife-edge but Benitez is likely to be behind an Everton desk whatever some of the more vocal fans think.
Big Sam Allardyce wasn’t popular with Everton fans during his time in charge at Goodison — but the stick he got is nothing compared to what many Toffees feel about Rafa.
And the former England boss is warning that the defensive football that went down so badly is Benitez’s style too.
Big Sam said: “I have seen there are a lot of Everton fans unhappy about the situation because of the rivalry between the two clubs.
“Rafa’s track record is very good. But I have to say, if you call me a defensive-minded coach then Rafa’s exactly the same as I am.
“He bases his performances on clean sheets and building from there and he has done that throughout his career.
So, if they are talking about open and expansive football then I don’t think that’s the case with employing someone like Rafa.
“I think that will come eventually, depending on what players they let go and bring in.”