Power Ranking Best Candidates to Replace Andre Villas-Boas at Tottenham
EDIT: At 9:16 pm on Monday 23 December, Tottenham announced via their official Twitter page "that Tim Sherwood has been appointed Head Coach with a contract to the end of the 2014/15 season."
In a further statement on TottenhamHotspur.com, it was confirmed Chris Ramsey, Les Ferdinand and Steffen Freund would join him on his coaching staff.
Chairman Daniel Levy described Sherwood as having "both the knowledge and the drive to take the squad forward." The rest of his statement read as follows:
"We were extremely reluctant to make a change mid-season, but felt we had to do so in the Club's best interests.
We have a great squad and we owe them a Head Coach who will bring out the best in them and allow them to flourish and enjoy a strong, exciting finish to the season.
We are in the fortunate position of having within our Club a talented coach in Tim Sherwood.
"
Tottenham Hotspur's search for a manager remains—at the time of writing—a publicly undefined one.
Beyond Tim Sherwood's installation as interim manager, we have little to no idea of chairman Daniel Levy and the Tottenham hierarchy's plans and hopes in filling the role.
The following ranking of the "best" candidates to replace the recently departed Andre Villas-Boas is made up of Sherwood, and every name to have thus far been linked with the job.
The challenge in negotiating each's placing as a candidate is deciphering who might be considered as a long-term solution, and who could possibly just be appointed as a stop-gap. There is also the possibility of others emerging in the race.
Also a factor will be the role of technical director Franco Baldini. The Italian has come under much scrutiny in the day following Villas-Boas leaving, with the Daily Telegraph's Jason Burt reporting Baldini offered to resign on the same day.
It is an inexact science, but hopefully the following article will come close to providing a decent outline of the likeliest (again, as far as we know) potential appointments.
Before we get to those names, we take a look at those who have distanced themselves from any potential appointment.
Out of the Running?
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Ajax manager Frank de Boer is someone you can understand Tottenham Hotspur being interested in.
A former player with the Amsterdam club, de Boer has led them to three successive Eredivisie titles while staying true to the club's long-held principles.
Any hope Tottenham might have had of tempting him to North London appears to have been ended swiftly. Both Simon Johnson of the London Evening Standard and John Cross of the Daily Mirror reported last week that de Boer had rejected their approach.
The latter story also dismissed the likelihood of the currently available Guus Hiddink coming in. Either as a genuine appointment, or as place holder in the manner he performed for Chelsea back in 2008-09.
Cross suggested that Hiddink has his eye on the Netherlands national team job post-World Cup.
The idea of Spurs poaching one of their fellow Premier League club's well-regarded young managers seems to be a no-go too, with two specifically appearing to rule themselves out.
Swansea City's Michael Laudrup told BBC Sport he "would never leave a club in the middle of the season."
While, as reported by Sky Sports, Southampton's Mauricio Pochettino also appeared to confirm his happiness with the south coast club.
7. Carlos Queiroz
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One coach to have publicly registered at least some interest in becoming Tottenham manager is current Iran boss Carlos Queiroz.
Formerly assistant manager to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, the Portuguese told BBC World Football of his "great admiration" for Tottenham.
Describing himself as previously "very happy in Manchester," he also revealed "one of my coaching dreams is to get back to English football." Intriguingly, the former Red Devil also mentioned "some private connections in the past" with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy.
Two days on from that interview, Queiroz confirmed to a Portuguese newspaper—here via Sky Sports—that he had not "received any call but Spurs is a club that I really appreciate a lot."
Queiroz was highly rated by Ferguson as an assistant and has worked hard for a long career in football. It is safe to say, however, that he has not fared so successfully as the main man in charge.
Spells with Real Madrid and Portugal did not work out. Although he has done well in taking Iran to next year's World Cup, it is unlikely to be enough to convince the Tottenham board he is the man to take their club forward.
After one dalliance with a Portuguese coach in Andre Villas-Boas, they may also feel a different footballing background is needed from the next man in charge.
6. Fabio Capello
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In the immediate aftermath of Andre Villas-Boas leaving Tottenham, one of the first reports had the Daily Star's Jack Wilson linking former England manager Fabio Capello with a return to the country.
Currently managing Russia, Capello's name was touted given that his former assistant Franco Baldini is employed by Spurs as technical director.
With Russia's first World Cup since 2002 to prepare for, it seemed highly unlikely they would let the Italian also take on Tottenham on a part-time basis. Similarly, it would be nothing short of surprising if Capello gave up on another crack at the tournament to cut all ties and move to the Premier League.
The Mirror's Alex Richards raised the prospect later in the week of Capello joining Spurs next summer when his contract with the Russian Football Union expired.
Capello's association with Baldini ensures he should not be ruled out of the running at this stage.
Despite his turbulent tenure with England somewhat diminishing his reputation—on these shores at least—his pedigree at club level is unquestioned.
The 67-year-old has succeeded just about wherever he has been and clearly still has some hunger for the game. Whether he has enough to embark on a sizable operation with Spurs is unknown.
From the club's point of view, his patchy English would also be a point of concern in communicating with players who were already perceived to not be sufficiently on-page with their last boss.
Should Spurs prefer to appoint a full-time manager now, that would almost certainly remove Capello from the equation. Things might not add up with him anyhow.
5. Glenn Hoddle
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"This is the club I joined when I was eight years of age, signed for at the age of 12 and didn’t leave until I was 28. Spurs is in my blood, it's in my bones and for the sake of this club, I wouldn’t turn them down.
"
So said Bleacher Report's own Glenn Hoddle in reference to speculation about him once again becoming manager at his former club.
At the time of writing, 53.8 percent of 2,143 Bleacher Report readers polled confirmed their belief that the Tottenham legend should again take charge.
After stating his availability for the job as either a long-term or interim option, Hoddle also confirmed the club had not yet made an approach.
Neil Ashton and Matt Barlow of the Daily Mail noted in an article on Monday that Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is "expected to interview Hoddle."
Yet, it is difficult to see Hoddle—whose last management job with Wolverhampton Wanderers ended in 2006—being appointed. While stranger things have happened in football, it would mark a dramatic u-turn from Levy just over ten years on from originally sacking him.
"It is critical that I, and the board, have absolute confidence in the manager to deliver success to the club. Regrettably we do not," so read Levy's statement at the time in September 2003. The rest of it—which can be read here at BBC Sport—was equally damning, though conciliatory in its respect of Hoddle as a Spurs playing great.
That understanding of Hoddle's place in the club's history and the fact that he is still regarded as a top coach, if not a successful manager, ensures he should not be ruled out as an option for Spurs. The ex-England boss' work with his second-chance academy for talented young players looking for a route back into football has shown he is not resting on past glories.
Levy's own ego might stop him from going back on the basis of one question in his mind, and in that of others: if Hoddle is the right man now, why was he not a decade ago?
Times and people change, of course, but Levy's judgement would come under increasing scrutiny if he returned to the man he deemed not good enough before.
4. Murat Yakin
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One of those mentioned by the Daily Telegraph's Matt Law as someone of interest to Tottenham in their managerial search, Murat Yakin is already well familiar to the club.
The Basel manager led his team to a quarterfinal defeat of the North London club in last season's Europa League.
Yakin's reputation has been further enhanced in Europe after Basel beat Chelsea twice in this season's Champions League—although they did fail to progress into the competition's next round.
Add to that him leading them to Swiss Super League success last season—maintaining their healthy run of success—and you have one of the continent's leading young coaches outside of the top leagues.
For all of Yakin's initial promise as a coach, his appointment might be viewed as something of a risk by the Spurs hierarchy.
Their last dalliance with a Swiss manager and an ex-Basel boss, Christian Gross, did not work out so well during his stay between 1997 and 1998.
Spurs also appointed Juande Ramos in 2007, partly on the basis of his Sevilla team beating them in the UEFA Cup the previous season (although the successive successes in that competition also played their part).
Yakin is his own man, but those reasons do lend to why Spurs might shy away from him. As it is, Basel president Bernhard Heusler told Swiss newspaper Blick—here via Sky Sports—that they had received no contact from the North Londoners.
3. Luciano Spalletti
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At the time of writing, Luciano Spalletti has only been mentioned in passing in regards to the Tottenham job.
The Daily Telegraph's Matt Law suggested the Italian was among those "believed to be of interest to Spurs."
In his SportsIllustrated.com column, Bleacher Report contributor Jonathan Wilson noted the Zenit St Petersburg boss, "for all his success...is understood to be keen on a return to western Europe."
Spalletti has been one of the few foreign imports to succeed as a coach in Russia.
The 54-year-old has twice led Zenit to Russian Premier League success and consistent Champions League qualification. Making an impact in Europe has proved harder, though they have qualified for this year's Round of 16, where they will face last year's finalists Borussia Dortmund.
Spalletti's reputation was well and truly made during a four-year spell with Roma that was among the Serie A club's happier periods since their last Scudetto success in 2000-01.
With a side led by the versatile Francesco Totti, they twice won the Coppa Italia and were competitive at home and in European competition.
His lower placing in these rankings is as much to do with the paucity of information suggesting Spurs are actually interested in Spalletti.
Nonetheless, he is a proven, highly-qualified coach who would be an intriguing proposition in the Premier League should he decide the time is right for a move.
2. Louis Van Gaal
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The latest candidate to be linked with the Tottenham vacancy is decidedly off the table for the time being.
Current Netherlands boss Louis van Gaal has told Dutch broadcaster NOS—here via The Independent—that it is a job he would be interested in. "I've always said that I want to work in the Premier League, so there's a chance."
But the veteran coach also confirmed "everyone who knows me knows I won't do two jobs at the same time," ruling out the possibility of sharing time between Spurs and the Dutch.
Van Gaal's high ranking on this list is on the basis that Daniel Levy and the Spurs board decide they would be willing to wait until next summer to make a full-time appointment.
While that would mean sorting out an interim manager, it is easy to see why the prospect of an available and committed van Gaal would tempt them.
The 62-year-old has enjoyed tremendous success at club level, winning league titles with every team he has managed.
The circumstances of taking the Spurs job would be different to that which he found at Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. However in leading AZ Alkmaar to the 2008-09 Eredivisie title, van Gaal proved he could take on a more sizable challenge too.
Spurs would certainly be that, offering him the chance to work in one of the two major European football countries (along with Italy) that he has not worked in.
The issue remains, though, are Spurs prepared to wait for him and risk giving up on this present campaign?
1. Tim Sherwood
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Since being appointed interim Tottenham manager last week, Tim Sherwood has certainly talked the talk. After overseeing a 3-2 Premier League win over Southampton on Sunday, his actions have suggested he might be able to back it up too.
Had Daniel Levy not chosen him to step into the void left by Andre Villas-Boas it is unlikely the coach and technical co-ordinator would have been mentioned as a serious candidate for the long-term.
But he was, and now is under consideration for what would be his first senior management job.
Sherwood's inexperience at this level could count against him. One win might not be enough to convince Levy and his fellow decision makers. Or as the caretaker himself put it to BBC Sport, "one swallow does not make a summer. If we lose on Boxing Day, it is all doom and gloom again."
Spurs lost to West Ham United in the Capital One Cup last week, continuing their struggles at White Hart Lane. With two home games coming up this week, Sherwood would need to show evidence of getting the team playing comfortably and confidently within N17 again.
Should he do that, the things the former Spurs midfielder has said certainly lend to a candidate serious about getting the job right long-term. He was quoted by The Independent's Sam Wallace last week as saying:
"I know the players we have got here and I know the good young talent that is coming through the club. It’s up to the club. I need to talk about philosophies. What are we looking to do? Are we looking to buy players or are we looking to bring them through? All this has to be taken into consideration when I decide whether it is right for me or not.
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At the same time, Sherwood emphasised the importance of the here and now in football management. "The project is you win games or you get sacked. End of story."
That proved to be the undoing of Villas-Boas.
Sherwood's familiarity with the workings of the club gives him a foundation to work from. But it was the successful simplicity of his approach versus Southampton, lifted by good performances from those he selected, that suggested he might have the tools to build on it.
Also on his side is the fact that he is available to take on the job now, in a way that others like Louis van Gaal and Frank de Boer certainly are not.
"I will talk to the chairman to see what happens," Sherwood told BBC Sport in reference to what comes next. "It has to be right for the club first, then worry about me."
As it stands, the 44-year-old might well be what is right for Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.
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