Tag: Nuno Espirito Santo

Categories
football Slides Sports News Transfer News

TOTTENHAM CLOSING IN ON ANTONIO CONTE AFTER SACKING NUNO ESPIRITO SANTO

ENFIELD, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 01: New Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte poses for a photo at Tottenham Hotspur Training Centre on November 01, 2021 in Enfield, England. (Photo by Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)

Tottenham are closing in on the appointment of Antonio Conte as their new boss after sacking Nuno Espirito Santo.

Spurs fired Nuno after just four months on Monday morning following Saturday’s 3-0 defeat to Manchester United where the fans turned on him.

They moved quickly to find a successor, renewing interest in former Chelsea boss Conte, who was close to getting the job before Nuno in June.

The two parties were in advanced discussions on Monday, the PA news agency understands, with the Italian believed to be in London ahead of a possible announcement.

A deal would see Conte, who has been out of work since leaving Inter Milan at the end of last season, return to the Premier League where he guided Chelsea to the title in 2016-17, adding an FA Cup the following season.

Conte, who delivered the Scudetto to Inter before departing, had previously been in advanced talks with Spurs about becoming Jose Mourinho’s successor in June, but they broke down after the two parties were at odds over key issues.

However, managing director Fabio Paratici is now in position at the Premier League club and has a strong relationship with the 52-year-old, having worked with him at Juventus.

And it looks like any differences will be overcome, with chairman Daniel Levy turning to the serial winner to turn Spurs back into a force in English football.

Nuno was relieved of his duties after Levy and Paratici met on Sunday to discuss his future, with the news delivered early on Monday morning.

The Portuguese was a condemned man following the loss to United at the weekend, where fans chanted ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’ and roundly booed him at full-time.

And a statement from Tottenham on Monday morning read: “The club can today announce that Nuno Espirito Santo and his coaching staff Ian Cathro, Rui Barbosa and Antonio Dias have been relieved of their duties.”

Paratici said: “I know how much Nuno and his coaching staff wanted to succeed and I regret that we have had to take this decision. Nuno is a true gentleman and will always be welcome here. We should like to thank him and his coaching staff and wish them well for the future.”

Nuno’s appointment on June 30 ended a 72-day managerial search following Jose Mourinho’s sacking six days before the Carabao Cup final.

The former Wolves boss was previously discounted from the role by Levy for his pragmatic style of play, but after the likes of Julian Nagelsmann, Brendan Rogers, Erik Ten Hag, Mauricio Pochettino and Conte proved elusive, the chairman was eventually persuaded by Paratici to appoint Nuno.

It started well as, amid the backdrop of Harry Kane’s summer transfer saga, they won their first three Premier League games, including an opening day 1-0 victory over Manchester City which helped win Nuno August’s manager of the month.

However, they lost five of their next seven games and the style of play flew in the face of Levy’s demands for “free-flowing, attacking and entertaining football”.

The losses to West Ham and Manchester United in their last two Premier League matches have seen them go two hours and 16 minutes without having a shot on target.

Conte could be in charge for the Europa Conference League clash with Vitesse Arnhem on Thursday night, with a Premier League trip to Everton following on Sunday.

Categories
football Slides Sports News

TOTTENHAM SACK NUNO ESPIRITO SANTO AFTER FOUR MONTH IN CHARGE

Tottenham have sacked Nuno Espirito Santo after only four months in charge of the club.

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy held crisis talks yesterday following Saturday’s 3-0 defeat to Manchester United and has dismissed Nuno, who was appointed as Jose Mourinho’s successor after a protracted search this summer.

Levy, who was already worried about recent results and performances, was furious was the manner of the United defeat and has decided make a change with Tottenham eighth in the Premier League.

A short statement on the club’s website confirmed the sacking: “The Club can today announce that Nuno Espírito Santo and his coaching staff Ian Cathro, Rui Barbosa and Antonio Dias have been relieved of their duties.

“A further coaching update will follow in due course.”

Spurs will now begin a search to replace Nuno, with Porto manager Sergio Conceicao and Paulo Fonseca being considered as potential candidates. Antonio Conte is being strongly linked with the job in Italy.

Nuno was appointed on a two-year contract in June. He departs after just 124 days and 17 games in charge with Spurs 10 points behind leaders Chelsea.

“I know how much Nuno and his coaching staff wanted to succeed and I regret that we have had to take this decision,” said Spurs’ managing director Fabio Paratici.

“Nuno is a true gentleman and will always be welcome here. We should like to thank him and his coaching staff and wish them well for the future.”

His exit makes Nuno’s the shortest tenure of Levy’s ten permanent appointments at Tottenham.

Tottenham supporters sang “You don’t know what you’re doing” at the former Wolves boss as the atmosphere turned toxic during Saturday’s defeat by United and Levy has lost faith in him.

Categories
football Slides Sports News

KANE NOT SPURS’ ONLY PROBLEM – NUNO ESPIRITO SANTO

Nuno Espirito Santo insists Harry Kane’s struggles in front of goal so far this season is not the only problem Tottenham have to solve.

Despite a robust first-half display against Chelsea in the Premier League at the weekend, Tottenham put in a lacklustre display after the interval as Thomas Tuchel’s side eventually ran out comfortable 3-0 winners.

Much was made of Kane’s performance, playing much deeper on the left side of Spurs’ attack with the forward now without a goal from his first four league games for the first time since 2015/16.

But asked whether the striker was suffering a summer hangover from England’s Euro 2020 final defeat and an aborted move to Premier League champions Manchester City, Nuno was adamant Spurs problems were more a collective issue.

“There are so many problems we have to solve,” Nuno said.”Harry (Kane) is part of the team, like all of us. It’s all about the partnerships and the way we do things – everyone has to be involved.”

And when asked whether Kane was frustrated following the summer, Nuno added: “Nothing we can say or do now can change the past.

“What we have to do now is put it behind us and focus on the present.”

“The momentum we had before the international break has gone, there is an absence of players, we have to improve our levels of performance, we concede too many goals from set-pieces and we cannot sustain our play for long periods of the game.

“We are all trying to improve our performance in terms of goals, consistency and all the other aspects in the game and have to work to find the best solutions inside the team, in all the players.

Nuno takes his side to former club Wolves in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday looking for a first win in three games since the international break.

Prior to that period, Tottenham were top of the table with a 100 per cent record from their opening three Premier League games, and the Spurs boss is urging supporters to stick with his process.

Nuno said: “We started the season very consistent and solid with clean sheets, despite the situation that a lot of players were away.

“We did not score too much but winning- now we are not able to score and we are conceding.

“We have to look at what has happened, the results and performances have disappeared and the momentum and positive feeling has also gone.

“This is what we have to realise and find a way to get it back- our fans deserve much, much better than what we did on Sunday (against Chelsea).

“I was really pleased with the first half but the second half was not good.

“But what I can say is we are working very hard and the players are committed to playing better and things will improve.

“Our reaction to our problems is hard work and helping each other and that is how I work, with everyone involved.”

Categories
football Sports News

HARRY KANE WILL JOIN THE SQUAD WHEN HE IS READY – NUNO SANTO

Tottenham boss Nuno Espirito Santo says Harry Kane will join the squad when he is ready after missing the 1-0 win over Manchester City on Sunday.

Kane was not involved as Spurs beat the reigning champions 1-0 thanks to Son Heung-min’s second-half goal, putting on a show to suggest they may be okay even if their star striker gets his wish to leave.

The future of Kane, who is keen on a move to City, has been the major talking point of the summer and his late return to training meant that he was not included in the matchday squad for Spurs’ Premier League opener.

It is understood Kane was in the stadium to watch the game and he will have been left in no doubt how the fans feel about the situation following a loud rendition of “are you watching Harry Kane?”.

Kane trained on Sunday morning and Nuno said: “Harry, like (new signings) Bryan (Gil), Cristian Romero, they joined us later.

“For Cristian and Bryan it was very important to be here today. To feel the atmosphere and be in the stadium and be in the hotel, attending the meeting, but knowing they don’t have too many sessions with us.

“Harry worked this morning, he is preparing himself and when he is ready he will join the group and help the team.”

Nuno added on Sky Sports when asked about the fans’ chants: “Look, Harry Kane is one of the best players in the world, honestly.

“We are very lucky to have him. He has to get ready and help the team. We still have to go to Portugal (to play Pacos de Ferreira in the Europa Conference League play-offs) then we think about Wolves.”

While Kane was late in reporting back for pre-season training, his fellow forward Son was busy signing a new contract and endeared himself to the Tottenham fans yet further by scoring a 55th-minute winner.

The South Korean loves playing against City – this was the seventh time he has scored against them and the fourth in four games in north London.

Son earned the plaudits, but it was the performance of Japhet Tanganga that was most impressive as he kept Raheem Sterling and Jack Grealish largely quiet.

Nuno added: “All the team did very well, but Japhet was huge today. He faced too many one-v-ones today against fantastic players and he dealt fantastic with the situation.

“There’s no perfection, we still have a long way to go to be perfect and probably we will never achieve it, but I’m really proud of the way the players worked and really thankful for the support of the fans.

“It was huge the way they helped the team until the final minute, helping the boys, and we are very thankful for it.”

With this game out of the way, City may well now intensify their pursuit of Kane, which has so far amounted to an opening £100million bid – some way off what Spurs want to even get to the negotiating table.

Their need for a striker was obvious in north London as they missed several chances, but Pep Guardiola, who last week revealed he wants to sign Kane, was not prepared to bite this time when asked if this performance showed why they need the Spurs man.

“We are the same people as last season, Sergio (Aguero) has gone unfortunately but we only had him for seven games,” he said.

“We are the same people. We won the Premier League and we made very good things. It is a tough rival, we did everything to win.

“It is the same people as last season and we scored loads of goals. It has happened, we were there, we arrived many times and today we could not score and it is the same mystery. We are good enough to score a goal.”

Categories
football Slides Sports News

TOTTENHAM BEAT MANCHESTER CITY WITH LONE GOAL FROM HEUNG-MIN SON

Nuno Espirito Santo started his tenure as Tottenham Hotspur manager with a 1-0 win over 2020-21 Premier League champions Manchester City on Sunday.

Harry Kane, who has been linked with a move to City, wasn’t in the squad for the match.

Son Heung-Min scored the game’s only goal in the second half after a strong counter-attack from Tottenham.

The goal came against the run of play with City dominating possession and shots.

Spurs broke with the ball after Hugo Lloris had saved a City attempt. Steven Bergwijn found Son who had raced down the pitch. He slotted the ball past Ederson who didn’t have time to dive to save it.

England captain Kane only returned to training with Spurs on Friday after an extended break following Euro 2020.

Categories
football Slides Sports News

NUNO ESPIRITO SANTO BECOMES NEW TOTTENHAM MANAGER

Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed the appointment of Nuno Espirito Santo as their new head coach on a two-year deal.

The 47-year-old arrives at Spurs after a successful four-year spell at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

“When you have a squad with quality and talent, we want to make the fans proud and enjoy,” Nuno told Spurs’ official website.

“It’s an enormous pleasure and honour [to be here], there’s joy and I’m happy and looking forward to starting work. We don’t have any days to lose and we must start working immediately as pre-season starts in a few days.”

Nuno led Wolves to the Championship title in his first season in charge, before recording back-to-back seventh-placed finishes in the Premier League, the highest the club have achieved in the competition.

He oversaw Wolves’ first European campaign for 39 years, taking them to the quarter-finals of the 2019/20 UEFA Europa League, where they lost 1-0 to eventual winners Sevilla.

He has been named the Barclays Manager of the Month on three occasions.

Nuno’s first match in the dugout will be a home fixture against Manchester City on Sunday 15 August.

Categories
Sports News

NUNO ESPIRITO SANTO INCH CLOSER TO CRYSTAL PALACE MOVE AFTER EVERTON LINKS

Everton-linked Nuno Espirito Santo is on the verge of making a swift return to Premier League management with Crystal Palace.

That is according to The Telegraph, who are reporting that the former Wolves boss is now in advanced talks with Palace and close to being appointed.

The report goes on to claim that an announcement could be made later this week, with talks now progressing over a deal.

Everton’s search for a new manager is well underway and already a whole host of names have been linked with the position at Goodison Park.

The shock exit of Carlo Ancelotti last week, with the Italian returning to Real Madrid, has left the Blues with a vacancy that needs to be filled.
Just this morning Nuno remained the overwhelming bookmaker favourite at 2/5 to takeover at Goodison in the coming weeks.


But it now appears that the former Porto boss is set to take over from Roy Hodgson at Selhurst Park following his departure at the end of the season.
According to the latest odds, Nuno is followed by Ralf Rangnick and ex-Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe, who are both at 6/1.

While Frank Lampard and David Moyes are joint-third favourites at 8/1, with Rafael Benitez standing at 9/1.

Antonio Conte, who recently dropped out of the running to takeover at Tottenham following his exit from Serie A champions Inter Milan remains at 11/1, with Paulo Fonseca 12/1.

Categories
football Sports News

WOLVES TO PART WAYS WITH BOSS NUNO ESPIRITO AFTER END OF SEASON

Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo will leave the club after the final game of the season on Sunday, the Premier League team announced on Friday.

Nuno led Wolves to promotion from the Championship and established them in the top-flight during his four seasons at Molineux.

“Wolves can confirm head coach Nuno Espirito Santo will leave the club, by mutual agreement, after Sunday’s match against Manchester United,” a club statement said.

With Tottenham still looking for a new manager after Jose Mourinho’s sacking in April, it has been reported that Nuno is among the contenders to take charge of the north London side.

Under Nuno’s management, Wolves secured consecutive seventh-placed finishes in the Premier League and reached the Europa League quarter-finals.

This season has proved more difficult and Wolves can do no better than a 12th-placed finish depending on Sunday’s result in his farewell match against United at Molineux.

There had been reports for several weeks that Wolves were considering parting ways with the 47-year-old, who only signed a new deal with the club 12 months ago.

Both Nuno and the club insisted the decision for the Portuguese coach to leave had been made by mutual consent.

“We achieved our goals, we did it with passion and we did it together. Firstly, I want to thank the supporters, who have all played such an important part in helping us reach new heights for Wolves, and the people of the city, who embraced us and made us feel at home,” Nuno said.

“I, of course, want to thank all of the staff at Wolves, for their support and total commitment, every single day.

“Most importantly, I want to thank each and every player that we’ve worked with since the day we started, for their loyalty, their dedication, hard work and talent. They are the ones who have made this amazing journey possible for us.

“Sunday will be a very emotional day, but I am so happy that the fans will be back in Molineux and we can share one last special moment together, as one pack.”