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The 15 Spurs bosses axed by Daniel Levy

Nuno Espirito Santo, Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte have all had success since departing north London with current boss Ange Postecoglou under pressure

Daniel Levy became chairman of Tottenham in February 2001 following the departure of Alan Sugar.

In 24 years, he has overseen the rise and fall of 16 managers including caretakers.

Ange Postecoglou is the latest Spurs boss under pressure as Spurs visit Brentford on Sunday. But what happened to the 15 that have preceded him under Levy’s stewardship?

George Graham

As the first sacking of the Levy era, Arsenal great George Graham did not continue his managerial career after Tottenham and instead took on a career as a TV pundit.

Glenn Hoddle

Glenn Hoddle was Levy’s first appointment and reached a League Cup final, which Spurs lost to Blackburn Rovers.

After his sacking in 2003, he went on to manage Wolves for two years and spent a period as a part-time coach at QPR under Harry Redknapp. Hoddle is never far from our screens as a pundit – or as the Grandfather Clock on The Masked Singer.

David Pleat 

A long-standing Spurs servant, David Pleat returned to Tottenham in a caretaker role for the third time after Hoddle’s exit, overseeing the rest of the 2003-4 season.

In 2010 he returned as a consultant scout until 2024, and can now be found attending matches and raising money for research into Motor neuron disease (MND) in memory of his wife.

Jacques Santini

As one of the less remembered managers in the Levy back catalogue, Santini also had the second shortest tenure, overseeing only 13 games in which Spurs took an average of 1.36 points.

Santini left White Hart Lane abruptly, citing “private” reasons, but it later emerged that his relationship with sporting director Frank Arnesen had broken down. He joined Auxerre for what would be his last managerial job.

Martin Jol 

Jol, who had been Santini’s assistant, took over and had initial success with two fifth-placed finishes – but in 2007, following Spurs’ worst start to a domestic campaign in 19 years, his tenure ended.

Unlike some of his predecessors, the Dutchman went on to have a long career as a manager, including stints at Hamburg, Ajax, Al-Ahly, and with a brief return to English football for two and a half years at Fulham. His three years at Tottenham remains his longest period at any club.

Juande Ramos

Spanish manager Juande Ramos (L) is doused with champagne by Robbie Keane (C) after Tottenham Hotspur won the Carling Cup Final against Chelsea at Wembley Stadium in London on February 24, 2008. Tottenham Hotspur won the game 2-1 after Jonathan Woodgate scored an extra time goal. AFP PHOTO ADRIAN DENNIS Mobile and website use of domestic English football pictures are subject to obtaining a Photographic End User Licence from Football DataCo Ltd Tel : +44 (0) 207 864 9121 or e-mail accreditations@football-dataco.com - applies to Premier and Football League matches. (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS / AFP) (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Ramos celebrates with the Carling Cup in 2008 (Photo: AFP/Getty)

Juande Ramos had won back-to-back Uefa Cups with Sevilla when he arrived and helped Spurs to their first trophy since 1999 when his side lifted the Carling Cup at Wembley in 2008 after beating Chelsea – and having overcome Arsenal in the semi-final.

Ramos came hurtling back down to earth, taking only two points from eight matches at the start of the 2008-9 season. However, after his sacking he was appointed as Real Madrid manager before heading to Russia and Ukraine, with no real success.

Harry Redknapp

As Spurs’ second-longest serving manager under Levy, Harry Redknapp had a strong relationship with the fans, but his reign was eventually derailed by rumours that he would replace Fabio Capello as England boss.

They were shut down by the appointment of Roy Hodgson, but Spurs tailed off towards the end of the 2011-12 and it contributed to the end of his reign.

Now 77, Redknapp has since retired, with QPR, the Jordan national team and Birmingham City his final jobs on the touchline. He also offered his services in a series of consultancy roles.

Andre Villas-Boas

While David Moyes was the bookies’ favourite to succeed Redknapp, Andre Villas-Boas took on the role to rebuild his reputation after his Chelsea dismissal.

After a very successful first-season, in which Villas-Boas delivered what was then a record Premier League points tally (72) for Spurs – his fate was sealed just before Christmas in 2013 following a 5-0 home defeat to Liverpool. He later managed Zenit Saint Petersburg, Shanghai SIPG, and Marseille.

In 2021, he took time away from football to enjoy a brief stint as a rally driver, but he is now back in the game as club president of Porto.

Tim Sherwood

Sherwood joked he was “the best manager this club’s ever seen” courtesy of his 59.1 per cent win percentage in his six months in charge. Among his highlights was the moment he gave his gilet to a fan and telling him to manage the team.

That spell preceded eight months at Aston Villa, but he can now be found on Sky Sports as a pundit.

Mauricio Pochettino

Congratulations are in order for Mauricio Pochettino as Levy’s longest-surviving manager. Pochettino’s Spurs were involved in two title races, two FA Cup semi-finals and reached the 2019 Champions League final but was sacked later that year with Spurs 14th in the table.

Following roles at Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, the Argentine is set to lead the USA national team into a home World Cup in 2026.

Jose Mourinho

Mourinho was denied the chance to get Spurs their first piece of silverware in 13 years when he was sacked days before the 2021 Carabao Cup final.

After leading AS Roma to a Europa Conference League title in 2022, his current role is with Fenerbahce.

Ryan Mason

With a total of 13 matches as the caretaker manager spread across two stints, Ryan Mason has spent his whole coaching career at the club, starting in 2018. He is on Postecoglou’s coaching staff.

Nuno Espirito Santo 

Nuno was meant to be Mourinho’s permanent successor, but following only four months in charge, he was sacked after a run of four defeats in six league games.

After a detour via Saudi Arabia, Nuno returned to England as Nottingham Forest’s manager in 2023 and has incredibly guided them into the top three, where they are pushing for Champions League football.

Antonio Conte  

Antonio Conte left Spurs by mutual consent after only 16 months after a furious rant criticising the club’s culture after a capitulation to a draw against Southampton.

After a brief career break, Conte is now in charge of Napoli who sit at the top of Serie A.

Cristian Stellini

Levy promoted Conte’s assistant Stellini to interim first-team manager but after a month, four games and a 6-1 defeat to Newcastle, he sacked him and called Mason back.

Stellini has since rejoined Conte as an assistant in Napoli.



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