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Management Next Sporting Director

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JDefoe said:
Matt Law and Jason Burt have just released an article detailing Spurs search for the Paratici replacement as the next Sporting Director. Much is made about the manager, but I would argue that 75% of our struggles are down to the abysmal recruitment of the Paratici-Levy-Lange period over the past 5 seasons. This will be the most important appointment in a long time.


View: https://x.com/matt_law_dt/status/2028522856473113055?s=46

Spurs step up hunt for sporting director with checks made on Paul Winstanley and Dougie Freedman​

Club want replacement for Fabio Paratici to have significant say in who they appoint as manager in the summer

Matt Law

Published 02 March 2026 5:21pm GMT

Tottenham Hotspur have stepped up their hunt for a new sporting director with checks believed to have been made on a number of potential candidates including Paul Winstanley and Dougie Freedman.
Winstanley is contracted to Chelsea until 2031 and is not expected to quit the Stamford Bridge club, while Freedman only joined Al-Diriyah, in Saudi Arabia’s second tier, last year.
Telegraph Sport understands the pair are among a number of possible candidates that checks have been made on through external sources working on behalf of Spurs.
It is believed that Tottenham would ideally like to agree a deal with a new sporting director in time for them to have a say on the identity of the next permanent head coach.
It remains to be seen whether that is possible, given Tottenham are involved in a Premier League relegation battle, but the club have started the process and hope to start speaking to candidates.
Spurs want to replace Fabio Paratici, who left the club to join Fiorentina last month. Johan Lange is the remaining sporting director at the club, but has faced criticism for the club’s recruitment.
Freedman is best known for his work at Crystal Palace, where he was credited with signings such as Eberechi Eze, Marc Guehi, Michael Olise and Adam Wharton. He was also heavily involved in the appointment of head coach Oliver Glasner.

Given he only joined Al-Diriyah last year, there are doubts over whether Freedman would be interested in the Spurs job or could leave his current post.

Winstanley has been sporting director at Tottenham’s London rivals Chelsea since November 2022 and, along with the club’s other recruitment chiefs, has been involved in the signings of Cole Palmer, Moisés Caicedo, Estêvão Willian and João Pedro. He has also helped the club hire a number of head coaches, including Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior.
Chelsea rewarded their sporting directors, including Winstanley, with new contracts that run to 2031, following their Club World Cup success last summer and there is currently no expectation he will leave Stamford Bridge.
Tottenham hired Igor Tudor as head coach after sacking Thomas Frank, with the club waiting until the summer to make a permanent appointment, when they believe there will be a bigger pool of coaches available to them. That has left the door open for a potential return for Mauricio Pochettino, who worked with Winstanley for a season at Chelsea.

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So, who will it be?
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Here's an idea 💡

Sell up. Fuck off. And let the new owners put their own man in place.
 
With the two clowns running the recruitment, they’ll probably go for Edu at Forest. Has all the hallmarks of something they would try. An ex-goon plus a public brawl with Marinakis. What more could we ask for? A perfect Spurs dog’s dinner in the making.
 
I don't think this issue can be discussed until we know which division we're going to be in next season. There is no point speculating on Premier League level candidates if we don't know if we're going to be in the Premier League next season.

I've been criticised for my thread about what the squad would look like in the Championship but right now I find it impossible to think about next season on the basis that we're still in the Premier League because the belief just isn't there.

I hope the team can show me something on Thursday night to persuade me otherwise so my imagination for next season can build around Pochettino instead of Ben Davies.
 
Kid Chameleon said:
I don't think this issue can be discussed until we know which division we're going to be in next season. There is no point speculating on Premier League level candidates if we don't know if we're going to be in the Premier League next season.

I've been criticised for my thread about what the squad would look like in the Championship but right now I find it impossible to think about next season on the basis that we're still in the Premier League because the belief just isn't there.

I hope the team can show me something on Thursday night to persuade me otherwise so my imagination for next season can build around Pochettino instead of Ben Davies.
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We cannot let this rest until we know which league we will play in.

A competent sporting director of any kind needs to be in post haste because we cannot allow Lange or Vinai to lead the summer window.
 
I hate to sound all Brexit but for me an important factor is that the new appointment has to be someone British who has connections with the lower leagues and knows the lay of the land.
 
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