Despite Sky report, Roberto Martinez probably isn’t a top candidate for Tottenham manager

Depending on which news outlet you read this morning, Roberto Martinez is either actively negotiating with Tottenham Hotspur about their open head coach position, or he’s not a top candidate at all.

So in other words, it’s a Tuesday.

Sky Sports turned a lot of heads with a report that Martinez was “continuing talks” with Spurs, buoyed by previous reports that Tottenham were hoping to announce an appointment within the next 7-10 days.

Well, that sounds ominous, doesn’t it? Spurs fans who aren’t particularly high on Martinez went into full blown panic mode on social media after this news, but football.london journalist Alasdair Gold quickly swooped in to pour some cold water on this particular rumor.

Everything I’m reading right now seems to back up Alasdair’s contention that Martinez seems to be way more into Tottenham than Tottenham is to Martinez, and since Gold’s sources often are directly from or linked to the club I tend to trust his word more than others. If Martinez were an option, he wouldn’t take charge until after the EUROs, and all indications are that Spurs want to announce something much sooner.

That Martinez’s name is still being floated speaks to an amazing job being done by Roberto’s agent, for sure, but the fact that he’s probably not on the final list also gives me hope that Tottenham’s process for identifying and acquiring a good managerial target is a good one. Martinez raises major red flags for me personally, and while it sounds like he’s not out of the picture entirely, I’m more than happy with looking elsewhere.

With the caveat that apparently nobody really knows anything, the three names that are showing up the most as being on Tottenham’s shortlist are Graham Potter, Ralf Rangnick, and Erik Ten Hag. But as always, we won’t know until we know.