Tottenham Performance Director Gretar Steinsson to leave in backroom restructuring

There has been a lot of change at Tottenham Hotspur over the past few months, starting with the departure of Director of Football Fabio Paratici, and the appointment of Scott Munn in the new role of Chief Football Officer. That restructuring is continuing, according to both Alasdair Gold at Football.London and Sami Mockbel in the Daily Mail, with recruitment director Gretar Steinsson leaving the club, less than a year since joining from Everton.

The implication from reading the early reports is that this is not precisely a sacking, but also not necessarily a voluntary resignation. It’s also not clear what it means, but the timing is certainly curious. Munn doesn’t start his role until July 1 and the club is still searching for a Director of Football to replace Paratici who stepped down a few months ago amidst his role in the latest Juventus football scandals. Academy director Dean Rastrick also left his position and was replaced by Scott Davies, and chief scout Leonardo Gabbanini has been stepping into a more prominent recruitment role along with some new data-based recruitment help.

All of this screams WE’RE FIXING SOME BROKEN SYSTEMS though fans can be forgiven for feeling a little jittery considering it’s late June and there still isn’t a set backroom structure in place. It also suggests Spurs are continuing to distance themselves from Paratici’s structure under Munn and Postecoglou. I don’t have any strong feelings about Steinsson or his job performance, though my understanding is that there were some questions about his efficacy when he was at Everton. This might be as simple as Munn, who formally starts on July 1, wanting his own person in place instead of Steinsson, though according to Gold some of what Steinsson is doing will be done, at least initially, by Munn himself.

Gabbanini, meanwhile, is getting some credit for identifying and going after Guglielmo Vacario this summer, and you have to wonder whether he is going to take the lead on talent identification, at least until a new DoF or Recruitment Director is appointed.

The whole thing feels a little messy and doesn’t necessarily inspire confidence that there’s a good plan in place, but if you cock your head and squint you can make a case that this is setting the stage for getting that structure assembled. Cleary this new structure, whatever it is, doesn’t include Gretar, Son of Stein.