Six Tottenham managers who were worse than Nuno Espirito Santo

Cameron Loftus
1 November 2021

Nuno Espirito Santo disappointment Tottenham at West Ham Oct21

Nuno paid the price after Spurs suffered their fifth Premier League defeat of the campaign at the weekend. However, fans celebrating his departure should beware - it could get a whole lot worse.

Tottenham's long summer search for a manager ended with the appointment of former Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo. However, in less time than it took to appoint him, they have given him the bullet.

It is a far cry from August when he picked up the Manager of the Month award with Tottenham sitting pretty at the summit of the Premier League.

A shock defeat to Vitesse Arnhem in the Europa Conference League, defeats in four London derbies and a 3-0 loss to 'crisis-club' Manchester United sealed his fate.

However, despite the Portuguese manager's failure in north London, he was still head and shoulders above some of these former Tottenham bosses.

Ossie Ardiles

ossie osvaldo ardiles ricky villa tottenham hotspur

The revolutionary signing of Argentinian-born Ardiles and countryman Ricardo Villa in 1978 preceded a hugely successful ten years at White Hart Lane for Ardiles.

He won two FA Cups as well as the UEFA Cup as a player, but the former central midfielder could not reach the same heights when in charge of the London club.

In fact, Ardiles boasts the worst win percentage record of any full-time Spurs manager, with 30.77%.

After leading West Brom to victory in the Division Two play-off final, the lure of his former club proved too much for Ardiles.

The Argentinian employed an attacking formation, often playing five forwards, but defeats were all too regular and Spurs limped to 15th at the close of the 1993/94 Premiership season.

With a side containing Kevin Scott, David Kerslake, Stuart Nethercott, Justin Edinburgh, Jason Dozzell and Ronnie Rosenthal, it was perhaps no surprise the threat of relegation was only averted in their penultimate game.

Cash was splashed on Jurgen Klinsmann, Ilie Dumitrescu and Gheorghe Popescu în the close season but it failed to have the desired effect. Following a 5-2 defeat to Manchester City and a humiliating 3-0 League Cup exit at the hands of Notts County, Ardiles was sacked in November 1994.

Thirteenth at the time of his departure, Spurs rallied on the back of Klinsmann's goals and eventually finished seventh under Gerry Francis.

Christian Gross

Yet another manager from the Premier League era, which shows the struggle that Tottenham Hotspur faced in the 1990s. The Swiss manager, who spent the large majority of his playing career in his native Switzerland, was named the Spurs boss on November 19, 1997.

His tenure would ultimately only last nine months and started with the club facing a relegation battle.

Gross' first match was a 1-0 loss to London rivals Crystal Palace but his new side bounced back against Everton thanks to a 2-0 win at Goodison Park. They couldn't keep the winning form up as they were then thrashed 6-1 by a rampant Chelsea side and then thumped 4-0 by Coventry City. The signs were not good for the former Grasshoppers manager.

His grasp of the English language was poor and he was mocked and ridiculed by the newspapers. And although his team were slowly improving on the pitch, he couldn't escape the attention and pressure of the press.

In his first press conference, having arrived late, he showed a London Underground ticket and said: "I want this ticket to become my ticket to the dreams."

They finished 14th in the 1997/98 season and ahead of the next campaign the pressure was cranked up a level. Having seen Spurs lose two of their first three games, chairman Alan Sugar fired Gross. He left having won only three of his final ten games in charge.

After leaving Spurs, Gross went on to enjoy success in a decade-long tenure with Switzerland's biggest club, Basel, as well as winning major trophies in Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Terry Neill

Neill was a former Arsenal player who enjoyed mixed success with the Gunners. He captained the club at the age of only 20 but only managed between 10 and 20 appearances per season in his first years before going on to became a key part of the team in the mid-to-late sixties.

He won the FA Cup once and was a runner-up on two occasions and also represented Northern Ireland over 50 times.

At the age of 28 he was named Hull City player-manager, becoming one of the youngest in the history of the sport.

Fifth place in Division Two got the Tigers faithful dreaming of a first-ever visit to the top flight but three mid-table finishes followed. However, it was enough, along with his success in his part-time role with Northern Ireland, to earn him the Tottenham job.

It was a move that was not welcomed by the White Hart Lane faithful due to his Arsenal connections and he did little to improve the already frosty relations, only narrowly avoiding relegation in his first season.

In his second season there was an improvement, as they finished ninth and it was enough to attract the interest of former club Arsenal.

Neill became the Gunners' youngest ever manager at the age of 34, leaving Tottenham with a 34.44 win percentage, the third lowest in the club's history.

Tottenham were relegated the season after he left.

Billy Minter

From joining Spurs in 1908, Billy Minter really was Tottenham through and through. After playing for the club for 12 years, he became their all-time top scorer with 101 goals and held the record for over a decade.

Following his retirement from playing, Minter became a trainer at the club and although he had hung up his boots, the forward even filled in for Frank Osborne after he had been taken ill, for a game against Hull City.

Soon after, in 1927, Minter was appointed Tottenham manager. His first season in charge was one to forget as they were relegated to the Second Division. This being said, Spurs were unlucky to suffer the drop, having recorded the highest points total of any relegated team.

There was no instant return as the club finished tenth in 1928/29. The following campaign, citing stress and his failing health, Minter resigned.

He remained committed to the club and continued to work in the club's administrative offices, a role he held until his death in 1940.

Peter Shreeves

Following a playing career spanning 14 years, Peter Shreeves joined Tottenham Hotspur as a youth coach in 1974.

In 1977, the former Reading player and qualified black cab driver was promoted to manager of the reserve team and then assistant manager in 1980.

After Keith Burkinshaw's sacking, Shreeves replaced him in June 1984 and helped the north London side to a third-placed finish, which usually would have led to UEFA Cup qualification. However, at the time, English clubs were banned from European competition.

Spurs could only manage tenth in the league the next season and Shreeves was sacked and replaced by David Pleat.

The Wales-born manager would return to the club in 1991 but only lasted another season, guiding Spurs to 15th place.

Cementing the adage 'never go back', his second-spell win percentage of 38.33 made him statistically one of the worst managers in the club's history.

Taxi for Shreeves.

Jacques Santini

Regarded as one of the best French managers of his generation, Santini had a 13-game spell to forget at Tottenham Hotspur.

After winning the Coupe de la Ligue and Division 1 with Lyon he went on to manage France and amassed a record of 22 wins from 28 games, winning the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2003.

He resigned as national team coach before Euro 2004 and announced that he would be taking over at Spurs. Later, he said that he regretted agreeing to join the club before the tournament stating that he "dug his own grave".

Initial signs were good. Spurs went six games undefeated but the writing was on the wall after four defeats in five league matches, with a lack of goals costing them dear.

His tenure came to an abrupt end after five months, with Santini citing personal problems for his departure. However, it was widely thought that he had a series of disagreements with sporting director Frank Arnesen.

Santini only went on to manage one more club, Auxerre, before retiring.