Luciano Spalletti "In talks with Tottenham"

[yojambo]

I dont know anything about him, from what i can see he's only ever won the Italian Cup. I watched his Zenit side get torn apart at home to BVB the other week. He doesn't seem to offer the wealth of experience that LVG could. Was he at Roma with Baldini?

 

[The Scarecrow]

Guardian contributor, former scout and DoF at Monaco; Tor Kristian Karlsen has tweeted that Spalletti speaks "decent english".
Karlsen also has very good things to say about him and thinks that we'd be crazy not to go for him.

Karlsen generally knows his shit. Even if he's a bit hipsterish.

I hold Karlsen's opinions in high regard, and he's the main reason why I'm keen on Spalletti. I also follow a very dedicated Roma fan on twitter, who thought Spalletti would be the perfect choice for us when AVB was sacked.

Now that our season's over, I'd rather wait for van Gaal, though.

 

[ParklaneDazza]

I know it was "Talksport" and I really should know better, but big Alan Brazil was talking the other morning saying he'd had a chat with a well respected (unnamed) person about the possibilities of LVG taking over after the world cup and was told by said person that he'd got it wrong it was in fact Guus Hiddink who had been approached and was coming to the lane. if correct not sure which of the two I would prefer.

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

I know it was "Talksport" and I really should know better, but big Alan Brazil was talking the other morning saying he'd had a chat with a well respected (unnamed) person about the possibilities of LVG taking over after the world cup and was told by said person that he'd got it wrong it was in fact Guus Hiddink who had been approached and was coming to the lane. if correct not sure which of the two I would prefer.

He's got it wrong. Hiddink is taking over the Holland national team after the World Cup!

Knowing Brazil, he must of been pissed up and misheard.

 

[absolute bobbins]

I know it was "Talksport" and I really should know better, but big Alan Brazil was talking the other morning saying he'd had a chat with a well respected (unnamed) person about the possibilities of LVG taking over after the world cup and was told by said person that he'd got it wrong it was in fact Guus Hiddink who had been approached and was coming to the lane. if correct not sure which of the two I would prefer.

Probably bollocks because if it was Hiddink he'd have already started.

Going back to the original article, the agent they quote probably has no idea whats going on. I'm pretty sure he's a Saudi registered agent who has no connection to Baldini or Spalletti

Was he at Roma with Baldini?

I think Spalletti left before Baldini arrived

 

[Barry Mead]

I know it was "Talksport" and I really should know better, but big Alan Brazil was talking the other morning saying he'd had a chat with a well respected (unnamed) person about the possibilities of LVG taking over after the world cup and was told by said person that he'd got it wrong it was in fact Guus Hiddink who had been approached and was coming to the lane. if correct not sure which of the two I would prefer.

Ben on FTL today saying he heard Tim will be gone this summer but it won't be LVG coming in, although he thinks its De Boer

 

[McGoose]

I hold Karlsen's opinions in high regard, and he's the main reason why I'm keen on Spalletti. I also follow a very dedicated Roma fan on twitter, who thought Spalletti would be the perfect choice for us when AVB was sacked.

Now that our season's over, I'd rather wait for van Gaal, though.

Karlsen wrote on Twitter that he has "hardly ever witnessed a more impressive coach" about Spalletti. I'd be very happy with both him and Van Gaal though.

 

[cjj]

Probably bollocks because if it was Hiddink he'd have already started.

Going back to the original article, the agent they quote probably has no idea whats going on. I'm pretty sure he's a Saudi registered agent who has no connection to Baldini or Spalletti


I think Spalletti left before Baldini arrived

Baldini left as DoF in March 05, Spalletti got the job in June 05, then left in Sept 09, then Baldini returned again as as Director in 2011.

Done well to avoid each other!

 

[Geyzer Soze]

Baldini left as DoF in March 05, Spalletti got the job in June 05, then left in Sept 09, then Baldini returned again as as Director in 2011.

Done well to avoid each other!

Good. Perhaps that means Baldinis off then.

 

[dondo]

Ben on FTL today saying he heard Tim will be gone this summer but it won't be LVG coming in, although he thinks its De Boer

Has their been any other ITK on the new manager? ITK Seems to have died of death

 

[cjj]

Just out of interest @rockyhotspur, whats with the neg? I'm not the Chairman of Roma!

 

[Graysonti]

Silly name so it's a no from me.

Spalletti ? Not gonna work

 

[SFCS]

Silly name so it's a no from me.

Spalletti ? Not gonna work

Agreed, "Luciano Spalletti's blue and white army" doesn't work. This is why it's really important we get Van Gaal in.

 

[chinaman]

Agreed, "Luciano Spalletti's blue and white army" doesn't work. This is why it's really important we get Van Gaal in.

If it's him, we could become the Spaghetti Spurs.

 

[ButchCassidy]

I'm warming to this idea. He took Udinese from a relegation battle to the Champions League. Did great things at Roma going from 15th to 5th, broke the consecutive wins record for Serie A, qualified for CL twice and made it to knockout rounds both times, first Italian team to beat Real Madrid over two legs, and won two Coppa Italias and a Supercoppa over Inter back when they were the best team in Italy. Went to Zenit, won Russian cup, supercup, and the league twice, qualified for CL knockout round for first time in club history, and was sacked after another club knocked Zenit down to second place in the league. All that sounds pretty good to me. The only thing that bothers me is that he seems to have really lost the dressing room at Zenit - whether thats a product of the board's transfer strategy (I think at one point Hulk and Witsel were paid as much as the rest of the entire team) and the players or how much Spalletti is at fault I have no idea but they have had some massive problems.

 

[Antilokhos]

I'm warming to this idea. He took Udinese from a relegation battle to the Champions League. Did great things at Roma going from 15th to 5th, broke the consecutive wins record for Serie A, qualified for CL twice and made it to knockout rounds both times, first Italian team to beat Real Madrid over two legs, and won two Coppa Italias and a Supercoppa over Inter back when they were the best team in Italy. Went to Zenit, won Russian cup, supercup, and the league twice, qualified for CL knockout round for first time in club history, and was sacked after another club knocked Zenit down to second place in the league. All that sounds pretty good to me. The only thing that bothers me is that he seems to have really lost the dressing room at Zenit - whether thats a product of the board's transfer strategy (I think at one point Hulk and Witsel were paid as much as the rest of the entire team) and the players or how much Spalletti is at fault I have no idea but they have had some massive problems.

It all went downhill for him when they brought in Hulk and Witsel. Their wages were ridiculous, it angered some of the Russian players to the point they were insubordinate, Spalletti came down hard on them and the dressing room fractured between the Russians and the foriegners.

This was all around the time the supporters made the statement of not wanting any gay or black players at the club too. Not too surprising though, those Russians are right ****s. Just ask the Ukraine.

 

[Antilokhos]

If we end up with Spalletti or Van Gaal we will have done really well. Spalletti might not be as entertaining, but his teams tend to always know how to execute the plan, something we never do.

 

[ButchCassidy]

Luciano Spalletti's birthday demise at Zenit
Posted by Michael Yokhin

Nacional Funchal, Auxerre, Twente, APOEL Nicosia, Malaga, Basel and Austria Vienna. What do they have in common? You might think it's a random list, but all those teams have embarrassed Zenit in Europe since Luciano Spalletti took over as manager in December 2009. The annual combined budget of most of those clubs totals less than the 100 million euros Zenit spent in a matter of hours on Hulk and Axel Witsel just 18 months ago. The Gazprom-owned outfit, aspiring to become a major force in European football, have been left looking like a laughingstock more often than not.

That is one of the reasons behind Spalletti's hasty dismissal last week, even though the timing of his exit could hardly have been worse with the second leg of their Champions League tie against Dortmund this week. However, the Italian coach lost the dressing room a long time ago and some recent reports have suggested that he actually handed in his resignation in December, only to be told to continue his work.

The man who built exciting teams at Udinese and Roma thoroughly enjoyed his first couple of years in St. Petersburg, winning two league titles in succession in 2010 and 2011-12. Thereafter, though, his vitality disappeared and Spalletti often looked motionless on the bench, as though he was suffering.

The balance, both on the pitch and in the dressing room, was severely damaged by the Hulk-Witsel deal. You are probably familiar with the infamous Igor Denisov case in October 2012, when the midfield stalwart refused to play unless he received a significant salary increase, in line with that of the new comers, and was sent to train with the reserves for two months. He was eventually dispatched last summer (read more about that here), but let us take a look at some of the other extraordinary incidents that highlight the strained relationships inside the team.

First up, it's "Birthday-gate." On Nov. 27, 2012, Aleksandr Kerzhakov turned 30-years-old and Bruno Alves celebrated his 31st. Prior to this, Kerzhakov, the star striker, who is popular with most of the fans, was punished by Spalletti for some mysterious offence during the Denisov crisis and sent to train with the reserves, which prompted numerous reports about a rift between the so-called "Russian camp" and the foreign stars.

Meanwhile, Alves was a very prominent member of the foreign contingent, but was one of the biggest Zenit flops; highly inconsistent and error prone following his arrival from Porto for 22 million euros in 2010, he was later sold to Fenerbahce for less than a quarter of his purchase price.

There were two birthday parties at the same time, according to reports, and on the following day Spalletti decided to prove those rumours about his conflict with local stars were untrue. "I have no problems whatsoever with my players," the Italian told a news conference, without being asked. "I was at Kerzhakov's party yesterday. We all sat together with Roman Shirokov, Vladimir Bystrov and Igor Denisov." The assembled journalists wondered where Hulk was, and Spalletti replied: "He went to Bruno Alves' party, but I went to the one of Kerzhakov."

The reaction from Spalletti’s players was amazing. Shirokov, very outspoken and active on Twitter, immediately replied: "Spalletti was there? He must have been wearing a helm of darkness." Kerzhakov also said that he didn't see the Italian at the party, while Alves denied he'd had a party at all, let alone with Hulk. When Belgian stopper Nicolas Lombaerts was asked about the matter, he remarked: "I really don't think we should be talking about it."

How can a team function properly when players feel uneasy discussing birthday parties? How can the stars respect their coach when he is mistaken about spending his time with them?

Mutual respect had been missing at Zenit for a very long time, and it was evident when Hulk refused to shake Spalletti's hand after being substituted at San Siro in December 2012, when Zenit beat AC Milan, just about a week after "Birthday-gate."

Spalletti's response at the press conference was bizarre. He stated that he had support from Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller. "Big stars are often unhappy with being substituted, but immediately after the game I received an SMS from Miller. Do you know who he is? It is good that you know. He has sent me a message, congratulated me and wrote that all my substitutions were correct."

Just think about that for a second. A well-respected coach bragging in front of journalists that his big boss, who is supposed to know very little about football, approved of his professional decisions. Can you imagine the likes of Jose Mourinho showing an SMS message from Roman Abramovich at a press conference? Something had gone terribly wrong for Spalletti in Russia.

However, Miller was indeed impressed with the Italian. In March 2013, Zenit were dumped out of the Europa League by Basel, with Shirokov quarrelling with Hulk about who should take a penalty, missing it and then accusing the Brazilian of hindering his concentration. The fiasco prompted new rumours about Spalletti's position, with CSKA Moscow leading the Russian league on their way to winning the title. The Gazprom supremo was having none of it, and posted lines from Nobel Prize-winning Italian poet Eugenio Montale on the club's official website to support his man. "The trip knows no bounds, and your journey has only just started", Miller wrote.

Unfortunately for Spalletti, he couldn't put Miller in his starting lineup. Most of the players had lost respect for him and the Italian had lost faith in the Russian contingent. This was evident a couple of years prior, when Aleksandr Anyukov decided to resign from the captaincy, giving the armband to keeper Vyacheslav Malafeev, who in turn had to forfeit it in favour of Portugal international Danny in November 2012. Without a permanent captain, and lacking any type of leadership, Zenit fell apart. They played some great football as a collective in the first two years under Spalletti, but were just a bunch of individuals thereafter.

Denisov was sold in the summer of 2013, Anyukov lost his place in the starting lineup this season, Bystrov barely played and was loaned out to Anzhi Makhachkala this winter. The most important player, though, remained Shirokov -- the brains in midfield and a source of improvisation. Spalletti was responsible for turning the man who former Zenit coach Dick Advocaat saw as a centre-back into the best player in Russia, but the relationship between the duo was always problematic, and the "helm of darkness" tweet certainly didn't help.

It is rumoured that Shirokov constantly blamed Spalletti for ruining the team spirit and play, and the confrontation allegedly escalated into a physical brawl during a training camp in Israel last January. The midfielder was immediately sent home, with the official version being that he needed medical treatment for a heel injury. That excuse wasn't credible, as Shirokov was eventually loaned out to Krasnodar last month, in order to get some playing time ahead of the World Cup.

Spalletti made it clear to the management that he was unable to work with the Russia captain, so Zenit started the year without their best player. The Italian probably hoped that such a radical measure would send out a message to his other players and help to heal the atmosphere, but he was wrong.

Zenit should have cut Spalletti loose in December, but instead the club completely wasted the winter break and that led to the 4-2 thrashing at home by Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, in what was a truly horrible display. Zenit's expensively assembled stars lost possession time and again in their own half that evening, and it only got worse when the domestic league restarted. Spalletti's troops had keeper Yuri Lodygin to thank for getting a point from a 0-0 draw at home with lowly Tom Tomsk. Coincidentally, Dick Advocaat was sacked after losing to the very same Tomsk in 2009.

That's when Miller stopped reproducing Italian poetry. Spalletti, who celebrated his 55th birthday two days before the Tomsk fiasco, was relieved of his duties. But it could turn out to be the perfect present for him; Spalletti can now put his Russian nightmare behind him and start afresh at a club that will enable him to smile again.

As for Zenit, they have named Andre Villas-Boas as their new coach. The Portuguese was reportedly convinced by Hulk to take on the job -- the Brazilian striker stated numerous times in the past that he dreams of working with AVB again. His task in the divided dressing room will be enormous, though. As one frustrated Zenit fan remarked: "They have found a coach for Hulk, now it's time to sign coaches for each of the other players."

 

[Geyzer Soze]

Luciano Spalletti's birthday demise at Zenit
Posted by Michael Yokhin

Nacional Funchal, Auxerre, Twente, APOEL Nicosia, Malaga, Basel and Austria Vienna. What do they have in common? You might think it's a random list, but all those teams have embarrassed Zenit in Europe since Luciano Spalletti took over as manager in December 2009. The annual combined budget of most of those clubs totals less than the 100 million euros Zenit spent in a matter of hours on Hulk and Axel Witsel just 18 months ago. The Gazprom-owned outfit, aspiring to become a major force in European football, have been left looking like a laughingstock more often than not.

That is one of the reasons behind Spalletti's hasty dismissal last week, even though the timing of his exit could hardly have been worse with the second leg of their Champions League tie against Dortmund this week. However, the Italian coach lost the dressing room a long time ago and some recent reports have suggested that he actually handed in his resignation in December, only to be told to continue his work.

The man who built exciting teams at Udinese and Roma thoroughly enjoyed his first couple of years in St. Petersburg, winning two league titles in succession in 2010 and 2011-12. Thereafter, though, his vitality disappeared and Spalletti often looked motionless on the bench, as though he was suffering.

The balance, both on the pitch and in the dressing room, was severely damaged by the Hulk-Witsel deal. You are probably familiar with the infamous Igor Denisov case in October 2012, when the midfield stalwart refused to play unless he received a significant salary increase, in line with that of the new comers, and was sent to train with the reserves for two months. He was eventually dispatched last summer (read more about that here), but let us take a look at some of the other extraordinary incidents that highlight the strained relationships inside the team.

First up, it's "Birthday-gate." On Nov. 27, 2012, Aleksandr Kerzhakov turned 30-years-old and Bruno Alves celebrated his 31st. Prior to this, Kerzhakov, the star striker, who is popular with most of the fans, was punished by Spalletti for some mysterious offence during the Denisov crisis and sent to train with the reserves, which prompted numerous reports about a rift between the so-called "Russian camp" and the foreign stars.

Meanwhile, Alves was a very prominent member of the foreign contingent, but was one of the biggest Zenit flops; highly inconsistent and error prone following his arrival from Porto for 22 million euros in 2010, he was later sold to Fenerbahce for less than a quarter of his purchase price.

There were two birthday parties at the same time, according to reports, and on the following day Spalletti decided to prove those rumours about his conflict with local stars were untrue. "I have no problems whatsoever with my players," the Italian told a news conference, without being asked. "I was at Kerzhakov's party yesterday. We all sat together with Roman Shirokov, Vladimir Bystrov and Igor Denisov." The assembled journalists wondered where Hulk was, and Spalletti replied: "He went to Bruno Alves' party, but I went to the one of Kerzhakov."

The reaction from Spalletti’s players was amazing. Shirokov, very outspoken and active on Twitter, immediately replied: "Spalletti was there? He must have been wearing a helm of darkness." Kerzhakov also said that he didn't see the Italian at the party, while Alves denied he'd had a party at all, let alone with Hulk. When Belgian stopper Nicolas Lombaerts was asked about the matter, he remarked: "I really don't think we should be talking about it."

How can a team function properly when players feel uneasy discussing birthday parties? How can the stars respect their coach when he is mistaken about spending his time with them?

Mutual respect had been missing at Zenit for a very long time, and it was evident when Hulk refused to shake Spalletti's hand after being substituted at San Siro in December 2012, when Zenit beat AC Milan, just about a week after "Birthday-gate."

Spalletti's response at the press conference was bizarre. He stated that he had support from Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller. "Big stars are often unhappy with being substituted, but immediately after the game I received an SMS from Miller. Do you know who he is? It is good that you know. He has sent me a message, congratulated me and wrote that all my substitutions were correct."

Just think about that for a second. A well-respected coach bragging in front of journalists that his big boss, who is supposed to know very little about football, approved of his professional decisions. Can you imagine the likes of Jose Mourinho showing an SMS message from Roman Abramovich at a press conference? Something had gone terribly wrong for Spalletti in Russia.

However, Miller was indeed impressed with the Italian. In March 2013, Zenit were dumped out of the Europa League by Basel, with Shirokov quarrelling with Hulk about who should take a penalty, missing it and then accusing the Brazilian of hindering his concentration. The fiasco prompted new rumours about Spalletti's position, with CSKA Moscow leading the Russian league on their way to winning the title. The Gazprom supremo was having none of it, and posted lines from Nobel Prize-winning Italian poet Eugenio Montale on the club's official website to support his man. "The trip knows no bounds, and your journey has only just started", Miller wrote.

Unfortunately for Spalletti, he couldn't put Miller in his starting lineup. Most of the players had lost respect for him and the Italian had lost faith in the Russian contingent. This was evident a couple of years prior, when Aleksandr Anyukov decided to resign from the captaincy, giving the armband to keeper Vyacheslav Malafeev, who in turn had to forfeit it in favour of Portugal international Danny in November 2012. Without a permanent captain, and lacking any type of leadership, Zenit fell apart. They played some great football as a collective in the first two years under Spalletti, but were just a bunch of individuals thereafter.

Denisov was sold in the summer of 2013, Anyukov lost his place in the starting lineup this season, Bystrov barely played and was loaned out to Anzhi Makhachkala this winter. The most important player, though, remained Shirokov -- the brains in midfield and a source of improvisation. Spalletti was responsible for turning the man who former Zenit coach Dick Advocaat saw as a centre-back into the best player in Russia, but the relationship between the duo was always problematic, and the "helm of darkness" tweet certainly didn't help.

It is rumoured that Shirokov constantly blamed Spalletti for ruining the team spirit and play, and the confrontation allegedly escalated into a physical brawl during a training camp in Israel last January. The midfielder was immediately sent home, with the official version being that he needed medical treatment for a heel injury. That excuse wasn't credible, as Shirokov was eventually loaned out to Krasnodar last month, in order to get some playing time ahead of the World Cup.

Spalletti made it clear to the management that he was unable to work with the Russia captain, so Zenit started the year without their best player. The Italian probably hoped that such a radical measure would send out a message to his other players and help to heal the atmosphere, but he was wrong.

Zenit should have cut Spalletti loose in December, but instead the club completely wasted the winter break and that led to the 4-2 thrashing at home by Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, in what was a truly horrible display. Zenit's expensively assembled stars lost possession time and again in their own half that evening, and it only got worse when the domestic league restarted. Spalletti's troops had keeper Yuri Lodygin to thank for getting a point from a 0-0 draw at home with lowly Tom Tomsk. Coincidentally, Dick Advocaat was sacked after losing to the very same Tomsk in 2009.

That's when Miller stopped reproducing Italian poetry. Spalletti, who celebrated his 55th birthday two days before the Tomsk fiasco, was relieved of his duties. But it could turn out to be the perfect present for him; Spalletti can now put his Russian nightmare behind him and start afresh at a club that will enable him to smile again.

As for Zenit, they have named Andre Villas-Boas as their new coach. The Portuguese was reportedly convinced by Hulk to take on the job -- the Brazilian striker stated numerous times in the past that he dreams of working with AVB again. His task in the divided dressing room will be enormous, though. As one frustrated Zenit fan remarked: "They have found a coach for Hulk, now it's time to sign coaches for each of the other players."

Wow. Avbs really bitten off quite the challenge there!

 

[Dharmabum]

Too many lose ends with this guy it seem. Though I can imagine managing Zenith isn't an easy thing.
However, it looks as if he's toally miscalculated how non-Russian players would adjust to playing in Russia. In the EPL he would face the same problem. I'd rather not have him as Spurs' next manager.
One of my out-siders for the job would be Dragan Stojkovic, who Wenger speaks highly of.