Tottenham Hotspur have announced the firing of manager Nuno Espirito on Monday morning, only four months after his appointment.  The 47 year old Portuguese man signed a two year contract in June, after the clubs sacking of Jose Mourinho. However, Espirito was not the clubs first choice replacement. Espirito was only at the helm for 17 games, with his most recent game being a 3-0 loss to top 5 rival Manchester United.  Inside sources have stated that players started to loose faith in their manager early on in the season once things started to go downhill.

After winning their opening three game in the Premier League, things started to go downhill for Spurs.  In their 10 Premier League games coached by Espiritio, they only were able to find the net 9 times. In addition to that, they hold one of the leagues world goal differences, coming it at an astounding -7.  England national team star Harry Kane has had an underwhelming season thus far under Espirito, only scoring one goal in his nine league appearances.  Spurs’ managing director of football, Fabio Paratici said, “I know how much Nuno and his coaching staff wanted to succeed”, adding on “Nuno is a true gentleman and will always be welcome here. We should like to thank him and his coaching staff and wish them well for the future."

The search for the next Tottenham manager is already underway.  Antonio Conte, former Chelsea, Juventus and Inter Milan head coach seems to be the leading man in the search.  Spurs are familiar with Conte, as in their prior managerial search last June, Conte was their main choice. However, negotiations fell through leading Spurs to hire Espirito instead.  Conte is expected to touch down in London today in order to negotiate with Spurs for the new position.  Conte is currently not under a contract with any club or nation and, if signed by Spurs, would bring a multitude of Premier League experience due to a very successful prior coaching stint with Chelsea.  A few other managers for consideration are Gennaro Gattuso, Erik ten Hag, and Julian Nagelsmann.