Nuno names trio as Tottenham assistant coaches; Mason reverts to old role
Nuno Espirito Santo has filled out his Tottenham backroom staff with some familiar faces as Ian Cathro, Rui Barbosa and Antonio Dias have joined the club.
All three worked with Nuno at Wolves until the end of last season, and have a longer association with the Portuguese dating back to his previous clubs. At this stage, there is no indication on whether Ledley King remains part of the coaching set-up.
Cathro, who was briefly head coach at Hearts after working with Nuno at Rio Ave and Valencia, will serve as assistant head coach.
Barbosa and Dias join in identical roles to those they held at Wolves – with the former to work as goalkeeping coach and the latter the fitness coach.
Nuno was confirmed as the new Tottenham boss on Wednesday, signing a deal until 2023, as the long-term successor to Jose Mourinho.
After a spell in interim charge of the first team following Mourinho’s exit, Ryan Mason has returned to his academy role as head of player development.
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Trouble could be brewing at Tottenham
Meanwhile, Tottenham must make signings this summer, even if it presents a risk of transfer chief Fabio Paratici and new boss Nuno Espirito Santo disagreeing, one pundit claims.
Spurs are facing a pivotal summer transfer window in their bid to climb back up the Premier League table. Tottenham had hoped Jose Mourinho was the man to end their silverware drought, but he got the sack in April. As such, ex-Wolves boss Nuno will usher in a hopeful new era for the club.
Furthermore, the arrival of Paratici presents a significant change behind the scenes.
The ex-Juventus chief has detailed knowledge of the European transfer market and will play a key role as managing director of football at the club.
Nuno, though, earned a reputation at Wolves – much like Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool – for building his squad in his vision.
As such, pundit Alan Hutton has warned that the manager and Paratici could clash if the latter moves forward with his own plans for signings.
Spurs must show progress
Nevertheless, he admitted that Spurs must iron out the problem if it arrives as, after a seventh-placed Premier League finish, they cannot stand still.
“I understand the situation they’re in. They need to be active at the moment, they need to be moving forward and they have to have their eye on targets,” Hutton told Football Insider.
“Paratici will be in charge at the moment, he’ll be making most of the footballing decisions but you have to be wary.
If you’re bringing in a manager, especially an elite manager, he wants to be part of that. Making the decisions on who comes out and who goes out of his squad ultimately.
“It’s a very difficult situation to be in but they have to move forward and they have to make a decision now. Paratici is the head of football, he was brought in for that.
“He’s got a wealth of experience behind him, he’ll know what he’s doing. He will know the European market as well so they’ll definitely have targets but it is a difficult one.”
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