Tottenham legend, Thomas Frank ally, wildcard: Interim options for next Spurs manager | OneFootball

Spurs new manager hunt starts with north London derby on horizon

Defeat to Newcastle has left Spurs just five points clear of the relegation zone and winless in eight Premier League matches.

However, that lengthy gap until Spurs' next fixture offered the club's hierarchy an opportunity to make the decision they had desperately been trying to avoid, confirming in a statement that the change was “necessary”.

The hope was that Frank could make it until the summer, when a decision on his future would then be made, but the club are now looking at options to replace the former Brentford boss.

An interim appointment until a permanent replacement is found at the end of the season would be the most likely outcome, even if there are few obvious options.

Here, Standard Sport assesses four of them…

John Heitinga

Heitinga is a strong contender to be placed in temporary charge for the remainder of the campaign.

The Dutchman arrived at the club last month to join Frank's coaching staff, replacing Matt Wells after he left to take charge of Colorado Rapids.

Heitinga has been primarily in charge of the defensive sessions but he has managerial experience, even if his unsuccessful spell at Ajax lasted only five months before he was sacked in November.

The 42-year-old was David Moyes' assistant at West Ham and worked under Arne Slot at Liverpool, taking charge of the Reds for a match last season when Slot was suspended.

Already in the building, he is the most obvious option for the interim job.

Internal candidate: John Heitinga

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Ryan Mason

Third time lucky?

The former Tottenham midfielder has already had two goes at the Spurs interim job.

Mason took temporary charge for the first time in 2021, leading the club in a Carabao Cup final after Jose Mourinho’s dismissal, and in 2023 once Antonio Conte and then Cristian Stellini had been sacked.

However, it is difficult to see a third spell in caretaker charge appealing to the 34-year-old.

He left Spurs in June last year to pursue his own managerial career with the West Brom job.

That did not work out and he was sacked last month, but Mason will surely be looking at options elsewhere rather than a return to north London.

Tried and tested: Ryan Mason

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Roberto De Zerbi

Former Brighton manager De Zerbi is available after he left his position at Marseille on Tuesday.

The Italian had spent two seasons in the hot seat at the Amex Stadium, guiding the Seagulls into Europe for the first time in the 2022-23 season, as they finished seventh.

They were more inconsistent in the next campaign, knocked out by Roma in the last 16 of the Europa League and finishing 11th in the Premier League.

Available: Roberto De Zerbi

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De Zerbi departed Sussex in 2024, citing “irreconcilable differences” with the club’s hierarchy over recruitment, and he moved to the south of France shortly after.

He led Marseille to second in Ligue 1 in his first season, but this year has been underwhelming. A 3-0 thrashing by Club Brugge confirmed Marseille’s exit from the Champions League last month, and they sit fourth in the French top flight, 12 points adrift of league leaders Paris Saint-Germain, who thrashed them 5-0 in what would turn out to be De Zerbi’s final game.

The former Shakhtar Donetsk boss has been linked with high-profile positions since his time at Brighton, including at Tottenham before Ange Postecoglou’s appointment.

Robbie Keane

Keane - another former Spurs player - is currently managing in Hungary, in charge of Ferencvaros.

The former Ireland international has been at the helm of the Budapest club since January last year, having previously managed Maccabi Tel-Aviv in his first head coach role, where he won the Israeli Premier League by 11 points.

Club legend: Robbie Keane

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Last season, Keane led Ferencvaros to the Nemzeti Bajnoksag I title, and they are on course to retain that crown, with Keane’s side top of the table this term.

Keane did sign a new deal with the Hungarian club in December last year, and he has guided them into the knockout stages of the Europa League, where they face Ludogorets in the play-off round.