Simon Jordan wonders if Daniel Levy will have reservations about appointing Julian Nagelsmann at Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur following the Bundesliga champion’s sudden Bayern Munich departure.
If you look at the results and the results alone, you would be forgiven for wondering if Bayern have acted a little hastily. Yes, the Bavarian giants are second in the table but only one point behind Borussia Dortmund ahead of next month’s Klassiker.
A Champions League quarter-final clash with Manchester City is also looming; Bayern having knocked out PSG while pummelling Barcelona earlier in the competition.
But events on the pitch are only one aspect of top-level management. And it seems that Nagelsmann’s conduct off it – his strained relations with the Bayern chiefs, his tendency to make rather odd comments in front of the media – brought about the premature downfall of this 35-year-old managerial wunderkind.
Will Tottenham Hotspur hire Julian Nagelsmann
“His record is very impressive. It’s not quite up there with Pep Guardiola’s in terms of the win-rate with Bayern Munich. But he’s running at a 71 per cent win record,” former Crystal Palace owner Jordan tells talkSPORT.
“You look at the elite managers that are around and you look at Nagelsmann. He’s a young manager so he’s going to make mistakes. He’s going to make judgements that potentially put him on the wrong side of experience.
“But if you’re suggesting someone with that record needs to be taken out, it really can’t be reasons on the field. It has to be his relationships in the boardroom and the manner in which he conducts himself off the pitch.”
‘Depends what Daniel Levy wants to do’
Nagelsmann made his name at Hoffenheim and guided Bayern to the Bundesliga title in 2022. He held talks with Tottenham two years ago. That was before the subsequent appointments of first Nuno Espirito Santo and then, a few weeks later, Antonio Conte.
But Jordan feels the nature of his Allianz Arena exit may have Levy running for the hills. Especially on the back of a testing couple of seasons alongside the combustable Conte and the perennial headline-hogger Jose Mourinho.
“My first thought was, is that the next port of call for Daniel Levy? It depends what Daniel Levy wants to do,” Jordan adds. “And if he does what I think he should do – which is give Antonio Conte a dropkick into the next life – then Nagelsmann is a discussion they could have.
“But if you’re talking about someone who is potentially prickly and problematic…
“If managers cannot work with the people they actually work for, it doesn’t matter how good you are. You’re always going to find yourself on the wrong side on an argument.”
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