Tottenham Hotspur were linked with a whole host of managers last summer, but few rumours were quite as strange as the one involving Rui Vitoria.
Tottenham sacked Jose Mourinho wanted were seeking a replacement, but Vitoria left many baffled.
Duncan Castles reported in April that Tottenham made contact with Vitoria over a move to North London.
Vitoria, formerly of Benfica and Al-Nassr, was a strange target for Tottenham and he ended up at Spartak Moscow instead.
Tottenham of course ended up appointing another Portuguese manager as Nuno Espirito Santo came in – though that move really didn’t work.
So how is Vitoria faring at Spartak? Now well, in short.
Sure, Spartak claimed a big win over Napoli on Wednesday night. That 2-1 victory was a big step in the right direction for Vitoria, even if opposing boss Luciano Spalletti refused to shake his hand.
Spartak sit 10th in the Russian Premier League, already 14 points behind top-of-the-table Zenit St Petersburg.
With just five wins in 15 league games this season, Vitoria remains under fire despite that win over Napoli.
Sport-Express in Russia claim that Vitoria is struggling with the press and is failing to connect with fans, especially after a video – released to show Vitoria studying a Spartak match – was actually just a still image.
Vitoria’s tactics and lack of one-to-one coaching are also raised as reasons why Spartak could still sack Vitoria.
That does sound somewhat similar to Nuno at Tottenham in many aspects.
Vitoria’s troubled time in Russia maybe points to Tottenham avoiding a real mistake – and just hammer home how lucky they are to have Antonio Conte now.
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