Sean Dyche opens up on Tottenham manager links after meeting in the pub | Football | Sport
Sean Dyche has spoken about being linked with Tottenham (Image: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Sean Dyche has dismissed speculation linking him with the Tottenham managerial position. The 54-year-old has been without a club since leaving Nottingham Forest last month and has been connected with a remarkable comeback to management at troubled Spurs. The north London outfit sit 17th in the Premier League, merely one point and one position above 18th-placed West Ham, who occupy the dreaded bottom three.
And with Spurs unable to secure victory in any of their previous 13 top-flight fixtures, there is genuine fear that relegation could become a reality. Considering this and Igor Tudor’s precarious situation, Dyche has been touted as the individual to arrive and rescue Tottenham while securing their Premier League status. Tudor was announced as Thomas Frank’s successor in mid-February but has suffered a nightmare start to life in the dugout, collecting just one point from a potential 18.
The Croatian, who has put pen to paper on a deal until the summer, has faced enormous scrutiny and Spurs are contemplating replacing their manager before the end of the international break, according to talkSPORT.
Should Spurs opt for change, Dyche is amongst the frontrunners to assume responsibility. And on Saturday, the former Everton and Burnley boss was questioned about the speculation surrounding him and the Tottenham role.
In a special talkSPORT show with Jonny Owen, Dyche said: “I was in the pub just up the way, near my place that I’ve got down here. And this guy, he goes, ‘You’re meant to be in talks with Spurs’.
“And I’m like, ‘Well I’m sat next to you having a pint of Guinness.’ So I said, ‘It’s unlikely.’ I’m with you mate (Jonny Owen) and I’m on talkSPORT…that’s what I’m doing.”
Following his dismissal of the Tottenham rumours, Dyche discussed the managerial merry-go-round and being connected to numerous vacancies both domestically and abroad.
Dyche continued: “You get clickbaited to death, don’t you? So no matter what you do, it’s a very tricky situation. You’re right to ask for an inside view.
The no-nonsense manager was sacked by Forest in February (Image: PA)
“When you’re the manager, you know you’re going to get asked these [questions] at some point, whatever part of your career, if you’re doing all right.
“And you get asked, and then you try and be respectful, because obviously, let’s use Tottenham as an example – brilliant club, massive club and all the rest.
“One of my first ever memories, is Ricky Villa’s goal [in the 1981 FA Cup final] and all that. And then you go: ‘Yeah, I’m flattered.’ And then they go: ‘Oh, he hasn’t said no!’. Then you go: ‘No’. And they go: ‘Oh, he wants it, really?’
“And you say: ‘Yes’, and they go: ‘Oh, I knew he’d want it’. “Whatever you say [people take the wrong way], because if you say: ‘No, I’m not interested’, it’s as if he’s got ideas above his station.”
Dyche’s track record at Premier League level is commendable. Throughout his tenure in the division with Burnley, Everton and Forest, he has secured 99 victories and drawn 95 of his 350 top-tier matches from the dugout.
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