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Former Tottenham coach was asked to stay but left ‘pointless’ situation | Football
Tottenham asked John Heitinga to stay on as coach after Thomas Frank departed, but he left as he felt his situation was ‘pointless’ in north London.
The Dutchman was only appointed as a coach at Spurs in January, brought in to work under Thomas Frank after an unsuccessful spell in charge of Ajax.
His stay at Tottenham was very short, with Frank axed earlier this month after a string of poor performances and results.
Heitinga went with him, meaning he was a Spurs coach for just 32 days, leaving the club languishing in a relegation battle in the Premier League.
The former Netherlands international’s agent, Rob Jansen, claims that Tottenham wanted Heitinga to remain after Frank’s exit.
The coach even hoped he could step up to become manager, but the club decided he had not been around long enough to warrant that promotion.
Igor Tudor was brought in as interim manager, taking charge until the end of the season.
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Jansen says Heitinga certainly had options to stay, but felt that working under a new manager, with new coaches, only for him to be replaced again at the end of the season, seemed pointless.
‘He was allowed to stay. They even asked him to stay,’ Jansen told the KieftJansenEgmondGijp podcast, via Sport Witness.
‘All other coaches, all Scandinavian, left. And after three weeks, they told him: “Please stay and see out your contract here.” That’s quite an achievement for someone who worked there for three weeks.
‘But he said: “Yes, but now Igor Tudor, a Croatian coach, is coming with a whole staff for three or four months”. That man is always hired for emergency jobs.
‘That almost never works. Why they did that is a mystery to me. And then another coach will come in. So, you can leave twice. That new coach will also come in with 45 people. He said, “This is pointless, Rob. I have to leave now”.’
On the possibility that Heitinga could have stepped up to become Spurs boss, Jansen said: ‘There was a chance he would take over; we had that in mind. Only: the club didn’t. After three weeks, they decided it was too soon. So, then you have an interim manager.
‘What does the management do, or in this case, the owners, the Lewis family? They opt for some kind of security. They hire someone with a track record, someone known as a crisis manager at struggling clubs for a few months.
‘That saves their image. Unless they dare to continue with Heitinga and a new staff, but they won’t.’
Tudor started his reign with a 4-1 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday and is back in action at Fulham this Sunday in the Premier League.
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