Jacques Santini came to Tottenham in the summer of 2004 with high expectations after managing the French national team for two years.
However, his reign at Spurs lasted just 13 games after which the Frenchman resigned due to disagreements with then Sporting Director Frank Arnesen.
It all worked out well in the end for Spurs as Martin Jol took over from Santini and guided Tottenham to two consecutive 5th place finishes in the table, Spurs’ highest finish in the Premier League until that point.
Former Spurs midfielder Michael Carrick has now talked about his experiences under Santini at Tottenham.
Carrick who signed from West Ham in the summer of 2004 and went on to play 75 games for Tottenham in his two seasons at White Hart Lane, has revealed that Santini didn’t know who he was.
The former England midfielder revealed that he was initially asked to train with the reserves as it was Arnesen who had actually signed him.
Speaking to FourFourTwo, Carrick said: “Yes, that’s true (Santini didn’t know who he was). Well, it certainly looked like that. He didn’t seem to know who I was – it was a very strange moment!
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“I arrived at Spurs’ training ground and said to my adviser Dave [Geiss],’I’m not too sure he knows who I am!’ He said, ‘I think you’re right.’ I’d signed that morning, so it was all agreed with the club and I went to his office to meet him.
“It was weird. I ended up with the reserve team on my first day of training, and later found out that I’d been signed more by Frank Arnesen, who was Spurs’ sporting director.”
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