Journalist Dean Jones has dismissed suggestions that Roberto De Zerbi’s behaviour on Saturday will put Tottenham off from pursuing the Brighton boss.
Brighton have gone up a level since De Zerbi took over from Graham Potter back in September, and the Seagulls certainly delivered an excellent performance at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday and were unlucky to take nothing from the game.
The South Coast club’s improvement under the Italian is thought to have caught Spurs’ eye, with the 43-year-old reported to be one of the names on Spurs’ shortlist to replace Antonio Conte (The Daily Express).
However, De Zerbi and his staff behaved quite erratically on the touchline on Saturday and the situation reached a boiling point in the second half when the two benches clashed, resulting in both the Brighton boss and Cristian Stellini being sent off.
The Telegraph revealed a couple of days that the former Sassuolo boss might have ruled himself out of the running for the Spurs job with his behaviour on Saturday as there were already concerns among the Tottenham hierarchy about his temperament.
However, Jones has suggested that Daniel Levy would have not minded seeing De Zerbi’s passion.
When asked if Tottenham would have been put off by the Seagulls boss’ behaviour, the journalist told GiveMeSport: “I don’t think it would have put them off him necessarily.
“It’s just a moment in football when passions get high and that should be something that Daniel Levy will be pleased to see in a potential manager candidate.”
Spurs Web Opinion
I thought De Zerbi’s candidacy for the Spurs job would have been strengthened immensely if he had behaved calmly on the touchline as some of the football on show from Brighton was excellent.
However, there is no doubt that the 43-year-old harmed his prospects by behaving in the manner he did.
After the Mourinho and Conte episodes, Levy will be wary of hiring another temperamental head coach.