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It will not be hard to spot the Tottenham team bus when it pulls into Stamford Bridge for Sunday’s London derby against Chelsea. Emblazoned with the club’s crest and "Tottenham Hotspur" in giant letters, the coach is anything but subtle. And once it has pulled up, out will spill Antonio Conte and managing director of football Fabio Paratici, both dressed in sharp club suits.
The bus and suits were both introduced by Paratici last summer and represent a gradual change of culture at Spurs since his appointment. Having worked at one of Europe’s biggest clubs, Juventus, Paratici told Tottenham that branding the bus would help to change perceptions of a club that has so often been accused of trying to cut corners.
Matchday suits were also introduced, with the message very much that Tottenham mean business when they arrive for games. Paratici did not want Spurs simply talking of being a big club, he was adamant that they must act like one too.
For more than a decade, Chelsea have been able to look down at Tottenham but Spurs not only now have a stadium that is the envy of their London rivals but a head coach, squad and momentum that they must be wary of.
In Paratici, Tottenham also have something the new Chelsea ownership are looking for: an experienced operator in charge of the football operation who can deliver what the head coach wants while also working on some of the finer, non-playing details.
It is, of course, Conte, and not a snazzy bus, who must take most of the credit for drastically altering the direction of Tottenham’s travel, having pulled the club up from ninth place into the top four and demanding the very best of everybody around him.
Paratici's role in Tottenham transfers
Some sources are adamant that Paratici would no longer be at Tottenham were it not for the appointment of Conte last November, but some of the 50-year-old's most important work was done before the former Chelsea coach arrived.Spurs would simply not have been in a position to tempt Conte back to the Premier League, having already failed with one approach, had Harry Kane joined Manchester City last summer.
Paratici told Kane that City’s only bid of £85million, plus £15m in add-ons, was not one that demonstrated a realistic desire to sign him. He explained that while Pep Guardiola may have wanted him, the club must have been less certain and that was borne out by the fact their attentions turned to Erling Haaland 12 months later.
Those involved in talks about Kane’s future describe Paratici’s impact as “phenomenal” and with Haaland now at City the smart money is very much on the England captain eventually signing a new Tottenham contract.
Of course, there were also significant mistakes made by Paratici after starting his job on July 1 last year during a chaotic managerial hunt that ended with him appointing Nuno Espirito Santo, who was completely unsuited to the post.
He also signed some players who either needed time and Conte’s coaching to adapt to English football or could simply not make the transition. There was, however, a spectacular success in the form of defender Cristian Romero, who, for £41m following an initial loan, immediately demonstrated that he would be a bargain.
Romero was known to Paratici from their time at Juventus, as were January additions Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur. This particular correspondent was not the only person to question the wisdom of signing two players who had spent considerable time on the Italian club’s bench, but their influence, under the guidance of Conte, has been transformative.
Kulusevski, who scored and assisted last weekend, will cost £29.2million by the time Spurs sign him permanently and, on his current trajectory, the Swede will already be worth more than twice that fee. The £15.8million Tottenham initially paid Juve, who needed money to cover the £63 million they spent on Dusan Vlahovic, also looks like a relative pittance in Premier League terms.
Passion in the boardroom, and the dug-outs
Other than branding the bus and insisting that suits are worn on match days, Paratici made another subtle change behind the scenes last summer, promoting Allan Dixon, the brother-in-law of Levy. Dixon was a popular player liaison officer and, recognising the link he can provide, Paratici made him "team manager" to act as a conduit between the dressing-room, particularly the English players, and the head coach. On match days he operates from the dug-out. Watch out for the Brad Friedel lookalike near Conte at Stamford Bridge.A confrontational and fiery figure, Paratici commands respect but will not always win popularity contests inside Tottenham, where doctors can be told how to do their jobs and chefs can receive criticism over the standard of food.
He is ruthless in his pursuit of the best and is said to be tactically astute, which is why Paratici was not too proud to recommend the sacking of Nuno after just four months in charge following a defeat to Manchester United which particularly infuriated him.
Just as he did over Nuno’s future, Paratici will forcefully voice his opinion in the boardroom and has been known to shout and offer his resignation in protest against decisions he felt were going against him.
That Latin spirit has also been felt by opponents. Chelsea staff were unhappy with the way Paratici behaved from behind the dug-outs during their visit to Tottenham last September and during a pre-season friendly against Roma, Jose Mourinho, of all people, had to act as a peacekeeper after Paratici had become involved in a slanging match with one of his staff.
Conte's right-hand man
A fighter himself, Conte no doubt appreciates having somebody firmly in his corner and Spurs can no longer face accusations of being a soft touch - something Paratici had been acutely aware of while at Juventus. It was Giorgio Chiellini who said “It’s the history of Tottenham” after the Italian club knocked them out of the Champions League in 2018.Paratici fought from the start of his tenure for more staff in each department and Spurs this summer appointed Gretar Steinsson to work alongside Paratici as performance director with Andy Scoulding arriving as assistant. There was also an addition made to the coaching department, with Conte able to hire Gianni Vio as the club’s first-ever set-piece specialist.
Perhaps most importantly, Paratici has helped convince Levy to review Tottenham’s transfer policy this summer. The biggest change has been that Spurs spent early and did so before they had sold. They also spent heavily on Richarlison, a forward who is far from certain of starting and, barring an injury to Kulusevski, Kane or Heung-Min Son, will be on the substitutes’ bench on Sunday.
Conte’s bench was embarrassingly thin when Tottenham visited Stamford Bridge twice inside three weeks last season, but this weekend Richarlison will step on to a substitutes’ rosta that included Ivan Perisic, Clement Lenglet, Yves Bissouma and Lucas Moura in the opening-day victory over Southampton.
His first 12 months or so at Spurs have not been without their bumps, but Paratici can be pleased with the way he has helped set the wheels on the club’s branded bus in motion.
Working for free in June it seems.
Steve Hitchen strikes me as the type to spend most of his time being unaware of most things...
Am I the only person who thinks he done a good job, taking into account the time he's been in the role, and the amount of issues he had to face?
This is fantastic content from Spurs!!! Accountability at last! Don't care if you agree or disagree with the work done in the window but this is arguably one of the best pieces of content that the Club has put out. A DoF that's accountable, that dose interviews, that's a face open and communicative!!
I'm sorry. But this guy has failed at Spurs so far.
Let's analyse everything so far.
Transfers :
Romero -> Good deal , Fair enough.
Emerson -> £25m for a guy they now want to get rid of
Gollini -> Spurs don't want him
Gil -> £20m+Lamela for a guy they are trying to loan back from where he came from
So 3/4 signings have been failures or players deemed not good enough/not currently good enough for Spurs.
Then let's go onto to the managerial saga.
First it was Fonseca then randomly at the last minute he pulls out because he didn't think Fonseca was defensive enough? What's that all about? And also isn't the club's DNA an attacking one? Anyway..
Then he wanted to get Gattuso. Why? Mendes/Serie A links(Something we'll come back to later..)
Gattuso was never a good fit and only fan reaction stopped that happening.
Then his next best target Nuno. No one wanted him. Everyone knew it would be doomed (check forum posts etc.) Yet Paratici fully convinced Levy to go for him. He even showed him tactical videos. Only for Paratici to then sack him October.
We got Conte maybe because of Paratici maybe because of Levy but the point is his little project failed what? 3 months...
And finally this window. Probably the worst of the lot.
28 days in - NO INS/NO OUTS. Even Levy/Hitchen would struggle to match that sort of activity.
He spent the first 3 weeks negotiating for Adama Traore. To never actually reach Wolves asking price and then as soon as another club comes in he just sits there and lets it happen.
Then there next target is Diaz. Again they take too long to negotiate , Liverpool get wind and surprise suprise Liverpool can wrap up a deal quickly.
SO what do they do? Now let's go back to this bit Mendes/Serie A links(Something we'll come back to later..)
All our targets now are basically Serie A players. That's all Paratici can do . And not even the best of Serie A players like Romero. Serie A players who can't start for their teams.
In Essecence players offered by their clubs or agents desperate for Spurs to take them, Does that alarm anyone btw? With Traore/Diaz u can tell the selling clubs actually rated their players in this case it seems not.
I'm sure we'll see some More Mendes specials or Serie A links but basically its clear there's been no clear focus and just a scattergun approach this window. The first target being whatever player has suddenly been most recently offered to Paratici.
Look at the outgoings. No one has gone. No one is even that close to going and if Ndombele/Lo Celso go like expected we are downgrading on them .
Ultimately to judge how successful this window is (come back to this on 1st Feb) we need to see how different our first XI is compared to the before the window started. On this current trajectory the first XI will be exactly the same with the signings coming in simply bench or depth players and perhaps not even upgrades on what we have. Serious questions have to be asked on the current trajectory.
Sorry for the really long post. Just very very fustrated with him. If he is as good as many say then he has to show it in these next days but so far bar Romero/Conte he has constantly cocked up every other decision.
Let's analyse everything so far.
Transfers :
Romero -> Good deal , Fair enough.
Emerson -> £25m for a guy they now want to get rid of
Gollini -> Spurs don't want him
Gil -> £20m+Lamela for a guy they are trying to loan back from where he came from
So 3/4 signings have been failures or players deemed not good enough/not currently good enough for Spurs.
Then let's go onto to the managerial saga.
First it was Fonseca then randomly at the last minute he pulls out because he didn't think Fonseca was defensive enough? What's that all about? And also isn't the club's DNA an attacking one? Anyway..
Then he wanted to get Gattuso. Why? Mendes/Serie A links(Something we'll come back to later..)
Gattuso was never a good fit and only fan reaction stopped that happening.
Then his next best target Nuno. No one wanted him. Everyone knew it would be doomed (check forum posts etc.) Yet Paratici fully convinced Levy to go for him. He even showed him tactical videos. Only for Paratici to then sack him October.
We got Conte maybe because of Paratici maybe because of Levy but the point is his little project failed what? 3 months...
And finally this window. Probably the worst of the lot.
28 days in - NO INS/NO OUTS. Even Levy/Hitchen would struggle to match that sort of activity.
He spent the first 3 weeks negotiating for Adama Traore. To never actually reach Wolves asking price and then as soon as another club comes in he just sits there and lets it happen.
Then there next target is Diaz. Again they take too long to negotiate , Liverpool get wind and surprise suprise Liverpool can wrap up a deal quickly.
SO what do they do? Now let's go back to this bit Mendes/Serie A links(Something we'll come back to later..)
All our targets now are basically Serie A players. That's all Paratici can do . And not even the best of Serie A players like Romero. Serie A players who can't start for their teams.
In Essecence players offered by their clubs or agents desperate for Spurs to take them, Does that alarm anyone btw? With Traore/Diaz u can tell the selling clubs actually rated their players in this case it seems not.
I'm sure we'll see some More Mendes specials or Serie A links but basically its clear there's been no clear focus and just a scattergun approach this window. The first target being whatever player has suddenly been most recently offered to Paratici.
Look at the outgoings. No one has gone. No one is even that close to going and if Ndombele/Lo Celso go like expected we are downgrading on them .
Ultimately to judge how successful this window is (come back to this on 1st Feb) we need to see how different our first XI is compared to the before the window started. On this current trajectory the first XI will be exactly the same with the signings coming in simply bench or depth players and perhaps not even upgrades on what we have. Serious questions have to be asked on the current trajectory.
Sorry for the really long post. Just very very fustrated with him. If he is as good as many say then he has to show it in these next days but so far bar Romero/Conte he has constantly cocked up every other decision.
