De Zerbi ‘nightmare’ as Tottenham sack talk EXPLODES and pundit lists two reasons why ‘volatile’ Italian is doomed

The odds on Roberto De Zerbi losing his job as Tottenham Hotspur manager have been dramatically cut amid growing concerns he is already on borrowed time in N17, though TEAMtalk can reveal what the club’s board really thinks of the Italian firebrand.

The 47-year-old only took charge of Spurs at the end of March and his 14-game spell at the helm has already been eventful. Having saved them from the drop over the summer, the Tottenham board decided to embark on their biggest-ever spending spree, with around £320m (€380m, $425m) spent on squad improvements.

Sadly, those investments have not had the desired effect. And five games into the new season, Tottenham sit bottom of the table and winless, with just two points on the board so far.

And with just two goals to their name from those games, De Zerbi now has a mere 28.57% win percentage rate with Spurs; numbers which currently spell relegation.

As a result, De Zerbi had always been among the favourites to be the first Premier League manager to lose their job; now his odds on getting the sack have been shortened this weekend, with the Italian backed in to 9/4 favourite to be the first man to go.

That activity is slightly unusual given the Premier League is currently in the midst of a three-week international break; the competition resumes on Saturday, with Spurs’ first game back a crucial clash against Manchester United at Old Trafford at teatime.

However, former Premier League striker Charlie Austin is adamant he does not see any way back for De Zerbi at Spurs and reckons the coach, who he has branded ‘volatile ‘, is doomed to fail for two very big reasons, citing the fact that De Zerbi has no real track record in the game, while the Spurs squad just don’t seem to buy into his project or show fight for the manager.

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De Zerbi sack: Tottenham boss told he’s on borrowed time

Speaking on talkSPORT after De Zerbi’s odds had shortened, Ade Oladipo began: “I look at someone like De Zerbi, and I just look at a manager that’s quite volatile, quite angry.

“If it’s not going well… I don’t want to say he walks because he’d rather be pushed; the money he gets if he’s pushed is quite big. I just don’t see how it works; I just don’t see how they turn this around.”

“What, in his managerial record, has he done to think he’s going to turn this around?” Austin replied.

“Spurs fans, do you have belief in him, because what has he shown at other clubs that he can turn Spurs around, and get them where you think they should be?

“Because there’s no proof in the pudding.”

“Spurs fans, at the start of the season, if you were to say, ‘You’re going to spend nearly £300m’, you want to be fighting for top four, top six,” Oladipo added.

“This is a nightmare, what’s going on right now, you’re rock-bottom!”

Austin admits he was left staggered by how poor Spurs have been so far, pointing to the 2-0 home defeat to Newcastle United on matchweek two, and having drawn a stark comparison between De Zerbi’s influence and the man in the opposite dug-out, Matthias Jaissle.

“This is one interesting thing I don’t think has been said – you see those Newcastle players?

“They’re on their toes, they’re ready, they look like they’re going to go to war, they’re going to run through a brick wall for that manager.

“Tell me the players in that Spurs dressing room that are going to run through a brick wall for him. I’m not seeing it, and I think the proof’s in the pudding after these five games.”

No plans to sack Italian – sources

Despite those damaging suggestions, summer signing Andy Robertson has moved to strongly refute them, insisting the players remain very much in the manager’s corner and desperate to turn their situation around.

Furthermore, and despite the tumbling of the odds that he will soon be gone, TEAMtalk sources insist there is no consideration being given to replacing De Zerbi, despite it being the first time in 18 years – and the 2008/09 season – that Spurs find themselves bottom of the pile after five games of the new season.

We understand the north London club remain fully behind the 47-year-old, with one source explaining to TEAMtalk: “There is nobody better than Roberto to turn this around; this was never an easy fix, despite the summer outlay. He is very much still the man for Tottenham.”

There is also an important factor behind Tottenham’s continued faith in De Zerbi: he has actually only been in charge of the club for 14 games, and the belief inside the club is that the project was always going to need time…

While the clash at Old Trafford is a hard one to call, the pressure will be on Spurs to claim victory in their next game: a home date against Premier League new-boys Coventry City.

Elsewhere, a former Spurs star has exclusively revealed to TEAMtalk why the Italian can count himself lucky that Daniel Levy is no longer running the club, after he addressed the way the manager treats his players in public.