This is not how Antonio Conte's first full season at Tottenham Hotspur was meant to go down.
Having yet failed to agree terms on a new deal, Spurs alarmingly free-falling out of the top four, and the standard of football bordering on un-watchable if not for its comedic value, the Italian is being linked with an exit.
Whether it's a divorce in the coming weeks or an amicable summer split at the end of his contract, Conte's time in north London is running out. There have already been reports on potential replacements, too.
90min revealed last year that ex-Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino is keen to return to the club, knocking back Aston Villa's advances in the autumn in hope that the Spurs job would become available in the near future.
While the Argentine remains a revered figure in N17, it's a link that's divided the fanbase, partly seen as one lacking ambition and a signal that the club is either living in the past or stuck in reverse.
There is, however, a more alarming managerial link emerging - one with Thomas Tuchel.
On the face of it, the German does make some sort of sense for Spurs. He's proved himself at a range of clubs on varying scales and budgets, demonstrated he can oversee different footballing philosophies as a chameleon coach. He would, at the very least, keep Tottenham relevant at a time where that's beginning to be threatened.
But the red flags overpower the green ones. Tuchel would not fix Spurs' problems, and would endanger only exacerbating them.
He's proved divisive - whether on a personal or tactical level - at each of Borussia Dortmund, PSG and Chelsea. That's sometimes unavoidable and he enjoyed tangible success in those stints, but they are clubs better set up to compete and win.
Tuchel was at least initially a unifying figure at Chelsea, shoring up a leaky defence and turning them into Champions League winners in just five months.
That is surely the appeal of him to Spurs, the notion that he can take what has seemed un-coachable squad and make them winners with a snap of the fingers - it's not the first time we've heard such an argument, however.
Tottenham don't necessarily need to rip everything up and start again mid-season. They have a comfortable run of fixtures for a potential new manager to get his teeth into from February through to March, while they also take on Milan in a winnable UEFA Champions League tie. This squad recovered from a slump this time last year to rally and make the top four against the odds, it's not out of the equation that they go on another such run with fresh blood in the dugout.
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It's merely a short-term fix, though. It's the same risk Tottenham took when they appointed an even more notoriously short-term coach in Conte and their first 'winner' in Jose Mourinho. Tuchel's conflicts with previous hierarchies paint a similar picture to Conte's gripes.
The Premier League is evolving away from that brand of management. Spurs are currently the only top-half team without a manager known for long-term projects or positive football. 'Win-now' windows are closed, particularly for a club that hasn't won anything since 2008.
Then there's the obvious negative. If Tuchel were appointed, it would be the fifth (FIFTH) time that Daniel Levy and ENIC would have hired an ex-Chelsea manager, the third in four years in which they will have tried to fast-track their way to the top.
It's a trend that needs to stop - not just for rivalry reasons, but for cultural ones. Tottenham have to stop pretending to be Chelsea, or even Chelsea-lite. They are not a powerhouse of English football like that, and it's okay to accept such a truth. The Blues - in the pre-Todd Boehly state Spurs are trying to mimic, at least - managed to thrive and survive in chaos, but that isn't the case across London.
Fan unrest at the board is at an all-time high, with many believing that on-pitch performances and results have at least been made worse by years of ineptitude at the top. If Conte is to leave, Levy cannot afford to get his next appointment wrong. He could barely do with his current project going sideways.
Would Tuchel make Spurs better immediately? Yeah, probably. He's probably a better footballing fit for the club than Conte anyway. But Tottenham are largely an emotional club in need of unifying and and clear goals instead of stumbling into the next big-name manager they can find.
Source : 90min