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On This Day: Tottenham Hotspur appoint Jacques Santini as head coach

On This Day: Tottenham appoint Jacques Santini as head coach
© Reuters
Spurs announced the appointment of France boss Jacques Santini before Euro 2004.

On June 3, 2004 Tottenham announced that France coach Jacques Santini would become their new manager after the Euros that summer.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at his appointment and what happened next.

Pioneer of French football

Santini had been France manager between 2002 and 2004
Santini had been France manager between 2002 and 2004 (Nick Potts/PA)

Santini was little known in England, but he had a great reputation in France after helping to turn Lyon into the country's best team. He took over from Roger Lemerre as manager of the national team in 2002, given the task of rebuilding after the golden generation that won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 had broken up. However, before Euro 2004, where France lost in the quarter-finals to Greece, Santini had already quit his post, with Spurs enticing him to the Premier League.

Spurs' search for success

Santini was the man Spurs chose to take them to the next leve
Santini was the man Spurs chose to take them to the next level (Sean Dempsey/PA)

Spurs had been in the doldrums for the best part of 15 years as a host of managers had failed to finish higher than seventh in the Premier League. They had big ambitions under Daniel Levy and looked abroad for the man to replace Glenn Hoddle. They tried to get Claudio Ranieri, who instead chose Valencia after his Chelsea sacking, so turned to Santini in a bid to earn a seat at the top table of English football.

155 days of chaos

Martin Jol took over at Spurs after Santini's hasty departur
Martin Jol took over at Spurs after Santini's hasty departure (Joel Ryan/PA)

Just 155 days later and after only 13 games, Spurs' Santini's experiment was over. The Frenchman quit on November 6 citing personal reasons, but it was widely understood that disagreements with sporting director Frank Arnesen led to his departure. In his short stay he still managed to create something of a legacy, though, as Spurs' tactics in a 0-0 draw at Chelsea led Jose Mourinho to coin the now famous phrase "parking the bus" phrase. Santini went on to manage Auxerre but has not worked since 2006, while Spurs appointed Martin Jol as his replacement and their climb up the Premier League began in earnest.

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Euro 2024 fixtures header
Tuesday, July 2
 
8pm
Friday, July 5
 
5pm
Quarter-Finals
Spain
vs.
Germany
 
8pm
Quarter-Finals
Portugal
vs.
France
Saturday, July 6
 
5pm
Tuesday, July 9
Wednesday, July 10
Sunday, July 14
Tables header RHS

Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Germany Germany32107
Q Switzerland Switzerland31205
3 Hungary Hungary31023
4 Scotland flag Scotland30121

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Spain Spain33009
Q Italy Italy31114
3 Croatia Croatia30212
4 Albania national flag Albania30121

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England31205
Q Denmark Denmark30303
Q Slovenia Slovenia30303
4 Serbia Serbia30212

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Austria Austria32016
Q France France31205
Q Netherlands Netherlands31114
4 Poland Poland30121

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Romania Romania31114
Q Belgium Belgium31114
Q Slovakia Slovakia31114
4 Ukraine Ukraine31114

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal32016
Q Turkey Turkey32016
Q Georgia Georgia31114
4 Czech Republic Czech Republic30121


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