Next DoF

[thekneaf]

Yep, managing up and sideways is important. Aptitude should be all that matters, but we're not machines, people like working with people that don't make life difficult unnecessarily

By this I mean you can disagree, and be influential without being combative.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Hate that last bit, who gives a crap if the mood is combative or calm. It's not being nice and shaking hands that makes for good signings.

The fact is this summer we have signed.. Vicario, VDV, Maddison, Johnson, Veliz with the arrival of Udogie and the emergence of Sarr.

Our signings during the Paratici and Gabanini era have been (on the whole) spectacular. Steve Hitchen might have made a nice cup of tea and gave everyone a hug, but it doesn't mean f all if he can't find the right players for us.

I feel whoever we were going to get for DOF would be a step down, hopefully these guys are up for the job.

Can't help but feel combative in this context translates to going against the board. The quotes coming out from Gab don’t seem to suggest he had any negative dealings with Ange, quite the opposite in fact. Of course maybe Gab and Paratici fell out but whatever their relationship they sure were very good at their job's. Obviously we all need to hold judgment with the new boys coming in but they have big shoes to fill and I just hope we haven't recruited yes men. If we are not going to spend on bigger names like City, Liverpool and Arsenal then we need to continue by buying clever. Ange is clearly a incredibly good manager but he still needs the right caliber of players at his disposal.

 

[jordibwoy]

Can't help but feel combative in this context translates to going against the board. The quotes coming out from Gab doesn't seem to suggest he had any negative dealings with Ange., quite the opposite in fact. Of course maybe Gab and Paratici fell out but whatever their relationship they sure where very good at their job's. Obviously we all need to hold judgment with the new boys coming in but they have big shoes to fill and I just hope we haven't recruited yes men. If we are not going to spend on bigger names like City, Liverpool and Arsenal then we need to continue by buy clever. Ange is clearly a incredibly good manager but he still needs the right caliber of players at his disposal.

Tbf that article referenced Paratici, Steinsson and Gabbanini so it's likely that there were internal differences, whether that be with the recruitment group and the board, amongst the three men named or some combination. But since FP has been banned and GS was dismissed a few months back, none of this would be necessarily recent.

In fact, imo LG's recent Athletic article/interview of having a simple and direct communication/synergy for recruitment, he probably felt there were too many cooks in the kitchen AND he clearly held his scouting opinions quite highly (naturally) as he said he relished having direct communication with the manager and Levy, which he was only afforded this summer after FP and GS left.

 

[McArchibald]

Looks like Levy is opting for a solid cabal of yes-men to surround himself with...

 

[danielneeds]

Looks like Levy is opting for a solid cabal of yes-men to surround himself with...

Urgh, this is just so reductive. Levy has many faults, but he's always tried to hire good people, have some of the best around at the club. The likes of Paul Barber, ,Michael Edwards, Paul Mitchell, etc, we've been a place for talented people to work both on and off the pitch.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Leonardo Gabbanini on leaving Spurs, working with Ange, and recruiting Van de Ven and Co

Tottenham's former chief scout discusses his time in north London, working for Daniel Levy, and helping with the club's squad rebuild

theathletic.com

From Tottenham to Tuscany. Leonardo Gabbanini — Spurs’ former chief scout and stand-in sporting director after Fabio Paratici’s departure — sits at his kitchen table in Florence to give a rare interview.

The 43-year-old prefers life in the shadows but wants to shine a light on his 14 months working in north London, a tumultuous time for the club.

“The sporting director was banned, the coach left, we didn’t change straight away to a new one, Harry Kane was leaving with a lot of focus on the deal and time was running out,” he tells The Athletic. “It was a period of incredible ups and downs.”

He sits back, stretches in his seat, and takes a deep breath. “This is what I fought against. Nobody probably understood that because I am tough,” he says. “But when I was at home, it was difficult because, in the history of the club, I’m not sure if there was a situation like this. It was an amazing experience but it wasn’t easy.”

Gabbanini, a former player and coach in Italy, was reinvented in recruiting by the Pozzo scouting network overseeing Udinese and Watford. Tottenham appointed him chief scout in July 2022. By April this year, Paratici’s resignation as managing director of football — due to his 30-month ban for illegal transfer practices at Juventus — meant Gabbanini was given greater responsibility.

“I was a chief scout when I arrived at Tottenham and I loved this. When I left, I was sporting director in my mind,” he says. “To fix the situation at the club I had to do something that brought a new mentality. They opened my mind.”

Paratici’s departure and Gabbanini’s greater responsibilities gave him a five-month insight into what the sporting director role looks like, but when it came to it Tottenham decided against giving him the job.

Paratici’s departure briefly gave Gabbanini more sway (Vincent Mignott via Getty Images)
It meant a crossroads for Gabbanini: “The plan of the club was to have more people and more positions. In this world now we have the ‘head of’ and the ‘chief of’. You have seven steps before you speak with the owner.”

After discussions with the club, the decision was taken to part ways.

“We did an amazing job. Now tell me why I need to step back. Why do I need to be (working) under one or two other people? I want to be in direct communication with the ownership of a club, this is where I can make the difference. If I continue speaking directly with the owner, we can do something good,” he says.

“I don’t want to repeat the same (responsibilities) as when I was a chief scout, bringing a list of players for others to sign. I want to be active like I was in this summer’s market. Sometimes, when you try something you cannot go back.”

Gabbanini is a self-confessed workaholic, who says he wants things to “be perfect”. But the time away from Spurs has allowed reflection and understanding of Tottenham’s decision-making.

“As a chief scout, I can achieve the best level in the world, but I probably wasn’t the top sporting director for Tottenham. So when you want to be sporting director like I do, maybe you need to take another path, start with another club and maybe, one day I can come back (to a club like Tottenham) as sporting director,” he says. “The club needed someone like me at that moment (when Paratici left), but I don’t think that the club need someone like me now.”

To be a sporting director in Italy he needs a licence, which he’s now studying for, to add to his Premier League experience. “I was under real pressure and you learn from this situation. It feels like I squeezed two years into four months,” he says. “It feels strange to have started in a terrible moment (last season) and now leave in the good moment, but this is life. I left at a time when nobody can say anything (negative).”

Gabbanini was aware that when things “got back to normal” after a season of turmoil, a futureproof structure would be put in place. Although that ultimately did not include him, he looks back with fondness at the streamlined decision-making process involving Levy, Ange Postecoglou and himself over the summer just gone.

“Probably it was more simple because there were not so many steps. We were direct. That was the best solution to do something good. And I think that we did.”

Rather than being bitter towards Levy, Gabbanini holds the Tottenham chairman in high regard. “He’s one of the smartest men I’ve ever met,” he says. After the combustible experience of Antonio Conte’s tenure and controversy surrounding Paratici, he says Levy wanted “fresh air and something different” for Tottenham.

“In this moment of confusion, he was a master because he was clear in his mind what he wanted. He learned from the past and made the change.”

Contributing to that transition was the aim. “I helped him to achieve that because I love when I can change something and make a difference.”

It was a challenging experience too. “When you work with Daniel, he’s not someone that says, ‘We want to create something but you have time, don’t worry guys’. He wants to win.”

Gabbanini says the decision to appoint him was split “50-50” between Levy and Paratici. “The parameters were that they needed someone already in England able to speak Italian to work with Fabio, to make things easier, but also with UK knowledge, which I had from five years at Watford. So the original list was a long list, but only I really met the criteria.”

---

Gabbanini built a strong bond with Postecoglou in their short time together. The process started before the Australian’s official arrival. “I studied the coach deeply and I could see that we were dealing with someone different. I really appreciated him from the first moment,” he says. “I did so much research that when he arrived, after the decision of the owner, I felt I already knew him really well.”

He is quick to point out that the research was not only done by him but by the scouting team with whom he worked. “We checked his way of football, we checked everything, we focused data and scouting activity on his methods and tactics,” he says. “So when I brought my ideas in terms of the market, he knew that I understood what he wanted.”

As Tottenham fans and players have exhibited, Postecoglou possesses the ability to inspire those around him, and that included Gabbanini.

“He changes your mentality because you want to follow him,” he says. “And I wanted to follow him like everyone else.

“To speak with Ange was amazing because he understands the players as people. We both have a perception of the man (behind the player), and the secret is to establish if the man is good or not. Afterwards, the player will become a top player because so far every player that Ange touches has improved.”

Gabbanini loved his working relationship with Postecoglou (Henry Browne/Getty Images)
Gabbanini misses that working relationship especially. “This connection was so clear and I’m still thinking about that. In that particular moment we did something simpler, correct and more direct between people. The human side was really important and sometimes in this industry, we underestimate how much difference it makes when the chemistry is right.

“The only regret is — and I told this to the coach — that many clubs in the world want to find an amazing connection between those who buy the player, who propose the player and who decide about the player. I was so lucky because I lived a simple moment in an amazing club and I’m glad I had this.”

Postecoglou’s appointment proved to be the antidote to the toxicity that surrounded the end of Conte’s reign. Gabbanini didn’t get as close to his countryman due to his lower rank at that point. “I was a simple chief scout and I knew to accept and respect my position, so I didn’t have access to speak with the coach, but it was clear to me that he was one of the best coaches in the world.

“But the connection between what the owner wants, what the coach wants, what the club wants is everything now. You need to be aligned.”

---

Gabbanini feels the recruitment carried out by the club before this season — in which he played a key role — was a success for one simple reason: “If the player ends up in the team, you have done a good job. I’m really happy, and I want to say well done to all the guys that worked with me, because all the players are in the team and this is not always the situation. For this reason, it felt like the perfect procedure.”

The view rings true. James Maddison, Pedro Porro, Micky van de Ven, Guglielmo Vicario and Destiny Udogie have been mainstays of Postecoglou’s league leaders having signed during Gabbanini’s time at the club. He admits on the signing of Maddison: “Honestly he’s a perfect player, there wasn’t any deep scouting activity needed there.”

But on others, it was different.

“When we have a player like Van de Ven, it’s not as simple as, ‘He’s tall and fast’. We have to predict the future,” explains Gabbanini, who ensured rigorous research was carried out on the Dutch defender. “You need to be sure when (decision makers) start to say, ‘I don’t know, the price is high, he’s young, not in the national team’. Your job is to be there and say, ‘No, go ahead. He will achieve great things’. And this is the thing I’m most proud of at Tottenham, because I didn’t fight for obvious players.”

Background checks helped confidence. “Knowing the background, the history and education of the player was fundamental in saying this is the player for us.”

“Ange is the same, he wants to know the person, he wants to know the man behind the player. So it was a high level of scouting with a focus on the player as a person.”

Discussing Van de Ven takes Gabbanini on a tangent. He recalls being on the scent of Erling Haaland in his youth days in Norway while working with Udinese and Watford, but being unable to convince the player and his father to sign.

His assessment of a teenage Haaland was: “He’s big, he’s fast, he’s angry. And this is also what I saw in Van de Ven. I say he’s like Haaland, but a centre-back. So maybe I failed to get one but I’m happy we got the other.”

Van de Ven has impressed for Spurs this season (David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
It was Gabbanini’s links to Udinese that helped pave the way for Udogie’s move to north London. The left-back was signed shortly after Gabbanini arrived at Tottenham in 2022, and he was able to champion his inclusion in the squad this summer after an initial season on loan back in Italy.

“Destiny is a player that I first wanted to sign six years ago for Udinese and Watford. I always had in my mind that he would become a top player.”

“Ange has helped him improve a lot already from last season, and perhaps playing in the Premier League is a better fit for him. The coach is so good and clear in his instructions, he gives Destiny and every young player a clear pathway to follow.”

Udogie is excelling in front of another Italian — new goalkeeper Vicario. “Signing him was a team decision and it’s clear that (last season) our targets were different because we had a different coach. But when you have the scouting department leading the process, the names will be different.”

Being nimble during the summer window has given Gabbanini confidence that, with alignment, things can change quickly. When his next opportunity arrives he won’t, therefore, expect a long bedding-in period.

“When a new sporting director arrives usually they say, ‘I need time to change because the process is really long’. It’s bullshit. It doesn’t have to be long if you are strong and you have a clear idea. You can change everything in one month.”

His connection with Tottenham, despite the change of direction, remains strong. “The experience helped me a lot and I’m a fan now. I’m watching every game, celebrating every goal. I need to say thank you to them because now I understand my path is different and I want to do something more.

“We did a difficult job and now there is a clear pathway, young players, the right manager… I am proud, I don’t need a medal. This is our job. I will be happy if it goes well as I know the job that we did. The players and the coach are under the lights, we are in the back room.”

 

[Frozen_Waffles]

Looks like Levy is opting for a solid cabal of yes-men to surround himself with...

This has never been the case, he hired Conte and Mourhino.

He has always tried to get the best out there, also I think it's more Scott Munn appointing these guys (I would guess).

But anyway, as long as they all make a quick phone call to Fabio before they sign anyone we should be ok.

 

[newbie]

Leonardo Gabbanini on leaving Spurs, working with Ange, and recruiting Van de Ven and Co

Tottenham's former chief scout discusses his time in north London, working for Daniel Levy, and helping with the club's squad rebuild

theathletic.com

From Tottenham to Tuscany. Leonardo Gabbanini — Spurs’ former chief scout and stand-in sporting director after Fabio Paratici’s departure — sits at his kitchen table in Florence to give a rare interview.

The 43-year-old prefers life in the shadows but wants to shine a light on his 14 months working in north London, a tumultuous time for the club.

“The sporting director was banned, the coach left, we didn’t change straight away to a new one, Harry Kane was leaving with a lot of focus on the deal and time was running out,” he tells The Athletic. “It was a period of incredible ups and downs.”

He sits back, stretches in his seat, and takes a deep breath. “This is what I fought against. Nobody probably understood that because I am tough,” he says. “But when I was at home, it was difficult because, in the history of the club, I’m not sure if there was a situation like this. It was an amazing experience but it wasn’t easy.”

Gabbanini, a former player and coach in Italy, was reinvented in recruiting by the Pozzo scouting network overseeing Udinese and Watford. Tottenham appointed him chief scout in July 2022. By April this year, Paratici’s resignation as managing director of football — due to his 30-month ban for illegal transfer practices at Juventus — meant Gabbanini was given greater responsibility.

“I was a chief scout when I arrived at Tottenham and I loved this. When I left, I was sporting director in my mind,” he says. “To fix the situation at the club I had to do something that brought a new mentality. They opened my mind.”

Paratici’s departure and Gabbanini’s greater responsibilities gave him a five-month insight into what the sporting director role looks like, but when it came to it Tottenham decided against giving him the job.

Paratici’s departure briefly gave Gabbanini more sway (Vincent Mignott via Getty Images)
It meant a crossroads for Gabbanini: “The plan of the club was to have more people and more positions. In this world now we have the ‘head of’ and the ‘chief of’. You have seven steps before you speak with the owner.”

After discussions with the club, the decision was taken to part ways.

“We did an amazing job. Now tell me why I need to step back. Why do I need to be (working) under one or two other people? I want to be in direct communication with the ownership of a club, this is where I can make the difference. If I continue speaking directly with the owner, we can do something good,” he says.

“I don’t want to repeat the same (responsibilities) as when I was a chief scout, bringing a list of players for others to sign. I want to be active like I was in this summer’s market. Sometimes, when you try something you cannot go back.”

Gabbanini is a self-confessed workaholic, who says he wants things to “be perfect”. But the time away from Spurs has allowed reflection and understanding of Tottenham’s decision-making.

“As a chief scout, I can achieve the best level in the world, but I probably wasn’t the top sporting director for Tottenham. So when you want to be sporting director like I do, maybe you need to take another path, start with another club and maybe, one day I can come back (to a club like Tottenham) as sporting director,” he says. “The club needed someone like me at that moment (when Paratici left), but I don’t think that the club need someone like me now.”

To be a sporting director in Italy he needs a licence, which he’s now studying for, to add to his Premier League experience. “I was under real pressure and you learn from this situation. It feels like I squeezed two years into four months,” he says. “It feels strange to have started in a terrible moment (last season) and now leave in the good moment, but this is life. I left at a time when nobody can say anything (negative).”

Gabbanini was aware that when things “got back to normal” after a season of turmoil, a futureproof structure would be put in place. Although that ultimately did not include him, he looks back with fondness at the streamlined decision-making process involving Levy, Ange Postecoglou and himself over the summer just gone.

“Probably it was more simple because there were not so many steps. We were direct. That was the best solution to do something good. And I think that we did.”

Rather than being bitter towards Levy, Gabbanini holds the Tottenham chairman in high regard. “He’s one of the smartest men I’ve ever met,” he says. After the combustible experience of Antonio Conte’s tenure and controversy surrounding Paratici, he says Levy wanted “fresh air and something different” for Tottenham.

“In this moment of confusion, he was a master because he was clear in his mind what he wanted. He learned from the past and made the change.”

Contributing to that transition was the aim. “I helped him to achieve that because I love when I can change something and make a difference.”

It was a challenging experience too. “When you work with Daniel, he’s not someone that says, ‘We want to create something but you have time, don’t worry guys’. He wants to win.”

Gabbanini says the decision to appoint him was split “50-50” between Levy and Paratici. “The parameters were that they needed someone already in England able to speak Italian to work with Fabio, to make things easier, but also with UK knowledge, which I had from five years at Watford. So the original list was a long list, but only I really met the criteria.”

---

Gabbanini built a strong bond with Postecoglou in their short time together. The process started before the Australian’s official arrival. “I studied the coach deeply and I could see that we were dealing with someone different. I really appreciated him from the first moment,” he says. “I did so much research that when he arrived, after the decision of the owner, I felt I already knew him really well.”

He is quick to point out that the research was not only done by him but by the scouting team with whom he worked. “We checked his way of football, we checked everything, we focused data and scouting activity on his methods and tactics,” he says. “So when I brought my ideas in terms of the market, he knew that I understood what he wanted.”

As Tottenham fans and players have exhibited, Postecoglou possesses the ability to inspire those around him, and that included Gabbanini.

“He changes your mentality because you want to follow him,” he says. “And I wanted to follow him like everyone else.

“To speak with Ange was amazing because he understands the players as people. We both have a perception of the man (behind the player), and the secret is to establish if the man is good or not. Afterwards, the player will become a top player because so far every player that Ange touches has improved.”

Gabbanini loved his working relationship with Postecoglou (Henry Browne/Getty Images)
Gabbanini misses that working relationship especially. “This connection was so clear and I’m still thinking about that. In that particular moment we did something simpler, correct and more direct between people. The human side was really important and sometimes in this industry, we underestimate how much difference it makes when the chemistry is right.

“The only regret is — and I told this to the coach — that many clubs in the world want to find an amazing connection between those who buy the player, who propose the player and who decide about the player. I was so lucky because I lived a simple moment in an amazing club and I’m glad I had this.”

Postecoglou’s appointment proved to be the antidote to the toxicity that surrounded the end of Conte’s reign. Gabbanini didn’t get as close to his countryman due to his lower rank at that point. “I was a simple chief scout and I knew to accept and respect my position, so I didn’t have access to speak with the coach, but it was clear to me that he was one of the best coaches in the world.

“But the connection between what the owner wants, what the coach wants, what the club wants is everything now. You need to be aligned.”

---

Gabbanini feels the recruitment carried out by the club before this season — in which he played a key role — was a success for one simple reason: “If the player ends up in the team, you have done a good job. I’m really happy, and I want to say well done to all the guys that worked with me, because all the players are in the team and this is not always the situation. For this reason, it felt like the perfect procedure.”

The view rings true. James Maddison, Pedro Porro, Micky van de Ven, Guglielmo Vicario and Destiny Udogie have been mainstays of Postecoglou’s league leaders having signed during Gabbanini’s time at the club. He admits on the signing of Maddison: “Honestly he’s a perfect player, there wasn’t any deep scouting activity needed there.”

But on others, it was different.

“When we have a player like Van de Ven, it’s not as simple as, ‘He’s tall and fast’. We have to predict the future,” explains Gabbanini, who ensured rigorous research was carried out on the Dutch defender. “You need to be sure when (decision makers) start to say, ‘I don’t know, the price is high, he’s young, not in the national team’. Your job is to be there and say, ‘No, go ahead. He will achieve great things’. And this is the thing I’m most proud of at Tottenham, because I didn’t fight for obvious players.”

Background checks helped confidence. “Knowing the background, the history and education of the player was fundamental in saying this is the player for us.”

“Ange is the same, he wants to know the person, he wants to know the man behind the player. So it was a high level of scouting with a focus on the player as a person.”

Discussing Van de Ven takes Gabbanini on a tangent. He recalls being on the scent of Erling Haaland in his youth days in Norway while working with Udinese and Watford, but being unable to convince the player and his father to sign.

His assessment of a teenage Haaland was: “He’s big, he’s fast, he’s angry. And this is also what I saw in Van de Ven. I say he’s like Haaland, but a centre-back. So maybe I failed to get one but I’m happy we got the other.”

Van de Ven has impressed for Spurs this season (David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
It was Gabbanini’s links to Udinese that helped pave the way for Udogie’s move to north London. The left-back was signed shortly after Gabbanini arrived at Tottenham in 2022, and he was able to champion his inclusion in the squad this summer after an initial season on loan back in Italy.

“Destiny is a player that I first wanted to sign six years ago for Udinese and Watford. I always had in my mind that he would become a top player.”

“Ange has helped him improve a lot already from last season, and perhaps playing in the Premier League is a better fit for him. The coach is so good and clear in his instructions, he gives Destiny and every young player a clear pathway to follow.”

Udogie is excelling in front of another Italian — new goalkeeper Vicario. “Signing him was a team decision and it’s clear that (last season) our targets were different because we had a different coach. But when you have the scouting department leading the process, the names will be different.”

Being nimble during the summer window has given Gabbanini confidence that, with alignment, things can change quickly. When his next opportunity arrives he won’t, therefore, expect a long bedding-in period.

“When a new sporting director arrives usually they say, ‘I need time to change because the process is really long’. It’s bullshit. It doesn’t have to be long if you are strong and you have a clear idea. You can change everything in one month.”

His connection with Tottenham, despite the change of direction, remains strong. “The experience helped me a lot and I’m a fan now. I’m watching every game, celebrating every goal. I need to say thank you to them because now I understand my path is different and I want to do something more.

“We did a difficult job and now there is a clear pathway, young players, the right manager… I am proud, I don’t need a medal. This is our job. I will be happy if it goes well as I know the job that we did. The players and the coach are under the lights, we are in the back room.”

I love the guy

I don’t think he felt conte was the right guy, clearly loves Ange. I think it’s a shame we didn’t keep him.

The bit about Maddison was interesting he was clearly good so he didn’t need to fight for him, unlike vdv who he feels will become very special

There is a clear path way for young players now means a lot to him.

 

[Locotoro]

To be fair, any smaller club in italy would be lucky to have him with a track record like that. That entire interview left me wondering why we didn’t offer the job to him, we took a “chance” on Ange but didn’t take one on the stand-in director who worked so well with him?

That entire interview left me with massive Conte vibes. A bit too much "I'm so good at this I could do it half asleep". From reading that I can immediately see how he would grate on people especially for a role that requires the highest levels of diplomacy and tact

 

[mill]

Mixed feelings on this we’ve heard before from Itk the bean counters at spurs value their non football experienced opinions higher than the experts they employ. I hope it’s not a case of this again

 

[taidgh]

Leonardo Gabbanini on leaving Spurs, working with Ange, and recruiting Van de Ven and Co

Tottenham's former chief scout discusses his time in north London, working for Daniel Levy, and helping with the club's squad rebuild

theathletic.com

From Tottenham to Tuscany. Leonardo Gabbanini — Spurs’ former chief scout and stand-in sporting director after Fabio Paratici’s departure — sits at his kitchen table in Florence to give a rare interview.

The 43-year-old prefers life in the shadows but wants to shine a light on his 14 months working in north London, a tumultuous time for the club.

“The sporting director was banned, the coach left, we didn’t change straight away to a new one, Harry Kane was leaving with a lot of focus on the deal and time was running out,” he tells The Athletic. “It was a period of incredible ups and downs.”

He sits back, stretches in his seat, and takes a deep breath. “This is what I fought against. Nobody probably understood that because I am tough,” he says. “But when I was at home, it was difficult because, in the history of the club, I’m not sure if there was a situation like this. It was an amazing experience but it wasn’t easy.”

Gabbanini, a former player and coach in Italy, was reinvented in recruiting by the Pozzo scouting network overseeing Udinese and Watford. Tottenham appointed him chief scout in July 2022. By April this year, Paratici’s resignation as managing director of football — due to his 30-month ban for illegal transfer practices at Juventus — meant Gabbanini was given greater responsibility.

“I was a chief scout when I arrived at Tottenham and I loved this. When I left, I was sporting director in my mind,” he says. “To fix the situation at the club I had to do something that brought a new mentality. They opened my mind.”

Paratici’s departure and Gabbanini’s greater responsibilities gave him a five-month insight into what the sporting director role looks like, but when it came to it Tottenham decided against giving him the job.

Paratici’s departure briefly gave Gabbanini more sway (Vincent Mignott via Getty Images)
It meant a crossroads for Gabbanini: “The plan of the club was to have more people and more positions. In this world now we have the ‘head of’ and the ‘chief of’. You have seven steps before you speak with the owner.”

After discussions with the club, the decision was taken to part ways.

“We did an amazing job. Now tell me why I need to step back. Why do I need to be (working) under one or two other people? I want to be in direct communication with the ownership of a club, this is where I can make the difference. If I continue speaking directly with the owner, we can do something good,” he says.

“I don’t want to repeat the same (responsibilities) as when I was a chief scout, bringing a list of players for others to sign. I want to be active like I was in this summer’s market. Sometimes, when you try something you cannot go back.”

Gabbanini is a self-confessed workaholic, who says he wants things to “be perfect”. But the time away from Spurs has allowed reflection and understanding of Tottenham’s decision-making.

“As a chief scout, I can achieve the best level in the world, but I probably wasn’t the top sporting director for Tottenham. So when you want to be sporting director like I do, maybe you need to take another path, start with another club and maybe, one day I can come back (to a club like Tottenham) as sporting director,” he says. “The club needed someone like me at that moment (when Paratici left), but I don’t think that the club need someone like me now.”

To be a sporting director in Italy he needs a licence, which he’s now studying for, to add to his Premier League experience. “I was under real pressure and you learn from this situation. It feels like I squeezed two years into four months,” he says. “It feels strange to have started in a terrible moment (last season) and now leave in the good moment, but this is life. I left at a time when nobody can say anything (negative).”

Gabbanini was aware that when things “got back to normal” after a season of turmoil, a futureproof structure would be put in place. Although that ultimately did not include him, he looks back with fondness at the streamlined decision-making process involving Levy, Ange Postecoglou and himself over the summer just gone.

“Probably it was more simple because there were not so many steps. We were direct. That was the best solution to do something good. And I think that we did.”

Rather than being bitter towards Levy, Gabbanini holds the Tottenham chairman in high regard. “He’s one of the smartest men I’ve ever met,” he says. After the combustible experience of Antonio Conte’s tenure and controversy surrounding Paratici, he says Levy wanted “fresh air and something different” for Tottenham.

“In this moment of confusion, he was a master because he was clear in his mind what he wanted. He learned from the past and made the change.”

Contributing to that transition was the aim. “I helped him to achieve that because I love when I can change something and make a difference.”

It was a challenging experience too. “When you work with Daniel, he’s not someone that says, ‘We want to create something but you have time, don’t worry guys’. He wants to win.”

Gabbanini says the decision to appoint him was split “50-50” between Levy and Paratici. “The parameters were that they needed someone already in England able to speak Italian to work with Fabio, to make things easier, but also with UK knowledge, which I had from five years at Watford. So the original list was a long list, but only I really met the criteria.”

---

Gabbanini built a strong bond with Postecoglou in their short time together. The process started before the Australian’s official arrival. “I studied the coach deeply and I could see that we were dealing with someone different. I really appreciated him from the first moment,” he says. “I did so much research that when he arrived, after the decision of the owner, I felt I already knew him really well.”

He is quick to point out that the research was not only done by him but by the scouting team with whom he worked. “We checked his way of football, we checked everything, we focused data and scouting activity on his methods and tactics,” he says. “So when I brought my ideas in terms of the market, he knew that I understood what he wanted.”

As Tottenham fans and players have exhibited, Postecoglou possesses the ability to inspire those around him, and that included Gabbanini.

“He changes your mentality because you want to follow him,” he says. “And I wanted to follow him like everyone else.

“To speak with Ange was amazing because he understands the players as people. We both have a perception of the man (behind the player), and the secret is to establish if the man is good or not. Afterwards, the player will become a top player because so far every player that Ange touches has improved.”

Gabbanini loved his working relationship with Postecoglou (Henry Browne/Getty Images)
Gabbanini misses that working relationship especially. “This connection was so clear and I’m still thinking about that. In that particular moment we did something simpler, correct and more direct between people. The human side was really important and sometimes in this industry, we underestimate how much difference it makes when the chemistry is right.

“The only regret is — and I told this to the coach — that many clubs in the world want to find an amazing connection between those who buy the player, who propose the player and who decide about the player. I was so lucky because I lived a simple moment in an amazing club and I’m glad I had this.”

Postecoglou’s appointment proved to be the antidote to the toxicity that surrounded the end of Conte’s reign. Gabbanini didn’t get as close to his countryman due to his lower rank at that point. “I was a simple chief scout and I knew to accept and respect my position, so I didn’t have access to speak with the coach, but it was clear to me that he was one of the best coaches in the world.

“But the connection between what the owner wants, what the coach wants, what the club wants is everything now. You need to be aligned.”

---

Gabbanini feels the recruitment carried out by the club before this season — in which he played a key role — was a success for one simple reason: “If the player ends up in the team, you have done a good job. I’m really happy, and I want to say well done to all the guys that worked with me, because all the players are in the team and this is not always the situation. For this reason, it felt like the perfect procedure.”

The view rings true. James Maddison, Pedro Porro, Micky van de Ven, Guglielmo Vicario and Destiny Udogie have been mainstays of Postecoglou’s league leaders having signed during Gabbanini’s time at the club. He admits on the signing of Maddison: “Honestly he’s a perfect player, there wasn’t any deep scouting activity needed there.”

But on others, it was different.

“When we have a player like Van de Ven, it’s not as simple as, ‘He’s tall and fast’. We have to predict the future,” explains Gabbanini, who ensured rigorous research was carried out on the Dutch defender. “You need to be sure when (decision makers) start to say, ‘I don’t know, the price is high, he’s young, not in the national team’. Your job is to be there and say, ‘No, go ahead. He will achieve great things’. And this is the thing I’m most proud of at Tottenham, because I didn’t fight for obvious players.”

Background checks helped confidence. “Knowing the background, the history and education of the player was fundamental in saying this is the player for us.”

“Ange is the same, he wants to know the person, he wants to know the man behind the player. So it was a high level of scouting with a focus on the player as a person.”

Discussing Van de Ven takes Gabbanini on a tangent. He recalls being on the scent of Erling Haaland in his youth days in Norway while working with Udinese and Watford, but being unable to convince the player and his father to sign.

His assessment of a teenage Haaland was: “He’s big, he’s fast, he’s angry. And this is also what I saw in Van de Ven. I say he’s like Haaland, but a centre-back. So maybe I failed to get one but I’m happy we got the other.”

Van de Ven has impressed for Spurs this season (David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
It was Gabbanini’s links to Udinese that helped pave the way for Udogie’s move to north London. The left-back was signed shortly after Gabbanini arrived at Tottenham in 2022, and he was able to champion his inclusion in the squad this summer after an initial season on loan back in Italy.

“Destiny is a player that I first wanted to sign six years ago for Udinese and Watford. I always had in my mind that he would become a top player.”

“Ange has helped him improve a lot already from last season, and perhaps playing in the Premier League is a better fit for him. The coach is so good and clear in his instructions, he gives Destiny and every young player a clear pathway to follow.”

Udogie is excelling in front of another Italian — new goalkeeper Vicario. “Signing him was a team decision and it’s clear that (last season) our targets were different because we had a different coach. But when you have the scouting department leading the process, the names will be different.”

Being nimble during the summer window has given Gabbanini confidence that, with alignment, things can change quickly. When his next opportunity arrives he won’t, therefore, expect a long bedding-in period.

“When a new sporting director arrives usually they say, ‘I need time to change because the process is really long’. It’s bullshit. It doesn’t have to be long if you are strong and you have a clear idea. You can change everything in one month.”

His connection with Tottenham, despite the change of direction, remains strong. “The experience helped me a lot and I’m a fan now. I’m watching every game, celebrating every goal. I need to say thank you to them because now I understand my path is different and I want to do something more.

“We did a difficult job and now there is a clear pathway, young players, the right manager… I am proud, I don’t need a medal. This is our job. I will be happy if it goes well as I know the job that we did. The players and the coach are under the lights, we are in the back room.”

That article provides a lot of insight into what happened post-Paratici and pre-Lange. It seems it was just too early for Gabbanini. A shame as he's obviously a top judge of talent, but the DOF role (which he obviously sees himself in) requires a lot more, skills which he apparently doesn't have quite yet. His story is actually a lot like Paratici. It looks like we haven't burned any bridges, though, and I hope we can continue to lean on both Paratici and Gabbanini in the short term. Long term, I hope the analytical approach we seem to be going with pays dividends. Hate to see a good thing broken up, but various reasons for why it's happened. It will be very interesting to see what happens once Paratici's ban is over, especially as Lange's remit seems to be in a different space.

 

[rossdapep]

I love the guy

I don’t think he felt conte was the right guy, clearly loves Ange. I think it’s a shame we didn’t keep him.

The bit about Maddison was interesting he was clearly good so he didn’t need to fight for him, unlike vdv who he feels will become very special

There is a clear path way for young players now means a lot to him.

People like Gabbanini will never like working with coaches like Conte.

Conte is the type of coach who insists on players he is familiar with and scouts want to unearth hidden talent and present to the coach. Conte would probably turn his nose up because he would need to spend time coaching that player. There is no holistic approach.

 

[eppingyid]

Seems like leth is set to join as well

New Spurs chief scout explains methods to help Postecoglou find new centre-back

Tottenham have a new recruitment set-up to help Ange Postecoglou continue his fine start to life at the club and it seems like their ideas are aligned

www.football.london

 

[mil1lion]

Why build a scouting network when you can just buy Villas ?

 

[EQP]

The rehabilitation of Fabio Paratici – how Spurs’ shamed director of football bounced back
By Jack Pitt-Brooke
Jan 10, 2024
124

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When Tottenham started their season at Brentford in August, it was meant to be a day of new starts. This was Ange Postecoglou’s first game in charge, and he gave debuts to four players: Guglielmo Vicario, Micky van de Ven, Destiny Udogie and James Maddison.

But it was also a day for old faces. Some Spurs staff were taken aback when they arrived at the Gtech Community Stadium for the start of the new era and bumped into someone they did not expect to see, a ghost of Tottenham’s past: Spurs’ former managing director of football Fabio Paratici, four months after he had been forced to resign from the job when he was banned from working in football. Paratici was not there in the directors’ box and not as a guest of Tottenham. But he looked to be enjoying himself, mingling with fans beforehand, signing autographs and posing for photos in the sun.

It had been an open secret since Paratici’s resignation that he had not truly left the building. He was still advising Tottenham on football matters, helping with the search for a new head coach, for a new recruitment team, and for the summer transfer window. Daniel Levy does not take advice from too many people but he backs Paratici implicitly after a series of successes in the transfer market, a change from Spurs’ years of struggles to land the right players. And, after Paratici successfully appealed the scope of his ban to FIFA, there is nothing to stop him from acting in this way.

It has been almost nine months since Paratici resigned. And even if he does not have his official job in the hierarchy anymore, he is still an important figure at Tottenham. He does not drive overall football strategy or policy any more, but his ad hoc consultancy is valued. Paratici’s reputation, one year on from his initial ban, is better than ever. Last year, a few good signings could be attributed to him. Now, at least half of Spurs’ team is routinely made up of Paratici’s players and their success has effectively rehabilitated his reputation. Morality in football works in a curious way.

Paratici talks to players before a game against Southampton in August 2022 (Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)
This week, yet another Paratici target is set to join Tottenham, with the arrival of Romanian centre-back Radu Dragusin from Genoa. Dragusin will be the fourth player to come to Spurs who Paratici signed for Juventus: he identified him as a 16-year-old when he was playing for Bucharest club Regal Sport, admiring his athleticism, character and defensive instincts.

Paratici signed him for €250,000 (£215,000; $275,000), beating competition from Atletico Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain. Dragusin rose through the youth ranks at Juventus before making his name out on loan, first at Sampdoria, then Salernitana, and then Genoa, who signed him permanently. Genoa’s general manager Marco Ottolini, as it happens, worked for Paratici at Juventus for years.

There is a photo circulating online of Dragusin, Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski arm-in-arm in Juventus training kit. It dates from the 2020-21 season, still Paratici’s imperial era in Turin. Bentancur and Kulusevski were already regulars for Andrea Pirlo’s side and Dragusin, still in his teens, was forcing his way into the frame. Ultimately, Dragusin never managed to join Bentancur and Kulusevski as an established Juventus first-teamer. His pathway has more parallels with Cristian Romero: bought for Juventus by Paratici, before making his name elsewhere in Serie A, first on loan and then permanently. Romero was bought from Genoa, loaned back to Genoa and then loaned to Atalanta, who activated their option before selling him to Spurs for £42.5million.

Traditionally, observers might turn their noses up at Paratici advising Spurs to sign yet another former Juventus player. They might accuse Tottenham of a lack of orginality, of failing to cast the net wide enough. And yet it feels as if Tottenham and Paratici have earned the benefit of the doubt. Because by targeting players Paratici had at Juventus, Spurs have signed Romero, Kulusevski and Bentancur — at least £150million worth of players, maybe even £200m — for roughly £90m. Those two windows — summer 2021 and January 2022 — in Paratici’s first official season at Spurs were the best batches of recruitment the club has done in the last decade.

When Paratici resigned from Tottenham last April, the verdict on his time at the club was mixed. Yes, he had signed Romero, Kulusevski and Bentancur, but some other signings had not impressed yet (Bryan Gil, Pape Matar Sarr) or were still out on loan (Udogie). Paratici was also marked by the shambles of June 2021, when he repeatedly failed to land his managerial targets, before appointing head coach Nuno Espirito Santo, who had so little authority that he could only last 10 league games before Levy found an upgrade in Antonio Conte.

This was why many Spurs fans were relieved to see Paratici go when he finally left in April 2023. Ever since the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) issued him with a 30-month ban over the ‘plusvalenza scandal’ from his time at Juventus, the whole story had become a saga dominating the second half of last season. Spurs wanted to stick by Paratici pending his appeal, and Levy still put him in charge of the initial stage of recruiting Conte’s successor. But when FIFA extended Paratici’s ban across the world, Paratici had to step aside from his duties. And when he failed in an appeal to the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) on April 20, he had no option but to resign the next day.

It felt as if Paratici had lost the battle and, potentially, his career. But one week later, he won a crucial legal victory, which set him up for the work he is doing now. Separate from his appeal to the CONI over the ban itself was his appeal to FIFA over the extent of his ban. In brief, Paratici’s initial FIGC ban from January 2023 was an ‘inibizione temporanea’, a ‘temporary restriction’, preventing Paratici from conducting various activities as a football official. He could not represent a club at an association meeting, could not go in the dressing room during matches and so on.

Paratici’s signings have thrived under Postecoglou this season (Vincent Mignott/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
When FIFA’s disciplinary committee extended Paratici’s ban on March 24, 2023, it did so not just in locality but in scope, forbidding Paratici from all football activity across the world. Paratici appealed this extension to FIFA’s appeal committee and, on April 27, one week after resigning from Tottenham, his appeal was upheld. Paratici’s ban reverted back to the original ‘inibizione temporanea’. He was free to work in football again, as long as he did not act for a club in certain specified circumstances. Beyond the specifics of what he was restricted from, there was an awful lot that he could do.

From that point, Paratici was free to advise Levy and help guide Tottenham through the summer of transition they were facing. He could not formally lead the process to choose Conte’s successor — as he would have done had his CONI appeal succeeded — but he could still shape its direction. So Paratici continued to divide his time between Turin and Mayfair, advising Spurs in his unofficial capacity, returning to London whenever Spurs needed him. Some staff were surprised when they started to bump into him again at the training ground as if nothing had happened.

At the end of last season, Paratici was back sounding out potential candidates for the job and offering his advice on the options. One candidate dropped out in part because he could never be fully certain who was in charge of football matters at Tottenham.

This does not mean that Paratici has been running the club since his resignation. If that was the case, then Luis Enrique, Paratici’s preferred choice, would have been appointed as head coach, rather than Postecoglou. But even after Postecoglou’s appointment, Paratici continued to advise on player recruitment, especially before the recruitment structure was in place, and they needed his expertise more than ever before. Johan Lange, with whom Paratici now liaises, did not arrive as technical director until October.

Paratici pushed to land the signing of James Maddison, convincing him to join Spurs ahead of Newcastle United. He pushed to get Alejo Veliz from Rosario Central. The signing of Vicario from Empoli was approved by Paratici, although ultimately Postecoglou chose him ahead of other candidates for the role. The same goes for Van de Ven, although Leonardo Gabbanini told The Athletic last year that his signing was “the thing I am most proud of at Tottenham”.

Every successful signing has a thousand fathers but with Spurs’ 2023 summer intake, it all comes back to Paratici. (Timo Werner, who arrived on loan from RB Leipzig this week, is a rare example of a Spurs signing this season which was not orchestrated by Paratici.)

The success of these signings — and the ones Paratici made before — has helped rebuild his image. Nothing in football changes perceptions faster than what happens on the pitch. And this half-season has been a personal success for Paratici, even if he has spent it in the rather unusual position of not having a formal role at a club. He is often seen at Spurs games (as a guest of friends rather than the club), celebrating the goals as if he were still running the show, high-fiving fans and making time for photos and autographs. He carries himself with an air of triumph, even vindication.

Romero has been integral to Spurs’ aggressive high-line defence, and they have desperately missed him during his various absences. Kulusevski has started 19 of Spurs’ 20 league games and has shone not only out on the right but in a new role as a creative No 8.

Udogie has taken to Premier League football so quickly, adjusting not just to the league but to Postecoglou’s unique understanding of the full-back role, that his £15m fee from Udinese already looks like a bargain. Then there is Sarr, only trusted to make two Premier League starts last season but already an integral, dynamic part of Postecoglou’s midfield. Again, his transfer fee of roughly £15million from Metz is proving to be a snip. Udogie and Sarr, both 21, have recently been rewarded with long-term deals at Spurs to recognise their status among the best young players in the league.

Vicario has been a revelation in goal, allowing Spurs to build up from the back while single-handedly keeping Tottenham in games. He has made the transition away from Hugo Lloris smoother than anyone could have imagined. Maddison and Van de Ven started the season brilliantly, allowing Postecoglou to implement his style from day one, before both got injured in November. Put them all together and the team that Paratici built is giving Spurs fans their most exciting start to a season for years.

And those waves of optimism and momentum have effectively washed away the debate that raged about Paratici last season. The details of the ‘plusvalenza’ scandal, the inflated transfer fees, the curious swap deals, they have all been washed away into history. For better or worse, they do not carry the same weight that they did when they first came to light. Even the criminal case against Paratici is dragging on slowly back in Italy with no promise of a trial any time soon.

Last season, many people connected with Tottenham felt that the club’s association with Paratici, and their standing by him despite his ban, was a reputational stain on the club. (That argument was made by myself on The Athletic, too.) But stains can eventually fade. And if Tottenham took a gamble that, by 2024, people would not be too concerned with what happened at Juventus years ago, then maybe they were correct.

None of this means that what Paratici did at Juventus was right, or that Tottenham’s decision to re-structure the club back in 2021 to bring him in was especially clever or far-sighted. Bringing Paratici in when the Juventus allegations were hanging over him still brought plenty of unwanted scrutiny to Spurs — and to Levy’s decision-making — at a time when results on the pitch could not justify it.

The reality of football is that discussions about strategy, even morality, are informed by what happens on the pitch. Last season, Spurs were a mess and so the Paratici scandal — he resigned three days before Spurs lost 6-1 at Newcastle United — looked like another part of a story of a club who had lost their way. Now Spurs are winning again, fans can forgive the indiscretions of the man who has signed half the team.

The rehabilitation of Fabio Paratici - how Spurs' shamed director of football bounced back

The success of Paratici’s signings at Spurs this season has effectively restored his reputation. Morality in football works in a curious way

theathletic.com

 

[GetSpurredOn]

So, I assumed the appointments of Munn, Lange, Leth and Mackenzie meant we had our sporting/technical directors and scouting in place.
However, the media are linking us with Marco Neppe, just released by Bayern today. We were linked in the past, so is this just lazy journalism or are we really collecting more staff??

 

[Dunc2610]

So, I assumed the appointments of Munn, Lange, Leth and Mackenzie meant we had our sporting/technical directors and scouting in place.
However, the media are linking us with Marco Neppe, just released by Bayern today. We were linked in the past, so is this just lazy journalism or are we really collecting more staff??

I think if you actually read the article, it's a lot of guess work, ie bayern MIGHT get rid of him, and as spurs looked at him before we'd look now, but he has no place in our new structure so just lazy journalism.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

Leonardo Gabbanini on leaving Spurs, working with Ange, and recruiting Van de Ven and Co

Tottenham's former chief scout discusses his time in north London, working for Daniel Levy, and helping with the club's squad rebuild

theathletic.com

From Tottenham to Tuscany. Leonardo Gabbanini — Spurs’ former chief scout and stand-in sporting director after Fabio Paratici’s departure — sits at his kitchen table in Florence to give a rare interview.

The 43-year-old prefers life in the shadows but wants to shine a light on his 14 months working in north London, a tumultuous time for the club.

“The sporting director was banned, the coach left, we didn’t change straight away to a new one, Harry Kane was leaving with a lot of focus on the deal and time was running out,” he tells The Athletic. “It was a period of incredible ups and downs.”

He sits back, stretches in his seat, and takes a deep breath. “This is what I fought against. Nobody probably understood that because I am tough,” he says. “But when I was at home, it was difficult because, in the history of the club, I’m not sure if there was a situation like this. It was an amazing experience but it wasn’t easy.”

Gabbanini, a former player and coach in Italy, was reinvented in recruiting by the Pozzo scouting network overseeing Udinese and Watford. Tottenham appointed him chief scout in July 2022. By April this year, Paratici’s resignation as managing director of football — due to his 30-month ban for illegal transfer practices at Juventus — meant Gabbanini was given greater responsibility.

“I was a chief scout when I arrived at Tottenham and I loved this. When I left, I was sporting director in my mind,” he says. “To fix the situation at the club I had to do something that brought a new mentality. They opened my mind.”

Paratici’s departure and Gabbanini’s greater responsibilities gave him a five-month insight into what the sporting director role looks like, but when it came to it Tottenham decided against giving him the job.

Paratici’s departure briefly gave Gabbanini more sway (Vincent Mignott via Getty Images)
It meant a crossroads for Gabbanini: “The plan of the club was to have more people and more positions. In this world now we have the ‘head of’ and the ‘chief of’. You have seven steps before you speak with the owner.”

After discussions with the club, the decision was taken to part ways.

“We did an amazing job. Now tell me why I need to step back. Why do I need to be (working) under one or two other people? I want to be in direct communication with the ownership of a club, this is where I can make the difference. If I continue speaking directly with the owner, we can do something good,” he says.

“I don’t want to repeat the same (responsibilities) as when I was a chief scout, bringing a list of players for others to sign. I want to be active like I was in this summer’s market. Sometimes, when you try something you cannot go back.”

Gabbanini is a self-confessed workaholic, who says he wants things to “be perfect”. But the time away from Spurs has allowed reflection and understanding of Tottenham’s decision-making.

“As a chief scout, I can achieve the best level in the world, but I probably wasn’t the top sporting director for Tottenham. So when you want to be sporting director like I do, maybe you need to take another path, start with another club and maybe, one day I can come back (to a club like Tottenham) as sporting director,” he says. “The club needed someone like me at that moment (when Paratici left), but I don’t think that the club need someone like me now.”

To be a sporting director in Italy he needs a licence, which he’s now studying for, to add to his Premier League experience. “I was under real pressure and you learn from this situation. It feels like I squeezed two years into four months,” he says. “It feels strange to have started in a terrible moment (last season) and now leave in the good moment, but this is life. I left at a time when nobody can say anything (negative).”

Gabbanini was aware that when things “got back to normal” after a season of turmoil, a futureproof structure would be put in place. Although that ultimately did not include him, he looks back with fondness at the streamlined decision-making process involving Levy, Ange Postecoglou and himself over the summer just gone.

“Probably it was more simple because there were not so many steps. We were direct. That was the best solution to do something good. And I think that we did.”

Rather than being bitter towards Levy, Gabbanini holds the Tottenham chairman in high regard. “He’s one of the smartest men I’ve ever met,” he says. After the combustible experience of Antonio Conte’s tenure and controversy surrounding Paratici, he says Levy wanted “fresh air and something different” for Tottenham.

“In this moment of confusion, he was a master because he was clear in his mind what he wanted. He learned from the past and made the change.”

Contributing to that transition was the aim. “I helped him to achieve that because I love when I can change something and make a difference.”

It was a challenging experience too. “When you work with Daniel, he’s not someone that says, ‘We want to create something but you have time, don’t worry guys’. He wants to win.”

Gabbanini says the decision to appoint him was split “50-50” between Levy and Paratici. “The parameters were that they needed someone already in England able to speak Italian to work with Fabio, to make things easier, but also with UK knowledge, which I had from five years at Watford. So the original list was a long list, but only I really met the criteria.”

---

Gabbanini built a strong bond with Postecoglou in their short time together. The process started before the Australian’s official arrival. “I studied the coach deeply and I could see that we were dealing with someone different. I really appreciated him from the first moment,” he says. “I did so much research that when he arrived, after the decision of the owner, I felt I already knew him really well.”

He is quick to point out that the research was not only done by him but by the scouting team with whom he worked. “We checked his way of football, we checked everything, we focused data and scouting activity on his methods and tactics,” he says. “So when I brought my ideas in terms of the market, he knew that I understood what he wanted.”

As Tottenham fans and players have exhibited, Postecoglou possesses the ability to inspire those around him, and that included Gabbanini.

“He changes your mentality because you want to follow him,” he says. “And I wanted to follow him like everyone else.

“To speak with Ange was amazing because he understands the players as people. We both have a perception of the man (behind the player), and the secret is to establish if the man is good or not. Afterwards, the player will become a top player because so far every player that Ange touches has improved.”

Gabbanini loved his working relationship with Postecoglou (Henry Browne/Getty Images)
Gabbanini misses that working relationship especially. “This connection was so clear and I’m still thinking about that. In that particular moment we did something simpler, correct and more direct between people. The human side was really important and sometimes in this industry, we underestimate how much difference it makes when the chemistry is right.

“The only regret is — and I told this to the coach — that many clubs in the world want to find an amazing connection between those who buy the player, who propose the player and who decide about the player. I was so lucky because I lived a simple moment in an amazing club and I’m glad I had this.”

Postecoglou’s appointment proved to be the antidote to the toxicity that surrounded the end of Conte’s reign. Gabbanini didn’t get as close to his countryman due to his lower rank at that point. “I was a simple chief scout and I knew to accept and respect my position, so I didn’t have access to speak with the coach, but it was clear to me that he was one of the best coaches in the world.

“But the connection between what the owner wants, what the coach wants, what the club wants is everything now. You need to be aligned.”

---

Gabbanini feels the recruitment carried out by the club before this season — in which he played a key role — was a success for one simple reason: “If the player ends up in the team, you have done a good job. I’m really happy, and I want to say well done to all the guys that worked with me, because all the players are in the team and this is not always the situation. For this reason, it felt like the perfect procedure.”

The view rings true. James Maddison, Pedro Porro, Micky van de Ven, Guglielmo Vicario and Destiny Udogie have been mainstays of Postecoglou’s league leaders having signed during Gabbanini’s time at the club. He admits on the signing of Maddison: “Honestly he’s a perfect player, there wasn’t any deep scouting activity needed there.”

But on others, it was different.

“When we have a player like Van de Ven, it’s not as simple as, ‘He’s tall and fast’. We have to predict the future,” explains Gabbanini, who ensured rigorous research was carried out on the Dutch defender. “You need to be sure when (decision makers) start to say, ‘I don’t know, the price is high, he’s young, not in the national team’. Your job is to be there and say, ‘No, go ahead. He will achieve great things’. And this is the thing I’m most proud of at Tottenham, because I didn’t fight for obvious players.”

Background checks helped confidence. “Knowing the background, the history and education of the player was fundamental in saying this is the player for us.”

“Ange is the same, he wants to know the person, he wants to know the man behind the player. So it was a high level of scouting with a focus on the player as a person.”

Discussing Van de Ven takes Gabbanini on a tangent. He recalls being on the scent of Erling Haaland in his youth days in Norway while working with Udinese and Watford, but being unable to convince the player and his father to sign.

His assessment of a teenage Haaland was: “He’s big, he’s fast, he’s angry. And this is also what I saw in Van de Ven. I say he’s like Haaland, but a centre-back. So maybe I failed to get one but I’m happy we got the other.”

Van de Ven has impressed for Spurs this season (David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
It was Gabbanini’s links to Udinese that helped pave the way for Udogie’s move to north London. The left-back was signed shortly after Gabbanini arrived at Tottenham in 2022, and he was able to champion his inclusion in the squad this summer after an initial season on loan back in Italy.

“Destiny is a player that I first wanted to sign six years ago for Udinese and Watford. I always had in my mind that he would become a top player.”

“Ange has helped him improve a lot already from last season, and perhaps playing in the Premier League is a better fit for him. The coach is so good and clear in his instructions, he gives Destiny and every young player a clear pathway to follow.”

Udogie is excelling in front of another Italian — new goalkeeper Vicario. “Signing him was a team decision and it’s clear that (last season) our targets were different because we had a different coach. But when you have the scouting department leading the process, the names will be different.”

Being nimble during the summer window has given Gabbanini confidence that, with alignment, things can change quickly. When his next opportunity arrives he won’t, therefore, expect a long bedding-in period.

“When a new sporting director arrives usually they say, ‘I need time to change because the process is really long’. It’s bullshit. It doesn’t have to be long if you are strong and you have a clear idea. You can change everything in one month.”

His connection with Tottenham, despite the change of direction, remains strong. “The experience helped me a lot and I’m a fan now. I’m watching every game, celebrating every goal. I need to say thank you to them because now I understand my path is different and I want to do something more.

“We did a difficult job and now there is a clear pathway, young players, the right manager… I am proud, I don’t need a medal. This is our job. I will be happy if it goes well as I know the job that we did. The players and the coach are under the lights, we are in the back room.”

Love this thanks for sharing, as we thought Gabbiadini did great things for us. Who knows mabye one day he’ll come back as our sporting director.

 

[WorcesterTHFC]

Love this thanks for sharing, as we thought Gabbiadini did great things for us. Who knows maybe one day he’ll come back as our sporting director.

Marco Gabbiadini is a former player for several clubs in England. Leonardo Gabbanini is the former Spurs employee.

 

[fecka]

I think if you actually read the article, it's a lot of guess work, ie bayern MIGHT get rid of him, and as spurs looked at him before we'd look now, but he has no place in our new structure so just lazy journalism.

According to Romano, he's been released with immediate effect. I don't think we'd go for anyone other than Paratici and we're waiting until his ban ends though. That's how the winds are blowing now IMO