With the greatest respect to Fabian Hurzeler, if you did a random straw poll at the Amex as to who is the fans’ all-time favourite manager, I’d wager Roberto De Zerbi would come out ahead of him.
Like a footballing firework, he arrived in the wake of the Graham Potter exit.
He hit the ground running with a 3-3 draw at Anfield, consistently selected perhaps the strongest midfield line-up in the club’s history of Pascal Gross, Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo, was a penalty shootout away from an FA Cup final and at the end of the campaign achieved the club’s highest ever finish and got us in the Europa League in the process.
Albion’s continental adventure the following season was equally as exciting and entertaining. After losing the first group game at the Amex, 3-2 to AEK Athens, three trips to a trio of iconic cities, Marseille, Amsterdam and the return fixture in Greece, saw Brighton eventually win their group and move into yet another mouthwatering excursion to the Eternal City, Rome, in the spring.
Roberto De Zerbi and Ange Postecoglou at a Brighton-Spurs clash in 2023 - but will it be De Zerbi v Fabian Hurzeler when Albion visit Spurs later this month? (Photo by Glyn Kikr/AFP via Getty Images)placeholder image
Roberto De Zerbi and Ange Postecoglou at a Brighton-Spurs clash in 2023 - but will it be De Zerbi v Fabian Hurzeler when Albion visit Spurs later this month? (Photo by Glyn Kikr/AFP via Getty Images)
But as with all fireworks, after the loud noise and the bright flashes, eventually what’s left always crashes to earth.
A tactical meltdown against Roma in the Olympic Stadium followed by a press conference which had everything save for De Zerbi actually quitting there and then, effectively printed out his P45, and it was no surprise when he and Tony Bloom parted company after the final Premier League fixture at home to Manchester United.
After an entertaining stint with former Albion European opponents Marseille, De Zerbi is set to find himself back in the Premier League – this time with the ultimate challenge of saving Tottenham Hotspur from relegation to the Championship.
There’s never a dull moment at the Albion, and the same can be said for De Zerbi, but it’s fair to say his arrival in North London hasn’t been unilaterally welcomed by the Spurs faithful.
Over the weekend, various reliable sources I know close to RDZ had said the Italian was reluctant to go to Spurs for the last seven league games, preferring to take the job on in the summer, regardless of what league the club would be playing in next season.
Things have moved on, and at the time of writing, it’s believed he is on the cusp of agreeing a five-year deal, with a rumoured but unconfirmed ‘get out’ clause if Spurs do go down.
As a neutral, I can’t get my head round that. Spurs aren’t in 18th,19th or 20th position, ie the relegation places, it’s still in their hands. If they better the collective results of West Ham they will stay up, but if they were to go down, the stats will state they were not in a relegation position when RDZ took the job on – therefore he will have taken them down.
For what it’s worth I believe he can keep them up, and with the correct backing from the Spurs board, he will get the club back to where they should be way before his initial five-year deal runs out.
For added spice, after a first game away at Sunderland, RDZ’s first game at White Hart Lane, will be against Brighton, a 5.30pm kick off on Saturday, April 18, live on TV.
RDZ vs Fab, perhaps the two most iconic Brighton managers in the club’s history, the men who both vied for the Seagulls supporters’ affections, going head-to-head – you couldn’t make it up!
It’s a bit like James Hunt and Richard Burton having a night out in the late 1970s (anyone under 50 will need to Google this!).
I don’t need to be a fly on the wall for that one, I’m going, and I’m just picturing the scenes at full-time if the Albion repeat last season’s emphatic victory which sealed Ange Postecoglou’s fate.
The ideal scenario is that Brighton win at Spurs and keep the late surge for Europe on track, but RDZ still gets enough points in the other six games to keep Tottenham up.
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