Uncertainty over Tottenham Hotspur's managerial position continues to rumble on this international break…
What's the latest Spurs manager news?
Antonio Conte finally took his leave from the club late on Sunday with the Italian mutually terminating his deal in north London.
Prior to that, Sky Sports reported that the club's hierarchy had been conducting their due diligence on a number of potential successors for several weeks, of which FC Porto boss Sergio Conceicao is one name that has emerged as a likely candidate.
The 48-year-old has been in charge of the Portuguese giants since June 2017 and has led the Dragons to as many as nine trophies across a near six-year spell, including three Primeira Liga titles.
Is Conceicao a good appointment for Spurs?
Conceicao's only success has come at one of Portugal's biggest clubs, with stints at Ligue 1 outfit Nantes and other Iberian sides such as Vitoria Guimaraes and Sporting de Braga failing to hit the same heights.
This would surely make his fit for the Premier League rather dubious, seeing as his one spell outside his home country lasted just a year, with personal and family reasons being cited.
It would certainly be a big gamble from chairman Daniel Levy, though he's done it before, from the very same neck of the woods. Back in 2007, the Spurs supremo appointed a relatively unknown Spaniard called Juande Ramos, who arrived from Sevilla, where he had won six trophies, including two UEFA Cups.
He inherited a struggling side in the relegation zone and went on to win the League Cup later that year, but after a costly £60m summer spree – in which Luka Modric arrived at the club – the 68-year-old recorded Tottenham's worst-ever start to the league and by October, he was sacked.
According to former Spurs striker Darren Bent, Ramos became a very unpopular figure around the dressing room, losing the trust of key players such as skipper Ledley King and it all largely stemmed from his strict diets.
“When you’ve trained in the morning, you’ve had your lunch at the training ground, which isn’t usually that great, and then you get on a coach and get to the hotel and think, ‘I’m a bit hungry, I can’t wait for dinner’ and there’s just some dry rice," he told talkSPORT.
“Dry pasta, dry chicken, plain vegetables… and no crumble. People tried, people said to him: ‘Look, Juande, people are struggling…' Even our captain Ledley King was like: ‘Listen gaffer, we’re struggling here, what’s up with this food?’."
Conceicao is similar in this sense, according to some reports, and just like Ramos, had big success in Europe, but that clearly doesn't always translate into England, for whatever reason.
As such, Levy could be making an all too familiar mistake if he follows up his interest in the Porto tactician in the coming weeks. Whilst things were bad under Conte, they mustn't rush into another catastrophic appointment and given the evidence above, the 48-year-old could well end up being another Ramos in north London.