Next Tottenham manager: Mauricio Pochettino, Oliver Glasner and the top candidates to replace sacked Thomas Frank on a permanent basis in north London - ranked

Shortly after Tottenham slumped to defeat at home to Newcastle on Tuesday night, Como reached the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia for the first time since 1986 with a penalty shootout win over Serie A champions Napoli at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. It was an historic achievement that hammered home why Cesc Fabregas is being talked about as one of Europe's next great managers.

The Spaniard should, therefore, be on Tottenham's shortlist to succeed Frank - particularly when you take into account that Fabregas also has Como riding high in sixth place in Serie A. However, we can't see Cesc at Spurs - and for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, Fabregas is a former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder. Secondly, and far more significantly, when he does leave Como, it will be for a bigger club than Tottenham. Fabregas really is that highly rated right now. He turned down Inter last summer and we'd expect him to give Spurs even shorter shrift if they came calling now too.

It was reported that Spurs contacted Gareth Southgate about potentially succeeding Jose Mourinho as manager all the way back in 2021, so there is a possibility that they might still be interested in the former England manager.

Southgate obviously hasn't worked since leaving the Three Lions after the Euro 2024 final defeat but he remains a revered character within the English game and the fact that he'd be able to take over immediately is undeniably a huge plus.

There is a growing suspicion, though, that the 55-year-old may never return to management, after admitting only last November that he's in no rush to do so. So, while Southgate would certainly be a popular appointment, it seems unlikely that if he does decide to work again he'd choose cleaning up the mess that is Spurs as his next job.

Could we see Ruben Amorim make a rapid return to the Premier League? The bookmakers certainly think it's a possibility, with the former Manchester United manager the sixth-favourite to fill the void left by Frank.

Clearly, Amorim can't be discounted. For starters, he's available immediately. Secondly, before his torturous tenure at Old Trafford, he was regarded as one of the most promising young coaches in the European game due to the remarkable work he'd done in restoring Sporting CP to their former glory.

However, we struggle to see the supporters getting behind the potential appointment of Amorim, who now has serious Andre Villas-Boas vibes about him.

Enzo Maresca was sacked as Chelsea coach less than six weeks ago but the Italian's reputation hasn't been unduly affected by his axing, as it's clear that his exit was about far more than a dodgy run of results. Indeed, Maresca essentially talked himself out of a job quite deliberately by publicly lamenting a perceived lack of support behind the scenes at Stamford Bridge - and there was plenty of sympathy for a manager who had won both the Conference League and the Club World Cup amid the constant comings and goings in west London.

It was perhaps inevitable, then, that Maresca would be mentioned as a possible replacement for Frank at Spurs, but it seems a long shot right now - particularly as Pep Guardiola's former assistant is reportedly in the running to take over at Etihad whenever the Catalan decides to step down.

Michael Carrick is presently doing his utmost to convince Manchester United to give him the top job at Old Trafford on a permanent basis - and he's making a fine fist of it so far.

The interim boss may not have been able to extend his winning start to five games at West Ham on Tuesday night but the Red Devils remain undefeated on his watch and looking very good indeed to qualify for next season's Champions League.

Were he to achieve that objective, which looked like a long shot under predecessor Ruben Amorim, Sir Jim Ratcliffe & Co. may well decide to stick with Carrick.

However, if they were to go with a more proven coach, regardless of the results between now and the end of the season, Spurs could conceivably move for Carrick, who is obviously a former Tottenham player.

At present, though, there are too many variables at play for the ex-England international to be labelled a frontrunner. Indeed, he’s more of a potential dark horse right now.

Robbie Keane certainly wouldn't have any issue getting the fans behind him at Tottenham. The Irishman is a club legend, having scored 122 goals and won a League Cup across two spells with Spurs. 

Keane has also made a promising start to his coaching career, winning league titles with both Maccabi Tel Aviv and current club Ferencvaros, whom he has also led into the play-off round of the Europa League thanks in no small part to a very satisfying win over Rangers for the ex-Celtic forward.

Obviously, there would be concerns over the fact that Keane has yet to manage at the very highest level but the Republic of Ireland's all-time leading goal-scorer knows Spurs inside out and would undoubtedly jump at the opportunity to return to the club as coach.

Glasner is definitely going to end up at one of the Premier League's top teams sooner or later. The Austrian has taken English football by storm since succeeding Roy Hodgson as Crystal Palace manager in February 2024. After leading the Eagles to their best-ever points haul (49), he bettered that tally in his first full season at Selhurst Park (53), while at the same time ending the club's 120-year wait for a trophy by masterminding a stunning 1-0 win over the mighty Manchester City in the final of the FA Cup.

Glasner is also out of contract at the end of the season, and may even leave Selhurst Park before then, given the strained nature of his relationship with his employers. However, that tension is the very reason why Spurs might steer clear of the 51-year-old, who, as he openly admits himself, is never afraid to speak his mind. There's also widespread speculation that Glasner is eyeing up a summer move to Manchester...

Is Fulham's Marco Silva going to get a second chance at one of England's biggest clubs? The former Hull City and Watford boss lasted just one season at Everton all the way back in 2018-19 but he's since rebuilt his reputation as a very accomplished coach at Craven Cottage.

With his attractive style of play and ability to improve players, Silva should certainly be in the running for the Spurs job. His contract expires at the end of the season and, just last season, he led Fulham to a record-breaking Premier League points haul (54).

So, while it still feels like Silva is more of an outsider at this particular point in time, plenty of people would dearly love to see what he could do with a stronger squad and more money at his disposal.

Another top job has become available in the Premier League, so the name of Andoni Iraola is once again being bandied about - which is funny in one way, given the Spaniard was a complete unknown to English football fans when he arrived at the Vitality Stadium in the summer of 2023.

However, Iraola recently being tipped to replace Enzo Maresca at Chelsea, and now Frank at Spurs, makes perfect sense, as he's established himself as one of the best coaches in the top flight after twice leading the Cherries to club-record points hauls. 

Bournemouth are also one of the more exciting sides to watch in England and that's in spite of the fact that Iraola has had to deal with the sale of several key players over the past couple of seasons.

The Basque, then, has an awful lot going in his favour. He'd likely get Spurs playing the kind of football the fans want to see, while at the same time making the best out of the resources at his disposal. For those two reasons alone, he's a decent outside bet.

Xavi has rather surprisingly been out of a job since being dismissed in incredibly disrespectful fashion by Barcelona 18 months ago. Remember, the Blaugrana icon led the Catalans to La Liga glory in 2022-23 only to be disgracefully messed about by club president Joan Laporta during the final few months of a difficult second season.

Xavi has been linked with several high-profile positions in the interim, including a few in England, so it's not in the least bit surprising that he's considered one of the frontrunners for the vacancy at Spurs. 

Someone is eventually going to give one of the finest midfielders in football history another job - and it might well be Spurs, given Xavi has a more flexible footballing philosophy than his Barca upbringing suggests, and is also widely regarded as a humble and composed character. Also, if Tottenham got themselves out of relegation trouble, the World Cup winner certainly wouldn't have any issues attracting players to the club.

Mauricio Pochettino was linked with the Tottenham job last summer, after the dismissal of Ange Postecoglou, but the timing obviously wasn't right, with the Argentine under contract to the United State's men's national team until the conclusion of the 2026 World Cup. However, the path has now been cleared for Pochettino to return for a second stint at Spurs immediately after this summer's finals.

The 53-year-old would obviously be welcomed back with open arms by the Tottenham faithful. During his spell in charge between 2014 and 2019, Spurs never failed to finish outside the Premier League's top five, while they also reached their first Champions League final, in 2018.

Pochettino has, of course, been linked with other clubs, including Manchester United, but there has been talk and signs in recent days and weeks that he's very much open to going back to Tottenham.

The early favourite with the bookmakers - and one can understand why. Roberto De Zerbi is one of the most respected tacticians in the game today, a coach that can count Pep Guardiola among his many admirers, and he has Premier League experience, having previously turned Brighton into one of the most attractive teams to watch in England.

Of course, as his Amex exit and subsequent spell at Marseille underlined, De Zerbi is a very intense character with a habit of ruffling the feathers of those above and around him. He's basically a possession-obsessed Jose Mourinho or Antonio Conte - but without the titles.

So, while we fully expect Spurs to go for an incredibly innovative manager that rather conveniently became available the night before they fired Frank, we don't think he'd last long in north London. Still, it would be great fun while it lasted!