http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...following-departure-of-Andre-Villas-Boas.html
Tottenham Hotspur rejected Franco Baldini's offer of resignation following departure of Andre Villas-Boas
Franco Baldini, Tottenham Hotspur’s technical director, offered to resign on the same day that Andre Villas-Boas was sacked as the club’s head coach.
The offer was immediately rejected by Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, who has tasked Baldini with hiring Villas-Boas’s replacement from a shortlist of candidates the Italian was asked to draw up this month.
However, there remains the strong possibility that Tim Sherwood, Spurs’ interim head coach, will be given an extended run of games in charge beyond the busy Christmas period which starts today with the trip to Southampton.
Sherwood, 44, has no managerial experience but has asked to be considered for the role on a full-time basis and if he does well could be given until the end of the season to prove himself. The former midfielder is highly regarded by Levy.
Baldini’s shortlist is believed to include the Basle coach Murat Yakin. The former Swiss defender would also have to learn English if he is considered.
Possible candidates for the role also include former Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo along with former Emirates Marketing Project manager Roberto Mancini, now in charge of Galatasaray.
Baldini’s offer to resign comes just six months after the former England general manager was appointed as technical director, on Villas-Boas’s initial recommendation, and given the job of overseeing Spurs’ transfer business.
In a frantic summer of activity Spurs sold Gareth Bale to Real Madrid for £85 million, selling three other players including Scott Parker, and brought in seven players for £107 million.
So far the Spurs team have struggled to gel, which contributed to Villas-Boas’s departure, although it is understood the key factor was not results but the disintegration of his already strained relationship with Levy.
After his brief time at Chelsea and now Spurs the 36-year-old Villas-Boas does not want to work in England again and will eventually look for a job overseas with offers expected from Portugal, Spain, Italy and Brazil.
It is also understood that Villas-Boas did not receive a lump-sum pay-off after agreeing to leave last Monday and is being paid his salary on a monthly basis by Tottenham.
One result of his sacking is a slight thaw in his relationship with Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, who spoke to him after he left White Hart Lane.
“We spoke a couple of days ago,” Mourinho said. “I didn’t speak about the case. I just said, ‘Come on, the world didn’t finish, let’s go, tomorrow is another day and another job will come, so, Happy Christmas.’ ”
