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England batsman Ian Bell steered the Warwickshire Bears to a tense three wicket victory over the Derbyshire Falcons in a low scoring Friends Provident t20 game at Derby

Cricinfo staff09-Jun-2010
ScorecardEngland batsman Ian Bell steered the Warwickshire Bears to a tense three wicket victory over the Derbyshire Falcons in a low scoring Friends Provident t20 game at Derby. Despite Bell’s 66 off 56 balls the Bears stumbled chasing the Falcons’ 120 for 4 on a damp, misty night, and there were only four balls to spare when Chris Woakes struck the winning runs.Woakes had earlier conceded only nine runs in his four overs as the Falcons found scoring difficult on a sluggish surface and they needed a late surge from Robin Peterson, who was unbeaten on 35 from 27 balls, to give them a shot at defending their total.Derbyshire were looking for another explosive innings from Loots Bosman but the South African was bowled first ball by Woakes in the first over and the batsmen struggled all night to get the ball away on a slow, low pitch. Chesney Hughes, dropped at deep midwicket on 13, was in for nine overs for his 24, and at the half-way stage of the innings the home side were 47 for 3.Tight bowling and sharp fielding from the Bears kept the brakes on until the 15th over when Peterson launched Darren Maddy over long on for the first six of the night. Greg Smith repeated the shot as 18 came from the over, the most expensive of the innings, but his dismissal for 38 in the next over pegged Derbyshire back again, although Peterson’s late charge gave the bowlers something to defend.The South African reverse swept Ant Botha for six and four as 17 came from the last over, and those runs looked increasingly valuable when the Bears lost Jonathan Trott to the third ball of their reply. The England batsman lofted Steffan Jones to third man and when Neil Carter got a leading edge to extra cover, the visitors were 4 for 2.Bell drove Tim Groenewald for two successive fours but the former Warwickshire seamer had Jim Troughton caught at mid-off for two trying to hit over the top. At 25 for 3, the Falcons were well in the game but Bell and Darren Maddy put the visitors back on course with a stand of 58 in eight overs.Bell was dropped by wicketkeeper Lee Goddard off Garry Park on 41 with the score on 56, and he looked like taking the Bears to victory before a late wobble gave the game a final twist.Maddy clipped Smith to mid on, Bell skied a slog-sweep at the off-spinner and former Derbyshire skipper Rikki Clarke was yorked by Jones to leave the Bears needing 16 off the last three overs. When Ian Westood was unluckily run out for 12 the game was back in the balance, but Woakes hit Smith over the top to seal the Bears second win and send the Falcons crashing to their first defeat.

Liam Plunkett inspired a Durham fightback at the Riverside – but by stumps on the second day a safe draw was surely still the limit of the dual champions’ realistic ambitions against Essex

16-Apr-2010
ScorecardJames Foster added 339 for the fifth-wicket with Jaik Mickleburgh as Essex continued to dominate•Getty Images

Liam Plunkett inspired a Durham fightback at the Riverside – but by stumps on the second day a safe draw was surely still the limit of the dual champions’ realistic ambitions against Essex. Durham’s hopes of beginning their bid for a hat-trick of county titles with an opening Division One win over their promoted visitors receded significantly on the opening dayTonight, after Jaik Mickleburgh (174) and James Foster (169) had shared an
Essex record stand of 339 for the fifth wicket in a total of 484 and Durham had
replied with 83 for 1, the equation favoured the hosts even less. Durham toiled through 108 wicketless overs as Mickleburgh and Foster shut them out on a slow pitch, only for the next four to fall for just six runs with Plunkett suddenly and unexpectedly clicking into gear.By then, the proximity of the third new ball was merely an indictment of Durham’s lack of success. Yet Plunkett – who had drawn a blank for 25 overs – saw off Mickleburgh, Ryan ten Doeschate and Graham Napier among the four wickets to fall in 13 balls.Mickleburgh chopped on, with the score on 441, and ten Doeschate fell in the same over when Plunkett got one to keep low and beat him on the back foot for an lbw verdict. The first of two brilliant catches by Dale Benkenstein, at backward-point off Callum Thorp, saw off Foster – and when he repeated the trick at slip, Napier gone for a duck, Essex could suddenly do with a handy few runs from their tail to keep the match momentum. In the end they did so, Tim Phillips providing the shot of the day with a switch-hit for six over point off Ian Blackwell – before he was last out.Mickleburgh, watched today by England selector James Whitaker and known to have impressed some good judges, already had a maiden hundred to his name when he began this morning. But it was Foster who dominated the early scoring on a day of unbroken sunshine as Durham’s famed pace attack – significantly minus injured first-choice pair Steve Harmison and Graham Onions – got nowhere for so long.Foster brought up the Essex 300 with an on-drive for four in Mark Davies’ first
over after replacing Mitch Claydon. Mickleburgh had two scares, on 114 and 116. First, Kyle Coetzer almost brought off an outstanding one-handed catch from a
flick to square-leg off Thorp.Then Plunkett, the only seamer operating with the wicketkeeper still standing back, thought he had Mickleburgh caught behind with his first delivery but could not persuade umpire Martin Bodenham. Foster had already posted his 14th first-class hundred with a dismissive pick-up sweep shot from slightly out of his crease off Thorp.The afternoon brought no hint of respite for Durham, who were struggling even for damage limitation by the time Plunkett got through Mickleburgh. The 20-year-old had bagged 13 fours and a six – and even after Foster had gone too, with 19 fours and two sixes from 354 balls, the suspicion was Essex felt they had plenty of runs in the bank.In 29 overs of evening batting from Durham on a surface which provided a good balance between bat and ball but little speed for either, there was nothing to dramatically alter that impression.Chris Wright got one to kick off a testing line and length to have lynchpin Michael Di Venuto caught at second slip; then Coetzer and captain Will Smith stayed put for an unbroken half-century stand. Two days into their campaign, Durham can only be even more aware than they were at the outset that there is good reason why no one has managed a hat-trick of titles since Yorkshire managed the feat in 1968.The county championship is a hard thing to win.

Jack Leaning resists with unbeaten 47 as Yorkshire lead Warwickshire by 183 going into final day

Paul Edwards at York19-Jun-2019
Even in our secular age of easy loyalties a professional cricketer who leaves Yorkshire is still looked upon within the Ridings as something of an apostate. However understandable his motives, the faith he subsequently follows can never be quite pure. And in time – think Illingworth, think Close – he will probably return to worship at the shrine of St Emmott of Keighley.The problem is that this is no longer a universal truth. Halifax-born Oliver Hannon-Dalby, for example, is in his seventh season at Warwickshire and spends his days of obligation under the Rule of the Bear. In the first innings of this fine game he took 5 for 76 and marked nearly all his successes with a galumphing dance of delight. And on the third afternoon, when summer arrived to the surprised delight of all at Clifton Park, Hannon-Dalby removed both Will Fraine and Gary Ballance in a fine ten-over spell with the new ball.Those wickets left Yorkshire with a lead of 36 and only eight wickets in hand. They rather took the shine off the achievement of Steve Patterson’s team in bowling out Warwickshire for 254 earlier in the day. The dismissals of Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Adam Lyth to balls from Matt Lamb and Craig Miles deepened the home team’s woe but by close of play Yorkshire’s lead was a competitive 183 with three wickets in hand. Jack Leaning was unbeaten on 47 and the efforts of Patterson’s batsmen had been helped by the absence of Liam Norwell, who was forced from the field with a hamstring injury. We have a fine last day before us and York deserves nothing less.As for Hannon-Dalby, one of seven players in this team to have joined Warwickshire from other counties, he had made Jonny Tattersall his eighth victim of the match. This is already a career-best and a pleasant way to mark his 30th birthday on Thursday. The tall seamer is benefiting from the captaincy and example of Jeetan Patel at a time when Edgbaston is plainly in the throes of transition. But Hannon-Dalby is a leader, too, and he showed it with his removal of Fraine and Ballance.The first success owed something to fortune; Fraine and others thought he had inside edged the ball onto his pad. The second was a down to skill, as it needs to be these days to remove Ballance. Last week that skill was shown by Morne Morkel who, on a sopping morning at Guildford steamed in like a battle-cruiser; on Monday it was Patel who beat Ballance in the flight and caught him between a waltz and a tango; this afternoon Hannon-Dalby pitched one on off stump and moved it sufficiently to take the edge and give Will Rhodes – another recreant, may God save his perfidious soul – a simple slip catch.Lyth and Kohler-Cadmore attempted to recover from the departure of their side’s best batsman for only 18 by employing finely judged aggression. Kohler-Cadmore got off the mark with a lovely straight drive off Miles and then belted the same bowler through the covers off the back foot. Lyth, having resisted the temptations of his lesser angels, waited 49 balls before leg glancing his first boundary and celebrated by hooking Hannon-Dalby for six over the high wall adjoining a huge garden. That brought a relaxing break in play as a ladder was hoisted to help someone locate the ball and a young spalpeen was dispatched through a gap in the fence to retrieve it. To fill the time one eristic argued loudly with another about the prorogation of parliament. Most spectators probably wished devoutly they would shove a very big sock in it.Warwickshire’s next successes were not long delayed. Patel has his team chasing down everything and all players appear aware of what they might contribute. That was clear when Lamb’s first ball of the season induced an edge from a dithering Kohler-Cadmore and again when Lyth tried to pull the fifth ball after tea from Miles but only top edged a catch to Tim Ambrose.The long post-tea session stretched deep into a glorious evening with no loss of tension or purpose. Tattersall became Hannon-Dalby’s eighth wicket of the match when he nicked a catch to Ambrose and Patel bowled Jordan Thompson before having David Willey neatly stumped for a duck.It became barely possible to think this might have been a rain-wrecked day and even the fall of Yorkshire’s last five wickets seemed distant events. That was, in its way, a shame because the morning session had featured a rambunctious 27 by Miles and a comparatively surreptitious 37 by Ambrose. The best piece of cricket, though, was kept for the last delivery before tiffin when Patel inside edged the ball off Thompson, only to see Tattersall dive to his right to take a brilliant one-handed catch. The Yorkshire keeper is not finding cricket the easiest of games at the moment so it was good to see him embraced by Kohler-Cadmore and many other colleagues. Before long there were more hugs being exchanged than one might see on Ladies’ Day at Aintree, which generally sets a fearsome yardstick for wanton emotional effusions.We are buried deep in the evening at Clifton Park. Leaning’s fine innings on his old club ground is edging Yorkshire into a lead that will test Warwickshire’s batsmen. Instead of the expected grey, this became a day of dark blue, light blue and gold. The Yorkshire colours were worn proudly by the county’s seven capped players and they were sported in an altogether gaudier fashion by the blazered members of the 1863 Club in the Clifton Park pavilion.Our day’s cricket has been made all the more precious for being unexpected. Instead of rain we have had Philip Larkin’s “high-builded cloud moving at summer’s pace”. And above all, we have been reminded that what was true for Willie Quaife and David Denton holds good a century later for Sam Hain and Lyth.Let cricketers feel the sun’s warmth on their backs and the green fields of England become their playgrounds.

Given how The Super League has dominated the football world over the past couple of days, you’d be forgiven for letting Aston Villa’s Premier League clash against Manchester City on Wednesday night slip your mind.

Dean Smith’s side will be taking on one of the SL’s ‘founding fathers’ when they take on City at Villa Park, and no doubt the pre-match talk will all be dominated by the competition and how it can be stopped.

The Villa boss however will need to ensure he keeps his eye on matters on the pitch, and there is one big call that he should look to make: dropping Bertrand Traore.

The Burkina Faso international has really struggled for form in recent weeks, failing to score in his last seven Premier League games, and picking up just the one assist in that time.

Last week against Liverpool, Traore just didn’t look at all at the races, and, writing in his post-match player ratings for The Birmingham Mail, Ashley Preece gave him a five, saying: “Slipped Trezeguet in with a nice reverse pass in the first half but his involvement was minimal. His display was summed up when he attempted a hospital pass infield from a Villa throw-in as Salah almost took advantage.

“I don’t think he’s formed a good understanding with Cash yet, which again was summed up as he over-hit his pass as Cash advanced. Traore just couldn’t get going, couldn’t produce that magic we’ve seen this season and struggled throughout before complaining of rib trouble once more as El Ghazi replaced him. Disappointing.”

The £55k-a-week earning Traore has just been costing Villa in recent weeks with his performances, especially when you consider that Smith has desperately needed him to step up in Jack Grealish’s absence.

Instead, the winger has just hit a real roadblock in terms of his form, and as Preece says, appears to be a bit of a liability, both going forward and back towards his own goal.

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With the likes of Anwar El Ghazi and Jacob Ramsey waiting in the wings, it’s time for Smith to make a ruthless call and drop his summer signing against City on Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, Villa must land this “unique” Premier League sensation…

Speaking exclusively to the Transfer Tavern, former West Ham striker Frank McAvennie has warned owners David Gold and David Sullivan to splash the cash this summer.

West Ham are enjoying an impressive campaign under David Moyes and despite squandering a three-goal lead in their last Premier League match against Arsenal, they remain in with a shout of achieving their joint-best ever Premier League finish of fifth.

That draw left David Moyes team fifth, just two points behind fourth-place Chelsea having emerged as surprise top four contenders, and could still get into the Champions League for the first time in their history with a strong end to the season.

But it’s not just off the pitch where things are on track for West Ham.

Since Moyes returned to east London, the Hammers’ recruitment has improved dramatically – with Tomas Soucek, Jarrod Bowen, Vladimir Coufal and Craig Dawson just some of the few success stories at the London Stadium in previous months.

There’s also been the inspired loan signing of Jesse Lingard, whose been a revelation since joining from Manchester United in January, whilst the failed likes of Felipe Anderson and Sebastien Haller have been moved on.

But despite being on the verge of qualifying for Europe for the first time in five seasons, McAvennie knows the importance of West Ham investing heavily in their squad this summer, especially with the prospect of extra games Europe.

He told the Transfer Tavern:

“I think they have got to compete. What they have got this year is what they were promised, the fans were promised this and this is the first year that this has happened.

“It’s the first year that they’ve competed for Europe in the new stadium. Every year we have been competing for relegation. This year has been a big difference, but you’ve got to build on it, I think the owners will know that.

“They’ve still got the season tickets, so they’ve still got that kind of money, but it’s been hard, the merchandise will be down, but every club is in the same boat.

“But I don’t think there’s a problem with the money, but I would imagine the owners will give money for two or three players. I think they need Lingard, a striker and another, that would do for me, as long as they keep everyone.”

Given everything that has happened this season in Leeds’ return to the Premier League, you would be forgiven for completely forgetting that Kiko Casilla still remains at Elland Road.

The Spaniard has been on the fringes of things for Marcelo Bielsa’s side this season, and has hardly had a look in, with Illan Meslier now the club’s undisputed number one goalkeeper.

In fact, he only has just the one Premier League outing to his name this campaign, with his appearance in a 1-0 defeat to Brighton back in mid-January being the only time Whites fans have seen him in action in the top-flight.

And given that his actual performances in between the sticks haven’t been up to scratch either, Casilla’s place in this Leeds squad is seriously up for debate, particularly when you think Bielsa has 19-year-old Elia Caprile waiting in the wings.

Speaking after Leeds’ FA Cup loss to Crawley Town earlier this season, journalist Daniel Storey, slammed: “I think Kiko Casilla was the other game-changer in a negative sense because I don’t think he should be playing for Leeds for non-football reasons, but he probably shouldn’t be playing for Leeds for football reasons after today.”

Leeds TV podcaster, Oscar Mario, meanwhile, simply labelled him a “complete liability”.

Given his off-the-pitch controversy, and Meslier’s emergence onto the scene as Leeds’ number one, Bielsa must surely look to offload the £40k-a-week earning Spaniard this summer.

The Athletic’s Phil Hay even claimed that “he’s one of the players we’ve been expecting Leeds to move on in the summer”, despite Bielsa’s insistence that Casilla retains his faith.

Speaking this year, the Whites boss said: “I fully trust in Kiko. I will do the utmost possible to help him. I think the treatment Kiko has suffered ignores the fact he’s a player who played 40 games for Real Madrid.

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“Apart from whether his performances were good or bad, we forget all the thing he has done to get the team promoted. People also don’t consider how he’s being treated publicly given the situation that he had to go through.”

While Bielsa understandably has been quick to stand behind his player, quite frankly, Casilla has proven that he doesn’t deserve it either through his on-pitch performances or controversies.

The Spaniard simply has to go this summer.

Meanwhile, Leeds must unleash this star who’s “got it all”…

Aston Villa must avoid selling Ollie Watkins amid Lee Hendrie’s transfer claim that rival clubs could look to sign him.

What’s the story?

Dean Smith’s side signed the £75,000-per-week star last summer from Brentford and he has since been a revelation for Villa, bagging an impressive 14 goals in 33 games across all competitions.

Hendrie has now suggested that, were someone like Jack Grealish to leave, it could spark an exodus from Villa Park, with Watkins one of the players he fears would consider a move away.

The 43-year-old told Football Transfer Tavern: “There’s been a lot of interest for certain players. I think when you look at the bigger picture of it, you know, if someone like Jack Grealish left, I think that’s when it does maybe happen where it might be that Ollie Watkins thinks, ‘well, there’s no ambition here. We’re going to have to move on; we’re going to have to go to a different football club’.

“When they’re playing well, there’s always going to be interest for players. So, yes, there’s elements that you do want to keep your best players because I feel that if Villa are going to go and push on and be a European side and possibly get into the Champions League at some stage, they’re going to have to build around these key players that they’ve got – Ollie Watkins is one of them.

“I still feel there’s more to come from him, but I do worry (about interest from top-six sides).”

Dean Smith would be fuming

Speaking earlier this season, The Athletic’s Gregg Evans waxed lyrical about the kind of transformation Villa have had thanks to Watkins’ arrival.

He said: “I really think he’s making a big difference actually, to Villa, I think that he’s given them a new dimension and his hold up play is great, he creates space for others and that’s helping the midfielders flourish.”

After the 25-year-old helped Villa to a superb 3-0 victory against Crystal Palace in December after being down to ten men, Smith raved: “I said to them at half-time in the dressing room, ‘There’s nobody I could choose out of the Premier League to lead the line with 10 men’ with Ollie Watkins. I thought he was outstanding today and the only thing missing was his goal.

“Listen, the numbers he produces in terms of his high-speed running and sprinting distances is incredible. The lads really appreciate the work he puts in.”

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Watkins’ rise to becoming a bona fide Premier League star began with his performances at Brentford, with the Bees’ programme editor Chris Deacon telling The Athletic: “Ollie transformed himself into a physical specimen. We’d call him a machine because it looked like he would set himself into third gear and then cruise along at the front while everyone else was blowing.”

While transfer interest in him would be an indication of just how well the striker has done, Villa would be making an unforgivable mistake by looking to cash in on him and/or just letting him walk.

Smith’s side have improved dramatically since last season thanks to key signings like the 25-year-old, and that they’re still within a shout of European football is a testament to that.

The Villa boss would be absolutely fuming if the club decided to take the money on Watkins when they really should be strengthening the team around him.

Meanwhile, Villa should unleash this starlet amid reported transfer interest…

Brendan Rodgers is among Tottenham Hotspur’s top managerial targets, according to The Telegraph…

What’s the word?

On Tuesday, the north London outfit were dealt a devastating blow as Daniel Levy’s mooted first-choice option Julian Nagelsmann was confirmed as Bayern Munich’s next manager ahead of the summer.

Just two days ago, 90min revealed that Spurs were prepared to pay the Leicester City boss in excess of the £15m that Jose Mourinho took home each year while at the club.

Rodgers has downplayed reports linking him to the vacant role, claiming that Spurs is a “huge club”, but you’d imagine the money Levy could offer is a rather tempting figure.

According to Dean Windass, who spoke to Football FanCast exclusively this week, “he wouldn’t turn it down” either.

Is he the one?

Levy will undoubtedly be reeling from missing out on Nagelsmann, but he should move on quickly and prepare to launch all he has at the Foxes chief, as he could be the one to turn around their fortunes in N17.

Right now, you could consider Spurs a step down from Leicester. After all, the Midlands side are comfortable in third place, aiming for another crack at the Champions League, whilst the Lilywhites are battling for those places underneath them.

They’ve even won the Premier League more recently than Spurs have won a major trophy, but in this day and age, money plays a big factor and Levy is prepared to pay Rodgers £5m more per year than what he’s currently thought to be earning.

It would be a very wise investment, too.

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Rodgers has completely transformed Leicester both on and off the pitch. Every single year they lose their best players to big fees, such as Riyad Mahrez to Manchester City (£60m), Harry Maguire to Manchester United (£80m) and Ben Chilwell to Chelsea (£50m).

Firstly, Spurs have not sold a player for more than £50m since the departure of Kyle Walker in 2017 and he’s the only one since Gareth Bale before that to garner such a huge profit.

Secondly, the Foxes have barely felt the loss of such key players, all thanks to the shrewd recruitment and subsequent coaching of the 48-year-old Northern Irishman. For example, Timothy Castagne cost just £18m and has replaced Chilwell, while Caglar Soyuncu cost only £20m and has replaced Maguire. Both have been seamless transitions.

Among all this adversity, he looks set to guide the Foxes to back-to-back European campaigns and has also managed to keep a win rate of 55.2%, which is hugely impressive.

Furthermore, Rodgers’ development of Kelechi Iheanacho has been game-changing – Windass even called it “unbelievable” when speaking to FFC – not to mention Mourinho’s glowing endorsement of the former Liverpool boss.

“He’s very talented, he was and probably still is a guy who likes to study, learn and improve,” the Portuguese told reporters (via The Argus). “He’s creative, he knows what he wants.”

Iheanacho had looked like a player not ready to fulfil his undoubted potential until this season; now he’s bagged 17 goals in all competitions – a whopping 46% of his career total for the Midlands outfit since joining in the summer of 2017.

When you consider the regression of the likes of Dele Alli and Steven Bergwijn, and the huge potential of youngsters such as Oliver Skipp and Dennis Cirkin, on top of his phenomenal record in the transfer market, then surely Rodgers is a match made in heaven for Levy and Spurs.

He’s the one who can rejuvenate this faltering club.

AND in other news, Levy could hammer another nail in Spurs coffin by hiring 47 y/o with a 30.5% win rate…

According to Football Insider, Southampton are keeping tabs on midfielder Harry Winks ahead of the summer transfer window.

Southampton eye Winks

Winks, who currently plays for Tottenham, has made just 10 Premier League appearances so far this campaign (Transfermarkt), and therefore appears to no longer be a part of Jose Mourinho’s plans.

As such, the Saints are said to interested in taking him to the south coast, with Ralph Hasenhuttl seemingly on the hunt for reinforcements in the middle of the park considering they are also said to be eyeing Yangel Herrera.

Top target

Hasenhuttl and co should make Winks one of their top targets for the summer. While he has not played too much this campaign, he has managed 167 appearances for Spurs throughout his career, has considerable Champions League and Europa League experience, and also has 10 caps for England to his name.

Former Saints boss Mauricio Pochettino is a huge fan of the 25-year-old, previously comparing him to Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez (Goal.com), while former Spurs coach Russell Small said he plays like Zinedine Zidane – high praise indeed. Those comparisons may be over-the-top, but they illustrate the talent Winks possesses.

At Southampton, under the tutelage of Hasenhuttl and with a bigger role in the team, the central midfielder could go some way to fulfilling his potential. For the potential fee of between £15m and £20m, which is what Tottenham are said to be looking for, it could be an absolute bargain (The Daily Mirror).

In other news, Rangers fans are livid at this journalist’s comments.

Talk of Roberto Martinez to Tottenham Hotspur has begun to ramp up, thanks to emerging reports this week…

What’s the word?

The Guardian’s Dave Hytner first reported on Monday that the 47-year-old, who has overseen the progress of the Belgium national team, has ‘admirers at Spurs.’

According to Belgian outlet Sport Voetbal Magazine, the groundwork now is being laid for him to return to the Premier League after this summer’s European Championship.

It’s reported that his agent Pini Zahavi is ‘close’ to Daniel Levy, having also brokered Jose Mourinho’s £15m-a-year contract back in November 2019. Martinez is said to have instructed his representative to sound out a potential switch to north London ahead of next season.

Uninspiring

The former Swansea, Wigan Athletic and Everton manager would be a far from inspiring appointment, and given recent developments over the course of the week, Levy would be dealing Spurs yet another blow by hiring him.

Mourinho was shown the exit door after 17 months and The Athletic have since revealed several underlying factors which put an end to his tenure, including claims that the Special One “sucked the culture out of the club and destroyed what Spurs have stood for for years.”

It is also suggested that the players were not only left bored by his training sessions but also his persistent criticism in the public eye.

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Spurs were then forced out of the European Super League thanks to pressure from supporters, but it didn’t stop there. Ahead of their kick-off with Southampton on Wednesday, swarms of fans were seen outside the ground protesting against ENIC and Levy, so he will be under immense pressure to get this appointment spot on.

Martinez’s experience in England is probably most memorable for his FA Cup win at the Latics in 2013, but his stint at the Toffees was hardly anything to brag about – after signing a five-year contract extension, Everton had won just one of ten games before March and were knocked out of the Europa League early. By May 2016, he was sacked with the team in 12th place.

Eurosport went on to dissect his tenure, suggesting that the Merseyside outfit were in decline under him. “The problems seem systemic: what went wrong at Wigan is going wrong at Everton and there’s no evidence Martinez is able to fix it,” explained Jonathan Wilson.

Richard Jolley added: “Martinez has imagination, but undermines his progressiveness with an enduring sniffiness about the fundamentals.”

The Spaniard’s ‘no-fear’ style of football would match a key philosophy desired by Levy but there are some doubts too, as the Belgium boss came under fire for excluding Radja Nainggolan, who dubbed him “pathetic” for how he dealt with things in a scathing interview with ESPN.

Once lauded as a “very smart person” and a “very good coach” by former Swansea defender Angel Rangel, it’s been an age since Martinez was in the Premier League, and even then he went out in disappointing fashion.

His overall record in the English top flight is just 81 wins in 265 matches, a win rate of 30.5%. By comparison, Mourinho was given the axe at Spurs having won 52.3% of his games in charge.

Appointing the 47-year-old would open Levy to further criticism from the club’s already-enraged fanbase, and ultimately it could prove to be another nail in the coffin towards his and Tottenham’s turgid reputation.

AND in other news, Big update emerges in Spurs’ pursuit of top Mourinho successor, Levy will be buzzing…