Nuno takes Wolves trio to Tottenham
Ian Cathro worked with Nuno Espirito Santo at Rio Ave, Valencia and Wolves
Written by Training Ground Guru — July 3, 2021
NUNO ESPIRITO SANTO has named his backroom staff at Tottenham, with trio Ian Cathro, Rui Barbosa and Antonio Dias reunited with him from Wolves.
Nuno was appointed Spurs Head Coach on Wednesday, although his backroom staff were not named at the time. Now they have been.
Scot Cathro joins as Assistant Head Coach, having previously worked with Nuno at Wolves, Rio Ave and Valencia. The duo first met at a Scottish Football Association coaching course in 2009 and you can read more about their story together HERE.
Goalkeeper coach Barbosa and fitness coach Dias are also long-time associates of the Head Coach's. Barbosa worked with him at Rio Ave and Porto, while Dias was with him at Rio Ave, Valencia and Porto.
Interestingly, the other half of the backroom team that left Wolves with the Head Coach have NOT been retained. The most notable is assistant Rui Pedro Silva, who has been regarded as Nuno’s closest ally, and who had worked with him at Rio Ave, Valencia and Porto before Wolves.
The other absentees are first-team coach Julio Figueroa and rehab coach Joao Lapa, who are also Portuguese. TGG understands that Spurs chairman Daniel Levy had been eager to avoid too much upheaval to Tottenham's staff.
The coaching staff that led Tottenham through to the end of last season following the dismissal of Jose Mourinho will now go back to their former jobs.
They are:
- Ryan Mason, who was interim manager, and reverts to Head of Development for the U17s to U23s.
- Nigel Gibbs, who was interim assistant and reverts to Assistant Head of Development (17s to 23s).
- Chris Powell, who was interim assistant (and is now working with England at the Euros), who reverts to Head of Coaching (17s to 23s).
- Ledley King, who as an assistant under Mourinho and then Mason, will return to his role as a club ambassador.
- Michel Vorm, who was Interim Goalkeeping Coach.
There have also been two other appointments in the Academy:
- Stuart Lewis, who has been U16s coach since 2019, steps up to U18s lead.
- Dean Brill joins from Leyton Orient, where he was first-team keeper coach, to become Academy goalkeeping coach.
