One manager, who came extremely close to being appointed as Tottenham’s head coach a couple of years ago, now faces the prospect of being out of the game for nine months after the rule book was thrown at him on the back of his latest antics.
Tottenham were linked with a whole host of managers back in 2021 before eventually settling for Nuno Espirito Santo, who ended up lasting just three months in the job before being replaced by Antonio Conte.
It was widely reported at the time that Spurs had almost reached a full agreement with Paulo Fonesca, who had just departed Roma back then, but the deal eventually fell through.
Since then, the Portuguese coach has had spells at both Lille and AC Milan before taking over as Lyon’s head coach a little over a month ago.
Paulo Fonseca’s time at Lyon might be shortlived
However, Fonseca’s time at the Ligue 1 club now appears in danger of coming to a premature end after he was involved in an ugly incident during Lyon’s 2-1 win over Brest on Sunday.
The 52-year-old angrily confronted referee Benoit Millot, pushing his face towards him during the game, and the official responded by sending off the manager.
Fabrizio Romano now revealed that Fonseca’s punishment does not stop there as the Lyon boss has now been handed a nine-match ban, which means that he cannot be on the touchline again until November 30.
Tottenham might have just dodged a bullet
Daniel Levy and the Spurs hierarchy certainly know the challenges of working with a hot-head manager, with Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho both creating their fair share of problems at the club.
It looks like they might have dodged a bullet with respect to Fonseca, who clearly crossed the line with the way he confronted a referee.
However, one does wonder if the punishment is too harsh for the crime, especially given that the Lyon boss does not have a bad disciplinary record.
