Tottenham Hotspur announced two new pre-season fixtures, against Leyton Orient and MK Dons, yet the Lilywhites remain without a manager as the fixtures approach.

This ill-fated managerial search has made a mockery of the way Spurs are run, with the board having to work against leaks claiming at least nine managers have rejected the role.

Nuno Espirito Santo is the latest rumoured to have been of interest, only for nothing to materialise. Like Gennaro Gattuso, there was resistance to the appointment of Nuno, with the hashtag #saynotonuno circulating on Twitter.

He becomes just another name added to an already-extensive – and ever-growing – list of managers linked to the vacancy.

With nobody at the helm, there is no plan or philosophy for prospective players to buy into, making transfers extremely difficult to predict, especially during the Euros.

Fabio Paratici will be tasked with identifying the talent in the market, with players from Serie A expected to be linked to the club. We could well see a summer exodus of players following the finishing of the Euros, which would give the club almost certainly too much to do in such a short space of time.

It is rumoured that Tottenham are now looking at managers on the international stage – namely Roberto Mancini of Italy and Roberto Martinez of Belgium.

The truth behind these reports is difficult to ascertain, but it would certainly mean nobody walks through the doors at Spurs until the Euros end.

Regarding incomings, the club have been linked to Bologna defender Takehiro Tomiyasu, a Japanese international who is equally comfortable at centre-back and right-back.

A few other names have been linked to solving the defensive woes the side displayed last season, but such moves are difficult to arrange if the player doesn’t know who he’ll be playing for.

Evidently there is a crisis behind the scenes at Hotspur Way, whether it can resolve itself remains a very good question, while it wouldn’t be absurd to suggest it could worsen before things improve.

All things are pointing towards a very difficult campaign, regardless of who eventually ends up in the hot-seat, but this disastrous period will no doubt be relevant to any struggles the club have in the new season.