Charlie Austin’s sharpest attack was not aimed at the manager’s tactics. It was aimed at the room.

“Tell me the players in that Spurs dressing room that are going to run through a brick wall for him,” Austin said on talkSPORT.

Tottenham sit 20th in the Premier League with two points from five matches and only two goals scored. The club spent more than £300m in the summer window under the Italian, who signed a five-year contract to take charge in the summer.

“No proof in the pudding”

Austin’s second line is about the manager, not the players.

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“What, in his managerial record, has he done to think he’s going to turn this around?” he said, questioning what evidence Spurs fans could point to from De Zerbi’s earlier clubs.

“There’s no proof in the pudding.”

Fellow pundit Ade Oladipo echoed the verdict on the same show, describing the Italian as “quite volatile, quite angry” and saying he could not see how the start gets turned around.

Slot named as surprise option

The sack-race odds have narrowed sharply, and a replacement is already being floated. Sports Mole reported on 2 October that Arne Slot, the Premier League title winner with Liverpool in 2024-25, has emerged as a surprise name on Tottenham’s shortlist should the club change its mind.

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For now, Tottenham insist they will not.

Venkatesham repeats the message

Chief executive Vinai Venkatesham publicly backed De Zerbi at a Fan Advisory Board meeting on 3 October, telling supporters the club remained confident in the manager, in the summer signings and in the changes made, while acknowledging that those changes would take time.

Fabrizio Romano made the same reading last month, when Tottenham reached a decision to retain De Zerbi after a winless opening run.

“The message from Tottenham, as of today, remains a message of confidence in Roberto De Zerbi,” Romano said.

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That message was issued on 19 September. Tottenham have not won a league match since.

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