spurious
Well-Known Member
Indeed I am. Delighted our US correspondent drops these tidbits in for us. And when I'm short on delight, or the offerings are not delightful, I don't read them, or at least keep my trap shut.
SpiderSpurs
Well-Known Member
You have a really inflated sense of self importance - I wasn't asking you.
If ONLY that were true!!
USspur
Well-Known Member
Colorado Rapids set to name Tottenham assistant Matt Wells new manager: Sources
The Rapids narrowly missed the playoffs in 2025 and moved on from manager Chris Armas
www.nytimes.com The Colorado Rapids are set to name Tottenham assistant Matt Wells their next head coach, sources briefed on the deal tell The Athletic.
It will be the first head-coaching role for the 37-year-old Wells, who is currently an assistant on Thomas Frank’s staff and previously worked for Spurs under Ange Postecoglou. He has also worked under Scott Parker at Fulham, Bournemouth and Club Brugge, racking up key first-team European experience at a young age for a coach. Tottenham declined to comment when reached by The Athletic.
Wells will be one of the youngest head coaches in MLS in 2026. Minnesota United’s Eric Ramsay, 34, is currently the youngest.
The Rapids, who narrowly missed the playoffs in 2025 under outgoing head coach Chris Armas, interviewed a number of candidates both domestic and abroad, but ultimately landed on Wells, who has been aligned with the Rapids’ early offseason moves. The club routinely works with the coaching staff on player recruitment to ensure total alignment.
The squad has some foundational pieces, led by U.S. international and club-record signing Paxten Aaronson. The 22-year-old joined the Rapids in a shock summer move from Eintracht Frankfurt, rejecting offers from RB Salzburg and Southampton, among other interested clubs.
Colorado also has English defender Rob Holding as well as a strong American contingent led by goalkeeper Zack Steffen, midfielder Cole Bassett, left back Sam Vines, defender Reggie Cannon and more.
Brazilian forward Rafael Navarro (27 goals, 10 assists over the last two seasons) currently leads the attack, but Colorado rejected lucrative transfer offers from Brazilian side Fluminense over the summer and he could still move this winter. If he goes, the club will be able to sign another designated player.
The Rapids turned to the Spurs side of the North London derby despite sharing the same ownership as Arsenal through Kroenke Sports & Entertainment. The club interviewed then-Arsenal assistant Jack Wilshere two years ago for its head coaching vacancy but has wound up with a Spurs assistant instead.
Who is Wells and what does this mean for Spurs?
Matt Wells’ potential departure from the Tottenham Hotspur coaching staff would be a significant moment, the first real change to the backroom team that Thomas Frank assembled when he was appointed as Spurs head coach six months ago.Wells became one of Frank’s four First Team Assistant Coaches, along with Justin Cochrane, Andreas Georgson and Chris Haslam. He was the only member of Ange Postecoglou’s coaching staff who stayed on to work for Frank, a sign of how highly rated he is by the Premier League club.
During Postecoglou’s two years at Spurs, Wells took a prominent role on the training ground. In Postecoglou’s first season he was Assistant Coach, before becoming Senior Assistant Coach for the second season when Chris Davies left to manage Birmingham City. Postecoglou often took a hands-off approach to training, letting his coaches run the sessions, which meant that Wells would often have significant responsibility with the players. That season ended in triumph, with Tottenham lifting the Europa League trophy in Bilbao in May, something that Postecoglou and his staff will always be remembered for. Wells is very highly-rated within the game, with sources full of praise for his analytical eye and his inventive sessions.
Wells started out in the Tottenham academy as a youngster before becoming a coach in the academy, quickly rising to coach the Under-18s team. He then went on to be an assistant coach for Scott Parker, first at Fulham and Bournemouth, both of whom won promotion to the Premier League, and then in Belgium with Club Brugge. He returned to Tottenham in April 2023 to be assistant head coach when Ryan Mason took sole caretaker charge for the end of the 2022-23 season after the departure of Cristian Stellini. But many young coaches — Wells is 37 — ultimately want to become a head coach, and that is what the potential move to MLS represents.
J.spurs
Well-Known Member
Founding Member
That’s a little more room to find a seat around the IPad now. Apparently he’s Cliff Jones’s grandson.
USspur
Well-Known Member
City Football Group executive Carlos Raphael Moersen in advanced talks to join Tottenham
Moersen, known as 'Rafi', has spent the last 10 years working for CFG clubs, including negotiating deals for Manchester City.
www.nytimes.com City Football Group (CFG) executive Carlos Raphael Moersen is in advanced talks to take up the role of director of football operations at Tottenham Hotspur.
The deal is not yet complete but is expected to be finalised soon.
Moersen, known as ‘Rafi’, has spent the last 10 years working for CFG clubs and currently serves as the company’s director of football transactions. He is part of the ‘global football’ operation previously led by CFG’s managing director, the one-time England international Brian Marwood, and now by Riccardo Bigon, CFG’s global football technical director. Moersen has risen quickly through CFG, where he is highly rated, and his role includes negotiating contracts with current and prospective Manchester City players, with the Etihad Stadium team serving as CFG’s flagship club.
After Omar Berrada left to become chief executive at rivals Manchester United in July 2024, Moersen took more responsibility regarding negotiations and stepped up to support former City director of football Txiki Begiristain, who left the club in July this year and was replaced by Hugo Viana.
A move to Tottenham would make him the latest appointment in what has been a year of change at executive level in north London.
Former Arsenal executive Vinai Venkatesham was appointed Spurs CEO in April 2024, before it was announced in June that long-serving executive director Donna-Maria Cullen had stepped down.
The most significant change of the last 12 months came in September, when former chairman Daniel Levy left the club in September after 24 years. Tottenham announced that Levy had “stepped down”, though the decision was taken by the club’s majority shareholders, the Lewis family. Peter Charrington was hired as non-executive chairman.
On October 15, Spurs confirmed the return of Fabio Paratici to the club as a joint-sporting director alongside Johan Lange. This followed the end of a 30-month ban from football activity after being accused of financial malpractice while at Italian club Juventus. Within the official announcement confirming Paratici’s return, Tottenham said they would be starting recruitment for a new a director of football operations.
Later that month, The Athletic reported that Rebecca Caplehorn, Tottenham’s head of administration and football governance would leave the club following the January transfer window after more than 10 years with the club.
Moersen graduated from George Washington University and worked for D.C. United before joining CFG club New York City FC in 2015. He held several roles there and at City before moving into the wider CFG operation in 2020.
Additional reporting: Jack Pitt-Brooke, Jordan Campbell