Roberto De Zerbi is jetting into N17 – employing a manager said to operate in the fog of a permanent tantrum feels a big risk [Pedro Soares/SPP]

THERE was a 1980s advert for the business directory Yellow Pages.

It featured a teenager who had thrown a party while his parents were away and then needs to find a French polisher, pronto.

Thankfully, he gets a scratch on an antique table sorted – only to then see a moustache and glasses scrawled over an oil painting as his parents are walking up the garden path. The panic on the actor’s face – a Highgate-based thesp called Simon Schatzberger, since you ask – is pretty much the expression of the Spurs board at the moment.

They called Igor Tudor and 44 days later discovered the footballing equivalent of a comedy moustache and glasses on every first-team player. Tudor’s one point from 15 gives new manager Roberto De Zerbi seven games to secure top-flight football next season.

Touchline firecracker De Zerbi has jetted into N17, leaving a trail of sparks, flames and incendiary management qualities. There can be no denying Tottenham’s senior players need a rocket, but employing a manager said to operate in the fog of a permanent tantrum feels a big risk.

De Zerbi got Brighton playing well, but fans are understandably uneasy.

Firstly, he is known for his abrasive approach. How will that go down with a team bereft of all confidence?

How, in seven games, is he going to explain his template? He likes to build from the back – has he seen the Spurs defence and goalkeeper this term?

Has he seen the collywobbles that pour off the terraces whenever the side are in possession anywhere near their own penalty box?

The second red flag is the way he left Brighton, after falling out with the board. Has De Zerbi got the patience to deal constructively with the Tottenham chiefs who have hardly covered themselves in glory?

No wonder some Spurs supporters’ groups are saying “no thanks”.

It would have been nice to see the board go for a manager who can calmly explain how he is going to get the best out of everyone.

Such a gaffer was available, someone who has inadvertently already made an impression on the club.

If you look at the collar of Tottenham shirts, you will see an embroidered code. Known as a legacy number, every player since 1894 has been allotted one.

Number one was Stanley Briggs, a 6ft 4 centre-half who captained the side and refused to be paid when the club turned professional.

The most recent is 904 – academy graduate James Rowswell.

Legacy numbers were an idea originally credited to Gareth Southgate when he was England boss and are a psychological tool to remind players of the opportunity they have been given.
It’s this type of management Tottenham could do with.

Not Thomas Frank’s set-piece borefest.

Not Tudor’s tough love, which left players looking like they were running through treacle instead of walls.

And not De Zerbi, whose style is unsuited to a confidence-sapped squad.

Southgate took England to two European Championship finals and the World Cup semis. His cerebral approach is the type of medicine Tottenham could do with.

While a majority of fans’ hearts yearn for a reunion with Mauricio Pochettino, we don’t need a magician of a manager starting after we’ve been relegated.

We need some common sense.

We’ll see in the next two months if De Zerbi can install that simple quality.