The first international break is upon us and Tottenham Hotspur find themselves bottom of the Premier League.

This was not in the script. The whole idea of Spurs spending big over the summer was to ensure they would never find themselves in a relegation dogfight again.

£100m was spent on Sandro Tonali. £85m was shelled out on Mateus Fernandes. Another £85m was sent to Manchester City for Savio.

On paper, they had won the transfer window. Yet, as Liverpool will tell you following their lavish expenditure a year ago, it's not always as simple as just splashing the cash.

The real reasons De Zerbi finds himself in trouble

There are deep-rooted issues entrenched within this great football club. The term Spursy gets thrown around but it has never been more relevant in the year 2026.

Indeed, as Arsenal lifted the Premier League trophy back at Selhurst Park in May, across London, the Lilywhites were triumphantly cheering, although for very different reasons.

It was bedlam inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Spurs fans celebrated staying up, but really, that only sums up the mentality. They should not have been celebrating this at all.

They are not a small club. They are a historic one and it pains supporters to see them in such a state. Yet, after two years of struggling down by the foot of the table, they are struggling to find ways to turn it around. Perhaps this is just Spurs now?

Either way, the summer clearly hasn't helped. All told, the Londoners spent over £300m on new recruits but you look at the starting XI now and wonder what on earth they spent it on.

Roberto De Zerbi's misprofiling of Mateus Fernandes has been an issue. Played as a 10, rather than deeper, he was withdrawn at half-time on Saturday with the Italian noting that he did not like his performance when quizzed about it post-game.

To their credit, Spurs look more organised defensively under the Italian. The additions of Jan Paul van Hecke, Marcos Senesi and Andy Robertson will help.

Further forward, however, it looks like a mess. Omar Marmoush is without a goal or an assist since arriving, with many questioning what his best position is. That is never a good start.

Dominic Solanke is also finding life difficult. He scored against Charlton Athletic in the Carabao Cup but that remains his only significant involvement of the campaign.

As a result, it took Spurs five games to finally find the net in the Premier League. That needs to improve ASAP if De Zerbi is to keep his job.

How Spurs can replace De Zerbi

With it reportedly set to cost around £50m if Spurs get rid of the manager so soon into his contract, it is unlikely that ENIC will give him his marching orders over the international break.

Given the level of spending and how much De Zerbi was involved in the summer's recruitment, he deserves an opportunity to turn the tide.

After all, it was he who reinvigorated the club so well towards the back end of last season.

Yet, if results continue like this, they will be left with no option but to pull the trigger on his time in the English capital. So, who could replace him?

Well, Julian Nagelsmann is a headline name after leaving Germany behind following the World Cup, while former Liverpool boss Arne Slot is also on the market.

Perhaps a first homegrown head coach since Tim Sherwood back in 2013 could do the trick? We're talking about Eddie Howe here.

Now, the 48-year-old may not be the most attractive name, but the stability he brought to both Bournemouth and Newcastle United is something that Spurs should be inspired by.

With the Cherries, Howe took them from League Two all the way to the Premier League. It's picture-book stuff, a story more likely to happen in a Football Manager save.

Yet, Howe made it a reality on the South Coast and earned huge acclaim. Then, when PIF came to Newcastle, they decided to make Howe the face of the project.

At St James' Park, he ended a 56-year trophy drought by steering the Magpies to Carabao Cup glory and he regularly had them competing in the Champions League.

Sure, he had some Saudi riches to help along the way, but it wasn't that easy. Newcastle were hamstrung by PSR and were regularly gutted of their best players. Despite all of that, he ensured stability, guiding the Toon to three consecutive top-half finishes.

With that in mind, it really is no surprise that Jamie Carragher once hailed Howe as "the best English coach by a million miles", while also championing him to be the "next England manager". That's fine praise indeed.

While he may not be a tactical genius on Pep Guardiola or Mikel Arteta's level, he is a fine man-manager. He's the type of coach who could really help this group of Spurs players. They need an arm around them and Howe could provide exactly that.