I think the stadium caused Levy to take his eye off several side-issues. Player contracts and moving unwanted players on quickly and quietly being top of that list. In a way, the greater failure of those 3 windows with zero investment was not the fact that we didn't bring anyone in, it was that we failed to move numerous players on while they still had market value. I doubt Eriksen, Toby, Rose, Wanyama etc. will still be here next season, but whereas the four of them would have fetched upwards of £100m a year ago, a year hence we'll be lucky to cover the costs of their contract lawyers. That was a poor lack of foresight which both Levy and Poch must share the blame for.
My definition of 'fine' is 'able to challenge for the top 4 or more. Yours seems to be 'able to beat Colchester'. So yes, using your yardstick and looking at the Palace game, it is baffling. But one comfortable win in 17 league games clearly isn't enough evidence to challenge my benchmark. This squad is barely good enough for top 4 anymore, let alone bigger prizes. And as other teams such as Leicester strengthen, we could be pushed back even further.
The club seem to have forgot the most important thing isn’t shiny new stadiums or training grounds, it’s the players. You reap what you sow.
You're claiming that my definition is too low, yet we failed to even meet that. We had 60 points from 26 games in February, five points behind City with a game in hand. That squad didn't suddenly become **** without any significant changes in personnel. One short break in February and we can barely win any game against any opposition? That's not the squad being poor.
Poch: "Now it’s about arriving in a difficult situation and we need to recover the time we lost in pre-season. Maybe our performances are good, but it’s about having a different agenda and we need to build that togetherness." Lost time in pre-season?? What the feck's he on about? What happened over the summer?!
I get that. But the squad wasn't fine last February, you know that as well as I do PNP. It was wafer-thin, as such that even the slightest shift in its contents could ruin the entire chemistry. That happened with injuries to a few key players at a few key times. And the same has happened this season, albeit this time the shift in the equation hasn't been unfortunate or unforeseen; it is the result of having at least 8 players walking around the club who don't want to be here, or else the manager doesn't want them here.
We had plenty of injuries all the time and it didn't disrupt the team. Bringing back injured players who weren't fit did, though. Pochettino rushed Kane back for the umpteenth time, shifted the system and our form went off a cliff. In September. Great.
That comment was the only one that resonated with me. He does see a way forward out of this mess. It will require the painful decisions that he spoke about in the summer to be made in the next two windows. A major clear out and a major recruitment drive to start afresh. Whether or not Levy has the heart for it remains to be seen. But the dawning realisation should be: this season will likely be a complete write-off. We'll just have to grin and bear it.
I don’t think Poch is ****...I believe he will win trophies under a Chairman who is focused on trophies as I expect Poch to land a top job if he leaves/sacked However you cannot deny that he has lost his touch with us to one extent or another and that is our problem and we will have to solve it and that means Poch is in trouble because that’s Football
We were good enough to beat Newcastle on paper but failed to turn up. We were good enough to be 2 up v arsenal but failed to turn up in the second half. We were good enough to be be 2 up v Olympiakos but failed to turn up in the second half. We were good enough to be 1 up v Leicester and then failed to play out the last 20 minutes. Since Septembers 2018 we have thrown away leads against: Watford (3 pts lost) Arsenal (3 pts lost) Wolves (3 pts lost) Southampton (3 pts lost) Everton (2 pts lost) Arsenal (2 pts lost) Leicester (3 pts lost) That's 19 points in just 12 months. We have strengthened over the summer, had a decent pre season yet we continue to slump. That suggests an issue with temperament, tactics and for the want of a better term professionalism. Tonight encompasses all of those failings. We can say that lack of investment is stopping us keeping up with City and Liverpool but sorry, we should have beaten Newcastle and not thrown away a 2 goal lead v arsenal, Olympiakos, a one goal lead v Leicester or lost tonight...these results ... all in the last 4 weeks ... are nothing to do with investment and everything to do with tactics, team selection and players playing well...something that has happened for: 45 mins v Villa 45 mins v Arsenal 90 mins v Palace 45 mins v Leicester 30 mins v Olympiakos (being generous) Nothing v Toon Nothing v Colchester We showed a lot of heart v City. That amount is outragous for the squad we have.
If he ends up as our manager this mo fo is gonna be making RCL look like a positive happy clappy hippy chick... Just saying like
I’m done with Spurs and football if Mourinho ever becomes manager He’s ****ing poison and would cause irreparable damage.
Yet in that time we were flying in the CL Lots of blood, sweat, tears, passion It’s all a bit baffling
I totally agree with this but on the transfer bit. Our incomings have had zero impact apart from NDombele, to an extent, so this Summer has really not benefitted us. In reality as things stand...Poch has had the same squad for almost 5 years now. We are just starting to feel the affects of our poor long term planning for success on the pitch and that once again comes down to the hierarchy. I believe Poch will win many trophies but not with us. It’s a debate for a different Thread and day but you can’t ignore 1 trophy under ENIC...it’s our longest trophy drought since the 60’s. Just like we have seen a new stadium under Levy’s watch...we are also witnessing our longest trophy drought under his watch so let’s be balanced about it and bring ENIC to task for that abysmal record under them.
look on the bright side lads, you are out of the "season killer" cup now so the rest should be plain sailing
First time Poch has lost to a lower league team since he came to England...that’s 19 games When you start breaking all the wrong records you know you’re in trouble
It would be easy to pop along over here and take the piss ... but I'm hoping for Colchester in the next round so it might be a tad premature ...
