levy’s gotta be careful though, because apparently we’re looking for a young project manager. So that rules him out. Nagelsmann fitted that mould, but supposedly we weren’t interested?! Doesn’t make sense. He blatantly rejected us! of the remaining names, Slot and De Zerbi are 2 of very few that fit the criteria. If these don’t pan out for whatever reason, and it ends up being a Rodger’s-esque type manager as a last resort, it will highlight the total ineptitude of the process. I know there’s a bit of a food chain when it comes to players/managers/clubs, but Slot would be mad to join us!
I also worry about 'Stockholm Syndrome' at Spurs where desperation causes us to act irrationally. I felt that quite strongly hearing the 'He's magic, you know' chants growing in volume as the season progressed. It is sentimentality only - fans are dreaming of the 'good old days' under Poch and imagining that it will be as easy as him walking back in, waving a magic wand and it will all be fine and dandy again. But that was 5-6 years ago now and a hell of a lot has happened since then, not least of all City and Pool overtaking us, Newcastle taken over and a cluster of relatively 'small' clubs vastly exceeding expectations on a sustained basis. Wanting Poch back came from a place of desparation imo and a huge fear of the unknown. The fear is justified, no question, as 'unknown' when it comes to Spurs includes sacking BMJ at half time, hiring Santini, hiring AVB, entering a very one-way "special relationship" with Real Madrid hiring Nuno, hiring Maureen, sacking Maureen a week before a cup final, replacing Conte with Conte's assistant, hiring a DoF under criminal investigation etc. It's no wonder Spurs fans tend to make decisions from a place of fear - we are scarred by decades of baffling decisions. Has Slot achieved all that much? Probably not. But then again, we've consistently performed worse under managers with impressive CVs (Santini, Ramos, Maureen, Conte) than those who came from relatively humble backgrounds. I am open to anyone who has shown themselves to play good football, have an eye for talent and an ability to nurture youngsters. I don't think we want or even need more than that. Get them in place, get a DoF in place to support them and overhaul our broken recruitment model, and let them get on with it.
I think it also depends on who we want 'managing' the 'project'. This was apparently a huge sticking point over Nagelsmann; he essentially wanted absolute control - the project would be 'his', whereas the club's preferred option was for the DoF to have a significant say in the process. At which point Nagelsmann rightly asked "Who's the DoF then?" to which we of course said "we haven't a foggiest yet", to which he understandably chuckled and walked off into the sunset. It boils down to who practically speaking answers to whom. So whilst the DoF may well be responsible for setting deliverables and standards etc., does the manager have carte blanche to say "I want this profile of player, go deploy the team to find him"? Or, can the DoF say "We [the club] believe that actually this other player is better for our long-term strategy, so please find a way to work with him". This was clearly the biggest off-field issue with Conte and Paratici and came to the fore with multiple signings the former had zero interest in ever using, but the DoF - representing 'the Club' - insisted on signing them nonetheless. I feel until we've fully resolved the answer to this question with absolute clarity and set boundaries of authority and vision, no manager and no DoF is going to be mad enough to join us. Unless of course they are desperate for a shot at redemption....which brings us back to Brenda...
I doubt many Spurs fans have seen enough of Slot to judge him, to be honest. The reports suggest that he's done well for a few years and plays attacking football, though. Given the defensive dogshit that we've had to watch for a while, I can see the attraction. Ten Hag's had an encouraging start, reached a couple of cup finals and may get CL football. Winning the Carabao Cup may not be awe inspiring, but it's a trophy and they beat a good team. They may win the FA Cup too, but even without it they've moved forward. Clean up the squad a bit and I can see why Utd fans would be optimistic.
It also has to be said that to-date, we're yet to see a DoF-manager relationship work at Spurs. Jol and Arnesen had huge promise but lasted a matter of months before he was pinched. Comolli and Ramos was a disaster and similar to the Paratici-Conte dynamic whereby the DoF had a clear remit from the Club to sign young talent whilst his manager wanted ready-made players. Baldini and AVB was a nightmare. Our most successful such partnership and the only one that lasted quite a distance was Poch-Mitchell, who worked wonders together at Soton before laying similar foundations here. And the crucial difference is that Mitchell, whilst powerful, was never actually DoF; he was 'Head of Recruitment', which suggests someone who could hold the manager to task but whose vision for the Club ultimately had to be aligned with the manager's.
Agreed. Based on Slot’s rep and what other, more in the know people have said, he seems to have a good mix of footballing ideals (which align to what Spurs fans want to see on the pitch) and pragmatism (he seems good at working with what he has and dealing with squad turnover. Feyenoord lost some big players last summer and then won the league, for example), both of which will be important if he’s going to be a success at Spurs. The environment around him (the DoF basically) is just as important though.
I completely agree, and I don’t think we’re in a position to expect a “top manager”, even if we wanted to. We’re no Chelsea, but in our own way, we’re actually a bit of a poisoned chalice at the moment. and, Like you say, the high profile managers don’t seem to work out anyway. the right person is the key thing here, but I have no idea who that is. And what is soul destroying, is that Levy blatantly doesn’t either.
Since it can't be demonstrated that there are any sensible criteria for hiring a coach or manager who will make a real difference why would anyone pay money to buy them out of a contract? There is some logic in hiring someone cheap to leave more to spend on players who actually do make a difference.
I don’t think Rodgers would be as bad an appointment as many think but the manner of his appointment would be extremely disappointing considering we’re in an absolute mess and hiring a manager who was sacked from a club that may be getting relegated looks awfully desperate and lacking ambition. A few weeks back I said I’ve fully got on board with the idea of Slot and I hope the rumours of us speaking with him are true. His win percentage at AZ and Feyenoord has been really impressive and he just won Feyenoord’s 2nd title in the last 23 years in which only Twente and AZ have managed to take a title from one of Ajax or PSV. Reached the ECL final last year too and his style of football’s been widely praised. Last Dutch guy we had in charge weren’t too shabby either.
It does have to be said the fanbase are showing a very similar attitude towards managers that they do players: we should never take a punt, we should go for somebody established - which fails to understand two things i.) That usually means we'd be paying two, three or four times more for somebody a year or two after we could have brought them in ii.) That extra year or two of becoming established puts that person on the radar of clubs higher up the food chain with deeper pockets than us Case in point, earlier today I saw someone on the increasingly irrational r/coys saying we should've move for Slot now and instead we should wait and see if a Ligue 1 club picks him up and move later, as if him joining (for the sake of putting a name here) Nice wouldn't just see us have to muddle through with somebody else for a year or two but also potentially get him on the radar of clubs with deeper pockets, be it in the Premier League, Bundesliga, or the suburbs of Paris while his buyout would be north of £10m Where has this attitude of not taking a gamble on potential and only going for a player and/or manager once their transfer value and wages have skyrocketed come from? Because it's become prevalent in the last couple of years, often from people who also talk about "Spurs DNA" and don't see their own irony deficiency
Portuguese tax authorities are looking into several recent transfers by Benfica, Sporting and Porto for potential shady dealings Why is this relevant to us? Well, Tiago Pinto was Benfica DoF for the period of several of the transfers being investigated...
Miguel Delaney says Slot's currently the leading candidate, whilst we also want to speak with Amorim. Criteria is a young, progressive coach capable of overseeing a new team. The latter at least sounds promising to me, as hopefully that translates to "we're booting loads of players out" with the aim of building something afresh. I might even start the new poll with just those two, then add more names if they become more prominently linked, saves chucking 5 or 6 in from the go when 1 or 2 are likely of no consideration. Like the last one I'll add the ability to change votes.
Alasdair Gold venturing into the clickbait dark arts by suggesting a BOMBSHELL about Arne Slot It's merely his AssMan, John de Wolf, saying he won't follow Slot out of Feyenoord should he leave - even though de Wolf was Feyenoord's AssMan before Slot arrived So, Mason as Slot's assistant good with everybody...?
And if we go a rung down the tier list... And if we go another rung down... Given the names being bandied about, the sudden u-turn on Nagelsmann actually starts to become clear: there's a good chance that Neppe was one of the people who pushed for Bayern to sack him so if we mentioned his name as a potential DoF it's no surprise Nagelsmann would have bristled, and I vaguely recall suggestions that Nagelsmann and Krosche had a strained relationship at Monster Energy Dusseldorf when Krosche's name came up a week or so ago
Alasdair Gold says that Lee Dykes has been dropped from the DoF shortlist Looks like momentum is starting to build, so we might have things in place by mid-July
So that's Delaney, Thomas and Di Marzio all pushing out Slot links within the last 24 hours. In the old poll Slot was gaining momentum and I think was third favourite on here after Nagelsmann and Poch, so not a bad appointment if it goes through with regards to fan satisfaction.
