There’s plenty he can control that he should be doing better. Like I already said, Newcastle probably should have had a penalty in the second half and Spurs barely tested their keeper.
The one significant thing I'd take from today's game and indeed from this entire stretch of pretty dire results, is that the team are still quite clearly fighting for the manager. This represents a watershed compared to his predecessors, both of whom had lost the dressing room long before this stage of their careers (in Jose's case he didn't even make it this far before being sacked). I'm not at all enamoured by Ange and think he's generally well out of his depth, but I won't ignore the fact that whatever he's doing and despite all of the obvious flaws in how he's doing it, the dressing room still seems to be behind him. Lethargic performances have been down to fatigue rather than the chronic apathy we saw under previous managers. Like it or hate it, this is all the more reason for the board to ramp things up and show him proper support in the market. Whilst he doesn't seem to be able to improve players, they seem to like him and his methods and tbh if a manager can convince a bunch of overpaid pampered prima donnas to run through a brick wall for him, the game is already halfway won. We haven't had this particular quality in a manager since Poch, and based on this and this alone I'd say with trepidation that we need to stick with Ange and instead of signing him 21 year old GKs from irrelevant leagues, give him some proper backing. The window opened 4 days ago. We face Liverpool in 4 days' time. I guarantee you we won't make a single outfield signing in that time.
Why has the club's treatment of Austin been disgraceful? No one has forced him and Alfie to sit around stealing a living for years. I'd wager he's now earned more per senior appearance than Ndombele did. I have zero sympathy for players who show a chronic lack of ambition, and sadly that very much applies to him. Josh Keeley is the one I feel sorry for in this whole equation. Playing out of his skin every week for Orient only to be upstaged by another keeper the same age as him.
I think he’s an excellent speaker, if anyone’s watched any of his team meetings or pre-match talks, he’s superb at motivating players to give their all and I think that’s why we see the players still giving everything. It’s probably also why he’s still in the job, anyone else would’ve absolutely been sacked by Levy, but all reports still suggest the board are fully behind him. If only he could be a better football manager it’d be a recipe for greatness.
I would love it if Keeley, or Austin break through and become first choice in a couple of years. Or if the new kid comes in and smashes it. Or if Vic keeps improving and becomes truly world class. You can’t get too attached to players ultimately - as long as the right thing happens for the team that’s what I’m interested in. I don’t think Keeley will be too put out by this. He’s having a smashing season on loan and will likely get a move up a division next year. GK loans are hard to get right so I doubt it was ever a serious consideration to bring him back here for a month just to have him sit on the bench for the rest of the season and stagnate. He’s showing he’s definitely cut out for a professional career and if he gets a good championship season under his belt next year then he comes back to the club with Vic in the last 2 years of his contract and another relative youngster to compete with. GKs have to play the long game so I doubt that’s a troubling position for him to be in. Or maybe he gets sold this summer or next and we bank the pure profit from an academy sale. Thats the Chelsea model and it allows them to spend a fair bit on recruitment. I do find the club’s attitude towards Austin and Whiteman odd though. They’ve both been kept around for a long time despite us having other promising academy GKs. Maybe they’re excellent trainers and characters and that’s as valuable as anything else for players who rarely have a chance to play and likely don’t cost much to keep around. Brandon should be proud today though. It’s not easy for academy keepers to get a chance and he’s had to wait for it.
To have won the game, the Toon have to score one less, and Spurs one more. Could the former be done by correcting bad officiating ?? Arguably so. And the latter for Spurs ?? Apparently not. Therefore I do not want to hear the manager going on about it. "because the ball starts in a different position after any wrongly allowed or disallowed goal so the rest of the match proceeds differently." I look forward to seeing your "Markov model" for the entire game (for events that happened and which did not) ....
Porro also much better today. Shows how much even a short rest can help players. We need bodies back desperately and that hopefully will also mean that Johnson, Kulu, Solanke etc will also look sharper in time. They’ve all made contributions but could do more.
Wow King your cup really is half empty lol - I assume the Newcastle penalty is for Gordon running into Kulu, that would have been very soft. As for just 1 chance Solanke had 2 headers, Sarr had a shot saved from which Johnson hit the post, Johnson also missed with a shot across goal, which in turn led to Regulion also having a shot across the face. You are obviously entitled to have a pop, and i don't blame you but these were all chances.
The sheer amount of defeats over the last year or so and the manner of most of them. I just don’t see Spurs improving enough to get back to a decent side. Yes lots of injuries but the issues go well beyond that. This isn’t a pop at anyone but I really don’t get why some people still have faith in the manager. For me his approach, tactics, attitude is just all wrong and even if he has a fully fit squad I don’t think there will be enough of an improvement with him at the helm.
One thing today shows is that the players haven't downed tools If we were going into the same match in the same circumstances under Conte, the players absolutely would have walked onto the pitch wearing the expressions of condemned men and would have given up at the opening whistle let alone when the first goal went in
Agreed as I said above. A similar stage under Jose and Conte the players were moping around feeling sorry for themselves and looked like they hated being out there on the pitch. That hasn't happened yet under Ange. Somehow he has kept that rapport going, and without any natural leaders or lieutenants among the group.
One consolation of all these injuries is that we are seeing more of the fringe players on the pitch. It has been refreshing to see all of them show us what they can do and their potential for growth. If we had no injuries, we would be complaining that ange doesn’t play the youngsters or those on the fringe.
I'm trying to get my head round the handball rule. So the "handball" before their goal wasn't a handball it seems. So if a player is in the penalty area very close to the goal, and a cross comes in (that isn't going in the goal), but it hits someones arm *in a natural position* (whatever that means, but in the same position as the arm today) and goes in, that's not a goal, right? What if it goes in off a defender's arm? Also re the second yellow for Dan Burn, if that had been a Spurs player under the same circumstances I would consider it very lucky if they don't get sent off. Results should be the product of competition between two teams. Results shouldn't be determined by officials.
It's still somewhat frustrating that one of the reasons we have so many injuries is that he didn't play the youngsters or fringe players when he wasn't forced to do so.
That won’t change either I don’t think. I think you nailed it when you said he’s a Conte/ Jose but with a different brand of football and a far worse CV. He’s both incapable and reluctant to develop our academy. Wouldn’t blame any of them if they wanted out this window or the summer, including those impressing out on loan, a shame too as it’s the best academy group we’ve had in well over a decade.
Not sure about this. Werner we knew wasn't good enough. Forster too. We should never have gotten into a situation of relying on them in the first place. Tbh it's been the senior experienced players I've been most disappointed with the whole season, not the fringe/youth. Son, Maddison, Bissouma have largely been awful while Bentancur has let everyone down with two stupid suspensions.
