Morning all, first article here so go easy. Not sure how much has been said about the Blanc rumours on here but I see AVB isn't being well received. Fair enough - he would be a huge gamble. I'd love to see Blanc given a chance and get Lloris to come with him - i've not seen the game yet but I heard he was outstanding last night. So far he's won Ligue 1 (setting a win record in the process), the league cup and was named manager of the year. Most importantly I believe he'd play the "Spurs way". Get it done Levy!
He took a talented French squad and put them into 2nd place in a group containing a pretty unimaginative England. I'm not convinced.
As some poster (sorry, can't remember who) keeps saying, you can make any appointment seem like madness. For me, Blanc and AVB are both massive risks. But they are risks that might well pay off. The safe, while still be realistic, option is Moyes. I'm edging towards AVB at the moment. I was pro-Moyes as soon as Harry went, but i'm a bit of a risk taker and i'm being tempted by the dark side.
Agreed the safe option is most definitely Moyes - we'd be nailed on for top 6 at least with him in charge. But then we had that with Harry. I get the feeling Levy's going to roll the dice on this one, as you say any choice he makes will be made seen as mad by some fans, especially if he doesn't bring instant results. I wouldn't be distraught if we got AVB - he's clearly talented. Blanc earned his reputation with Bordeaux though, if he'd have done those things with Lyon I wouldn't be nearly as impressed.
I'm not so certain we were nailed on for top 6 with Harry. There seems to be a few Spurs fans and a lot of oppo fans saying we are throwing away top 4 by getting rid. The truth is we only just hung on to 4th thanks to a late season mini-run this year and the fact that Chelsea were absolute ****e for 2/3 of the season. Chelsea have strengthened massively and Arsenal have started early in the window too. I would say that they are both in a better shape than us now (even if we had Harry). Liverpool won't be as bad as last year. They are bound to strengthen too. If Everton keep their players (and manager) and therefore start better then they will be a threat. Under Harry, i wouldn't have been overly surprised to see us finishing behind any/all of the teams i just mentioned, and Arsenal, Utd and City of course.
this is the bit i've been most bemused by, and have posted similar, BLB. harry had his faults, just like any new manager would, including Moyes. (grass isn't always greener!!) for all the bad stuff we hated about harry, he still got us 4th twice and 5th once. what's the point in sacking someone who's given us the best place finishes in recent times*, pay 3 mill in compensation, then pay compensation again to get Moyes? it's a "safe bet", that just costs us/wastes money, when harry had already got us decent finishes in the first place. it might be nice to not have someone going to the media, and making sure the squad is rotated, but if you're going to sack someone, at least move forwards and get someone who's won things. otherwise it's just a costly sidewards step. (as well as not showing any intent to the players about progression plans for the club) the decision to sack harry will be because levy wants us to progress further, and believes we need a new dynamic to do so. IMO, as good as David Moyes is, he's not the man for that. This is why I can understand the rationale behind AVB and Blanc, but I dont get anyone who says "no" to AVB and "yes" to blanc. they both have massive pros and cons and are both huge risks. how anyone can be so "anti" with one of the two, and not the other, is what I'm not understanding. *i'm referring to the two 4th's here, before anyone is pedantic and mentions jol got us two 5th places, too
spurfectionist - of course nothing is guaranteed, but the odds would have to be on Harry replicating the level of performance. He never wanted to change things so it would be a reasonable assumption. As I've said previously I wouldn't see AVB as a disaster but he seemed to completely lose the plot at Chelsea. Phasing out the older players was obviously part of his remit so he can't be blamed for that. They played such a high line in defence at times it was almost suicidal, for all his supposed tactical nous it was a big error of judgement. Blanc is my favourite because he's got more experience and is more likely to have us playing the way we expect, the way that suits us. Not only would results be a gamble under AVB but the entertainment factor could be too.
Blanc also seems to be more media savvy than AVB - a playing career that included Serie A, La Liga and the Premier League will give you that...as long as he's not being asked if a quota system should be put in place in French academies, that is. It should also be said that Blanc made Chamakh look like a quality striker, something Wenger has undone in record time.
I wonder if Blanc could bring in Cabaye as a replacement for Modders too. He'd be cheaper, if not cheap per-se.
Like i've say HBIC, i've only gone for AVB as i think it will be him who's chosen and don't mind him out of the choices available to us. But I don't know anything about Blanc. Cheers for the info to me, they are similar by the sounds of things with positives and negatives, but both seem like winners who'd install that mindset into the players. That's what we need to progress. so if what everyone says is true, both have definitely got my vote.
who? Great name. (don't worry, i looked him up. I know him, but didn't know his first name was marvin, brilliant. Also, got thrown by the french pronunciation of martin)
We were linked with Martin before the tournament, as were Arsenal. He's not had much of a run so far, has he? Lloris looks like he may have problems adjusting to English football, from what I've seen of him. Struggles a bit with aerial balls, though I've not seem him play that often.
you use Blancs record in the French league yet overlook AVB's record with Porto. when will people realise that a bunch of ****s was the defining factor in AVB's time at Chelsea.
