A couple of seasons ?? We finished 1 point of 3rd place, not mid-table. Surely with the current squad we can be looking to seeing some signs of progress this season ?? For me, anything less than 6th this season would be unacceptable.
it would be good for the pl if all those clubs along with us were in the mix,it would make it more interesting,as for harry becoming england manager i Can't see it now,Hodgson won't put himself in the position Capello did over Terry,as for the strikers,we're are trying,but i think Levy and AVB can't agree,except on Ade.
I hadn't seen Hodgson defend Terry but fair enough. I know you weren't saying we had to spend £100mill but my point was that going out and spending exhorbitant fees for players isn't what we should be doing. I can't think of any strikers that were going cheap this summer apart from Ade and who knows why that hasn't gone through. As for the Modric deal, there's not a lot we can do until Madrid stump up the cash and even then it might not be a good idea to go out and spend 90-100% of the money gained on one replacement(Moutinho). Whilst we're getting quoted huge figures for players we want and I fail to see why spending in a market where Fletcher and Rodwell are £15mill and Oscar is £25mill is a good idea. We'll wait for the right players at the right price as ever and the way the money clubs are changing their minds about players there should be plenty more Adebayor's and VDV's falling by the wayside for us to pick up in the future.
Redknapp insulted the squad with the "punching above our weight" blah blah. Financially tis certainly so, but wasn't so on the pitch last season.
I was against Harry's firing. I don't think you should fire the manager who's gotten you the best results in decades. On reflection, I had to admit the club had an indisputable point. What happens if England goes off the rails, or Roy needs to retire, and the speculation goes on again, and Arry does nothing to deflect it again, and the season is ruined, again? What would happen is that Mr. Levy would start emptying his desk. I really liked Harry and I loved his Zen/common sense approach to getting the most out of the team, but Tottenham can't have a manager who'd rather manage someone else, much as I may sympathize with him. I was lukewarm on AVB, but I've really liked what little I've seen. He looked very sharp the first game. Sure, we lost, but Spurs were on the front foot most of the game against a very good team away, and I liked seeing that. At the very least, AVB deserves two years, both to provide a fair verdict and because Spurs have a history of sacking managers too quickly. What would satisfy me? Nothing will ever satisfy me. But AVB will be judged on two things: 1. CL 2. Finishing above Arsenal. If he gets either of those two things people will be happy. If not, not. If he gets both they'll be ecstatic. As of right now, Arsenal, Spurs and Newcastle are the CL-contending three after the money bags three. I have a hard time judging which of the three has the best squad. Too many new faces at Arsenal, and a new manager at Spurs with a new style. Colin: Well, David the Moyle certainly took some skin off Man U...
No I wouldn't sack him, but I do expect to see definite signs of progress as this season develops. By progress I mean signs of a more structured team selection policy with more thought given to the utilisation of the squad. I also mean better returns from our set piece play both attacking set peces and defending of set pieces and I also mean a more professional approach taken to our participation in the cups. As someone who throws a wobbly if we lose a pre-season friendly, I do not want to see our new manager treat the cups (particuarly the Europa), with the same disdain as his predecessor did, nor do I want to see our new manager get to a FAC semi-final and then draft his second choice keeper in for the game, and then watch us get stuffed. If we can move on from these episodes and leave them behind us, along with the micky mouse type sigings like Ryan Nelson, yet still finish say 7th, I'd still be grizzled, but at least I could see we were learning.
YV, you've been summing up the team's strategy, and the sense it makes, very well. Stupid money or no stupid money, like any other market it's very easy to lose money, and not so easy, but possible, to do well if you're smart and careful. Spurs have aimed for smart lately, and have been doing a good job.
So the opinion I gather is that if we finish 6th or 7th then we're happy for AVB to stay. Nice answer Spurcat.
Agree with this, it's difficult to put position numbers as a reason for sacking. I expect Spurs to be up near the top of the league and fighting, as others have said we have the squad but it's more about seeing progression. Cups should be taken seriously it's what Spurs are traditionally good at. It's a strong and close league the difference between 4th and 7th is not as great as the difference between 3rd and 1st. I think right now Spurs are a solid top 5 club but managerial change always disrupts as bedding in takes place and we need to make allowances for that.
Honestly, a top ten finish and european competition guaranteed at the end of next season (either by league position or by winning a cup, or even losing the final of the FA cup to a team already qualified for Europe) would suit me just fine. However by 2014 it needs to be top four and CL again
But we have European football this season, so you're saying to go from 1 point away from 3rd place plus European football, to maybe as low as 10th plus European football is acceptable ??
Having lost main creative outlet in midfield, and with a striker now guaranteed of a place in the starting berth instead of having to impress whilst on loan, plus a new manager trying to implement his ideas/ethics on a team including new signings, I would say yes. It is a bit cliched, but this is a transitional season, and so I would not be averse to let AVB do his thing for a year and look at the way we play rather than the results (such as last weekend, where we played well but lost) as i do believe in him as a coach.
Not quite sure why you see this as a transitional season. I was under the impression that one of the main reasons why Harry was dismissed, was because a side which was deemed good enough for at least a 3rd place finish, had 'blown it' because of the manager's indiscretions rather than the ability/inability of the team. Whatever, I do not want to spend the next 9 months, seeing our club pay a fortune in wages to someone who will spend this time "looking at the way we play" just to see some fans feel content with us coming 10th and getting into Europa, which lets face it, is more than a few steps backwards from where we are now. Much as I am prepared to give AVB time, I expect a damned sight more than settling for a top 10 finish and a Europa place.
I'm just giving my opinion Spurcat, and as I see it there are at least four teams better than us as it stands in the PL - and at least two teams on a par with us, so 5th, 6th or 7th should be a realistic viewpoint. And as it stands... from the side that was deemed good enough for a 3rd place finish we have a new manager, with an almost completely new backroom team we've lost our longest serving player we have only TWO strikers with any real competitive experience our midfield playmaker is on his way out our club captain is available for transfer the majority of our deadwood is still on our wage bill we lost our opening game to a team we didn't lose to last season even our new signings, and I fully expect a 2 or 3 more by the end of the window, will need time to bed into the side/league so thats my reasons behind thinking this may well be a transitional season
You're backtracking a little bit, in that initially you said top 10, now you only go down to 7th. You're also saying there are at least 4 teans better than us in the PL, whereas in 2 of the past 3 seasons there wasn't, including as at 3 months ago. You also fail to address my point that I thought we sacked Harry so we could get where Levy thought we should be, not take a year off in 'transition' so a well paid coach could 'see how we play' before deciding his next strategy. I would suggest that if you think Levy thinks like this, then you might feel disappointed in a few months time as I remember Levy in his programme notes for the last game of last season, saying he was determined to get this club to the next level as quickly as possible.
Not really backtracking, 7th is in the top ten, and I said that realistically we should be looking at 5, 6 or 7 (then again realistically WBA shouldn't beat Liverpool, Everton shouldn't beat Man U and Southampton shouldn't scare the fook out of Man C) We 'supposedly' sacked Harry because Levy didn't think that he could get us to where Levy thought we should be, do you really think thats all there was to it? After all he got us from 2 points in 8 games to 8th, then 4th, 5th & 4th again? Surely the CL spots twice in three full seasons is where we should be? And for all his programme notes said, Levy's determination has got us fannying about after the season has started trying to pull in the necessary players to get us to the next level. I would happily (well as happy a a pessimistic bast*rd like I am can!) be disappointed in a few months time IF I thought that we would be in any different a position in the transfer window next year as we are this, trying to replace integral players on a shoestring budget due to the finance of the new stadia issues and a lack of CL football.
Wouldn't be happy with 10th but I can see where oodb is coming from. Last season the squad was good enough for 3rd but for me it isnt now because: 1 - new manager (will take time) 2 - new tactics (ditto) 3 - King 4 - Modric 5 - any new players will need time to adapt Just taking out 2 QUALITY players like King and Modders severely damages our squad without the rest.
It's interesting to read this morning that AVB himself concedes that anything below 4th place, and he has "flopped", and he says his instructions are top 4. I think all of us are prepared to cut the guy some slack, but to start listing 'excuses' as to why the squad is severely damaged, when it still should be good enough for at least top 6, is exceeding it a bit in my view. Anyway, as oneDB says, it's all about opinions, and if we get a good win later today, then we'll all feel a damn sight more positive.
