That, for me, is the real key to the saga of his time at Chelsea. The Russian clearly saw something in him to warrant getting him in at great cost, but he expected AVB to ring too many changes far too quickly. The only thing, in my view, that AVB could be accused of is naivety, in so much as he was probably overawed by the Russian. I doubt he was overawed by the likes of Terry or Lampard, but there is absolutely no doubt that they were the cause of his downfall. He wasn't the right manager for you, because you are a club in transition, and he simply didn't have the experience or the character to handle the very real changes that have to be made at CFC. That's not his fault, and it is unfair and unreasonable to seek to blame him for them. If he want to manage in the EPL, he is much better suited to a club like ours, as I believe has already been proven. I truly hope that Levy gives him some money to get in some of his own players, and that Levy stands by any decision he may have as to which players are to leave the club. He was never permitted to exercise that kind of power at CFC, and until he has been given a chance to show what he can really do with a team of his own making and molding, any adverse criticism of him is utterly unfounded from any rational viewpoint, imo.
The tea boy has found his level at tottenham for the time being. There is less pressure to succeed than there is at big clubs. Fifth is judged a success at Tottenham where excuses for failure are acceptable
I've noticed that you've already predicted Arsenal to finish 6th this coming season. What is your rationale behind that prediction ?
if Arsenal buy well this summer Spurs will be no where near them next season Chelsea are a team in transition that played 69 games this season and finished ahead of them and with the Scousers finding there feet you have to believe they will get closer next year theres only one way Spurs are heading and its down the side they have now even with monkey boy cant take them no further.
That may be a likely scenario. But I'm interested in how HIAG has used his 'wide-ranging and intellectual' insight to predict that Arsenal will finish 6th. That is of course unless his predictions are in fact not based on this premise, but are instead simply a load of bollocks ? Which one is it HIAG ?
Actually we did pretty well last year against the top sides but we slipped up more than Chelsea and Arsenal against the poorer ones. AVB has us much more solid than we've been before and I think we can hold our own against anyone on our day. If we can improve a bit against the poorer sides and do as well against the top ones then we could finish in the top 3 quite easily. If Arsenal do improve they might actually take some points off Chelsea and the Manchester duo which would help us
Finish in the top three EASILY!! So deluded. You could not finish in the top three when Chelsea pLayed 69 games and changed manager mid season and had a donkey up front. Why do you have a better chance this season? City have already strengthened and you won't finish ahEad of united
Liverpool could say the same. In fact, anyone could. All ifs and buts. There's no way you'd finish in the top 3 "easily" though, you've had better sides that haven't.
I'd imagine its because he has a masochistic disorder whereby he derives sexual gratification, from being physically or emotionally abused by an Arsenal moderator. Ps. and everybody else
You think its impossible that we could get 11 points against this year's top four next season? If we did that and were more consistent against the other 15 then we would end up with about 80 points which would easily get us top 3. None of that depends on how good City or Chelsea are except in the matches against us and anything can happen in those. I've won money in each of the last three seasons betting on Spurs' league position
It's not that simple though, you assume you'll get the same points tally against the top teams. Spurs beat City, United, Arsenal and Liverpool last season, that's going to be a much harder task next season and that's before we've even begun with the rest of the league.
3rd and 4th places will be decided between us and the Gunners, as it has been for the past few seasons. There is now absolutely nothing between us, as all but deluded Gooners will admit, with the greatest improvements having been made by us. Gooners will say AFC has got worse, but I don't think that is true; we've got better. And the idea that Spurs will simply wither away to mid-table mediocrity is clearly nothing more than wishful thinking, as we have been competitive since the days of Martin Jol; we have proven that our improvement is not merely some flash-in-the-pan event, but some of real substance. Everyone keeps banging on about "if AFC strengthen over the Summer, blah, blah, blah" as though Spurs haven't thought about doing exactly the same thing! There are many reasons for Spurs fans to feel highly confident about the coming season, especially if Bale stays. The greatest bonus for me is that AVB will have a season under his belt, and will be far more relaxed and focussed coming into his second season with us. If we are able to buy two or three quality players this Summer, we will be contenders on all fronts in the coming season, and more than a match for any team in the EPL or Europe.
I at least put the 'if' into my discussions. Others say things like 'Chelsea and City have strengthened' as if they were facts. You would have lost money over the past few years betting on Chelsea doing well in the league. I won money betting on Spurs. I suppose things might change next season but i don't see why.
I didn't assume it, I said it was possible. And the rest of the league is extremely weak, DL, as you've stated many times.
It all depends on who you buy in the Summer transfer window, as, indeed, it does with us. As we are each so finely matched, at present, everything between us depends upon who makes the best buys, and who manages to kick off the season with their best squad. I do think you've been lucky the past couple of seasons, and I cannot see that luck lasting forever. With us both so finely matched, that little bit of luck makes the difference between a top 4 finish and a finish with the also-rans.
So you're ditching that 6th prediction then ? That one didn't last long My personal opinion is that Spurs have been lucky to have Bale this season, as he earned you 22 points single handed. Without him you would have finished 7th behind Liverpool (who you love to mock) and 1 point ahead of West Brom. It's true we've had a few rocky seasons, but even our worst seasons compared to your best have still seen us finish above you. Whilst our form dipped over the last few seasons and yours improved, you still couldn't catch us. A lot will depend on what happens this summer, but if Bale leaves and we buy, then the gap is likely to increase again back to it's normal standards.
