It's difficult right now to imagine where we will be come the end of this season but right now we have to hope that this is the low point. Ironic that from one of the most exciting transfer windows ever for Spurs we should reach December in such a mess. This kind of event seems to be written into the DNA of Spurs. Everyone knows surely that evolution is better than revolution, that stability is the key to success in football and yet we fail time and time again to produce anything other than knee-jerk reactions on a results based system. The long term project that was AVB turned out to be yet another quick fix failure. I would argue that it should be possible to have a fair idea of what to expect from a manager by looking at their record. The style of football coming out of the AVB period was not a secret was it! Yet when it happens arms are thrown up and the axe is swung once more. Where are we going now Mr.Levy? Do we have a plan? We really need to know something at least from the board as to what they are up to, because right now we might just as well give Glen Hoddle another go until the end of the season. He at least knows the club, has had experience as a manager knows the game in England and just may have matured into a better manager than the last time he tried it. In the absence of a better idea that's what I would do, give Glen another shout.
An exciting transfer window was the main problem. Trying to assemble whole a new team in a few weeks was always going to cause problems. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but the writing was on the wall from the start with some dour football. Bale made the difference or AVB might have been gone last season. No manager would survive the wrath of the Spurs fans playing that type of football unless we were winning two or three trophies per season, and even then there would be still be detractors. There are no top flight managers available right now so there is the need for a stop-gap. Whether that stop-gap is Sherwood or Hoddle doesn't really matter, we need to identify the right man to move us forward next season. In the mean time if Sherwood, Hoddle or whoever is successful in the meantime, then they might earn their right to continue.
Unless hoddle has learnt to be a semi decent man manager then we should not go near him....a brilliant tactician but an awful man manager who could reak havoc with our squad if he aint changed.
Spurf, the problem at our club is becoming more and more apparent if you ask me. You've been following Spurs a long time, longer than myself but I've been watching them long enough to know that during the ENIC period we've always hired "yes men", bar one being Redknapp. Santini was weak and bailed early. Jol did what he was told and had to deal with Arnesen leaving and Comolli being his boss. Ramos didn't strike me as one who had much authority, especially with the language barrier. Redknapp… he was a different matter and had to go which I will come to shortly. AVB was young and was never going to be a thorn in the board's side, especially after being given a second chance at Spurs. So who next? Hoddle will never be appointed because he commands too much respect and authority. Redknapp was mouthy but with it, he had his loyal followers and wasn't ever going to be a push over so it was inevitable that he would be fired. The point I am making is that Levy likes to be top dog. Call it short man syndrome possibly with a dash of jealousy thrown in, but I seriously think our chairman is a power crazed nut but is also very insecure and out of his depth. People may shoot me down in this assessment but I personally think he would make the perfect CFO but not the Chairman overseeing the entire footballing structure of our club. He constantly consults others on decisions that by now, he should be able to make. After 12 years at the top, he should know football pretty darn well but I could bet he'd hardly be able to name more than a handful of English league managers names outside the Premier League. My point is, he isn't a football man which is not the same as begin a supporter of a club. He might have the clubs best interests at heart but before that, he has his own. He is the type to never admit wrongdoing and to date, so many decisions about the club lay at his feet which for the most part have failed when it comes to match day. I find it incomprehensible that we are in the position we are now but the fact is, Levy has well and truly made Spurs a selling club, offloading our best player in a generation, wasting over £100m this summer on mostly dross or at best "potential" and yet expects very manager he hires to be world beaters; knowing full well any of those players may be sold when they reach maturity. The club has to make a choice. Either we continue along this path which is being the nearly men of the Premier League with a history of instability and selling or we get a new Chairman who knows the game and know when to hold onto an asset to bring success, which in turn will more than likely bring better financial reward. But for me, the problem at our club is Levy. As the saying goes, a fish rots from the head!
That is what I am guessing that he may have learned bearing in mind his past. He's older now and hopefully wiser the potential is there.
See that doesn't work for me FLA because I can't see Ramos, Redknapp, AVB or even Jol as yes men. Also remember that Levy is the spokesman for a board and it's quite clear from the past that he is prepared to give people their head. Comoli for example was gven money and freedom as it would appear has Baldini. Spurs are not unique in this behaviour, in fact it is almost the norm, with only Man U and Arsenal using managerial stability as their strength. Emperors new clothes is used throughout football when making appointments and occaisionally a club will hit on a successful appointment often more by luck than judgement. They are all at it with the Sky money bailing out a fiasco of decision making and bullshitting.
Glenn knows his stuff. Every time i hear him talk he makes sense and comes across as tactically astute. Also, he would have the respect of the players, and he's got a personality and charisma. We could do a lot worse i think. We've got better players than when he was here before, i got the impression that before he got frustrated trying to work with players inferior to him. While our players might still be inferior to him, they are closer and also he is older and hopefully wiser. Also, i think he'd be great for bringing youth through, which has to be the way to go in the long term
I hope you're right cos the romantic in me thinks it would be fantastic for him to wipe his blemish as our manager clean...coys
"Glenn knows his stuff. Every time i hear him talk he makes sense and comes across as tactically astute. Also, he would have the respect of the players, and he's got a personality and charisma." Hmm, this is the man who allegedly showed off on a training pitch to his squad what he could still do, and they cannot. Not the basis of building managerial respect. Hoddle as Academy coach, definitely.
huh? All i'm saying is people change and grow in a decade. I'm nothing like i was a decade ago. Hoddle knows his ****, wants the job and is a Spurs man
I'd rather Tim manage us over Hoddle. Neither would be my ideal choices to take us forward but Tim knows these players inside out, including the younger ones as we saw today with Nabil. I don't see how Hoddle, who's been out of the game since managing Wolves in 06 (I think) can be beneficial. A few weeks back he said he'd play Spurs in a 3-5-2 formation and his selection of players was god awful. De Boer and Hiddink (or van Gaal if a job share can be agreed) are my choices, if none of them then I'd rather stick with Tim at least until the end of the season to be honest.
I'm totally torn. The romantic in me wants Hoddle but deep down, it know it will end in tears. A short term manager may steady the ship but what's the point if they are simply going to leave anyway. I'd like Hiddink long term but that won't happen. So as much as it pains me to say this; if the right main isn't out there right now, Tim is all we have for the moment.
In my opinion, Levy should take heed of the old adage that, "if you're not part of the solution, (which he's clearly not) then you're part of the problem"
"All i'm saying is people change and grow in a decade. I'm nothing like i was a decade ago." Unfortunately, football managers as a breed don't tend to change their ways. Dogma rather than flexible pragmatism is too often a defining feature.
If Hoddle was interested in coming in and working under Tim (which I doubt to be honest) then I'd love that but I just think as of right now, Tim is a much better option if we can't attract one of the big, main targets we're supposedly linked. I don't think Tim done himself any harm today either, showed great faith in attack and also even more faith in a 19 year old. Fair play to him.
