I think there are three squads with a lot more quality than us (Chelsea and City for sure, and Man U have more depth but some are past their best). Arsenal have a slight edge in their best players and have the most experienced manager around, but we have more depth than them. Suarez aside we are better than Liverpool, but he can swing games on his own. Everton are definitely weaker than us and won't last the pace. So we should finish fifth but we have a chance of fourth if Man U continue to underperform or Arsenal have one of their bad runs. i don't think any of this is much dependent on our manager. Getting us into the top three with the current squad would need some added value by the manager (that's why Arsenal are up there) but getting the fifth best squad to finish somewhere between 4th and 6th is just par for the course.
But you can't put Suarez aside, he's part of the team. Ronaldo aside we were better than United from 06-07 - 08-09 but it didn't matter one jot really. You've got a good chance of making top four given the instability of Man U.
But what if Suarez went off the rails again, or got injured for a long period. Personally, I don't give them much chance if Suarez is put out for a number of games but with them they have every chance. I don't think Arsenal are a million miles away from the battle for top 4 either. I think they've got a couple of big away games coming up in Southampton and Liverpool, if they win them both then fair enough, I think they'll be pretty much nailed on but if they stutter they'll find themselves in trouble.
You will get the "concertina" effect with all the upcoming games. Gaps will widen and close, but the current top 3 are highly likely to remain so come May. If the Toon lose today they are more or less out of the top 4 fight.
The potential of the squad is possibly the best we've had. It's been disappointing how long it's taken for some to settle and the fact others still haven't but I think AVB didn't help that with his defensive tactics for an attacking group of players. The fact that for the most part, we've played very poor this season coupled with some dreadful results, we still find ourselves in the mix for a top 4 place and that is extremely encouraging. I'm more optimistic under Tim than I was under AVB at reaching the Champions League. The likelihood is though that we'll probably miss out this season while the team is still getting used to one another and integrating the new boys, hopefully next season, if we can keep most of our first teamers (I expect Vertonghen to depart) we should see a much improved Tottenham and one that won't really have many excuses for failing to reach targets providing Sherwood doesn't go crazy in the January or Summer windows with more ins and outs.
Agreed. Sherwood may be the big mystery factor. If he realizes we need a real left winger against quality right wingers, while we benefit from playing a #10 in a free role on the left against teams that sit back, I'll be encouraged. Not to sound like I think I'm the font of all football wisdom...
Do you really see Sherwood as the future though? I honestly think you'll get someone else in during the summer.
If we sneak into the top 4 Levy will have to keep Sherwood just like he had to keep Redknapp when he did it. I really think Levy just got Redknapp in to get us out of a hole and then had no choice but to keep him.
He's got a chance so prove himself but I'll judge him by the same targets I had for AVB this season. 4th or 5th and a trophy(only Europa League left now) and I'm very happy but anything less and I'll be quite happy if he leaves and we get one of the many experienced managers that will be available in the summer. I'm sure Levy sees it as a potentially temporary deal too but I just hope he doesn't lower his expectations as Sherwood's a friend.
"If we win every game til the end of the season i am in no doubt we'll be crowned champs" Doing that until the end of Feb would be a start. If we are still in range of 4th place by then, March will definitely decide whether we get a CL slot.
"If we sneak into the top 4 Levy will have to keep Sherwood just like he had to keep Redknapp when he did it." Like what Chelsky had to do with di Matteo. "I really think Levy just got Redknapp in to get us out of a hole and then had no choice but to keep him." So you think Levy was not expecting 2009-10 to occur ?? Would be ironic then, given he cranked up the pressure of expectation on Arry to get more CL football.
\ Ditto, Redknapp exceeded all expectations and by then had the media plaudits which made any alternative look silly. Next managerial appointment for you guys is crucial. Reminds me of RDM with us a little bit. Sherwood seems a good man manager and the players are responding to him so it might be enough. Harsh to judge him by the same targets as it isn't his squad and his hands are tied this window.
Too many believe all this hype about managers when in essence if the players respond to Sherwood and he does not get in the way with too many 'tactics' as AVB did then all will be well.
The thing with RDM was that he'd won you the CL though. He certainly deserved more time just as Sherwood will if he gets us top 4 or the Europa League but without it we've got nothing to suggest he's the right man for the job. The same applies to AVB really, had he got us top 4 last season I think sacking him at that stage of the season would've been unthinkable but when the problems were mounting up his achievements simply didn't stack up well enough against it.
It's difficult for me to say to be honest DL. I'm a fan of English coaches coaching English sides and so with Tim being given the chance to work with our squad, my judgement is probably clouded by the fact that I really want him to succeed rather than whether I think he will or won't. So far, with the cup games aside, he's done remarkably well for a guy many Spurs fans on social networks call a "glorified PE teacher", 13 out of 15 points is the sort of form that gets you excited. For the most part our football has seen a massive improvement since AVB left and so thus far, I think Tim COULD be the future but it's probably too early to judge. All great coaches started somewhere, hopefully this is the start of Sherwood's rise and that he'll take us along with him.
I totally believe that. Levy wants the DoF setup, he keeps going for it. Redknapp wouldn't do that but we had to do something to get us playing again. Then Harry did well and Levy couldn't sack him for fear of what the fans would say. As soon as there were murmurings from the fans about Harry he was gone
