Apparently Spurs are so confident of landing Mauricio Pochettino that they're already looking for his replacement.
If I were Levy I would interview four experienced managers and ask just three questions: What position in the league could you achieve with our current squad? What changes would you make to the squad within a budget of £XXm? What changes would you make to the club's overall structure to ensure long-term stability? I imagine all managers would answer top 4 to the first question so there needs to be a follow up testing how this can be achieved. Imagine what Harry's, AVB's and Tim Sherwood's answers were and what happened in practice and you will see why they didn't last.
Interesting article in today's Times claiming that Levy was forced to sack Sherwood as he had had confrontations with some of the big name signings and that these unnamed players were threatening to leave if Sherwood stayed. Apparently, what are termed "outspoken challenges" to the board didn't exactly help His case either.
im sure he asks these questions and a few more....its just that he doesn't like the fact that they got question 1 wrong...
Picking a manager is sheer guesswork but there are some basic requirements. 1. Thorough technical knowledge of the game. 2. Ability to communicate. 3. Credibility with players 4. Tactical nous. 5. Concentration & Persitance. I would add must be British, German, Belgian, Danish, Swedish or Dutch. Not Portugese, Spanish, or French. Easy!
What about Argentinian who needs a translator to speak to MOTD, picking an example off the top of my head.
He can actually speak English but chooses to use a translator to the press. I guess he can always blame a missed-translation. He knows the media will screw around with his words anyway.
Since it seemed that AVB got sacked partly for falling out with Adebayor, you could see why this would wind up Levy! I'm sure Tim confirmed in the selection process that he would get the best out of all the players.
Do we have a particularly obnoxious set of players or something? They seem to get on well with each other
I think that's the reason he uses a translator, pretty sure I read an interview where he mentioned he doesn't want the British media twisting his words if he mispronounces anything.
Well, the best guesses as to who Sherwood pissed off would have to be, Vertonghen, Sandro, Paulinho. Apparently, Townsend wasn't too happy when excluded either.
Definitely Capoue. He was looking like our most settled new signing (either side of his injury) only to then be cast into the abyss.
I was saying to my Chelsea-supporting friend last night that today's top-flight manager has to implicitly accept that the players hold all the power. The job for the manager, especially in ensuring his own survival at a club, is to man-manage all the egos in a way that placates the main players and builds success for the club. The more of the former he achieves, the more likely the latter is to follow; and the more of the latter he achieves, the less he has to be so concerned with the former (although it must always remain a concern). The example I gave was of a club, like ours, that has an influential senior player (say Adebayor) and an up-and-coming-kid-of-the-future type (say Eriksen, or Townsend), whereby playing one of them may affect how the manager sets up the team. It's how the manager deals with differences of opinion and disappointment that determines how long he is likely to survive in his job. On the one hand, he cannot upset the senior player, because that could well get the entire dressing room on the manager's back; but, on the other hand, he cannot upset the kiddie, because that could lead to revolt among the youngsters, who are the life-blood of the club and upon whom the future could depend. It seems to me that none of the managers we've had - apart, perhaps, from Jol - seems to have been able to get this aspect of management right.
