Firstly considering his normal stance, I am surprised HIAG has listed Liverpool (with Suarez) as better than us and that we are one of the teams that might be able to punch above our weight. I would suggest that (punching above their weight) is exactly what Liverpool have done this season and am certainly having a cheeky bet that they don't finish top 4 next season (whether or not Suarez stays). Other than that I fully take Spurf's point about how much time a new manager will get before being vilified on this board. I can see a situation where a new manager does not have instant success, people on here demand their sacking, they are sacked, and then the same people complain that Levy doesn't know what he's doing because he sacks people too quickly.
"Firstly considering his normal stance, I am surprised HIAG has listed Liverpool (with Suarez) as better than us and that we are one of the teams that might be able to punch above our weight." He may be trying out new WUM material on a "local" crowd, before rolling it out to a wider audience.
The more normal response is to say that the appointment is idiotic in the first place, thus being able to criticise Levy for the appointment and the sacking.
I think Liverpool's first team is undoubtebly better than ours. I think our squad is better but they got away with relatively few injuries to key personell this season. With the added workload next season they might not be so luck. Even so, if you ask me i would pick a Liverpool XI to beat a Spurs XI with a fully fit squad.
He's probably seen sense and wants to ensure he's still in work beyond the summer of 2015 no doubt. I'm happy to say I'm not one of them. Some appointments however were really poor and the large majority of Spurs supporters knew AVB's appointment was a shocking error of judgement that was doomed to fail. It takes some serious guts/stupidity/ignorance/arrogance/delusion/short-sightedness (delete as appropriate) to sack your most successful league manager in 20 years and to replace him with a comparable rookie in terms of years in management, but that's what Levy did and now the rest is history. I long for a period of 4-5 years of one manager in place, stamping his trademark on the club in terms of playing style, training, attitude, leadership, youth development and progress. Now wouldn't that be amazing.
Why do some people on here think I was against Sherwood? I've gone on record as saying that I don't blame him for taking the post. No way was he going to turn down the job, and neither should he have. It's Levy I blame. In what other multi-million pound business does a board appoint a complete novice to take up the most important position among its ranks? In what other realm of reality did anyone truly believe that Sherwood was going to be good enough to get us any better than AVB would have done, let alone get us top 4? The simple fact is that Levy should never have appointed Sherwood. Anyone who argues against that is a fool, in my book. What Levy could have done is said to us fans, "Look, I've got to get rid of AVB - yes, guys, I now accept what a lot of you were saying, that I should never have appointed him in the first place, not after his debacle at Chavs - but I really don't want to spend any cash on trying to get in anyone with any experience, not at this stage of the season. So, what I'm going to do is, write-off this season and appoint a complete novice... No, don't laugh, lads! Yes, I know I'm risking a dressing-room revolt, but I promise that, come the Summer, I'll sack off Sherwoodie, and get in someone who has at least a remote chance of entertaining my delusions of competing with the big boys. I can't tell you who it is, not at the moment, simply because I have no idea who will be available (on the cheap) in the Summer, but I'm banking on there being at least one big name manager who'll I'll be able to bring in at the 11th Hour. In the meantime, all join with me in a prayer that Sherwoodie won't have completely f**ked everything up for us and that we'll be able to hold on to at least Vertonghen and Sandro..." That would have been honest!
Levy gets criticism from me, and many others, because he seems totally incapable of making a successful managerial appointment. His only two relative successes were Jol & Redknapp. Both of which he only acquired as the result of his having had to fire his latest **** up!...
Good morning Pop Pickers, Hope you are all well , I will be in Italy (half term) and nervously anticipating what demi god will be installed by the wise one by my return. My gut reaction as many is Poch , not bad but really not the best man for the job compared to others available . Levy will love this one. An A Lister will rock the boat very quickly and without the club on a competitive platform will 95% turn us down. Artichokes will be my calling card next week. Best wishes Sid
There's a few more links suggesting that Poch will sign a new deal at saints, and some are saying that we've pulled out. - perhaps the new deal is true. It's also being rumoured that there were/are 3 people on our wish list. - Poch, De Boer and Ancelotti. Apparently a decision isn't being made until the future of Ancelotti is decided by RM, as levy is going to try and get him. - I don't see that one happening, but fair play to levy if he's genuinely going to try and bring him in. I hope the Poch rumours are true, as I think that could be a blessing in disguise.
Why don't people want Pochettino? FDB seems no more qualified than AVB or Ramos were. It doesn't mean he won't do better but it's a bigger risk and a steep learning curve for him. Ancelotti would be brilliant but we'd need Real Madrid to lose tonight and then do something very stupid for him to become available.
Getting Ancelotti would be incredible, i have a feeling Real Madrid will beat Athletico tonight anyway. Still think we will get Pochettino or Deboer and i would be delighted with either. Two progressive young mangers who play the game in the right way and can hopefully build the club up with innovative modern ideas with a strong emphasis on youth.
I've mentioned my reasons in the past, YV. Basically that he's had 1 season and I feel that he could be like Laudrup. Whilst De Boer isn't much more experienced, he's already won stuff and his name is bigger in the footballing world. And he could possibly bring someone like Bergkamp with him. Both play good football, but my preference is de boer over Poch. However, I'd prefer Ancelotti or Benitez over either of them. - unlikely it'll happen though.
YV, I think we are saying that we want born winners than another Young Turk which will likely fail because of the club limitations . This would show a change of emphasis and create a positive Kudos. The problem is the people in charge shower us with mediocrity .
What more was Laudrup expected to achieve? Getting to the Europa League was a huge achievement for them and there was no point qualifying without taking it seriously, which always has an effect on league form. What's more memorable, finishing a couple of places higher in the league or beating Valencia 3-0 at home, beating United at Old Trafford and giving City one of the games of the season? The form under Monk only bettered Laurdup's when he got 3 wins in the last, against teams that had alread given up and that was even with the benefit of crashing out of the cups. I can't understand how anyone would believe Laudrup did anyhting other than a brilliant job there. But back to Pochettino, why do you think he'd be a one season wonder? De Boer's got no experience of the PL and has only succeeded in one fairly weak league, surely he's as likely, if not more likely to struggle? I'd hate to see Benitez at the club but that's more to do with thinking he's a loud-mouth twat who generally plays boring football. City showed us how to do it, it's not about letting a manager's history define them as successful or unsuccessful, it's about getting the right fit for the club. What makes a manager who's used to having one of the most expensive squads in the league, spending big budgets and has a good trophy record suitable to us? On the same basis you rule out young managers, you could also rule out successful ones because AVB and Ramos were both successful managers that win trophies. Give me a manager that plays good football and I'll be happy regardless of trophies, any success we have will be short lived whilst there are so many sides outspending us.
Surely one thing that would dissuade Levy from bringing in Pocchetino is the fact he'd also have to pay his translator?
You're right, Laudrup did do a great job. I wasn't saying that he's **** as the reason he got sacked. What I was trying to say is that we could see a similar scenario under Poch when he has to juggle Europa football too. He's had 1 season where he's at a club with a great infrastructure and Nigel Adkins had already done a good job before he stepped in. We don't know enough about Poch, IMO, apart from the football, which is nice to watch. - Who knows, we might see him struggle, next season with additional Europa football like Laudrup did with Swansea. There's just too many unknowns with him, IMO. De Boer, whilst in a similar position in terms of being a risk, is a bigger name in the footballing world. He's someone who is more likely to attract bigger names IMO, and we could see ourselves attracting more talent from Ajax. He's turned Ajax round over the last 4 years and has CL experience, beating some very good teams. But as you say, He's not managed in the PL, so that is something we have to consider. However, when it's all weighed up, I'd rather we take a punt on De Boer over Poch, as I think the positives with FDB are stronger than Poch's.
In fairness to Laudrop/ Swansea, they were always going to struggle juggling EL with the Prem. It's very difficult for the best of sides let alone one which doesn't have enough in it's squad to rotate and be able to maintain a certain standard. Swansea would've needed another 6 or 7 players last summer on top of the ones they bought if they were going to truly handle the two competitions. Laudrop done a fine job in my opinion and is a very good manager. With Poch, yes he has taken over the Soton side from which Adkins done a brilliant job with but I think he's developed them to a whole new level that Adkins could've only dreamed of. The football they play is superb and Lallana has matured into one of the best players in the Prem under Poch's guidance, while Rodriguez has gone from a bit part player to someone who probably would've made the England squad had he not got injured. Shaw continues to improve too (though I believe that's through natural progression, the kid is a huge talent) and overall, Soton just look like a far better outfit since Poch took charge. Their players have said what a superb manager and great guy he is, sure players won't say their current manager is a **** but there seems to be genuine intent when these guys praise Poch. Poch initially started out as my 3rd/ 4th choice to take over us but having read about him, looked at different pro's and con's of other managers, I'm now warming to the idea of possibly seeing him take over us. Of course it'd be amazing to appoint someone like Ancelotti if Real (stupidly) got shot or someone as proven as Benitez in the Prem but sometimes a little realism is needed and you have to ask, are those guys really obtainable for us? Maybe they are but that doesn't Poch should be discredit. All the top managers had to start their glory days somewhere, here's hoping that Spurs will be Poch's should he get the job (which seems likely due to recent ITK gossip/ photos).
