Frank de Boer has admitted that he had talks with Spurs over the summer and was on the verge of joining, before the club decided to go with Pochettino. He seems to believe that it was a board decision, rather than one made by an individual, but I'm not sure how accurate that is. Baldini's hand at work or a more democratic approach, perhaps? Odd.
Sounds normal to me, we had time on our side so why not interview more than one person. I doubt it was a Willian style U-turn so we'll be back in for him in January when it's all gone to **** with Pochettino
I think we tend to go with the idea that Levy makes these decisions when the reality is that it is probably a group decision. What info we have had about these kind of decisions tends to confirm the idea that it is a board making them. It's just much punchier to talk about Levy deciding and it's also easier to critisize.
If Pock ****s up, Levy has to go. I don't care whether or not it was his decision. In fact, if it wasn't his decision, then Levy should leave, now. If Lewis wants to make all the decisions, he should have the balls to go on the record.
Agreed. It's easy to say it was a board decision, pass the buck, etc. In the end, as with any business, somebody has to be accountable for ****-ups. If it's not Levy, then who is going to accept responsibility?
The manager. That's why we keep sacking them, they shouldn't have applied for the job if they know they are ****
Levy doesn't have to go as what Joe Lewis wants is different to what we as fans want. Levy will only leave when Enic sell up and as Levy has a large percentage and does his job (as set out by Lewis) then his future isn't reliant on us getting 4th place or having Pochettino as a successful manager. Enic, Lewis and Levy have been here since 2001, they take little financial risk and cover their buys with a plan to ensure we remain financially sound so after 13 years or if Pochettino is a failure and sacked in a year or two then they aren't going to risk all their previous work by removing Levy.
Oh! Of course!! Silly me. Why didn't I think of that?? Well, that explains it then. Let's keep on hiring **** managers.
When are people going to get it ?? Until the on-pitch performances at Spurs affect his personal wallet, Uncle Joe is not going to bat an eyelid.
Would you rather have had De Boer to Pochettino? Of the two, I know De Boer is probably the more famous name... but Pochettino had a really good season last year and plays attractive football. Proven in Premier League.
I guess we'll never know now. I'm sure if Pochettino doesn't hit the ground running, we'll be reminded that De Boer was available and we made the "wrong" choice. Just hope we've finally got it right!...
But you know if we had signed De Boer and it all went tits up and he was **** (which there was a large chance it would what with him being relatively unproven) then we would have been reminded that Poch was available and we made the "wrong" choice.......
I don't think FdB would have snarled up and hitting the ground running would be alright provided we maintain the pace which I doubt. I'd prefer a trot to start with a canter to finish. One good season in the PL with a team like Southampton for me is not a good credential for Spurs ;
As with any long suffering Spurs fan - (Christ, 50+ years must qualify as masochism!!), I live in hope rather than expectation.
I preferred, and prefer, Poch to de Boer. A good year at Southampton may not be iron clad credentials, but it's more than success in the Eriedi, Eriedivis...in the Dutch League. There's no doubt it's a difficult job, mostly because the board and the fans seem to have too much in the way of expectations and too little in the way of patience. On the other hand, we have a good squad, mostly ambitious younger players, so success with Southampton may translate. I'm less concerned with his ability than with a squad that's still three or five players too big to be as happy or as stable as it might be. I'd love to see sell three or five and make a big signing or two.
Very true, we all get it, loud and clear. It doesn't mean we have to except it . Maybe Uncle Joe will pop his clogs soon , to be honest he does look like death warmed up . Not that I am wishing that.
It's no more prudence over success than it's prudence over wasting money, or prudence over financial ruin. Spending is never a certainty of success unless you throw so much **** at the wall some of it sticks, like Chelsea and City do. The reality is it's prudence over significant risk, of the clubs who've overspent in Premier League years in order to finish higher in te league and win trophies; West Ham, Leeds, Newcastle, Blackburn, QPR and Portsmouth all followed a short period of success with relegation and Villa nearly added themselves to that list too. There's too much money elsewhere in the game for us to get value from overspending, the only way we could do it is by getting a billionaire that wants the club as a toy, which isn't likely. Whatever happened to just enjoying supporting a team and watching them every week? These days it seems like some fans just seem to want the bragging rights at work or on the message boards and little else matters.
