It isn't good enough but it was inevitable given the disastrous situation ENIC took over. We are nowhere because it was broken before Levy came on board. He has done everything possible to fix it short of the Man City and Chelsea solutions which are effectively now forbidden by FFP. Man Utd, Liverpool and Arsenal have a built in advantage of a larger income perpetuated by the CL money and/or their massive international following. In truth these have been bigger clubs than us from the 1970s onward. We should expect to be sixth and applaud anything better. This is the only time in the last 50 years where we've been performing in the league to our potential and people want the man responsible to leave. Utter madness.
It's not just a buy and sell policy, Sid, it's what we bought - Or how to piss £85mil up the wall! I'd love to know 100% who's responsible for that debacle!..
Heard there was a tribute to Bill Nicholson yesterday - thought I'd post my two penneth. I remember his Sours teams of the early - mid 60s - stunning. I liked watching them on TV because they played in black and white - like the Swans but on tele. Cliff Jones was a hero and Mike England outstanding. But the team of 67 had some lasting names & anyone who hasn't seen the likes of Cliff Jones, Greaves and Gilzean, Mullery and others has missed a treat. Mike England Alan Gilzean Jimmy Greaves Pat Jennings Cliff Jones Joe Kinnear Cyril Knowles Roy Low Dave Mackay Alan Mullery Jimmy Robertson Terry Venables Keith Weller John Collins He was a one team manager and a man of true conviction, I dread to think was his opinion on modern football was - "As the 1970s wore on, Nicholson became increasingly disillusioned with football, in particular the increased player wages and the endemic hooliganism. He resigned as manager of Spurs in August 1974, soon after they had lost the UEFA Cup final to Feyenoord, having been appalled by the hooliganism and rioting he witnessed at that match. He left Spurs with great dignity and respect from everyone at the club, and is considered one of the most important figures in the club's history." The Wikipedia on him is well worth a read. Football League First Division Champions: 1961 Runner-up: 1963 FA Cup Winners: 1961, 1962, 1967 Football League Cup Winners: 1971, 1973 FA Charity Shield Winners: 1951, 1961, 1962 Shared: 1967 European Cup Winners' Cup Winners: 1963 UEFA Cup Winners: 1972 Runner-up: 1974 Semi-finalists: 1973 European Cup Semi-finalists: 1962 (I think only Champions played in the European Cup) Not a bad CV. Rest in peace Bill Nicholson
Thanks - I'll assume Sours was a typo! Sir Bill (disgracefully never really bestowed) is a hero to those of us old enough to remember where the team came from. His quote sits proudly at the top of this page cause it sums up Spurs for us. Glory or failure - never mediocre. Been a while since it was true, but still what we aspire to.
There was indeed a tribute to Nicholson yesterday. Of the great players you mention, Cliff Jones, Alan Gilzean, Pat Jennings and Alan Mullery were there yesterday to pay their respects, along with Martin Chivers, Ray Clemence, Phil Beal and several others. There was a special Bill Nicholson match day programme which cost £5. This edition sold more issues than the usual £3:50 priced programme ! Nicholson's family were there, his daughter and her children and there was a minutes applause which was enthusiastically supported by the Newcastle fans present. Much to his credit, Alan Pardew made a point of shaking hands with the Nicholson family and also with the ex -Spurs greats. As a club, we don't always get things right, but for yesterday's tribute, we most certainly did.
The Bill Nick programme is available here: http://www.sportmediashop.com/products/details/tottenham_single_issues/bill_nicholson_programme/
I pointed it our earlier in the thread, but as the tribute has come up I'd like to mention the respectful way in which the Geordie fans reacted to it. It should be a given that this sort of thing is treated well by visiting fans, but we all know that's not always the case. He was a wartime guest player for them, but I doubt that many of their fans were aware of it, as it's not that well publicised. One of his many quotes seems extremely applicable to yesterday's performance, unfortunately: "Any player coming to Spurs, whether he's a big signing or just a ground staff boy, must be dedicated to the game and to the club. He must never be satisfied with his last performance, and he must hate losing." That spirit needs to be reignited within White Hart Lane. It was sorely missing against Newcastle.
There's a certain irony that, on the day of Bill Nick's death, we put in a truly pathetic display against Bolton - although that did serve one benefit, with Santini acting as if it was nothing which hastened his exit.
That quote is actually on the wall at the Training Centre. The club uses it to emphasise nobody is bigger than the club and that everyone, from the young apprentice to the first team player, has got to defer to the club.
Too many of our players not only don't seem to hate losing, they seem all to willing to just accept it.
For a lot of the players coming to Spurs, the writing on the wall reads: "This club is a stepping stone, so don't worry if the team and the club go to pot, so long as you do well enough for your agent to showcase your talents to a bigger club."
I agree with this. We kept hearing how Vertonghen was being watched by Barca last year. The fact that they haven't bid tells volumes about what they saw.
The Newcastle game makes me question my belief that Pochettino was the right choice for Spurs. The open, attacking style he favors needs to result in two goals or more a game to be effective. It's been around one. The reason isn't hard to find. Teams willing to sit back against us have found it easy to nullify our attacks because they come far too consistently through the middle. Crossing from the sides, and dribbling down the side of the box or around the back of the box happen far too little. No doubt part of the problem is that we don't have a healthy right back. But there's a solution for that problem which Pochettino has taken just often enough to show it works: play two strikers. A 4-2-3-1 with inverted wingers is a platform for fullbacks. If you've got great ones, they should thrive, because they're the only wide players. If they're not so great, or if they don't exist, a 4-2-3-1 will not work against a team that sits back because there will not be enough width or variety. The PL is a highly competitive league. An attack that's too predictable, whether it's always through the middle, or always crossing, will not work. Despite getting the ball wide very little, both of our best chances were created that way. Mason happened to be wide due to the accident of a ball being blocked. I'm not sure why Kane went wide, but he has a better idea how to score than the rest of the team, it seems. He needs to start, probably in addition to Ade. I would drop Capoue, who doesn't seem to be doing much lately, though dropping Lamela may be a more popular option. I still believe our players are good enough. Most of them played on a team that scored and won under Sherwood. Unlike many, I don't believe the problem is lack of effort or dedication. While it could always be improved, I'm not convinced it varies much from team to team, with the exception that the best managers, certainly, seem to be able to get a bit more out of the same group of players. I hope Pochettino will play two strikers in the future, and that Kane is one of them, against anyone except the top teams. To be fair, he has shown more flexibility than I was expecting, got us playing more attractively, and largely cured the slow buildup problem. The thing is, to get goals you need to do three things: attack quickly, vary the attack and get runners going at the goal. Pochettino has got the team doing the first, but not the second and third, which tend to be linked. If a team hardly ever crosses or otherwise gets the ball in front of the keeper, players won't run because there's nothing to gain from doing so. Finally, just as two strikers has worked relatively well this year, sitting back worked relatively well also. If we did the latter more, our players might not get so tired from pressing that they gave up points from winning positions, which we've done in three of our nine games this year, as opposed to never in 38 last year.
I wouldn't mind that right now. Other than Lloris I can't see any of our players going on to join a better club than us.
When you look at Bill Nicholson and his contempories like Busby and Shankly, you see some common themes - similar upbringings and life experiences, including the interruption of their careers by WWII and the resultant training they all got in the forces - an understanding of people and how to get the best from them - dedication/commitment to their role as manager and a work ethic - a lot of commonsense, intelligence and worldly wisdom All were able to take moderately successful clubs and make them very successful - to the extent that each of their clubs' standing now, 50 years later, owes much to the foundations they laid. All had to work with the raw material of young players. Coaching and developing the clubs' own players was the main driver of success, not spending vast sums buying players and paying huge wages. The game may have changed, but any manager with these qualities now has a great chance of succeeding.
The fact Kane is clearly our best striker atm shows the problem. He's not a bad player but look at the top sides in the PL and Kane wouldn't even get into their squads let alone starting. Chelsea - Costa, Drogba & Remy Man City - Aguero, Dzeko & Jovetic Liverpool - Sturridge, Balotelli & Lambert Man Utd - Falcao, Rooney and RVP Everton - Etoo, Lukaku & Naismith Even the Goons have lots of good options and apparently they are even more desperate for a striker than us - Giroud, Podolski, Walcott, Sanchez.
