There's 13 teams below us so assuming we beat them home and away, I make that 78 points. Not sure where you got 90 from, but that's just splitting hairs over small details. I'm not entirely sure if Baldini can be singled out for the mess that our transfer policy is in. If he is complete charge of identifying and signing players then I think he would have been out the door a long time ago. I think there was a collective decision making process as some we know were last minute desperation signings when our initial targets didn't come; whilst others were already in the pipeline such as Adebayor. I think what we can all agree on is we spent a great deal of money these past few years and more than half of these players have failed to deliver any improvement over what we sold. And we have to admit whether we like it or not that the best players in our squad this season were products of our youth system, which Sherwood has to take some credit for. Kane has been a revelation and god send. Mason has huge potential, alongside Bentaleb and Rose is improving, even if his defensive duties still needs work.
15 below us if we finish 5th. Yes I agree the youth system has finally started to come good and as Spurs have invested heavily in training facilities you have to say that investment looks sound. There is a lot to be optimistic about over the next few years as the new stadium makes a difference and hopefully more success from our own developed youth. This is the sensible model to compete with teams who have more finance than us Ajax and Southampton have been very successful in this area. No reason why we cannot do the same. 4 players in the England team developed at Spurs is no small achievement.
Tbh OS you have a similar attitude to MP that I had to sherwood...think you just dont rate him...not having a pop ... just an obsevation.
For me, Kane has to do it next season to confirm his current high opinion. Whilst I agree that our youth policy is good, our transfers have been a disaster. And, as for our manager, I'm beginning to wonder!..if you can't learn simple lessons from one week to the next!....
There has only been two games this season when we have looked good. The rest have been bang average performances with lucky results. Poch has no plan b and has been lucky that Kane has had the extraordinary season he has had. That is now 3 consecutive games that Tim has got the better of him and most people prefer to dismiss Sherwood as all mouth and trousers.
same idiot fans that got him the sack last season. when will people realise its not the manager its the S**T players
I think we played well v west ham away, qpr home, sunderland away, arsenal away and Southampton at home, then we struggled in the prem until we played well v everton. We played well v chelsea, arsenal, west brom away and liverpool away...only a very rare lloris mistake cost us a point at anfield when they were in form. We also played very well v swansea at the lane. We we awful v liverpool at home, Newcastle, chelsea away, west brom, hull, stoke, villa twice, west ham, man utd away, palace home and burnley away And the rest we were average or ok. Last season under sherwood we played well at toon, villa and united We were awful v city, liverpool, west ham, 3 out of 4 cup matches, chelsea, west brom away, And we ok or average in the rest I worry about his lack of a plan b too but i think you are too harsh on him...but then you probably could say the same thing about me re sherwood. MP is inexperienced in the prem and doesn't have his own team ... this squad is mostly made up of AVB signings...he needs at least 2 more years before he is judged. We are where we should be...6th or 7th. Chelsea, city, united and the goons were always going to be the top 4. We are on a par with liverpool and Southampton. .. they are the surprise but replace them with everton and that would be the 5th-7th places predicted pre season. I know i am a grumpy git but i honestly think there are more positives to the season than negatives.
Sherwood was never going to be the long term manager...he knew that and Levy knew that but they both chose to pretend otherwise. To say idiot fans got him sacked is wrong in my opinion. Sherwood had problems with several players such as lloris...that had sod all to do with the fans. No one was pining for sherwood in feb when we had beaten arsenal and had the cup final to look forward to. Sherwood delivered some turgid football such as the 2 games v west ham, arsenal, liverpool, chelsea, city, west brom away...his high win rate disolves when cup games are taken into acount...just 1 win in 6. Sherwood also had the benefit of replacing AVB who was painfully **** so anything he did felt an improvement
I don't get this 'problem with players crap' . Sherwood told the players and the fans a few home truths that they didn't like. Poch is just another yes man , he's actually said in the last 2 interviews after the games that we've played pretty well!!, it needs somebody to go into the dressing room and show in interviews after the games that this isn't good enough. If it upsets our "so-called" world class players then get rid. Keeping Lloris and Vertoghen has really improved us this season hasn't it, hold on we're in the exact same position as last year, in time he would've got rid of the deadwood at the club and got people playing who actually care
We've had a mare over the past few weeks, Leicester aside (which was too close for comfort, although a great match), 3-0 to Utd, 0-0 with Burnley and now easily beaten by a shockingly **** Villa side with just one stand out player - who happened to be the match winner. I said before the match that I felt Mason and Bentaleb needed a rest and I stand by it, both looked very average again today and didn't control the midfield. Not sure what's happened to Eriksen either, this has been his worst spell since he's been at the club. The service to Kane has dried up, too. There was a period of games where we were whipping some decent crosses into him or getting him on the edge of the box where he was banging in a lot of goals and yet today and against Burnley he was drifting out wide too much due to the isolation. Rose, again, was probably the only player that played decent, incredible what a season does to a player. I've been optimistic this season for a top 4 finish but I think today, today we're definitely out of the race unless a huge stroke of luck occurs in the remaining 6 matches. Would it be possible for the club to recall Pritchard back out of interest? With the poor form of the supporting trio to Kane, it wouldn't be a bad idea to bring him in for the last bunch of games if it we could.
Nothing but positives from me today. Kane was decent and Rose was good. Chiriches continues to be our best RB this year, and Davies is still our best CB.
Managing players is a big part of the job...he fell out with a lot of players...which is not good. Hoddle did the same thing and it is a problem. Your pojnt re lloris makes no sense to me...I used him as an example because he was a good player last season, did not under perform yet sherwood somehow fell out with him...and yes ... lloris has made a big difference this season. sherwood managed adebayor well yet singularly failed with others. you also did not respond to all my other points...sherwood was not and is not a good manager...he may turn into one but now he is being portrayed as being someone who could have taken us further forward. We have run out of legs after 30 prem and 19 league matches with a limited squad...we have no midfielders of quality to replace bentaleb, mason, eriksen or chadli and no quality up front to rest kane...and that is why we are struggling now. MP is not responsible for the state of the squad...he has made mistakes but the criticism of him is ott in my opinion
My take on the situation is that almost all my praise for MP goes hand-in-hand with a fairly damning assessment of the playing staff. To have us in and around 5th-7th and produce displays like the ones against Arsenal and Chelsea with the players he has shows that there must be something to his system. Starting to be a bit worrying that young players like Bentaleb, Mason, and any three of Eriksen, Chadli, Townsend and Lamela seem to be must-plays irrespective of fatigue and form. The undroppability of recent academy graduates is further reflected in the fairly desperate choice of Kane as captain. But again I err towards blaming the dearth of talent at MP's disposal rather than his use of it. Though I'm just starting to question that conclusion - pointless as Dembele is could a decent manager not get something out of him which would benefit a team, all of whose 5 midfielders have looked off the pace for weeks now?
Good point re Sherwood being unproven. Thing is that both AVB and MP had basically done very little in the game too yet got the top job. (Obviously I am not counting Porto's success as worthy of too much consideration - AVB wasn't there for long and on any given year there's a good chance that almost anyone could win a championship as manager there).
I agree that the main problem with Sherwood was that he was unecessarily confrontational. Like it or not, you're dealing with a bunch of multi-millionaires. And yes, some of them will be Prima Donnas. It's a difficult trick to be the boss - and never let your players forget that - but to also be their friend, confidant and motivator. It's a trick that only Harry has come close to pulling off, IMO. I also accept that the major part of the blame lies with the players. But, you have to ask yourself, "what's going wrong? Why do they look so demotivated? " surely a part of the manager's job is to do that? MP is clearly not currently providing that. And, as put earlier, the same mistakes are being made week after week. We may not be top four material - were not even close, IMO, but losing at home to Villa, and being lucky to lose only 1-0, is just unacceptable.
Sherwood actually came across as very well in the post match interview that I saw. Just feel it's worth pointing out as I give him a lot of **** when he's an arsehole so credit where credit's due, he avoided all the bait in the questions well and actually looked the part of a manager. Anyway, it looks like we're heading for a second poor season in a row. The League Cup final just about makes up for the poor showings in the other cups but we're heading for a low points total and unless we finish 5th then it's got to go down as a poor season. Like others I think tiredness is becoming a real problem, I talked about some of the wild shots we were taking against Burnley and some of that was on show again yesterday, particularly with Eriksen. It's also frustrating to see us keep wasting a sub by having to take off the ineffectual Chadli, who's woefully out of form. I think we are best off giving a few chances to fringe and youth players next week and letting Kane, Eriksen and some others get a few days extra rest. I'd like to see: Lloris Yedlin, Dier, Vertonghen, Davies Stambouli, Bentaleb Lamela, Onomah, Rose Soldado If nothing else we go into the Southampton and City games with some key players rested and refreshed, at best we end up with a few extra options for those games.
AVB didn't just win the title at Porto though, did he. He was in charge of the first side to go the season unbeaten in the league and set the record points total in addition to winning the Europa League and the Portuguese cup. His problem is that since then he's not had a side that's as balanced and full of quality as he had back then, which is, in part at least, his fault. He failed to adapt to not having the best side in the league which made him unsuitable for us, where we don't have the quality. Pochettino was supposed to bring in exciting, attacking football and to some extent he's achieved that, although in several recent games we do look disorganised and lacking in a cutting edge. He has to get used to sides that will look to stop our counter attacks with cynical fouls and turn it to our advantage, same goes for the long balls over the top and timewasting, all of which we saw yesterday. Basically it's down to Pochettino to show some invention and get us past the obstacles in our way, as on our day we are excellent to watch.
I don't understand why we don't see more of Stambouli, its clear that Mason and Bentaleb would benefit from a rest and although many of the other CM options have been disappointing Stambouli has always looked comfortable when he's played. Lack of squad depth is a big issue for us and it'll take time for Poch to find players that he trusts enough to play them as viable alternatives. If we're still in this situation this time next year, after 2 more transfer windows, with performances being severely hampered at this stage in the season due to fatigue as a result of poor squad depth, then Pochettino should answer for it. Right now though he needs time. If we keep chopping and changing, and never backing the manager fully, then we will never have anything other than a good run of results here and there. Pochettino's lack of ability or unwillingness to change some of his tactics is very frustrating at times though.
Agree with all that . The other thing that bothers me about Poch is the total lack of organisation in defence - something you'd expect from a top coach. We increasingly look all over the place - and he needs to tell Fazio to at least jump when the cross comes in . I would still say give him another season at least to get it right though.
how can you say MP is not responsible for the state of the squad, he's the manager. He brought 4 players in Dier/Davies/Fazio and Stambouli and only one is getting regular games. My point wasn't that Sherwood was a good manager or Poch a bad one I just think we have a poor group of players with a crap attitude. Sherwood was prepared to address this, we'll have to wait until the summer to see if Poch will. Out of the current squad the only players who deserved to be kept are Lloris - top keeper Rose - looks as though he cares Dier - young Bentaleb - young Mason - young Eriksen - match winner Kane - obviously and possibly Davies/Yedlin and Stambouli as we haven't seen much of them The rest are just there for the ride
