Buzz words for the future: (don't shoot the messenger) It has been reported that the succession planning at Spurs for the possible vacant manager position for the summer has led to an approach to Jose Mourinho. Daniel Levy has apparently canvassed his opinion regarding him taking over the reins, presumably with the possibility that Harry leaves to take up the England role. Last week, Mourinho said he has taken the decision to leave Real Madrid at the end of the season and return to England, so will he be, âup for grabsâ? Who knows Harryâs plans, however it is only right for Levy to prepare for all eventualities. The Good and the Bad of Jose There have been some public ups and downs for Mourinho who has not been a stranger to controversy or falling foul of the football authorities. Would the club he decides to go to turn into a one man show and attract the wrong kind of headlines when he decides to share his wisdom about things in general, or in relation to controversial incidents? How much of the share of publicity and adulation would he crave? No one man is bigger than the club, whoever he is. Football is a game of opinions; Mourinho displays a passion which has sometimes manifested itself into actions or comments which have angered players and fellow managers. He was booed by the Real Madrid fans after a recent victory which has, ânot bothered meâ. Tough fans these Spanish, what happens after a defeat? It would be interesting to hear the views of Rafael Van Der Vaart on Mourinho, the Dutchman being sold by him. There was only a short cross over time for them at Madrid, even so, a fascinating thought. The possible downside Harry, although always willing to speak to the press and give them a quote, prefers to let the team get the headlines. He constantly refers to the fact that he enjoys the way Spurs play and has also said that being a good manager is easy, just have good players. He has a tremendous reputation as one of the best English managers and although holding the high profile of any Premier League boss, he is not and does not profess to be the star of the show. Whether Mourinho would have a similar approach remains to be seen. Tottenham are building for the future. Stability is the key; Mourinho has been at 6 clubs in 12 years. There must have been reasons for him leaving the various positions, personal progression, stepping up in class, differences with owners etc. He must settle at some point, would he be in for the long haul at Spurs? Other destinations? If Mourinho wants another top job somewhere else in England, where would he go? He said a return to Chelsea would not be out of the question, as far as Manchester goes, it looks like City will win the Premier League and have a tilt at the Champions League with Mancini next season. If Sir Alex retires, Mourinho has voiced an opinion that he would consider the job at Old Trafford; he would certainly be a top contender for the post. What about Arsenal. Apparently they have to make a huge profit each year in the transfer market which means selling top players. Would Mourinho relish the challenge there if Wenger âmoves upstairsâ? What could Mourinho do for Tottenham? Jose Mourinho is a world class manager, his tactical nous; record, and undoubted status would potentially make him a tremendous appointment. He also forges great relationships with his men, and has been followed from club to club by players and staff alike. He is of that class of manager to be able to attract the very top players to a club. Tottenham do not need many, but the addition of a handful of top class players could see them establish their place in the top 2 or 3 of the Premier League for years to come, challenging for the title, domestic cups, and European honours at the highest level on a regular basis.
I think he'll be heading to Manchester in the summer, one way or another. With the prospect of the new stadium, I don't think that we'd have the financial clout to attract him.
Blue or red? If it's red he can only be second best - if it's blue it will just prove that money can't buy long term success - either way he's onto a loser.
Can't see JM at Spurs. He tends to go to clubs with massive/unlimited funds and we don't fit that mould.
Excellent article KK. If Mourinho were to come to Spurs (And I have my doubts) I wonder if he would embrace 'The Spurs Way' As a fan for many years I would not like it if, having finally made our way back up to the higher regions of the league, we were to become pragmatic in our play just to suit the massive ego of Jose.
See the first line of the original article which reads "don't shoot the messenger". However - what would it say to the rest of the PL about our intentions if he were to be our next manager? I'm not saying that he's right for us neither am I saying that he's wrong but it would make some sit up and take notice.
Did you write that KK? My opinion is that he's too expensive and some of his teams are too defense minded
Nope - hence "don't shoot the messenger" - http://tottenhamlive.com/blog/425-jose-mourinho-tottenham.html
It's a difficult one for Spurs - we certainly enjoy the way we're setup and playing at the moment and long may it continue. Harry, for all his faults, has got us playing good football and winning games (the latter is more important obviously). NEW MANAGER would, for Spurs fans, need to be able to build upon our current playstyle and augment it further with the gritty 'winning whilst playing like ****' playstyle that we've seen Man Utd exhibit over the years. Past performances against Wolves, in particular, saw us struggle to break them down when we really should have done better (yes the ref wasn't great but we should have sealed the game before his decisions could affect it). The description I've just posted - not too sure who fits that - there aren't many of those types of managers sitting on their hands by the phone waiting for Daniel Levy to phone them up and offer them the Spurs job. Within the EPL - Moyes has done a good job at Everton, Pardew the same at Newcastle (especially with MA behind the scenes) and then you look at teams like Swansea as well - all these managers are good quality. I can't see any of them taking the Spurs job however (or being offered it in some cases).
I'd have to agree with Luke to an extent. Mourinho is an egomaniac. He wants total control -hence the current turmoil at Real, the problems at Chavski, etc. I really cannot see him agreeing to come to a club so obviously dominated by the chairman & the board. Ignoring the financial aspect, I just cannot see the freedom that Mourinho would want being granted to him. Having said all that, would I have him as our manager, fuk yes!! He's undoubtedly the outstanding managerial talent of his generation, and would bring success to the club - I just don't see any way it's going to happen.
If Mourinho is the answer, then somebody else should ask the questions. His teams play cynical, nasty, tedious anti-football that wastes the players he has at his disposal - especially the ones he currently has at Real (something that he has been found out for in Italy and Spain in the last few years) - and he makes every club he's in charge of the latest edition of The Mourinho Show. A lot of the current problems with the Hammersmith Cuckoos can be placed on him, given the way he mollycoddled Terry and Lampard when he was in charge - and I'll give you three guesses which players make life difficult for each and every incoming manager since his departure. And, as I've said many times, his "success" is directly linked to the club he's in charge of having the largest transfer budget in their league at that time, be it Porto, Chelsea, or Inter (his job at Inter further aided by Milan and Juve recovering from Calciopoly at the time.) In Spain he has legitimate competition when it comes to financial backing in Barcelona, and he's suddenly a lot less successful. If he joined us, he'd be behind City and Chelsea when it comes to available transfer funds, and on a par with Man Utd, Liverpool and Arsenal - and certainly not able to offer higher wages than any of those clubs, something else he's been able to do at Porto, Chelsea, Inter and Real.
Levy would put far to many conditions on an offer and Mourinho would want to spend far more money than we have. I reckon Mankini must be feeling a little nervous though, especially if SAF makes a monkey out of him this season. This maybe a little out of left field, but I would look at Hoddle again, especially with the network of scouts he has working for his academy (and the ready supply of well prepared young players,). Always rated him as an outstanding coach and just maybe, now we have a group of players he wouldn't show up on the training field. I'd say Van Gaal, but I honestly can't see how we would attract somebody of his calibre pre- new stadium.
Two myths to explode, here (as they seem to have been repeated by quite a few people. Busted Myth 1: We are NOT too small for Jose. Our club has a long and glorious history; our brand is, and always will be stylish, entertaining football; and we are currently challenging for the title in the hardest club league in world football. Whether we are a big club or a small club in absolute terms, we are not too small for any manager who wants to win the EPL playing great football. How do I know that? We're doing it under Harry. Busted Myth 2: Jose will not necessarily only go to clubs who spend big. Sure, that's what he may have done in the past, but that doesn't mean he will do every time he moves club (and given that he seems to like to move on every couple of seasons, he'll soon run out of clubs with bottomless pits of cash). Plus, it's not as though we are a poor club. Sure, we keep a tight lid on wages, but we've shown in the past that we are more than able to pay for top players and managers to come to our club. I'm sorry, but I simply do not buy into this whole "we couldn't afford Jose" argument. I seem to be one of the very few people (Spurs fans or otherwise) who can see why Spurs would be an ideal challenge for Jose, and why he would jump at the chance to manage us and make us great.
Agree with most of what you say. However to say we have previously spent big on players? Our record signing is around £17million. Compare that to how many players Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool have spent over £20million on. I rate JM as a great manager and think he could possibly turn us into champions but he is unproven when it comes to finding players for smaller fees, look at his signings for Chelsea, Inter and Real. Everyone knew that those players were class and at Spurs he won't be able to spend £100million on just a few players, plus even if we were to bid £30million for someone, we couldn't afford the wages, especially with a new stadium being built. I think we will go for a smaller manager with potential, someone in the mould of Coyle, Martinez or Rodgers.
Jose doesn't like a challenge. he likes winning things. The way he has done it is to move to a bigger club every time he has changed clubs and surrounded himself with the best players money can buy. Real is bankrolled by the Spanish government for pity's sake. The only teams that are realistically on that trajectory right now are the two Manchesters and Barcelona. My money is on City. It is right up his street.
I say we have spent big on players. The stupid money being paid is only because of £ity & Chelsea's billionaire owners, and has been a recent thing. And, even then, stupid money being paid for players is still a rare thing, when set against all transfers that take place around the world. If you take £ity and Chelsea out of the equation, no one could say we are a poor club or that we are not prepared to pay for the right player. Jose has been to Chelsea. He will only go to £ity if Mancini has a complete nightmare, but even then, can you see Jose saying long there? I can't. May be he is destined for United, but he may not want to be the poor sap who has to step into Fergie's shoes (because he is going to be an impossible act to follow). There are not too many clubs that Jose can go to, if all he's after is a bottomless pit of money. I still maintain that he'd be interested in coming to us. I'm not saying he will (because I hope Harry escapes doing any bird, and refuses the England job), but I can see a very strong case being made for him giving us two or three very good seasons.
As far as i'm concerned Jose can **** off to Anzhi or some Saudi club when Real get sick of him. He's a disgusting man, whose teams play awful football, and who is vastly overrated, especially in this country. Christian Gross, or any other two-bit clown could have won the league with Mourinho's Chelsea side and resources in my opinion, his successes as a manager are utterly nullified by the manner of victory.
