If I can start by saying that I was at the game yesterday and did not boo at half or full time as I just don't agree with it. I wasn't completely against Harry going as I couldn't see that his fourth full season would be as good as his first three as his heart didn't really seem to be in it after the England snub. Despite what every Chelsea fan would tell you I have also been completely open minded about ABV coming into the club, taking the view that he can't be as bad as they have all been making out. Now that the transfer window has closed and we have dropped another two points at home against a side we would expect to beat you have to say that the signs are very concerning. When I saw the team line up before kick off my heart sank. Two holding midfielders when playing at home and leaving a playmaker like Dembele on the bench after he had played so well against United last week. Persisting with Defoe up front as a lone man when surely Ade was fit enough to play the first 60 minutes. You would have hoped that we could have won the game by that stage had Ade and Dembele been on the pitch from the start. In fairness to Harry, I always thought that he put out strongest side in each game and very rarely did you hear the disquiet in the crowd that I heard yesterday. Then there are the substitutions. Baffled by last weeks decision to remove a striker and bring on Jenas he made two equally strange decisions. They say that managers should learn from their mistakes so why take off a striker again and sit back a defend against a side at home? The one that annoys me more is the decision to keep replacing Sandro. He has to be one of the most promising defensive midfielders in world football. There is nothing I would like to see more than seeing us bring through some top quality youngsters but, mark my words, Jake Livermore will be playing for a championship club at best within the next couple of years. To leave him on and take off Sandro is a complete disgrace and worries me more than anything that AVB has done on or off of the pitch to date. Then there is the transfer window. In Levy's shoes I would have been fed up with the way Redknapp mouthed off to the press at every opportunity and with his lazy transfer policy, very rarely unearthing a hidden gem. What we have now though is a manager who doesn't seem like he is prepared to stand up to the chairman. Our manager changed but very few of our transfer targets did suggesting to me that it is Levy who is making all of the decisions on who we sign. Where was the top class striker that we have been crying out for now since Berbatov left? Newcastle and Everton will tell you that they don't have to cost the earth if you spend widely. I'd love to have signed Lloris next summer to replace Brad but did we really need him immediately? Will he really make the difference? The only explanation for getting rid of VDV was his age so why replace him with another good but ageing player in Dempsey? Why leave the Mountino deal so late and then come out in such a public way to try and claim that we missed out on him by minutes? We had months to sign him so why leave it so late? Isn't it strange as well that the one that got away was the one which was going to break our transfer record and the one which would have excited fans the most? The way AVB has been coming out thanking the chairman for trying so hard to bring the player in stinks to me of a manager who is being played like a puppet. It is too early to talk about changing the manager but the early vibes aren't good. This certainly has the feel of a Gross, Santini or Ramos type appointment rather than the man who is going to be able to take us a step forward from where we were under Harry. Levy has managed to dodge a good few bullets during his tenure at the club but if this goes from bad to worse then surely it won't just be AVB who will be shown the door.
None of this carries any weight for me because we are talking about just three games that a new manager has had to make major changes. With new signings that have neither the time nor even the opportunity to play in the team. To make decisions based on such little evidence suggests a complete lack of ability to be objective. We have now a stream of posters giving us the benefit of their views on AVB and his shortcomings while handily ignoring the realities of the situation at Spurs. 1. Modric was going anyway, whoever was the manager and that means major change. 2. VDV was also very likely to go as well, because of the situation with his family. More major change. 3. If you think you can just sign who you want when you want then you are living in cloud cuckoo land. The transfer deadline is a major negotiation lever that will be used by both sides in striking a deal. Why is that so difficult for people to understand. 4. As the season unfolds we will begin to see the success or failure of what AVB and Levy are trying to do, but right now it is impossible to make a sensible judgement. 5. If fans continue to boo and complain it will make the task of AVB very much harder and risks becoming a self fulfilling prophecy. We need to give the man some time, support the team and stop rocking the boat.
Happy with what you have seen so far then Spurf? At what point do I say we can sign who we want? Are you happy to see us play with two defensive midfielders at home and with the treatment of Sandro and love in for Livermore? Did we really need another keeper when we already have three with extensive EPL experience? Would you have preferred to see £10m on another target man like Demba Ba as I know I would. Do you think Dawson has been treated fairly? I'm not casting judgement I'm just raising concern at some of the decisions made and you will see that I have said that the guy needs time. From other comments made in the area of the ground where I sit I know that I am not the only one that has been left baffled by some of them.
Not sure about any "love-in" for Jake Livermore, but at least he never went missing yesterday and was always looking for the ball which is more than one or two more senior players were doing. As for Sandro, I wasn't totally surprised to see him withdrawn as he looks short of full fitness imo.
Sandro deserved to go off yesterday, in my opinion. His passing wasn't great, he seemed unsure of his role, he gave away a few fouls and Halsey seemed very close to booking him. It's rare that he puts in a good performance alongside another holding player, for me. Livermore wasn't great and his naive foul lead to their equaliser, but I can see why he stayed on the pitch. Having said all of that, I hope to see the Brazilian starting our next game alongside a more appropriate midfield partner. Huddlestone, Dembele or even Carroll would be better.
Cheap shots and very easy to make from a position of no responsibility. No one is happy with two draws at home that we might reasonably expect to win. As for player selection AVB has to tread lightly to avoid demoralising players who already wonder about their positions in the club. He also has to see performances in 'real' games under pressure, while you and I might have seen these players in many many games AVB has not. This is why we have to give the man time. I have no idea what Dawson feels about the way he has been treated, but it's a good example of the difficulties faced by any new man when making decisions about players. The number of people agreeing with you is irrelevant, this is not a democracy. Decisions made by AVB are what it is about but question these decisions when you have had the time to see the season pan out not before the man has even fielded the new players.
I said on another thread how strange it is that our transfer targets never changed from when Harry was in, to when no-one was in to when AVB was in. Is Daniel Levy really our director of football in everything but name? Should a manager be in a position where his chairman is deciding who gets sold and who gets bought? Levy hung on for a good price on Modric, sells VDV for an OKish offer then "ran out of time" on Mountino? I mean - that's a huge ****-up, isn't it? And who the hell is deciding on signings anyway?
Levy is playing the all seeing eye and Sherwood is his yes man. Any manager can put names forward but if they come at a cost, Levy will not sign them. Never a dickie bird chance of Mountino really coming IMHO.
We were poor yesterday and that is a fact. However, we were unlucky against Newcastle, hitting the woodwork twice (i think) we did'nt deserve to lose that game. Against West Brom we were again unfortunate look at the stats.... What doesnt help is leaving our transfer business to the last minute - it doesnt give AVB time to prepare. I honestly think things will start to get better once he knows his team and what his ideal line-up will be. AVB is still getting used to the players in the squad. Give him time.
It's always funny when people complain about the lack of big signings every window. We're a club with a smallish stadium, a strict wage budget (due to the stadium among other things) and we're only in the Europa League this season (which, as we all know, brings in far less cash than the Champions League). Am I disappointed with our points return so far? Yes - find me a Spurs fan who isn't. Am I overall disappointed with our play so far? A touch, but we were unlucky against the Toon and WBA. Is there still work to be done? Absolutely - very obvious this. Should we get on the back of AVB at this early point? No - ridiculous decision - if it's the end of September and we still haven't won then we'll have issues to deal with but at this point, no - we need to get behind him and the players.
Sandro has looked completely knackered in the second half this season, perhaps because of being with the Brazil Olympic team all summer? I hope Brazil haven't selected him for their upcoming mickey mouse friendlies against South Africa and China, he needs a rest during the international break.
The Mousers have far more to worry about than we do. We have Ade, Dembele and Dempsey to be integrated into our squad, as well as Siggy and Vertonghen to get up to speed. Who do the Mousers have? No one, what you saw against Arsenal today is what they've got, and it's not looking very good. I've decided to not get involved in any more of these "is AVB good enough?" discussions until the end of October. Then, I will start making my own assessment.
Exactly my feelings. We just need a tiny bit of patience. AVB was not my preferred choice, but the negativity and knee jerking after just 3 games is silly and will just make it harder for the team. Look at Arsenal - at 11pm on Friday some of their supporters were on the verge of cutting their wrists going by what was posted in their forum. Today they beat Liverpool and suddenly everything is rosy again. It's laughable.
Patience is the key. I think AVB doesnt want to chance us that quickly, but thats what we need. The sooner we get to 4-3-3 the better.
Lets say you get shot of him . Who will you get to replace him ? How long will THAT person take to settle in and start getting results. ., could be half the season wasted . It seems to me that you may as well just let AVB get on with it , he may start to get it right , he may not but to suggest he is NOT up to the job after 3 games is crazy.
People continuing to blame Levy over the JM non-signing, claiming it was never going to happen etc, yet there would appear to be quite a lot of evidence that a bid was made and accepted, then rejected, then upped and accepted again but could not go through in time. Quite a lot of evidence that Porto were somewhere between equally and totally to blame. Yet when it comes to having an opinion it appears that evidence to the contrary must be ignored!
