Haven't time to read the previous 10 or so posts (will do that later) but just one point about the claim that clubs do badly after Harry leaves them: Well that's obviously meant as a criticism but isn't it equally possible to see this fact (if it is a fact) as a sign of his quality? I mean if you take *three* clubs to their highest-ever EPL position, well, there's only one direction after that probably, isn't there? If a manager gets West Ham to finish in 5th place or Portsmouth in 8th or Spurs in 4th it's hardly a sign that they're a bad manager cos subsequently those clubs don't do as well!
It wasn't meant as a criticism! If you throw all the club's resources at current performance and you do it well then the likely outcome is a couple of stellar seasons followed by a fall. Some of us think that we need a plan to get us into the CL regularly not just once. When you consider that we've only played in the top flight European competition twice in all our history this is a bit of a tall order and therefore in my view requires successful implementation of a long term plan. But it's still likely to fail in practice because of the strength of our competitors. But Audere est facere!
Oh - fair enough. I thought it was meant to be a point about his leaving them in a bit of a mess or something in the longer term.
Ahh, 'Arry's name is being said again on the forum. Most know/ knew my view on him and his tenure, I was a huge fan and was devastated when he was sacked, if it were down to me he'd still be Spurs manager today - that's no dig at Poch though, because I've been massively impressed by him and this is the first time in a while (ironically, since Harry left) that I've felt the club has a clear plan/ vision and a manager that can produce the goods with what he has at his disposal. Although Ramos produced the single most glorious day I've seen live with Spurs, it was Harry's reign where I'd thoroughly enjoyed going to the Lane and away from home watching. The football for the most part was an absolute joy and we saw players like Modric, Bale, Rafa, Krancjar, Ledley, Adebayor, Defoe, Ekotto, Corluka, Kaboul, Parker etc flourish and have great seasons under him - plus Harry did give debuts to Carroll and Kane, plus a few others (including Rose with his first league start and we all know how that ended ). There was genuine excitement at watching Spurs, we were branded as the most exciting team in the league and it was a correct assessment. Then add the CL season, where memorable victories over Werder Bremen, the comeback aggregate win over Young Boys, reigning champs Inter Milan (Taxi for Maicon!) and then beating their bitter rivals AC at the San Siro, it was a great time to be a Spurs fan, it ended on a downer with the Madrid defeat at the Bernabeu but **** me, it's Real Madrid, things were always going to be tough let alone with Crouchy getting the red, we were close to getting a bit of pride back in the home game but for a Gomes clanger. Harry had his faults, there's no doubt about that, the constant press talk did get a little OTT, his flirting with the England position (though I wouldn't have begrudged him taking that, it's the pinnacle for any English manager), his supposed spat with Levy (where Levy was dealing with personal problems and Harry was constantly wanting things from him) plus he did tend to keep his favourites on the pitch even if they were underperforming or looking fatigued, so that hindered us at times but for me and I'm sure many others, the pros massively outweighed the cons. BUT, the past is the past, I think in Poch we have one of the best young managers/ head coaches in Europe and if Levy backs him both with transfers coming in and ensuring only the ones Poch wants gone are sold, we can go far under him. He took over a huge squad and was only able to add fringe players in Vorm, Davies and Benji to a team with internationals not pulling their weight, he's made the prima donnas pay for poor performances and brought through academy lads that have excelled under his guidance while still maintaining an outside chance of a top 4 finish and reached a cup final. He's got an important summer now, his first one was about getting to know the squad, weeding out the deadwood and getting the players to understand his philosophies, now he has the chance to further the development of the ones who've been a mainstay in his XI over recent months while also adding the quality he feels necessary to push on. Exciting times in my opinion.
