Postecoglou & New DoF Watch

Is that the case though? If you stretch back say ten years, the only two players that have left us for big money and footballing ambition reasons were Bale and Walker, their decisions paid off and some too. Outside of that, every key player we've had has given us their best years - Lloris, Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Rose, Dembele, Eriksen*, Son and Kane. If anything there's an argument to say players have been a bit too loyal to us, not that that's in anyway a problem for us Spurs fans but many in that list could've easily joined a bigger club if they forced it.

*Still quality but was in his prime around the years of 2015-2019.

As for future additions, I don't think Kane's lack of trophies here acts as much of a deterrence to potential new signings. It's only really those already at Europe's elite that are outside of our reach and the odd one destined to join one of those elite; Bellingham and Osimhen for examples.

 

Many clubs occasionally have one or two better seasons than us. Doesn't mean they have a better long term strategy though. People were saying we should copy West Ham or Leicester a while back. Both struggling now.

 

The first point is bonkers...of course better players tend to cost more. If you spend £1B you get better players on average than if you spend £500m.
The second point is plainly wrong. The very best players tend to want to win trophies...playing alongside better players is bound to improve the chances of that so they leave if they get the offer. But we've lost no players like that since Bale and Walker really.

 

In hindsight, Walker was a superb bit of Levying,
both immediately and for the near future,

Immediate, in that his departure was nowhere neat
as bad on the PL/CL "bottom line" as Bale going was,
and the money was good.

For the future, Levy set the rules of the game :

If I am going to let a Spurs player go to you, pay
the Levy tax, get it done and dusted early in the
transfer window, and that will be the end of it
(contrast with the Kane saga - which Levy turned
into Manc hip replacement surgery 2 : electric boogaloo) .

 

There was one slight wrinkle with it, though: the initial terms were cash + Jadon Sancho, which the Mansourites balked at so instead it was straight cash

If we did get Sancho that would have been more beneficial for us going forward as it would have set our position of "So who are we getting in return?" in stone, because if clubs want to nick one of our starters they better be willing to see one of their top prospects become a starter for us

 

Thanks to Twitter and Reddit, I am starting to lose track of who we are being linked with and who is an example of wishful thinking

Case in point, today I've seen mention of both Julian Nagelsmann and Sergio Conceicao, and I have no idea if they've been linked with us by somebody credibly, somebody not credible but has at least noticed we appear to be looking at younger managers who play progressive football, or if somebody is just saying it would be a nice idea to have Nagelsmann in the dugout

I mean if saying who we think would be a good fit is enough, that should stop people demanding Tuchel...right?

 

The choice of new manager will give a clear indication of where Levy's head is.

If, despite 4 years of it not producing immediate success, he is still fixated on a short-term solution to long-term problems, we can expect someone like Tuchel or Enrique.

Someone like Glasner, De Zerbi or Frank would indicate openness to a new long-term project.

Being slightly cynical, Poch doesn't really indicate either, hinting more to Levy not having a clue so defaulting to a safe, known option likely to be popular with most fans.

 

Yeah for me appointing Poch again would be an indication that he doesn’t really have a clue what to do next so would be hoping Poch can steady the ship and keep Spurs in or close to the top 4.

Personally I’d rather see a Luis Enrique or Tuchel than an unproven manager with potential like De Zerbi

 

We need someone who isn’t fixated on one system. We need someone who isn’t going to play 5 defenders and 2 defensive midfielders the whole time.

I’m not sure who fulfills this remit out of the names currently being speculated on.

 

Being fixated on a system is fine if it’s one that exerts control on a game. The issue with more passive systems like Conte’s is that they don’t consistently control games in a meaningful way and he’s usually too dogmatic to be reactive and make changes based on what the opposition do.

If you’re going to be passive you have to also be reactive (and also have to have a better quality of player). Dominant systems are just that - you only react if the opposition has particular tools to hurt you (like a particularly dangerous transition, or City in general, who you are not likely to out-possession).

 

I don't think "proven" managers have worked out at all. You don't get much more proven than Mourinho and Conte and most of us are glad they're going or gone.

Ramos and Santini had hugely impressive CVs before joining us, whereas the manager in betweem them, Martin Jol, was a complete unknown. Which of them succeeded?

I'd be very, very cautious before employing another Chelsea reject or a manager whose success came from a team containing Messi, Neymar, Suarez, Iniesta, Busquets, Pique and Mascherano.

 

That is the clubs fault though imo, I’m a bit bewildered that so many Spurs fans have been sucked in by this narrative that we need a lesser manager that won’t be as demanding from the board than a proven one.

Tuchel is a far superior manager to the likes of De Zerbi or Thomas Frank for me and would be a better appointment.

 

The concept of a proven manager is probably fundamentally flawed. You need several hundred games for the difference between a 55% and 60% win ratio to be statistically significant and even then the inherited players or the standard of the opposition might be the real differentiating factor.

 

There are only a handful of managers who have made a real difference in the English top division in my lifetime. None of them had any major success elsewhere before being appointed.

 

You keep saying this but you’re completely wrong.

Sir Alex Ferguson had success with Aberdeen before he joined Man Utd

Jose Mourinho with Porto before Chelsea

Pep Guardiola & Klopp too. Ancelotti also.

 

Interesting. I'd be intrigued to know who you'd list in that bracket. I'm not old enough to remember football before the advent of the PL, so in my time I would say:
Ferguson
Wenger
Mourinho
Klopp (?)
Guardiola

Have all massively impacted the game in terms of dominance, trophies won and raising the overall standard of play and profile of the league. The latter three had significant success elsewhere before being appointed, especially Pep.

EDIT: But then again, I would also argue that from Mourinho onwards, the game itself changed drastically due to the arrival of owners like Roman who could essentially cheat the system. It could be argued that from 2004 onwards, the likelihood of another Fergie or Wenger dropped to almost nil.

 

Of those I only count Ferguson in my handful because the others have not demonstrably changed their clubs performance to a much higher level. They merely won things with a club that was already at a very high level.
And I don't think you'd be happy with a manager whose 'major' success was winning the Scottish League.

 

See my reply above. But we need someone who can take the club up a level and then keep them there. My list is Busby, Shankly, Paisley, Nicholson, Clough, Ferguson, Wenger. Klopp and Guardiola might qualify if they stay another 10 years.

 

He won a European trophy with Aberdeen too.

 

Mourinho won Chelsea’s first titles in ages.

Klopp ended Liverpool’s long wait for a lesgue title and has also won the CL and domestic cups with them. He also had big success with Dortmund before etc.