I put the comment in a post but would like your opinions. Chelsea sacked AVB after 4 months or so because he was 5th at the time. Would 5th be satisfactory at Christmas for you to say "Stay AVB?" What are your parameters to keep AVB on at Spurs? Even if we are mid table do we want another change of coach? For me if we are 5th at Christmas I'd say stay,even 6th.
Well I keep hearing recently we have been "punching above our weight" and due to finances in reality the best we should expect is 6th, so simpleton arry has set the standard and clearly with the resources available we should expect a manager (that was brought in to take us to the next level) to improve on what arry has achieved. As thats the whole idea of sacking a manager, you either aren't happy with his performance or you believe you need someone else to improve what the previous manager done. So, AVB has to show he can get us into the champions league at least, this doesn't mean if he finishes 6th we should sack him, as I don't want us to become a club that sacks a manager after one season BUT there has to be signs that he can get us challenging. How long he will get, isn't something I am confident about predicting as who knows what Levy is thinking but it wouldn't surprise me if avb is here for at least 2 seasons (unless he really screws up). And during that time we will discover what the limit is, for what can be achieved under our current owners as it took a simple man that was still living in the 70's to get us our best finish since the premier league started so lets see what avb can do with his modern methods.
Boss, what's all this about "simple man". Sounds like a total lack of respect for our previous manager that, as you yourself said, got us punching above our weight. The anti-Harry stuff on here is very hard to take and completely unnecessary. Not everyone holds the same opinion you know.
Eh? you may like to read it again Vim, as I'm not making any digs at arry, i'm making digs at the people that said arry was too simple to be our manager and that we needed someone younger and with modern methods.
I should use smileys to show the "tone" but I'm certainty not anti arry, in fact I didn't want him sacked and I certainty didn't want avb yet he is now our manager so he has to be given a chance to show if his methods work.
Doesn't mean that these opinions can't be expressed (even though in this case there seems to have been a misundertanding!). Harry is clearly a bit of a simpleton, he admitted himself that he can barely write. This "lack of respect" for Harry accusation seems a bit rich, given his last 6 months with us, in which a total lack of respect was shown towards his employers (and as a result, the fans).
Also Vim, for a while now I've felt there is a limit to what this club can achieve while ENIC run the club and I'll be surprised (but delighted) if we find a manager that can improve on our league finishes under arry but it seems we want to compete with the big boys but not spend like them, so what as fans do we really expect from avb?
That's what I'm trying to find out Boss. I felt a more experienced coach would help us up more easily and I expect a bumpy ride from AVB. Wandering Yid,eh please explain why you say that. Do you expect him to be successful immediately or are you prepared to wait a little?
Next year will be 50 years since we became the first British club to win a European Trophy. The final of the Europa League takes place on the anniversary of that superb night. I would be happy with the Europa Trophy and a top 10 finish. The next level to me means winning trophys.
i think top 4 is achievable but not expected with the squad we have. Even getting in NEW STRIKER wouldn't change that for me. So, if we are 5th/6th/7th at xmas but still within range of 5th then i'd be fairly happy, as long as we are playing some nice stuff. If we're 7th and playing like Chelsea then i won't be happy. Mind you, if we're 4th and playing like chelsea i won't be happy.
I think the next 2 weeks (transfer window) can potentially determine AVB's fate in the long run. If we're unable to strengthen, the pressure on AVB won't be as high as it would be if he brings in 2/3 fresh faces of high value who he believes will strengthen the team. If we finish 5th/ 6th without any new signings (which is doubtful in fairness, Levy loves these two weeks!) then I certainly won't be too disappointed. However if we've forked out shedloads, including the potential Modric money, then anything lower than 4th is a failure. AVB has my full backing but he knew when taking the job that after the success Harry brought us, the jury will be out for him and it's fair to say most Spurs fans aren't exactly the forgiving type. I really hope AVB will be Spurs manager for a good few seasons at least, we need to have faith and let him create and build this "project" of his. Signs from the first game were really positive for me, I didn't agree with some of the selections (Gallas over Verts, Jenas in the squad with no Hudd and Daws? - Weird) but our style of play was nice to watch. Thought Defoe, Bale and Lennon looked good as a front 3, instead of a usual 2 wingers and a striker and hopefully given more time, that could realy work well in the season.
We were in a position as followers to judge Harry on his performances and this we did with differing views. We are not in a position to judge AVB yet. Time will tell, if we play decent football and the AVB behaves as though he knows what he is doing, reacts in real time during matches then we will grow in confidence with him. Position at the end of the first season will not be as important as what we perceive to be AVB's potential. Provided we believe he is heading in the right direction he will get time, if he achieves top 4 he will get more time.
I was not anti-Harry, but I believe he had to go. There was clearly a huge conflict between what Harry wanted from the club and what the club was prepared to give him. Right or wrong, I'll always stick by the club, not any particular individual. Also, Harry was tactically naive, he demonstrated that time and time again. Finally, it was only a matter of time before his method of dealing with his chums in the media compromised his position at the club. All in all - and as much as it may have been a shame for it to happen - I don't think the club had much choice in letting Harry go. So, what of AVB? I think he will be a lot more "professional" than Harry, more circumspect and in keeping with Levy's own philosophy. He's a company-man, and will not look to undermine Levy or the board (which Harry did on at least a couple of occasions). Already, AVB has proven himself to be more tactically astute than Harry, and whilst it remains to be seen whether or not AVB has it in him to get us performing at the kinds of levels that Harry was able to coax from the squad, I am confident that, given time and the willingness of the players, he has the technical skills to enable him to tweak the squad to minimise weaknesses and increase strengths, whilst also putting in place a viable strategy to bring through our young players. Having said that, I do hope that our owners give AVB the funds he needs to bring in NEW STRIKER and a creative midfielder.
Boss - sorry for any misunderstanding. I did indeed misread your post. Also probably jumped in too easily because I've been frustrated with some of the opinions here because I don't happen to agree with what many state as "facts" which are in fact opinions that a number of posters, admittedly, share on here. I just wanted to point out that there are a lot of Spurs fans who would not agree with sacking Harry, nor that he undermined the club to the extent claimed. This does not mean that we do not share a vision for the success of Spurs in the future (goodness I( almost used the term "going forward" there, I hate that!), just that we should be a bit more grateful and respectful to a manager that achieved rather a lot with the resources available.
Vim I am not grateful or respectful for reasons I have stated many times. Jumping up and waving your Harry flag every time his name is mentioned will make no difference, let's move on.
I am overwhelmed by my underwhelmedness of AVB as our manager... (reading that back it makes no sense but I think you'll get my meaning). I don't think that a club like us can continuously sack it's managers and move forward. We took several large steps back after we sacked Jol ... his 2 5th places look even more remarkable when you consider our squad at the time. Harry took us back to where we had been under jol - and then a step further. The main difference between Jol and Harry was that there was no DoF called Comolli in the background playing power games. I get why the club felt that Harry had to go - there was and is every chance that the Harry for Ingerland bandwagon will gain a head of steam if England have 2 bad results. Also Harry didn't help himself by refusing a new contract in Feb, claiming that the players weren't affected by speculation over his future and then demanding a contract in June, claiming that speculation about his future was unsettling the players. He double didn't help himself by doing this while Levy was in the US burying his mother. I am a spurs fan and will support AVB even though I think he is the wrong choice. I thought David Moyes was the person we should have gone for (although at the time I called him Moyles )! This weeks performances by us and Everton have done nothing to change my mind. AVB though is our manager and deserves the chance to build the team he was hired to - anything less than 2 years would be a joke.
I think the squad we have is far better than we should expect given the resources at our disposal and we should be in the mix for third/fourth place.
