If the profile and reputation of the manager was that pivotal then you should’ve never been ‘Jose Out’ from minute 1 and be pining for the club to reverse their decision on him. He’s literally the biggest and most box office name in management. Rafa Benitez’s style of management is the last thing this current group of players need. You especially would likely be calling for his sacking within a few months.
Reports are a bit conflicting. Some saying he was offered the job (which was probably jumping the gun in fairness), this saying he was offered to us (presumably by agent?).
As German managers seem to be the latest flavour in the PL, Rangnick has massive experience. It's about time we realised that English football has more in common with German football than it does with Spanish and Italian. Oh and the worst of all Portugese mind numbing attrition style. We've tried all the negative stuff it's way overdue that we recognise the mutual heritage of German and British football and culture come to that. Rangnick bring him on, at least we might enjoy the football.
I think that’s where most fans are at right now. They just want to watch some good football. Since the Poch decline and most of Jose’s reign we’ve been starved of watching decent stuff. Like others I obviously want to win some trophies but if we’re not gonna win anything for a while due to the rebuild needed I’d at least want to enjoy watching my team again.
Waddle, Gascoigne, Perryman, Mabbutt, Clemence, Allen, Roberts, Crooks Archibald, Houghton, Millers, Galvin, Villa were all top players. Trying to suggest who would have got in to a team 30 plus years later is pointless for me. The 1980s players played on far worse pitches, with way worse scientific and medical support, more games and could be kicked with impunity so the comparison is unfair. Would Son, Kane, Walker, Rose, Dembele, Toby, Alderweireld, Dele, Lloris, Eriksen and Wanyama have coped with being booted by defenders, barged or elbowed by defenders, playing on heavy muddy, sandy pitches, play 42 league games, fa cup replays and with less rest as their were smaller squads. As we'll never know, the comparison is pointless for me. As for your point re CL, I could not disagree more. Teams could not get into the CL unless they were Champions so the Uefa Cup and Cup winners Cup were great competitions which were filled with great teams. Winning the FA Cup used to be difficult...in 1982 we had won it more than any other team ... 7 times. It used to be a very difficult competition to win. To suggest losing a CL final is better than winning two fa cups and a UEFA Cup makes no sense to me...it's the reverse of someone one saying that the Bloke in a coat years were better than the Pochettino years cos we won a league cup in 1999. So for me, these comparisons are futile. I, like you, think we have made huge strides on the pitch but, unlike you, I will not put down the great years I the 80s. We played some great football and were a joy to watch. I won't talk for others but my annoyance about us on the pitch is based around the fact that we have been ****ing awful to watch. Football enjoyment is not about trophies for me but it is about enjoying the football spurs play.
I don’t think the football would be that expansive or exciting under Benitez and believe me I don’t particularly want him but if I had to choose between him and Potter then I’d go for Benitez because of the reputation. Unlike Jose, Rafa isn’t a gobshite and doesn’t make me cringe every interview. Also he actually seems like a decent bloke off the pitch where as Jose is someone I could never stand and never will. Hopefully we will both be wrong and the club find a gem somewhere who isn’t called Benitez or Potter
Modern football has also altered clubs (and maybe fans) views of what success is. Failing to get beyond the Champions League group stage would pocket a club around £45m-£50m. Winning the FA Cup would pocket a club around £4m. Winning the League Cup would pocket a club around £1.5m. It’s almost a certainty that those on the board especially at a club would much rather their team fail in the Champions League than succeed in the FA Cup or League Cup. Fans on the other hand, if given the choice, would much rather win a domestic trophy all day long than just be a number in Europe’s elite competition. So when comparing players and teams of yesteryear to now I always find it quite difficult. I’d much rather enjoy seeing my team lift a few domestic pots than finish runners up or be a number in European football, even if the quality of personnel is (arguably) higher.
Robbo could play CB, and a beasting role in front of a defence. He was also harder than Dier and Dembele (and most living things) , and had a scoring rate more than that of those two COMBINED.
I don’t hope I’m wrong because I’d have no issues with Potter taking over. I think he’d be a smart appointment and is in the style of manager we need right now with the rebuild. Wanting another manager who’ll likely play turgid football is just literally asking for trouble. He’d only worsen the reputation of the club once more neutrals switch off after watching poor football.
Again, I don’t want Benitez but I’d choose him over Potter. If good football is your only criteria then why not Eddie Howe? For me, he would be better than Potter
Howe has virtually the opposite problem to Potter. He can't organise a defence. The same applies to Martinez, who inherited one from Moyes and benefits from other people coaching his defenders most of the time for Belgium.
Because I think Potter is a better manager than Howe. Guardiola says Potter’s the best English manager at the moment, Bielsa has also praised his methods, these are also managers whose styles I like so if they’re impressed with Potter it bodes well. In general I just like Potter’s brand of football and I think with better personnel he could do some good things.
Those are not the real choices though. The CL money allows the team to be strengthened which increases the chance of winning trophies. Winning an FA cup doesn’t. Since we need to strengthen the team to keep up with the others, a season with a domestic cup and no CL is the start of a spiral downwards. Staying in the CL maximises the chance of winning trophies in the future.
I agree with your last point completely which is why appointing Mourinho was a mistake. But you don’t need to compare individual players to see which team is objectively better. At peak Pochettino we were the second best team in England and in the top five in Europe. That wasn’t the case in the 80s. And that’s despite an obvious concentration of talent at a few clubs when it was much more equal back then. I didn’t mean to denigrate the 80s team. It was our third best team ever.
We never strengthened with the CL money though. We actually got progressively worse and even spent 18 months without a signing.
Fair enough, I don’t see anything special about him at all that makes him stand out. His past cv and past record doesn’t really read that impressively to me either but we’ll agree to disagree and if he does get it and does well you can remind me when ‘Potterball’ is taking the world by storm
If you go down that route of trying to compete by spending money, you’ll always gonna lose because no prize money will make it a level playing field against the likes of City and Chelsea
As usual we are left guessing because Levy behaves like a traditional business manager and keeps his cards close to his chest. Looking from the outside it looks to me that we didn't get the staduium sponsorship that was expected so we used the CL income to fill in a projected gap in paying for the stadium.
