Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Nottingham Forest

[The Huddlefro]

We are exactly where I expected us to be.

As I listed a few weeks ago, we have no more than 6-7 genuinely good players in the squad and three of them haven't played all season.

The rest is a mix of youngsters with as of yet unrealised potential, and a group of truly awful players who represent the chronic lack of ambition at the heart of this club for years.

Changing the manager won't make an iota of difference. We'd get a nice little bounce, maybe play well for a few months, then it will revert to type with a crash.

Levy's negligence needs to be ripped out root and branch, starting in January.

There’s quality in the squad but there’s obviously selection, coaching and availability issues too. I do think a lot of this is on Frank right now, he just hasn’t worked out how the team should be structured, should build up, and how it should attack together in the final 3rd.

Our best fit 9 is playing on the LW, our best two attacking mids are not fit. But I just don’t know what Frank is trying to do with the squad he has available. Players drift around into all kinds of position, there’s no discernible game plan beyond trying to get Kudus on the ball and hope he does something.

It’s also difficult because Sarr, Bergvall and Gray for example are all good players who are of an age where they need to play nearly every week in order to keep developing. There’s no way for that to happen. That’s a squad construction issue. We can’t give them all game time.

Basically, it’s a mess, but even so Frank ain’t doing a good job navigating his way through it.

 

[remembercolinlee]

1 attempt on target is beyond woeful tbh

 

[KingHotspur]

It aint gonna end well...I think it was classless to sack ange but am in a minority of fans...unless we let someone build a team this tedious football will continue. Frank has players signed by Ange, Conte, Pochettino And Nuno...thats simply moronic

It’s just a mishmash of players suited to random systems and formation isn’t it.

Frank needs a couple of transfer windows to get rid of who he doesn’t want and to get in who will suit the team. Barring being in the bottom three he should get it

 

[BinghamSpur]

I don’t think it would be a calamity but I don’t think Poch could replicate what he did before. Going back to former managers rarely works out.

"Never return" is the advice I'd give. Rarely successful although Moyes having a good go at it.

 

[humanbeingincroydon]

Inevitable I fear and what a calamity that would turn out to be!!

Not sure why people are clamouring for somebody who needed two attempts to win the league with PSG of all teams

Then again, I notice the Lunatic Fringe are using SonIn as their preferred hashtag...

 

[Spurf]

What is mystifying is that we showed little skill. We could not pass the ball to a teammate . That strikes me as confused players. Is it back to basics . Football is a simple game so play it so. Get the ball in their box and put it in danger of going into their net.
What I am describing is what Forest did. That IMO is why they won.

 

[SarrMan]

The only case I can put forward for Frank today is that I don’t want to sack another manager, but is that a reason to keep someone? Can he really get us where we want to be?

Richarlison aside (how does he keep getting picked when it seems like RKM is now fully fit!), we have a much better team than Frank is making them look at the minute.

 

[humanbeingincroydon]

What is mystifying is that we showed little skill. We could not pass the ball to a teammate . That strikes me as confused players. Is it back to basics . Football is a simple game so play it so. Get the ball in their box and put it in danger of going into their net.
What I am describing is what Forest did. That IMO is why they won.

It really is baffling just how bad our passing is not just this season, but it seems to have been a problem for at least 4-5 years at this point

While a decent amount of this problem can be solved by actually having a midfielder capable of breaking the offside trap with a single pass, something we have lacked since...****ing hell, that long, there's definitely also an issue with how our players always seem to stand still to eceive the ball rather than move towards it or run into space

 

[BinghamSpur]

What is mystifying is that we showed little skill. We could not pass the ball to a teammate . That strikes me as confused players. Is it back to basics . Football is a simple game so play it so. Get the ball in their box and put it in danger of going into their net.
What I am describing is what Forest did. That IMO is why they won.

Which is exactly why I twitch.

They currently look like a group of players thrown together a few hours before kick off with no game plan.

So is that a situation where the players don't know what is expected of them, or a chaotic coach who tinkers too much?

I've seen better ability from my local amateur team in terms of the passing than Tottenham displayed this afternoon.

 

[Spurf]

For our own good we need to keep the manager until the end of the season. We are not going to have a proper chance of finding a new one in the middle of a season. That being the case, we need to give Frank a chance. To expect anyone to change where we are in the course of 4 or 5 months is not realistic.

I think he is in several minds, right now. Is this management by committee? It looks like it, watching all the discussions on the touch line. I'm not sure that works. You need one man's vision and one man's decision otherwise you get confusion and that's what it looks like on the pitch. Confusion, no clear understanding on the part of the players. We need a dictator running the team not a parliament.

 

[BinghamSpur]

For our own good we need to keep the manager until the end of the season. We are not going to have a proper chance of finding a new one in the middle of a season. That being the case, we need to give Frank a chance. To expect anyone to change where we are in the course of 4 or 5 months is not realistic.

I think he is in several minds, right now. Is this management by committee? It looks like it, watching all the discussions on the touch line. I'm not sure that works. You need one man's vision and one man's decision otherwise you get confusion and that's what it looks like on the pitch. Confusion, no clear understanding on the part of the players. We need a dictator running the team not a parliament.

Agree with you, totally pointless to change now and who is available? However, he does need to find a system, settle on it and be damned or he will be in trouble....

 

[Citizen Kane.]

I don’t think it would be a calamity but I don’t think Poch could replicate what he did before. Going back to former managers rarely works out.

Agreed.

And I think the league in general has moved on since his time. His once progressive and innovative methods would now look dated.

 

[Alfie Conn]

When the game ended I turned the TV over to watch the ladies 3-0 up v Man utd , it ended 3-3 ,not a good weekend

 

[The Changing Man]

As bad as it was at times last season (and it was terrible), this is worse from an entertainment perspective and possibly the worst since Juande Ramos or maybe even the man in the rain coat!

I don't want to sack another manager but equally I have seen nothing from Frank to suggest he is the manager we should put faith for the long term though I do accept that being without Kulu, Maddison and Solanke would affect anyone managing our squad.

We maybe heading towards a deja vu moment next weekend, I recall us taking a fearful beating in December by Liverpool that saw the end of AVB a big home defeat next Saturday evening could have a similar outcome.

 

[SarrMan]

I think the question is that if we are going to spend money in January improving our attacking options, is Frank going to get a tune out of them?

Despite the limitations of some of them, aside from a couple of decent 45 minutes here and there, has Frank really got an attacking identity yet and would better players make Frank look like he has a clue on a system of how to create regular chances and good attacking play?

 

[Roo]

I know we’ve had this conversation many many times (especially when we lose) but for me, there’s so many problems and I don’t know how we resolve them effectively and efficiently.

I agree with others, in that the squad isn’t very good. But I still believe that it’s better than the performances we’re currently witnessing. I said this under Ange, too. IMO he was way out of his depth at this level, and finishing 17th proved that, regardless of the trophy.

Which brings me on to Frank. I just don’t think he’s the right man. I’m not criticising him as a coach, but I just don’t think he’s right for us. Fans are already losing patience over the style of football, let alone the results. It’s just boring. Really boring. Nuno and AVB boring. Neither of those ended well.

It’s all been a shambles since we sacked Poch in all honesty. I have no idea whether him having a second spell with us would even work out, but it can’t be any worse that the **** that’s been served up in the last 6 years. Who knows, his style may even be outdated for the PL now, but I genuinely don’t know who else we go for, if the decision to get rid of Frank is on the cards.

It’s a mess. We need to pull rabbits out of hats in the January window. Otherwise I think we face a summer of losing some of the few players we actually want to keep, which just compounds the problem.

 

[BinghamSpur]

As an aside, my lad works at the local "posh" Chinese restaurant oft frequented by Forest hierarchy and he had this chap in with Ian Storey-Moore yesterday evening for a meal.

He had quite a chat and when my boy asked his opinion of Frank he just laughed...

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[paulthewire]

There are rumours that Imter are looking to sign Vicario and we are interested in Trafford. If it is true would it be an improvement

 

[Roo]

As an aside, my lad works at the local "posh" Chinese restaurant oft frequented by Forest hierarchy and he had this chap in with Ian Storey-Moore yesterday evening for a meal.

He had quite a chat and when my boy asked his opinion of Frank he just laughed...

You must log in or register to see images

 

[remembercolinlee]

Who ever is in charge needs to decide if they are sticking with Frank for at least the next two seasons after this.
If not he needs to go now. Buying players in January's window that a different manager might not want will be repeating the mistakes of the past 6 yrs and that is unforgivably stupid imho.