That's a pretty expensive group of players to leave in the reserves. I don't think uncle Danny and the board would be too pleased with that. But it's not just the want-away or unwanted players who have downed tools, it is all of them. I did not see one Spurs player put in an actual effort worthy of a PL game yesterday. The sooner the manager goes, the better. We are now at the stage where another reverse will make it extremely difficult to qualify for the CL. Don't make the mistake Chelsea did in 2015-16 or Manchester Utd last year in waiting until December to sack the manager. It will be too late by then.
I’m fine keeping Poch. I’d like to see what he does with a genuine rebuilding project rather than the hedged version from this summer. Plenty of worse Spurs managers without anywhere near the track record have been given far longer than a season to right the ship.
He is not going to get a rebuilding project as long as Levy doesn't back him in the transfer market. It is too late for that anyway. The time to rebuild was the last two summers. The players are earning more than ever before, we didn't build a new stadium and state of the art training facility to finish in the bottom half, because that's where we're headed. Right now the club, the manager and the players are in denial. Something has to be done, the status quo is not going to fix it.
Our last 41 games in all comps: 17 won, 6 drawn, 18 lost. Our last 20 games in the PL: 6 won, 4 drawn, 10 lost. Our last 10 away games in the PL: 0 won, 2 drawn, 8 lost. Our last 16 games away in all comps: 1 won, 4 drawn, 11 lost. Absolutely shocking.
I would have never believed this if it wasnt for the media starting to put those numbers out there for all to see.. and now ofcourse youre doing the same thing. A top 4 finish and CL finals appearance really covered up that record. Lost for words.. this isnt something that happened over night.. and it is not likely due to players on expiring contracts working to get the manager fired/their release. This is certainly a coaching issue and needs to be addressed immediately. Almost 1 year of bad results.
It wasn’t just Arsenal either, United and Chelsea both had multiple opportunities to overtake Spurs – I know Chelsea eventually did, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. It was a farcical end to the season for ostensibly "elite" teams.
We can't bring in new players, we shouldn't change the manager. This group is a very talented group who've lost their way, most teams would swap their entire squad for ours in a heartbeat. Just set them up right. Pick a defence to protect Gazza. Pick a midfield to protect the defence and set a platform. Pick an attack that can hurt the opposition. Read the twats the riot act, get them playing for the shirt and for the fans. Fans, play your part and ********ing roar them on. Bring back the real Spurs.
This article points out that Spurs have gone from the youngest team in the league to one of the oldest. Could explain why the press is not as effective lately. Add in the lack of squad rotation last year (due to injuries, etc.) and maybe it's no surprise they fizzled out at the end of last year. It doesn't help that the young guys they brought in weren't fit to start the season. https://www.skysports.com/football/...tottenham-an-ageing-team-that-is-not-pressing
This is an interesting take on it. Not so much the article but yours. The recognition of the lack of squad rotation taking its toll on players. The injuries that forced Poch to name the same team over and over again. As well, the injuries that have happened to a couple of its younger players this year who i would imagine have some role with the club in Poch's mind. I am curious how Sess and LCelso factor into this club when healthy if at all, and whos minutes they cut into.
Lo Celso is the obvious Eriksen replacement. Sessegnon is interesting in that he's a little bit different. My take would be allow Davies to take over his Wales role (LCB of a 3), taking minutes from Vertonghen; Sessegnon or Rose to play wide left.
do you think Poch will allow this to happen? in other words, do you believe he is aware of the issue and believe that these younger replacements can fill these voids? both are getting closer to returning.. so i guess ultimately that question will be answered shortly.
Don't forget, Machester United took only 1 point from their final 2 games, away to Huddersfield and home to Cardiff. We were extremely LUCKY to get 4th. But I'm not complaining, we were EXTREMELY unlucky to not qualify for the CL in 2011-12 when every possible result went against us.
The tactical discussion is a moot point because however Poch sets them up, they are not playing for the manager. I watched the game Saturday on delay and was shocked at what I saw from the first minute until the 3-0 goal, at which point I switched it off because I was so disgusted at the lack of effort from the players. If you didn't see it, watch the game (I know it's painful) and just watch how many players are just strolling around the pitch, not closing down, not running, not doing anything. It was appalling. They have downed tools, there is no doubt about it. If we keep the manager, we will finish bottom half of the table, and I am talking middle bottom half. The idea would be to allow Poch to rebuild the squad, but Daniel Levy crucially did not back him back him the last 2 summers when the squad needed to be refreshed. Why would that change now? He has never fully backed his managers during his chaimanship - Jol, Ramos, Redknapp and AVB all had promising starts to their tenures (Jol, consecutive 5th place finishes, Ramos, won our last trophy within 4 months of taking the job, Redknapp, qualified us for the CL for the first time, AVB, set a PL points record at the time of 72). But when they needed the backing to go to the next level, Levy never delivered. There is no guarantee that a change in manager will change our fortunes, but the status quo is not working. Something has to be done.
I don't know how to take this, but the Mourinho to Spurs rumblings are starting to build: http://sportwitness.co.uk/tottenham...hettino-successor-already-contacted-big-name/ It looks like Mourinho is the number one choice for Levy, but I just can't see a Levy-Mourinho partnership working out. There is no way Mourinho will take the job unless he gets iron-clad assurances in the transfer market, and I can't see Levy relenquishing control in that area. Plus would Levy want to deal with the Mourinho circus off the pitch? The other big question would be could he get a tune out of the players? I watched some of our lads on international duty and they looked like different players - Eriksen in particular made a devastating pass out of nowhere to create Denmark's winner vs. Switzerland, Harry Kane set up 3 goals for England vs. Bulgaria, and Ben Davies made a superb run and pass to set up a Gareth Bale goal for Wales vs. Croatia. We haven't seen that kind of play from them in a Spurs shirt, that's for sure. I guess we will see on Saturday. Maybe Levy is using Mourinho as a kind of boogey man to scare the players into getting off their duffs.
Should Poch go - and I'm in no way saying he should - it's easy to envision things going horribly wrong, whomever we might bring in. But with Mourinho, it's easy to envision things going really, really, terribly, horribly wrong. I swear on the memory of my childhood dog Pugly, though - and I expect no one to sanction this - I would take relegation* for an FA Cup or a Europa League right now. I could easily see Mourinho giving us any two of those three. In all seriousness, though, at this point it appears that, with certain players sure to go, a rebuild is going to have to happen. Who do you (or more importantly, who does Levy) trust to do that? In light of Levy's previous efforts, you really can't blame him if he thinks the man for that job is Pochettino. I've reconciled myself to the fact that I won't be consulted. *a season in the Championship would be great fun, actually
For a rebuild to happen, Levy has to back whoever the manager is in the transfer market, and in 18 years as chairman, he has never done that, so unless he has had some kind of epiphany, I don't think he is going to change now.
It would be interesting to see what Mourinho would do at a club where he couldn’t buy his team in the same way he has since leaving Porto. I wonder if he would view it as a challenge? Prove he can still win when not handed a blank check.
man I like your analysis but don’t trust sites like the one you quoted, or bootroom or transfer tavern and alike, they are all total bs
I'm not sure that's true. Levy has changed course, or 'rebuilt', on countless occasions - Santini, Ramos, AVB, Poch, etc. - and as you say, he's never 'backed the manager' in the ways the big spenders do. I think what you meant, perhaps, was "for a rebuild to successfully happen …" in which case we're probably closer to agreement. At any rate, we've got some key players moving on, so our look is going to change. There's no way around that. Now, take a glance at the names listed above … the only one of them who implemented his plan successfully is Poch. Levy surely knows this. That's why I suspect he might be given - if he wants it (and he may well not, since Poch will want to improve upon, rather than replicate, what he's already accomplished at Spurs), the chance to do it again. Given Daniel Levy's financial model and its need for making money on players, I have always advocated us avoiding grand projects and utilizing managers who will take the players he's given and get on with it. It's no shock that under Levy, our biggest successes have been under the likes of Jol and Redknapp, rather than Ramos and AVB. The massive, glaring exception is Pochettino. It's why I think Levy will give him every opportunity to take on the 'rebuild', whether it's backed to the manager's satisfaction or not. For what it's worth - and I've mentioned this before - if Poch goes, I would (in light of what's posted above) prefer the likes of a Chris Hughton, Sean Dyche, or Eddie Howe to any of the more grandiose names that get bandied about as Poch's successor. Those guys know how they want to play and set up to do it by requiring certain types of players - not by demanding this elite player and that. Now, that probably means, realistically speaking, competing for top 3 or 4 and cups, rather than the League and/or Champions League. After the last 3 or 4 years, that simply won't be enough for a lot of folks. But my guess is that 3 or 4 years from now, that's what we'll be competing for, regardless of what people 'want'.