Interesting article on David Pleat

Discussion in 'Tottenham Hotspur' started by sendorange, Sep 23, 2003.

  1. sendorange

    sendorange Member+

    Jun 7, 2003
    Bigsoccer.com
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    http://www.thisislondon.com/sport/football/articles/6835984

    So Pleat was pro-Keane, pro-young players and pro-defensive midfield, while also anti-Acimovic and Bunje, anti-Petit and other fading talents.

    I think he deserves a shot at getting Raddy Antic in as his Head Coach. We should try out the European model with Pleat deciding the transfer targets in consultation with Antic, while Antic coaches the team. I think this would be very effective. We should also promote Chris Hughton to be Antic's direct assistant, so there is some continuity and to reward his coaching ability.

    I would prefer this to getting a manager for the sake of it, like Souness, Toppmoeller or Curbishley. They won't be able to work miracles.
     
  2. jumhed

    jumhed Member+

    Mar 26, 2001
    London
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    If Pleat does do well he ought to stay. When he coached us in the late 80's we were superb. Then he resigned because of pressures outside football (er...he was caught kerb crawling for whores.....but whats that got to do with Football?). Honestly, those darn tabloids!
     
  3. sendorange

    sendorange Member+

    Jun 7, 2003
    Bigsoccer.com
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    I don't want him to be manager per se. He's a very good Director of Football though.

    I think realistically the Antic-Pleat coach-director combination with Hughton as assistant manager is looking very appealing.
     
  4. Danners9

    Danners9 New Member

    Aug 7, 2003
    Drunken Clam, Quahog
    Yep, it does look appealing.

    Get rid of Calderwood too.

    Not sure i'd want Antic in the long run though, his Spanish achievements are excellent but really.. Real Madrid and Barca. Barca just needed someone to come in and tell them to sort it out. Real Madrid have always been there or there abouts.

    The Atletico Madrid one is more of an achievement, the double in Spain. But then they went down. They also had Juninho and Hasselbaink!
     
  5. jumhed

    jumhed Member+

    Mar 26, 2001
    London
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Antic didn't coach Real Madrid, it was Real Oviedo. And they got relegated.


    The reserves are crap under Calderwood. A Chelsea fan at work casually mentioned to me this morning 'Our reserves won again.' How else could I reply but, 'Well, your reserves are worth £50mil, so they'd better!'

    I've been on a few Euro forums, Germany, to ask about Toppmoller. Spain to ask about Antic, and Holland to ask about Hiddink. So go look to see their opinions about prospective Spurs managers..
     
  6. DigitalTron

    DigitalTron New Member

    Apr 4, 2001
    Arlington, VA
    I agree with this. But I'd rather see someone other than Antic be the coach. For instance, if it were a foreign coach like Arena or Hiddink, I can see how Pleat would be an invaluable resource. Obviously, someone like Antic, with whom he already has that sort of relationship, would be a smooth operation as well.

    We have given Pleat a lot of the credit for the team's recent player turnover, and I think we're all pretty happy with the moves made. But, whomever is the new coach will need to make the team his own, and that will likely clash with Pleat's role. The longer he's interim head coach, the greater the chance of friction with the incoming coach. I'd really like to keep Pleat doing what he does best, and I think that may be spotting upcoming talent. As Sendorange mentioned, Director of Football seems like a good fit for Pleat, particularly at his age. It allows him to retain an active role for a lot longer I think.

    -Digital
     

Share This Page