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I agree with all the stuff you've written but not how it's presented.
Poch has benefitted from what was being built by the club, no manager before Poch has had such facilities to support (training ground) what they need to get right on the pitch. He still took over a team at the top end of the table too.
We had a very clear identity before under Redknapp (swashbuckling but tactically and mentally weak) and AVB (solid but boring and again mentally weak).
The narrative around Levy being trigger happy is also shite as far as I'm concerned. You praise Poch for being ruthless but that is exactly what Levy is by sacking managers, no different to Poch sacking players. He got rid of managers for all the right reasons and with each change improved the team in some form or another, the trend has always been upward and with every sacking we have improved in some measure or another.
I hated how we got rid of Jol but Levy's ambition couldn't be faulted as he had just hired the Real Madrid Manager, his decision was rewarded with a Cup (our last one!). Absolutely right to get rid of Ramos due to position in the table, replaced with Redknapp who moved us up the table and got us CL football. Absolutely right for him to be fired, he wanted out the club to manage England (just like Poch, if you're not on board, then fuck off). AVB made us hard to beat for the most part, our highest win percentage, but at the price of the dullest football on the planet, he was put under pressure to make our football more attractive, he failed and he fucked himself off as he wasn't able to have us playing attractive football and winning football (for me this was the first time I began to really believe that Levy is Tottenham, he has made reference to the importance of our style of play that we demand, I loved hearing this).
Everything I have seen so far demonstrates two men that respect each other immensely, enjoy working together and are on the same page on what they want to achieve. Levy has got the man he has wanted since taking the running of club over and he looks to have him wrapped in cottonwool, promoted him, given him more powers, more money, longest contract for a manger in the history of the club and a glowing statement on his performance, something Levy has never done before. Both mens ambitions are being realised and both men are working on a plan to achieve this ambition. Let's be honest none of us believed Poch's comments on his first Tottenham interview when he said he wanted to build a team to win the League. Quite an amazing statement to make back then but it wouldn't have been said were it not sanctioned by the club. This is what both men are trying to achieve and i'm still pinching myself that it is clear this isn't marketing bullshit, it's a genuine ambition.
I agree with quite a bit of that Guido. But.
One thing I really dislike: sacking a manager without having a better one in the wings. I dont give a shit whether someone deserves to go, its irrelevant imo. Can we do better is my main concern. Redknapp was an idiot, but he was the best option we had. We probably wouldnt have had that horribly wasted season with AVB/Timmy. We CERTAINLY wouldnt have spunked all that Bale money on a bunch of mainly misfits. And we woldnt have blown a load of PL points in a stupid attempt (by AVB) to win Europa. We lost Bale, Moose and Lennon to injuries in that fuckwit "competition". Missed out on PL by one pt I think that season. Levy didnt need to say "fuck off" to H; "fucking grow up you tosser and behave yourself" would have done.
Levy with managers has been pretty shite. Firing Raincoat a week before a semi v Goons - no one better at getting a result against them. Santini...the Jol debacle...AVB on the cheap (just been paid out in full by a furious Roman, £13m and all).
Poch is great, all agreed on that one. But my God we've kissed an army of Frogs in the meantime. We deserved a bit of luck with that one. And there was luck, LVG was favoured at one stage. Bullet dodged big time. If we'd got him, then the narrative would be very different. Levy in last chance saloon - again! How many more failures would Uncle Joe have tolerated? Hopefully we'll never find out.
Done great on the Training Ground, Academy etc. We were hopeless at producing players up till about 2010, now its a conveyor belt. Massive Kudos there, and on so many levels.
And NDP. Sensational. I dont blame him either for the scheme to build NDP at St Ratford. 10 mins from Northumberland Park.
But did we have to be so terrible with the managers for so long? No. And it is half of Levy job spec I'd say. Managers and Financial Stability. Good on one, fingers crossed Poch here for the long haul, I dont like it when Levy goes hunting for replacements.
One thing I really dislike: sacking a manager without having a better one in the wings. I dont give a shit whether someone deserves to go, its irrelevant imo. Can we do better is my main concern. Redknapp was an idiot, but he was the best option we had. We probably wouldnt have had that horribly wasted season with AVB/Timmy. We CERTAINLY wouldnt have spunked all that Bale money on a bunch of mainly misfits. And we woldnt have blown a load of PL points in a stupid attempt (by AVB) to win Europa. We lost Bale, Moose and Lennon to injuries in that fuckwit "competition". Missed out on PL by one pt I think that season. Levy didnt need to say "fuck off" to H; "fucking grow up you tosser and behave yourself" would have done.
Levy with managers has been pretty shite. Firing Raincoat a week before a semi v Goons - no one better at getting a result against them. Santini...the Jol debacle...AVB on the cheap (just been paid out in full by a furious Roman, £13m and all).
Poch is great, all agreed on that one. But my God we've kissed an army of Frogs in the meantime. We deserved a bit of luck with that one. And there was luck, LVG was favoured at one stage. Bullet dodged big time. If we'd got him, then the narrative would be very different. Levy in last chance saloon - again! How many more failures would Uncle Joe have tolerated? Hopefully we'll never find out.
Done great on the Training Ground, Academy etc. We were hopeless at producing players up till about 2010, now its a conveyor belt. Massive Kudos there, and on so many levels.
And NDP. Sensational. I dont blame him either for the scheme to build NDP at St Ratford. 10 mins from Northumberland Park.
But did we have to be so terrible with the managers for so long? No. And it is half of Levy job spec I'd say. Managers and Financial Stability. Good on one, fingers crossed Poch here for the long haul, I dont like it when Levy goes hunting for replacements.
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It's taken ages, I think that's the general problem and it is possible to pick holes with every manager that has gone before. There is also the competition we have had to deal with namely Chelsea nicking Frank Arnesen, could be argued this set us back years! Having to compete when you are skint when those you are competing against are the wealthiest in the World there is only going to be one winner.
The point is we have progressed almost year on year since Levy came on board. There hasn't been another football club to do this.
The debate I guess is have we progressed instead of or in spite of the hires. The frogs, there is a case that everyone of them is a frog, but again deeply subjective as I loved Jol, but we still lost as many games as we won with him. Many still adore Redknapp, not me, but I completely understand why they do. These two I've just mentioned I really like but I can have an argument with myself and call them frogs.
Graham was sacked for gross misconduct - you can't wait a few weeks to fire someone for that, it's in the moment or never.
I always thought the appointment of AVB gave an indication as to the way Levy was always thinking.
It's just that, at the time, we all 'assumed' that Levy wanted a Mourinho-lite... not unlike when we appointed the studious Christian Gross... it was seen at the time as a poor man's (a very poor mans'... so poor he was almost destitute) Wenger!
The fact AVB never worked out wasn't necessarily Levy's fault... you could see the thinking and logic behind the appointment; a young, hungry energetic/dynamic manager who wanted to build the club around his philosophy, and footballing beliefs etc... which would in itself garner loyalty from both the players who bought into that philosophy, but also from the manager at a club who gave him free reign to properly shine...
It's just a shame AVB was too concerned with proving he wasn't just Jose's protege, and over-egging the pudding with statistics and charts and PowerPoint presentations of his Project (hey, remember when we all laughed at Clipboard Chris... I wonder how he's doing these days??)
I think Poch is both everything that AVB was not... and (more importantly) everything that Levy hoped AVB would be... but even more importantly... everything our club needs right now!
It's just that, at the time, we all 'assumed' that Levy wanted a Mourinho-lite... not unlike when we appointed the studious Christian Gross... it was seen at the time as a poor man's (a very poor mans'... so poor he was almost destitute) Wenger!
The fact AVB never worked out wasn't necessarily Levy's fault... you could see the thinking and logic behind the appointment; a young, hungry energetic/dynamic manager who wanted to build the club around his philosophy, and footballing beliefs etc... which would in itself garner loyalty from both the players who bought into that philosophy, but also from the manager at a club who gave him free reign to properly shine...
It's just a shame AVB was too concerned with proving he wasn't just Jose's protege, and over-egging the pudding with statistics and charts and PowerPoint presentations of his Project (hey, remember when we all laughed at Clipboard Chris... I wonder how he's doing these days??)
I think Poch is both everything that AVB was not... and (more importantly) everything that Levy hoped AVB would be... but even more importantly... everything our club needs right now!
Personally I've always thought that was bullshit. He was sacked because he had an argument in the board room with Buchler and because Buchler claimed (without proof) that he leaked details of a meeting. It was an incredibly flimsy example of gross misconduct and it came within weeks (if not days) of the ENIC takeover. It was clear they wanted Gooner Graham out and Spurs Legend Hoddle in and were just looking for a reason to pull the trigger. There's a reason that Graham's lawyers advised him to sue and that the club ended up paying him compensation in settlement.
No. Graham got caught stealing money (the fines that go to charity) and got sacked on the spot. Maybe he countered for wrongful dismissal.
Proof of this? Stories at the time don't support your claim.
Stealing money is a criminal offence. Yet he wasn't prosecuted and the club paid him a settlement. Think about it.
Or you think about it....I'm party to more info than you are.
Oh please. Back up the claim. Don't just rely on your surname.
Why wasn't there a prosecution? Why was there a settlement? Why didn't the media report the theft? Why would the club settle if there was a provable criminal offence? If you're going to sack someone for gross misconduct arising out of monetary theft then the evidence you need is pretty cut and dried.
Got to say, I would love to hear more on that.
He was what, 56 when we binned him. he's never managed since..never strck me as the type to just stop that early
Fair enough - no smoke without fire, perhaps?
Think Graham had some condition that meant large part of his body was riddled with a form of arthritis, that he may have first started to suffer at Spurs. He missed large parts of the 1999/00 season to illness and Stewart Huston had to take charge of the team. That might be the reason why he never managed again.
Photo of Daniel Levy from a 2000 BBC article. Magic.
BBC News | BUSINESS | ENIC: a firm of two halves
BBC News | BUSINESS | ENIC: a firm of two halves
KPMG report on European elite clubs. We've just broken into the top ten.
"Spurs are displaying a significant upward trend, especially in terms of profitability and squad value, as demonstrated by a higher EV growth (26%).
The future looks bright for Tottenham Hotspur FC, as they plan to move to a new multi- purpose stadium, and as they have recently secured UEFA Champions League qualification for the second year in a row."
Much more here.
https://assets.kpmg.com/content/dam...l-clubs-valuation-the-european-elite-2017.pdf
"Spurs are displaying a significant upward trend, especially in terms of profitability and squad value, as demonstrated by a higher EV growth (26%).
The future looks bright for Tottenham Hotspur FC, as they plan to move to a new multi- purpose stadium, and as they have recently secured UEFA Champions League qualification for the second year in a row."
Much more here.
https://assets.kpmg.com/content/dam...l-clubs-valuation-the-european-elite-2017.pdf
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