Next Manager Watch

[sidford]

I did say he’s a good coach, I wasn’t trying to detract from that it was more of a highlight of Brighton’s incredible recruitment system and methodology.

You're 100% right. People saying we should of gotten ETH as well but ignore the fact they spent close to 200m in one window on 3 player's including spending near 80m on his top target despite that being well over his market value plus 60m on a 30 year old. ETH has been backed to a degree that would never have happened here so it's wrong to think that just because he has done well there he automatically would have here.

 

[Styopa]

Don’t be fooled by De Zerbi guys, he is a good coach but the reason Brighton are doing so well is because they have a proper plan from top to bottom and their squad continuity plan is incredible.

It makes it easy for a coach to slot in and do well as long as he fits their profile. We should have a similar system but alas we choose to shoot in the dark.

I agree with you but I think the Conte appointment was a symptom of our lack of system and appointing someone like De Zerbi (not necessarily him) would at least be an important first step in getting things back in order.

The alternative is to go out and spend maybe £300m this summer to bring in players Conte wants and will actually use.

 

[Yiddo1982]

We all know it’s going to be Poch back. Whether that’s right or wrong, he’s nailed on.

 

[Styopa]

We all know it’s going to be Poch back. Whether that’s right or wrong, he’s nailed on.

Do we? Honest question. Or are we all just assuming? Is there any solid ITK or other info regarding this?

 

[Stuart Leathercock]

We did turn down Ten Hag and yes it is even more damning on our chairman and possibly Paratici, especially when we ended up with Nuno.

None of us know who turned down who…. I’m just going on what is more probable…. And it‘s not very probable that a club like Spurs turns down Ten Hag but rather probable that a manager like Ten Hag turns down Spurs. It’s even more probable when the club eventually appoint Nuno.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Surely we have learnt from not bringing in ETH instead of Nuno? Please tell me lessons have been learnt.

I honestly don’t actually know if Levy has learnt anything in his entire time in charge because we keep making different versions of the same mistakes again and again. You’d like to think not getting ETH would cause him to rethink but I bet he’s already convinced himself he was right not to hire him.

 

[felmani26]

What's Avram Grant up to these days.....

 

[Japhet]

Jan just looked depressed with us like he didn’t want to be there. The rest yeh, I mean Danny Rose a player who looked league one level suddenly playing as one of the best left backs in the league.

Best coaching performance of my lifetime at our club. I was honestly stunned by the transformation, technically, tactically and fitness wise of the squad. It was like voodoo.

only issue is that the squad was mostly young, if Poch comes back we will have to bring in more youth and get rid of the older players.

Depends whether Poch can come up with anything new. When he first joined us, his hard pressing style and super fit squad was quite revolutionary stuff, especially in the EPL. He had Southampton doing it but with inferior players. Now, high pressing and super fit is pretty commonplace. I agree that style wouldn't work very well for us now, especially up front where Kane and Son can't really press at all any more, but maybe Poch could pull another rabbit out of the hat with something new. I'm still far from convinced that he'd be our best option now though.

 

[RuskyM]

The more I think of it, the more Poch seems not only the emotional choice, but the logical one. It's probably time to accept Kane/Son are on the way out, either due to contract or form. If they want to have one last dance, that's lovely - if not that's okay too. It'll hurt to see them in other colours but it might have to be. However, who better to unlock them than the guy who brought them through?

I would say we've got five aggressive >25 players - Richarlison, Romero, Deki, Porro, Bentancur - that we'd envy if we saw elsewhere. All of whom would benefit from a style of play that's on the front foot. You've then got Bryan, Sarr, Skipp, Spence and Udogie showing they're capable around Europe. That's a fantastic starting block - and the likes of Bissouma, Hojbjerg, Dier and Emerson are capable and still largely have time on their side.

So the manager not only should be aggressive and front foot, it would be the most effective use of this squad. We've seen Poch do that. We know he cares. We know he gets us. The complaint about the players being still here isn't necessarily accurate - we've had a massive turnover of players since 2019. For the sake of argument, if Poch wasn't the choice, here's some alternative names.

Fit the bill: Gasperini, Nagelsmann*, Frank, Schmidt, Gallardo, Enrique (he doesn't have to be the possession guy - his Barca weren't iirc).
Good managers but not right/caveats: Potter, Tuchel, Rodgers, Glasner, Amorim, Simeone, Silva, Bielsa.
Wild card suggestions: Carlos Corberan, Fernando Diniz, Paulo Fonseca.

 

[Styopa]

None of us know who turned down who…. I’m just going on what is more probable…. And it‘s not very probable that a club like Spurs turns down Ten Hag but rather probable that a manager like Ten Hag turns down Spurs. It’s even more probable when the club eventually appoint Nuno.

Why? Conte joined us and he’s a bigger name than ETH.

Then again I think it’s possible that we messed ETH around by going on our little manager hunt around Europe and he decided we weren’t serious.

Nuno was clearly a desperation appointment at a point when we had probably alienated most decent candidates.

 

[Stuart Leathercock]

He won't be sacked. Why would we sack him when his contract expires in the Summer?

If he does stay until the end of this season and the club don’t then take up their year extension option it could be interesting to hear what he says about his time at the club, as I assume he won’t then be bound by the usual contractual agreements made as part of the severance agreement.

 

[Stuart Leathercock]

While I think Paratici has done a very good job with transfers in general, especially getting them over the line, I’ve been hoping for a while we would go the true DOF route. Someone like a Ragnick who, might not be a top manager, but is without question a very good DOF. Someone to set the structure and vision of the club. Bringing in a manager who plays attacking and attractive football. He would also ensure the youth teams are in unison and that he, along with scouts, bring in players not only for now but for the future.

We claimed we wanted an attacking manager the summer before last, but then looked at managers who are the complete opposite, like gattuso, before plumping for the turgid hire of Nuno. Then we pivot to a win now manger in Conte, who albeit extremely successful, doesn’t play very attractive football imo, and who also has never shown he’s in it for the long haul with a team.

If Conte does, as expected, leave in the summer. I really hope, with Paratici facing a 2 year ban, we bring in a DOF and a manager who can work in sync and provide a proper long term plan for the club. We can’t keep this short term nonsense up.

I’m not sure Levy would pay the money for the scouting and recruitment structure that Ragnick would want to set up.

 

[Stuart Leathercock]

Why? Conte joined us and he’s a bigger name than ETH.

Then again I think it’s possible that we messed ETH around by going on our little manager hunt around Europe and he decided we weren’t serious.

Nuno was clearly a desperation appointment at a point when we had probably alienated most decent candidates.

Second time round when I suspect the finances promised had drastically increased.

 

[Stuart Leathercock]

Why is that, do you think?

Is it because the European market has gone to the dogs?

Or have we just bought a pup too many times?

I think it's probably a combination of the two, but I may be barking up the wrong tree.

It’s because nowadays there are very few clubs in the World that can match the wages that we pay our players. If we’re trying to get rid of a player it is likely because they have failed at Spurs and therefore those few clubs who can afford the wages are unlikely to want the player.

 

[Yiddo1982]

Do we? Honest question. Or are we all just assuming? Is there any solid ITK or other info regarding this?

Well, I was told Levy tried really hard for Poch before we appointed Nuno. I shared this at the time. PSG wouldn’t budge as they couldn’t get a replacement despite not being keen on him himself.

I imagine Levy hasn’t changed his mind since, and now Poch and his team are free of charge. No compo.

 

[jimbo]

The alternative is to go out and spend maybe £300m this summer to bring in players Conte wants and will actually use.

I think part of the problem now, and likely in the summer, will be that we will still be under our special 'sell to buy' restriction - because we have such a big squad full of mis-matched players brought in for different managers' systems. We didn't bring in a new CB in Jan because we couldn't shift Sanchez, and I expect that will continue to be the main problem this summer. With the limit on outgoing loans, we really do need to shift quite a lot of players - and we're terrible at that, so I wouldn't expect a lot of changes in the summer personally. I suspect one of the advantages the board will see in hiring a new coach/manager is that our loan players can come back and 'be like 8 new signings'. To me, that's a major part of why we've struggled and why we will continue to struggle unless we get ruthless with our outs.

 

[Yantino]

What about Marco Silva? He’s doing an excellent job at Fulham. They play the right brand of football.

 

[Rout-Ledge]

None of us know who turned down who…. I’m just going on what is more probable…. And it‘s not very probable that a club like Spurs turns down Ten Hag but rather probable that a manager like Ten Hag turns down Spurs. It’s even more probable when the club eventually appoint Nuno.

Based on what came out at the time, what I think happened is something in between the two. I think we showed interest in ten Hag but we never properly went for him like we did for Conte. If we made it clear he was our first and only choice, offered him big money and a long term contract I think he would’ve come.

 

[Haddock]

Things inevitably change when you aspire to become a regular CL club, with the NWHL and so forth. But I can't be the only one who feel that the club has lost its identity these past three years.

Good results are of course what matters above all else but playing entertaining football is a massive aspect of being a Spurs fan imho. I'm not talking about scoring five goals a game. I'm talking about playing with attacking intent. I'm talking about the fact that we hardly been able to control a match for several years now.

This reactive pragmatic soulless fotball we've seen all the way through Pochs last season up until now have slowly killed my interest in watching our matches. It's imperative as I see it that the next manager and the next "project" aims to play more on the front foot.

Last night I just turned off and went to bed instead of watching the second half. I haven't done that in 20 years supporting this club. I

 

[talkshowhost86]

I don't know who it would be but I just want a manager who actively encourages our players to pass the ball.

Should that really be such a high bar to reach?