Manager Watch: Ange Postecoglou

[Misfit]

Or more importantly, what you need. None of the signings we made in the summer were bad signings, all good players with great potential, but with the exception of Big Dom, none of them really addressed a need in the squad.

I made a post (others joined in when they saw the brilliance of my musing of course) in the transfer window discussion I believe where I said I hope DL was prepared to weather the inevitable storms this season by giving the manager some depth, albeit youthful, instead of sorting the first XI in the summer as everyone around us strengthened well.

So far so good (not really but you get what I mean) but only because essentially Liverpool are the only club to have come out of the gates so far as everyone else stumbles over their own feet. If things settle down but we do not and carry on like this then even by the new year I fear Levy will start feeling twitchy.

 

[Whitey]

Moore / Bergvall and Gray are not as good as Udogie, Son and our current midfield 3.

Not sure where he suggested they replace Udogie? But Son needs benching on form....

 

[Trix]

I made a post (others joined in when they saw the brilliance of my musing of course) in the transfer window discussion I believe where I said I hope DL was prepared to weather the inevitable storms this season by giving the manager some depth, albeit youthful, instead of sorting the first XI in the summer as everyone around us strengthened well.

So far so good (not really but you get what I mean) but only because essentially Liverpool are the only club to have come out of the gates so far as everyone else stumbles over their own feet. If things settle down but we do not and carry on like this then even by the new year I fear Levy will start feeling twitchy.

It's odd because I don't think anyone has looked as good as us(even Liverpool), but at the same time I don't think anyone has had a drop off in performance levels like we have either.

 

[Goobers]

It's odd because I don't think anyone has looked as good as us(even Liverpool), but at the same time I don't think anyone has had a drop off in quality like we have either.

Yes. As has been said a few times this week - when we look good, we look as good as any spurs side in recent memory. When we look bad we look like end of days AVB or Jose.
And being the perky and smiley chap I am, I really want to believe that the good parts will lead to a further overall step up and we can hope / expect / pray for a much more consistent second half of the season ( N.B. Please Ange, please )

 

[Maxtremist]

I think on the discussion of signings and the whole 'back the manager' point... you only need to look as far as Man Utd to see that just blanket buying who the manager asks for doesn't always work. Hell we have the history of Ndombele and Poch.

From the sound of things, Ange had signings he would have preffered but is working with what he got and had a say in it and some veto power which I think is the best of both worlds (at least on principal). Do wish we'd got a couple more additions and ready made 'first team' players but as others have also said in this thread, doesn't change the fact that the squad Ange has got is a quality one and shown it's capable of beaten anyone.

I'm still backing Ange and think we've got enough there to do something special... and whilst the board and other parts will play a factor I do think it's time for Ange to get some more consistency out of this team.

 

[Trix]

I think on the discussion of signings and the whole 'back the manager' point... you only need to look as far as Man Utd to see that just blanket buying who the manager asks for doesn't always work. Hell we have the history of Ndombele and Poch.

From the sound of things, Ange had signings he would have preffered but is working with what he got and had a say in it and some veto power which I think is the best of both worlds (at least on principal). Do wish we'd got a couple more additions and ready made 'first team' players but as others have also said in this thread, doesn't change the fact that the squad Ange has got is a quality one and shown it's capable of beaten anyone.

I'm still backing Ange and think we've got enough there to do something special... and whilst the board and other parts will play a factor I do think it's time for Ange to get some more consistency out of this team.

But if you look at the players we were heavily linked with and widely regarded as the ones Ange wanted.... Gallagher, Neto, Eze, Solanke. He got one out of 4 and you can't really say we bought in players that really match the profile of any of the others we didn't get. Odebert for Neto at a push although they are quite different.

 

[Westmorlandspur]

But if you look at the players we were heavily linked with and widely regarded as the ones Ange wanted.... Gallagher, Neto, Eze, Solanke. He got one out of 4 and you can't really say we bought in players that really match the profile of any of the others we didn't get. Odebert for Neto at a push although they are quite different.

Did anybody think Gallagher, Chelsea since 8 yrs old was going to come to us. Does he need a lifetime of abuse like Sulzeer Jeremiah.
Eze is injured as much as Maddison . See how long Netos hamstring lasts if he plays regularly.
Their training must be bloody stupid, just the 3 hamstrings so far this season. Eze and Neto would be in the treatment room now if we had signed them.

 

[spursfan77]

It's odd because I don't think anyone has looked as good as us(even Liverpool), but at the same time I don't think anyone has had a drop off in performance levels like we have either.

That just tells me the players aren’t good enough to be able to concentrate to keep the levels up. Better players would be able to do it.

 

[Trix]

Did anybody think Gallagher, Chelsea since 8 yrs old was going to come to us. Does he need a lifetime of abuse like Sulzeer Jeremiah.
Eze is injured as much as Maddison . See how long Netos hamstring lasts if he plays regularly.
Their training must be bloody stupid, just the 3 hamstrings so far this season. Eze and Neto would be in the treatment room now if we had signed them.

I don't see how any of that is relevant to what we brought in instead. The players we brought in, whilst all good young players, were of a totally different profile to those players you've dismissed for various reasons.

If he wanted Gallagher then it stands to reason he wanted him to perform a specific role, which player we did sign fits the Gallagher mould? Even if at a stretch you manage to associate one we did bring in as similar to Gallagher they certainly aren't as starting ready As Gallagher would have been as shown by their lack of starts. Or perhaps you are thinking Gallagher would have been used as little as Gray is for instance?

 

[Westmorlandspur]

Ange has been so clear that he has final say on transfers and that no player is signed without him approving it.
We have to take him at his word on that so he has approved who came in and also accepted the holes in the squad. I'm like most on here and put the majority of blame on above him but we have to be honest and attribute blame to Ange for performances and the squad we have

But could he be put in a position near the end of the window where he is offered 3 players, none are his first choice but he needs a player in that position . It’s either take a player you are not sold on or be short until the next transfer window. I don’t know the answer . I rather think Ange would probably say no. He was quite happy to sell Sanchez leaving us with only 2 proper centre backs plus Ben Davies. That decision really came back to bite him and us.

 

[Trix]

That just tells me the players aren’t good enough to be able to concentrate to keep the levels up. Better players would be able to do it.

That's the extra percentage I've been talking about that we often miss out on by buying cheaper.

 

[Westmorlandspur]

I don't see how any of that is relevant to what we brought in instead. The players we brought in, whilst all good young players, were of a totally different profile to those players you've dismissed for various reasons.

If he wanted Gallagher then it stands to reason he wanted him to perform a specific role, which player we did sign fits the Gallagher mould? Even if at a stretch you manage to associate one we did bring in as similar to Gallagher they certainly aren't as starting ready As Gallagher would have been as shown by their lack of starts. Or perhaps you are thinking Gallagher would have been used as little as Gray is for instance.

Gallagher was never coming Whether we wanted him or not.

 

[Trix]

Gallagher was never coming Whether we wanted him or not.

LOL that is not the point!!!

If Gallagher was the player he wanted to fit what he was trying to do, we should then move for someone with as similar attributes as possible to him should we not?

I wasn't keen on Gallagher but I understand a strict philosophy manager needs what they need. You can't judge them fairly otherwise. It was the same with Conte, Jose and even Nuno to some degree. I really like the signing of Archie Gray, but he's fuck all like Gallagher and will never do what Gallagher does.

 

[Maxtremist]

But if you look at the players we were heavily linked with and widely regarded as the ones Ange wanted.... Gallagher, Neto, Eze, Solanke. He got one out of 4 and you can't really say we bought in players that really match the profile of any of the others we didn't get. Odebert for Neto at a push although they are quite different.

For sure, there's definitely players or styles he seemingly wanted but didn't get. Like you've mentioned individually the transfers themselves are one I'm happy with but as a collective and looking at what we'd say we'd need it wasn't enough.

I just mean on the whole, going for specific players that the manager wants whilst nice doesn't automatically mean it's going to work. And Ange has said he's happy to work with others and is adaptable in that sense so for that I think it's a good balance.

But there's certainly a lot of room for improvement and a lot more to be desired I'm not blind to or ignoring that.

 

[mil1lion]

You clearly didn't get the memo - apparently it is no longer about transfer fees it is about wages.

In truth it's always about the level of player we sign. The wages and fee combined is usually what equates to the best players so that's why it's mentioned. Nobody complains if you sign top players on low money , it just rarely happens. The bottom line is we simply don't sign title contention level of player so we don't win titles. We sign players from clubs lower down the table or cast offs from top clubs. Sometimes it works out to a degree but never enough to push on to the next level. Nobody can look at the signings since Ange came and honestly say those players are going to take us up a level. None are even close to Kane level either so it's no surprise the manager will only get so far.

 

[Misfit]

It's odd because I don't think anyone has looked as good as us(even Liverpool), but at the same time I don't think anyone has had a drop off in performance levels like we have either.

Exactly. We've looked brilliant at times - unplayable even - or haven't even shown up for entire halves or full games. Very little middle ground where we could even grind out a result or two.

 

[Misfit]

Let's not forget among all this talk of managers being backed that Ange was left with 2 CBs after selling the 3rd choice after our window shut and that was in his very first summer with us. Let's just ignore the fact that H was not replaced either.

Start as you mean to go on I guess.

Only at Spurs could that be described as backing the manager (regardless who the poor bastard is).

 

[Impspur1]

Exactly. We've looked brilliant at times - unplayable even - or haven't even shown up for entire halves or full games. Very little middle ground where we could even grind out a result or two.

I think that’s the thing, if we could learn how to turn even a couple of these defeats into draws things wouldn’t seem half as bad.

 

[G Ron]

'Just need to be patient' ...he says after 0 trophies in 16 years

It truly beggars belief!!!

 

[G Ron]

The fans will attack Levy but that just equates to pressure on the manager.

I was there for Nunos last game and we weren’t chanting at him, it was all ‘Levy out’.

Levy will suck it up, appoint someone else, we’ll get behind him, relieving Levy of the pressure and round and round we go.

Like it or not (and I don’t), we’re stuck with him. The best we can hope for is that we luck out with a manager who can get a tune out of the current squad, like we did with Pochettino. I just don’t think Ange is the one.

I don’t know about that. We were singing “you don’t know what you’re doing” to Nuno when he dragged our best player on the day (Moura). It was mixed with chants of we want Levy out, but Nuno was definitely getting a lot of stick as well.

edit - I see I’m late to the party on this