Jose Mourinho

[JayB]

You do not have the knowledge to make judgements on what was necessary in the long-term interests of the club vis a vis the stadium build. That judgement is not built on evidence. Levy's judgement has been based on the best available evidence.

I would welcome a single source with a quote from Levy saying the stadium build would have no impact on transfers.

I would like to know how you know that Ajax were asking for a huge fee in 2018.

I would like to know how you know Poch wanted these individual players.

All of these things involve relying on rumour, hearsay and prejudice rather than facts and reasonable inferences. IF your worldview is based on speculation then it is no wonder you can find the space to be so confidently critical of someone whose verifiable track record is so strong.

You say that the evidence suggests there was not a binary choice between either spending on the stadium or spending on transfers. Well lets look at what happened once the stadium opened. We spent. Are there any other similar clubs whose spending was curtailed during a recent stadium build? Yes, Arsenal. Those are both verifiable facts. So already the verifiable evidence is consistent with the view the stadium impacted transfers. So far I have not seen a single verifiable fact to support the opposite.

Final point - the performance has not been good this past year but this is not some permanent state of affairs. We were in a CL final a year ago. The long term picture has always been good under Levy and it continues to look positive. The current slump has its roots in decisions made years ago (perhaps) but that logic then suggests our success 3 years from now comes from the excellent spending last summer.

Here's a quote from Levy in October 2018, on the heels of the transfer window that destroyed Poch's project: "The stadium won't directly impact on the transfer policy. There is a certain amount earmarked for transfers and the club can only spend what is available".

And another from March 2019, when he told the Supporters Trust, "with a debt of £637m, subject to reasonable assumption on interest rates, the net spend on players would not be affected".

And a third from September 2019: “[The refinancing] will have no bearing on how we run the club… and no bearing on those types of short-term movements [such as transfers]... We could easily have spent more money on players [in recent years]".

With respect to Frenkie DeJong, here's a direct quote from the man himself: “The moment wasn’t right. I wasn’t finished at Ajax, as I hadn’t yet played a full season in my own position. I was also injured in that period, so I was thinking, ‘Not yet’. I felt I should stay for another year at Ajax, or perhaps longer. I considered their [Spurs’] offer long and hard. I see Tottenham as a very stable club, and they are only getting better.” DeJong was, of course, one of the most highly rated young midfielders in the world at the time, so you'd have to be delusional to think Ajax would not have wanted a big fee. I'm sick of doing your homework for you, so look it up for yourself if you doubt me.

Levy's line for the entirety of the stadium build process has been the same -- that it would not affect our transfer spending. It is abundantly clear that you have not been paying attention if you were unaware of that fact until now. All of the available evidence, including direct quotes from Levy himself, indicates that there was money to spend throughout the stadium build. No one needs to be "entitled" to anything to suggest that we didn't make effective use of those resources. Look no further than the fact that we're sitting tenth in the table. I'm done with this argument.

 

[morris25]

Looking at this team and what mourinho is doing ,. I'm starting to think Poch massively under achieved. He had the best back 4 all in their prime. Dembele and waynama in front to keep it rock solid. Then kane, Son, eriksen, Ali up Front. That team should Of won a lot more. Maybe if we had a winning manager with more belief we would of won stuff, maybe mourinho with that team would of won

 

[JCRD]

Looking at this team and what mourinho is doing ,. I'm starting to think Poch massively under achieved. He had the best back 4 all in their prime. Dembele and waynama in front to keep it rock solid. Then kane, Son, eriksen, Ali up Front. That team should Of won a lot more. Maybe if we had a winning manager with more belief we would of won stuff, maybe mourinho with that team would of won

Massively underachieved is a bit harsh.

We should have won something, that I do not at all argue with but i do think if we say had WHL for the following season rather than be at Wembley, I am certain we would have won the league... but i cant be certain just that I am certain haha

It was a great team though and if only we got that one or two great players in the summer - we could have pushed on

 

[[email protected]]

You do not have the knowledge to make judgements on what was necessary in the long-term interests of the club vis a vis the stadium build. That judgement is not built on evidence. Levy's judgement has been based on the best available evidence.

I would welcome a single source with a quote from Levy saying the stadium build would have no impact on transfers.

I would like to know how you know that Ajax were asking for a huge fee in 2018.

I would like to know how you know Poch wanted these individual players.

All of these things involve relying on rumour, hearsay and prejudice rather than facts and reasonable inferences. IF your worldview is based on speculation then it is no wonder you can find the space to be so confidently critical of someone whose verifiable track record is so strong.

You say that the evidence suggests there was not a binary choice between either spending on the stadium or spending on transfers. Well lets look at what happened once the stadium opened. We spent. Are there any other similar clubs whose spending was curtailed during a recent stadium build? Yes, Arsenal. Those are both verifiable facts. So already the verifiable evidence is consistent with the view the stadium impacted transfers. So far I have not seen a single verifiable fact to support the opposite.

Final point - the performance has not been good this past year but this is not some permanent state of affairs. We were in a CL final a year ago. The long term picture has always been good under Levy and it continues to look positive. The current slump has its roots in decisions made years ago (perhaps) but that logic then suggests our success 3 years from now comes from the excellent spending last summer.

Not a quote from Levy, but will Matthew Collcott, Director of Finance and Operations do?
"This is not going to touch the football, these are very separate budgets". (Quotation in a Bloomberg report about the finance arrangement for the New Stadium).
Hardly "rumour, hearsay and prejudice" is it? However much you want it to be!

 

[Wheeler Dealer]

Looking at this team and what mourinho is doing ,. I'm starting to think Poch massively under achieved. He had the best back 4 all in their prime. Dembele and waynama in front to keep it rock solid. Then kane, Son, eriksen, Ali up Front. That team should Of won a lot more. Maybe if we had a winning manager with more belief we would of won stuff, maybe mourinho with that team would of won

Are you serious?

 

[sunnydelight786]

Ralph Hasenhuttl. He's already proven he can work on a budget in Germany (Ingolstadt), compete with a emerging club (RB Leipzig) and keep a struggling PL club up and build on it. Even in his darkest moment (9-0 Leicester) he lifted the players and kicked on with them. It is only a matter of time before a big club gets him. Only problem is he's now signed a new contract...

I’ll stand by what I said previously here!!!

 

[yankspurs]

We’re getting owned by fucking google. Damnt spurs

 

[beats1]

I find people fawning over poch interesting,

I remember during the Leicester season, this terrible feeling that I may see history repeat itself like harry. I felt during harry term, we were a great team that never won anything.

Had Mourinho had the same team in the past 4 seasons as poch, I know we would have finished higher and done better though the football in the first half of that term would have been better under poch.

I know its fine margins, but Poch really showed himself up in the poor performances in finals and semi finals like Chelsea in the carling cup final. There was never a tactical masterclass just alot of the same but with players rejigged every now and again

I am gutted we have seen a team with Kane, Son, Alli(when in form), Dembele, Rose, Walker, Alderweireld, Vertonghen and Lloris win nothing

Just like Adebayor(yea controversial but him on loan with), Bale, VDV, Modric, Sandro, King, Gallas, BAE and Friedel win nothing

 

[jay2040]

I would be interested to know who people think is the man for the job. Poch was young and promising but had not won anything. There isn't many more who have won what Jose has won and has the knowledge of English football that he has. So, who's the man? People will debate if Poch was backed properly and I would agree, he wasn't. But neither is Jose. There isn't a manager put there who could win without proper backing. We're all doing our current manager a disservice. Fans should back him!

I think Jose hit the nail on the head saying our players lack desire. There are a few that do, and those few don't deserve to wear the shirt.

Jose is the man that can!

 

[kannanmothalali]

Im probably forgetting an obvious one, but when was the last successful Italian manager in English football? Mancini I guess. Usually they don’t travel well though do they?

Conte? Ranieri?

 

[Gb160]

Yet when this happens to us we see it as a sign of weakness that we sell a top player and it is all doom and gloom. What actually preceded Poch's golden years was a series of years where we cashed in on our best players to recycle the squad (Carrick, Berbatov, Modric, Bale).

 

[hellava_tough]

Looking at this team and what mourinho is doing ,. I'm starting to think Poch massively under achieved. He had the best back 4 all in their prime. Dembele and waynama in front to keep it rock solid. Then kane, Son, eriksen, Ali up Front. That team should Of won a lot more. Maybe if we had a winning manager with more belief we would of won stuff, maybe mourinho with that team would of won

Like @JCRD said above, massively underachieved is a bit much.

But there are valid questions over Poch's ability to get the very best out of his team.

On the one hand he had us playing some cracking football and really motivated our young squad into high energy pressing.

But on the other, his tactics and substitutions were nothing to write home about, and crucially you never believed that our team was more than the sum of its parts.

We also have to remember though that both the squad at the time and Poch himself were inexperienced. They were learning as they went; Poch with 15 years more experience may well have seen us over the line.

Finally, imo for Poch to become a great manager he needs to be more ruthless with the players, to constantly be refreshing the squad. And he needs to be less emotional. He let himself down in the build up to the CL final and its aftermath.

 

[bubble07]

"we will be waiting for them" this is the attitude I like

Jose Mourinho hits back at Arsenal following post apparently mocking Tottenham's defeat to Sheffield United

You only enjoy the problems of others when you are also in trouble... we will be waiting for them

www.skysports.com

 

[LeParisien]

'Spurs stadium not impacting signings' - BBC Sport

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy tells fans the building of the club's new stadium will not directly affect their transfer policy.

www.google.co.uk

You’ve got two more wishes and then I gotta get back in the lamp.

Here's a quote from Levy in October 2018, on the heels of the transfer window that destroyed Poch's project: "The stadium won't directly impact on the transfer policy. There is a certain amount earmarked for transfers and the club can only spend what is available".

And another from March 2019, when he told the Supporters Trust, "with a debt of £637m, subject to reasonable assumption on interest rates, the net spend on players would not be affected".

And a third from September 2019: “[The refinancing] will have no bearing on how we run the club… and no bearing on those types of short-term movements [such as transfers]... We could easily have spent more money on players [in recent years]".

With respect to Frenkie DeJong, here's a direct quote from the man himself: “The moment wasn’t right. I wasn’t finished at Ajax, as I hadn’t yet played a full season in my own position. I was also injured in that period, so I was thinking, ‘Not yet’. I felt I should stay for another year at Ajax, or perhaps longer. I considered their [Spurs’] offer long and hard. I see Tottenham as a very stable club, and they are only getting better.” DeJong was, of course, one of the most highly rated young midfielders in the world at the time, so you'd have to be delusional to think Ajax would not have wanted a big fee. I'm sick of doing your homework for you, so look it up for yourself if you doubt me.

Levy's line for the entirety of the stadium build process has been the same -- that it would not affect our transfer spending. It is abundantly clear that you have not been paying attention if you were unaware of that fact until now. All of the available evidence, including direct quotes from Levy himself, indicates that there was money to spend throughout the stadium build. No one needs to be "entitled" to anything to suggest that we didn't make effective use of those resources. Look no further than the fact that we're sitting tenth in the table. I'm done with this argument.

Im quite happy to admit I was wrong. Levy has said that the stadium wont impact on transfers. I think the BBC and Sky articles falsely suggest that Levy said "the stadium won't directly impact on the transfer policy. There is a certain amount earmarked for transfers and the club can only spend what is available". He didn't. That quote is from the THST minutes and not Levy's mouth. But the broader point remains that taken with other articles, it's clear Levy has said the amount spent on transfers won't change.

Those same minutes also provide an explanation for the transferless summer: "MP didn’t want to sign someone for the sake of it. He felt there were sufficient players in the squad, and that those coming back from injury would be like new signings".

For me the most instructive actual quote from Levy is from the 442 article:
"We could easily have spent more money on players [in recent years]. Who knows if that would have brought us more success or not? The right approach is to build from the bottom up. There is no quick fix to becoming a much more significant global club. I understand, as I am a fan, clearly you want to win on the pitch. But we have been trying to look at this slightly differently, in that we want to make sure we ensure an infrastructure here to stand the test of time.”

I think that is a very neat expression of the long-term focus that Levy has for the club. To get bogged down in sort-term, disappointing performance is to completely misunderstand Levy's strategy. Jay - when you say "we had resources that we could have devoted to the playing staff, and [Levy] chose not to" you are spot on. That is because you are taking a short to medium term view of the club's success, so, like many other fans, you see a dip in results and you get frustrated and look for reasons why and people to blame.

Levy is not looking at it the same way. He is asking how we can maximise results over 5 - 10 years and is willing to suffer volatility in performance to ensure that over the long term we make significant progress. Is he correct in everything he does? Surely not. But despite heavy criticism he has so far always succeeded in making us bigger and better over the long term.

 

[mill]

Mourinho says Tottenham are building for 'five years' time' as he encourages fan 'realism' | Goal.com

Jose Mourinho says that Tottenham are building for "five years' time" and that fan "realism" will be needed as they negotiate their way through a transitional period.

www.goal.com

Changed his tune from wanting to challenge for the title next season

Is he the right man for a project? I’m not so sure

 

[DiVaio]

Mourinho says Tottenham are building for 'five years' time' as he encourages fan 'realism' | Goal.com

Jose Mourinho says that Tottenham are building for "five years' time" and that fan "realism" will be needed as they negotiate their way through a transitional period.

www.goal.com

Changed his tune from wanting to challenge for the title next season

Is he the right man for a project? I’m not so sure

I mean he only said that the core of the squad will be still in the club and anything about wanting to challenge for title next season

 

[Darth Vega]

Mourinho says Tottenham are building for 'five years' time' as he encourages fan 'realism' | Goal.com

Jose Mourinho says that Tottenham are building for "five years' time" and that fan "realism" will be needed as they negotiate their way through a transitional period.

www.goal.com

Changed his tune from wanting to challenge for the title next season

Is he the right man for a project? I’m not so sure

Poch said a similar thing at the back end of last season. There was talk of a 'new chapter' and needing to rebuild again - didn't he say that it was similar to when he first arrived at the club, or am I just making that up? Either way, we've had two managers say pretty much the exact same thing about this club in the past year - we should probably listen to them.

 

[spursfan77]

Mourinho says Tottenham are building for 'five years' time' as he encourages fan 'realism' | Goal.com

Jose Mourinho says that Tottenham are building for "five years' time" and that fan "realism" will be needed as they negotiate their way through a transitional period.

www.goal.com

Changed his tune from wanting to challenge for the title next season

Is he the right man for a project? I’m not so sure

That’s no different from what any manager says. Including Poch, numerous times.

It’s not wrong though is it, people don’t have patience nowadays.

 

[spursfan77]

'Spurs stadium not impacting signings' - BBC Sport

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy tells fans the building of the club's new stadium will not directly affect their transfer policy.

www.google.co.uk

You’ve got two more wishes and then I gotta get back in the lamp.

Im sorry but anyone that believed that or knows anything about how the world works is a mug. Building a billion quid stadium isn’t going to effect revenue streams and the ability to spend lots in other areas. Ok.

 

[spurfetto]

Mourinho says Tottenham are building for 'five years' time' as he encourages fan 'realism' | Goal.com

Jose Mourinho says that Tottenham are building for "five years' time" and that fan "realism" will be needed as they negotiate their way through a transitional period.

www.goal.com

Changed his tune from wanting to challenge for the title next season

Is he the right man for a project? I’m not so sure

And other than the youngsters, how many of the current squad will in reality still be here in 3,4,5 years time,