dondo
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- Jan 4, 2006
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The Manager Search 2: Search Harder
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The Scarecrow
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Seems likely enough that. Many were skeptical towards Potter in the summer.
sidford
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Behind paywall now. Who are the options he is talking about?
Ghost Hardware
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Could you post the article?
CornerPinDreamer
up in the cheap seats
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CoopsieDeadpool
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Oh Teddy Teddy
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Article condensed below:
At some stage over the past few troubled months Daniel Levy has probably re-read that end of season letter he wrote to Tottenham Hotspur fans and either wondered why he felt compelled to do it or why he so clearly failed to act on his promise.
The mea culpa following the sacking of Jose Mourinho and on a messy campaign – even if there was no mention of Tottenham’s misguided involvement in the European Super League - included a promise to appoint a new manager committed to attacking football and blooding young players. Spurs had “lost sight of our key priorities and what’s truly in our DNA” Levy solemnly declared.
And then he went out and hired Nuno Espirito Santo. Not exactly Spurs’s first-choice, probably without exaggeration around their 10th, but hardly a manager who would recognise a motto of “To Dare is to Do”. To do is not to dare more like it for Nuno who, despite playing some more attacking football when at Valencia, is a Mourinho-lite character whose first impulse is how to stop the opposition. Reactive rather than proactive and Spurs seem to forget they were already on the back foot.
It was never going to work. There may be a stay of execution in the next few days, which may have more to do with trying to find the right manager – at last – but the truth is there is an inevitability about Nuno going which immediately has to call into question the judgement not just of Levy but of Spurs’ new managing director of football, Fabio Paratici, who it should not be forgotten also put forward the candidacy of Genarro Gattuso during that unseemly summer search. In fact another thing Spurs should truly reflect on is why so many managers simply did not want to work for them considering their world-class stadium, training ground and a squad that needs work but is still better than this.
There will be much focus on what went wrong for Nuno who, incredibly, has gone from manager of the month in August, with Spurs improbably top of the Premier League with a 100 per cent record, to almost out of the door before Halloween is over. It has been ghoulish, indeed.
So what next? What next, if Nuno goes, has to be the most important managerial appointment that Levy has made in the 20 years since he has been Spurs chairman and not least because with his past two choices he has fundamentally mis-read what the club’s fans want.
Spurs appear to like the Porto coach Sergio Conceicao and they may go back for Paulo Fonseca who will be wary after being messed around last time and who has been speaking to Newcastle United. Spurs themselves may be concerned about how it looks to be hiring a third successive Portuguese coach.
There will be a yearning again for Mauricio Pochettino, who they tried to bring back after Mourinho and who is not enjoying the best of times at Paris Saint-Germain but would be extremely expensive to extricate from his contract unless he is sacked.
But there are two obvious and outstanding candidates already working in the Premier League. If they can be prised away.
With apologies to Brighton fans, Spurs would be negligent if they did not make a concerted, proper effort to hire Graham Potter. He was talked about during the summer but made it plain he was not interested – although just how interested were Spurs? This time they should go all out for Potter who plays progressive football, who takes a holistic approach to his job, who develops young players, who makes players better and who is tough.
Potter would be perfect and Spurs simply have to look at Brighton’s outstanding, front-foot performance away to Liverpool to confirm that although so high is his stock that maybe he understandably feels he can do better than Spurs.
If not Potter then Spurs should – again with apologies to the supporters – return to Southampton, from where Pochettino came, and try and take Ralph Hasenhuttl. They may be only 14th in the table and some fans may sneer at that but hiring a manager is about examining the body of work he has done and not just the results.
There is a perception that Southampton should be doing better but that does not make sense. Examine a squad that has suffered from a lack of investment, has had three of its four best players leave during the last window, and yet still plays the kind of bold, in-your-face football than fans of so-called bigger and better resourced clubs crave. And Hasenhuttl does not think twice about blooding young players. They are punching way above their weight and that is thanks to the manager.
Like Potter, Hasenhuttl may have his eye on a bigger job while he is already at a club with a far clearer sense of identity than Spurs. The Austrian also has more control at Southampton than he would receive at Spurs.
Either manager would be costly, given they are already in Premier League jobs, and may not be interested – and who could blame them? But both are builders, both have clear and defined approaches and, like Pochettino, would fit into what Spurs should be about. If Nuno goes then this time Spurs must get it right and to do that they must find the right manager, one who fits Levy’s statement, rather than just one who is easily available.
The mea culpa following the sacking of Jose Mourinho and on a messy campaign – even if there was no mention of Tottenham’s misguided involvement in the European Super League - included a promise to appoint a new manager committed to attacking football and blooding young players. Spurs had “lost sight of our key priorities and what’s truly in our DNA” Levy solemnly declared.
And then he went out and hired Nuno Espirito Santo. Not exactly Spurs’s first-choice, probably without exaggeration around their 10th, but hardly a manager who would recognise a motto of “To Dare is to Do”. To do is not to dare more like it for Nuno who, despite playing some more attacking football when at Valencia, is a Mourinho-lite character whose first impulse is how to stop the opposition. Reactive rather than proactive and Spurs seem to forget they were already on the back foot.
It was never going to work. There may be a stay of execution in the next few days, which may have more to do with trying to find the right manager – at last – but the truth is there is an inevitability about Nuno going which immediately has to call into question the judgement not just of Levy but of Spurs’ new managing director of football, Fabio Paratici, who it should not be forgotten also put forward the candidacy of Genarro Gattuso during that unseemly summer search. In fact another thing Spurs should truly reflect on is why so many managers simply did not want to work for them considering their world-class stadium, training ground and a squad that needs work but is still better than this.
There will be much focus on what went wrong for Nuno who, incredibly, has gone from manager of the month in August, with Spurs improbably top of the Premier League with a 100 per cent record, to almost out of the door before Halloween is over. It has been ghoulish, indeed.
So what next? What next, if Nuno goes, has to be the most important managerial appointment that Levy has made in the 20 years since he has been Spurs chairman and not least because with his past two choices he has fundamentally mis-read what the club’s fans want.
Spurs appear to like the Porto coach Sergio Conceicao and they may go back for Paulo Fonseca who will be wary after being messed around last time and who has been speaking to Newcastle United. Spurs themselves may be concerned about how it looks to be hiring a third successive Portuguese coach.
There will be a yearning again for Mauricio Pochettino, who they tried to bring back after Mourinho and who is not enjoying the best of times at Paris Saint-Germain but would be extremely expensive to extricate from his contract unless he is sacked.
But there are two obvious and outstanding candidates already working in the Premier League. If they can be prised away.
With apologies to Brighton fans, Spurs would be negligent if they did not make a concerted, proper effort to hire Graham Potter. He was talked about during the summer but made it plain he was not interested – although just how interested were Spurs? This time they should go all out for Potter who plays progressive football, who takes a holistic approach to his job, who develops young players, who makes players better and who is tough.
Potter would be perfect and Spurs simply have to look at Brighton’s outstanding, front-foot performance away to Liverpool to confirm that although so high is his stock that maybe he understandably feels he can do better than Spurs.
If not Potter then Spurs should – again with apologies to the supporters – return to Southampton, from where Pochettino came, and try and take Ralph Hasenhuttl. They may be only 14th in the table and some fans may sneer at that but hiring a manager is about examining the body of work he has done and not just the results.
There is a perception that Southampton should be doing better but that does not make sense. Examine a squad that has suffered from a lack of investment, has had three of its four best players leave during the last window, and yet still plays the kind of bold, in-your-face football than fans of so-called bigger and better resourced clubs crave. And Hasenhuttl does not think twice about blooding young players. They are punching way above their weight and that is thanks to the manager.
Like Potter, Hasenhuttl may have his eye on a bigger job while he is already at a club with a far clearer sense of identity than Spurs. The Austrian also has more control at Southampton than he would receive at Spurs.
Either manager would be costly, given they are already in Premier League jobs, and may not be interested – and who could blame them? But both are builders, both have clear and defined approaches and, like Pochettino, would fit into what Spurs should be about. If Nuno goes then this time Spurs must get it right and to do that they must find the right manager, one who fits Levy’s statement, rather than just one who is easily available.
Sevens
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- Apr 23, 2014
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How much of that is down to the recruitment team vs what we're willing to risk on players? E.g. Grealish, Bruno Fernandes etc. All the recruitment team can realistically do is put forward players they rate. They aren't responsible for actually signing those players. Our issues go back way longer than just five years. So many missed opportunities.....
CoopsieDeadpool
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- Jun 8, 2012
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dondo
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doctor stefan Freud
the tired tread of sad biology
- Sep 2, 2013
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Prick
ComfortablyNumb
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- Jun 28, 2011
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Christ. Now I’m worried that I’m just part of a bad dream you’re having.
Erm, could your dreams include an encounter with the Spurs ladies team, where you get overwhelmed and need help from a mate to cope with the requirements?
doctor stefan Freud
the tired tread of sad biology
- Sep 2, 2013
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Not sure I’ve got it in me to do another manager appointment tour of duty. The last one combined Apocalypse Now and Jacob’s Ladder in one strangled blear of hurt and nearly wrecked my marriage and my gonad
doctor stefan Freud
the tired tread of sad biology
- Sep 2, 2013
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Sounds more gay than hetro. The ladies’ team is simple misdirection
ComfortablyNumb
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I was never confused. That said, I’m happy to sit and watch…
Navin R Johnson
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Danny's special but he's no Ron Noades.
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