"This Is Good As It Can Get"....

[JerryGarcia]

So many people still don't seem to grasp the fact that the the common phrase "As good as it gets" is just that, a common phrase. It's not a statement of fact, it was just Harry describing the state of play at the time. He wasn't saying that we could never possibly improve at any point in the future, that would be ridiculous.

 

[spids]

I cannot blame Harry for that quote but was angry at the time as it was another reason for the likes of Bale and Modric to move on. But at teh same time, at that point in time I was adamant that Spurs could not win the league again in the foreseeable future (10-20 years) without a major change to either the competition / rules or us getting billionaire owners (the kind who throw a billion quid at immediate success).

It really is amazing that ...

(a) Man U, Man C have had such poor successive seasons despite spending massively on the world's best players and the world's best managers.
(b) Poch has built such a fantastic team/squad on almost zero net spend.

The next 2-3 years are crucial - can we afford to keep Alli, Kane, Eriksen, Alderweireld, Lloris etc. when other clubs will pay them £200k+ per week and we pay less than £100k per week? Will Levy use the greater revenue for player salaries rather than having to prioritise paying off stadium build debt? What will the new sponsorship deals and naming rights give us? Will the NFL move a franchise to London and bring massive revenue to us as landlords?

The new stadium is a massive draw for the players (who wouldn't want to stay another two years to play for Poch there). In fact Poch remains the single most important asset the club has. He must be paid whatever it takes to keep him.

 

[talkshowhost86]

He was probably right in that it was as good as we were going to get whilst Redknapp was in charge.

He did very well for us. Poch is doing better. I'm happy with that scenario.

 

[Riandor]

Yeah I think it boils down to the fact that we should be grateful for where he took the club from and where he left it, but that doesn't mean that he is in anyway above criticism for the things he didn't do so well.

I for one will remember him more fondly than not, but I am also very glad that we now have poch.

 

[tony0379]

Choosing to remember that quote over games like the 3-2 win at the Emirates, the 1-0 win against Milan at the San Siro and of course that magical 3-1 win against Inter at the Lane is the wrong take-home message from Harry's time at Spurs, IMO.

Yeah let's forget the humiliating 15 point gap he fucked up.

 

[riggi]

Poch once said we are the biggest club in England....

 

[Styopa]

He's almost certainly been proved right that that was as good as things were going to get for him and his career.

But I think he was just being a bit defensive at the time; he was getting a bit of stick from some sections of supporters and he was defending his record. I don't think he meant it literally any more than someone saying 'it doesn't get better than thrashing Arsenal in the North London Derby' would mean it literally. And he has since come out to say he thinks we win the title within the next few years.

That said, he did come out with some stupid and divisive things and I always got the feeling he was separate from the club and its supporters. Despite being relatively successful, he was always rubbing people up the wrong way.

 

[Azazello]

I think we were a high-point for him and his comment reflected that. It was years ago, a lifetime in football.

Now he'll be lucky to keep Birmingham in the Championship.

I'm hoping he was the last Spursy manager, now that awful word is a trope.

 

[Lilbaz]

Yeah let's forget the humiliating 15 point gap he fucked up.

Yeah lets remember the gap we had last year that poch fucked up. Or we can just remember we got 3rd last year which was our highest finish in the prem and be grateful he's our manager.

You focus on the negatives i'll focus on the positives. I saw us beat milan at the san siro and watched us play at the bernabeu. I'll always be grateful to harry for that.

 

[hodsgod]

You have to remember Harry will say anything to push

He was probably right in that it was as good as we were going to get whilst Redknapp was in charge.

He did very well for us. Poch is doing better. I'm happy with that scenario.

exactly, we had a great time with Harry, the best football in the country and for us relative success at the time. We have moved on, improved and hopefully will continue to do so.

 

[BringBack_leGin]

"Where do they expect us to be - above Man Utd, Man City, Arsenal, Chelsea? We have had an amazing season - it won't get any better, enjoy it. This is good as it can get. This has been a fantastic season."

Remember that quote in 2011 and how some of us were outraged by it whilst many others were accepting of such a shallow mindset. How stupid does it look now? Granted we have not won anything as yet, neither did HR btw, but we look far more likely to now as opposed to then. All this done by having approx the same net spend.....

Was upset by that comment at the time, and much fonder of our current manager, but it's a bit much to drag up a 6 year old quote to besmirch a manager under whom we made huge strides and enjoyed some real entertainment.

You have to remember Harry will say anything to push his own agenda. He would argue black is white if it suited. I'm just grateful he's gone.

Once again, and I appreciate you are privy to inner working beyond what we have access to, a statement such as 'I'm grateful he's gone' is a bit harsh even if he was a selfish twat with verbal diarrhoea. The man did give get us twice to fourth, having previously only made the top 6 twice in the premiership (under Jol), and had us in the last eight of the champions league.

He was probably right in that it was as good as we were going to get whilst Redknapp was in charge.

He did very well for us. Poch is doing better. I'm happy with that scenario.

Agreed.

 

[alamo]

"How many of you are really that surprised that we got turned over yesterday...? Time after time when this teams has had a question asked of it, it has failed to answer it. When it really matters the THFC of old rears it's ugly head, no wonder everyone calls us chokers. This team MUST go all out to win a cup this season now, no more BS excuses , just go for it ffs as we are not winning the league any time soon with our fragile mindset......"

Remember that quote from sunndelight786 Feb 12, 2017?

And to quote the OP, "Remember how some of us were outraged by it whilst many others were accepting of such a shallow mindset. How stupid does it look now?"

Just sayin'.....

 

[jonnyrotten]

"How many of you are really that surprised that we got turned over yesterday...? Time after time when this teams has had a question asked of it, it has failed to answer it. When it really matters the THFC of old rears it's ugly head, no wonder everyone calls us chokers. This team MUST go all out to win a cup this season now, no more BS excuses , just go for it ffs as we are not winning the league any time soon with our fragile mindset......"

Remember that quote from sunndelight786 Feb 12, 2017?

And to quote the OP, "Remember how some of us were outraged by it whilst many others were accepting of such a shallow mindset. How stupid does it look now?"

Just sayin'.....

Hahahaha!

 

[Lilbaz]

Some of us look at how good the players were that he (inherrited) had at his disposal, and think if anything we underachieved.

That aside my issues with Harry are not so much based on what we were doing on the pitch, but all the crap that was happening behind the scenes and in the media. As a club things were far from rosie when he left, and that generally was down to Redknapp and his never shut up attitude.

He inherited from jande ramos a team that looked like it might be relegated. He turned them into winners. Bale was considered a jinx before harry came along.

 

[roslau]

I came to this thread just wanted to see your bigger avatar.

 

[CockOnBall]

I think what disappointed me and several others about the quote is that it was an act of self preservation. It no doubt came after a poor result.

You can argue the logic of it but leaders are supposed to be inspirational. Bill Nic said it was better to aim high and fail and that's because those who look to achieve the status quo fall short of it eventually.

Newcastle under Ashley are a classic example. For years, they have been a club with no other ambition but to finish comfortably above relegation zone. They'd tend to start seasons brilliantly then get to around 30 points by Feb and just down tools. Only to rescue themselves late on with a couple of wins to achieve safety. Ultimately, that lack of ambition resulted in them getting what they feared.

For years, clubs have clung on to the Leeds example and managed expectations. I hope Leicester's success as balanced that argument a bit.

Really, we all know and accept the wage bill table very often mirrors the actual table but we all start the season hoping to the anomaly to that rule. If there wasn't that hope, we wouldn't watch football.

 

[danielneeds]

The quote just a sums up Harry - he can put together a good enough team that he can say something like that - but will always be limited by his reliance on "just one more player" mentality and seeing transfer cash as the be all and end all.

 

[tiger666]

I think what disappointed me and several others about the quote is that it was an act of self preservation. It no doubt came after a poor result.

It came after the win against Birmingham.

 

[dbspurs]

It was as good as it got for Harry

 

[dontcallme]

OK I am going to concentrate on the non-bashing side of it.

A long time ago Levy started to stamp his authority on the way the club was run.

Long gone were the days of buying ageing stars on high wages and devaluing transfer fees.

He instilled a DOF to buy players on the way up and would therefore have lower wages than the ready-made stars and could sell at a profit once the player was ready to leave.

We used to have long debates on SC about how far we could go with this model. Especially once Chelsea and City got their billionaires it felt like the title was just for the truly rich.

There were posters on here who wanted us to get our own billionaire ready to spend instead of invest as it seemed the only way to get to the top.

Replacing players like Carrick, Modric, Berbatov and Bale seemed incredibly difficult if not impossible.

So when Redknapp said that there was maybe an air of resignation that he was correct regardless of his reasoning for saying it.

But now we seem to be genuinely on the way up. The young system is producing high quality players. We are on course for a second straight season in the top three with a title challenge.

The ENIC model took a long time to get to the required level but now we have it in some ways we are in a stronger position than Utd and Liverpool.

I loved Redknapp but he doesn't have a real history with promoting youth so seemed wrong for our project. I respect he was required for the time but we are starting to see what can be achieved when the chairman and head coach are in line with each other.