What the pundits & media are saying about us

[GMI]

I was just listening to the latest Tifo Podcast which was focused on Tottenham and Man Utd, mostly the latter to be honest. Its a good show and they know their stuff but the presenter Joe Devine has a really really annoying way of talking. Really unnatural and condescending. Seb Stafford-Bloor was also on it and he's a Spurs fan apparently.

 

[Trix]

Thing is they're acting as if he's always played ugly football when in reality we played some glorious stuff for 3 years and I doubt any fans on here would consider Poch a negative manager or one synonymous with a boring, turgid style of play.

I completely agree that Poch lost his way, and I think he definitely shares a fair chunk of the blame for that, but I think an awful lot of it was due to a lack of squad investment and general entropy/malaise as the natural cycle of the squad came to an end.

To judge Poch on those last 12-18 months is akin to judging Mourinho solely on his latter seasons at clubs - it really doesn't paint the whole picture.

Fair point, but how many on here wrote mourinho off as past it because of his United final months.

 

[spursfan77]

I was just listening to the latest Tifo Podcast which was focused on Tottenham and Man Utd, mostly the latter to be honest. Its a good show and they know their stuff but the presenter Joe Devine has a really really annoying way of talking. Really unnatural and condescending. Seb Stafford-Bloor was also on it and he's a Spurs fan apparently.

But hates Mourinho with a passion. Since Mourinho has joined us his articles have been virtually non readable because of the ani Mourinho bias throughout them. Unless he’s changed, his view, but I doubt it. He was very entrenched.

 

[Tucker]

But hates Mourinho with a passion. Since Mourinho has joined us his articles have been virtually non readable because of the ani Mourinho bias throughout them. Unless he’s changed, his view, but I doubt it. He was very entrenched.

He’s the consummate football hipster. His old website the premier league owl used to be pretty great, and I really do enjoy the tifo videos and podcasts, but its all very hipster, and for some reason they all seem to hate Jose.

 

[Japhet]

Fair point, but how many on here wrote mourinho off as past it because of his United final months.

And his 2nd Chelsea stint.

 

[spurs mental]

But hates Mourinho with a passion. Since Mourinho has joined us his articles have been virtually non readable because of the ani Mourinho bias throughout them. Unless he’s changed, his view, but I doubt it. He was very entrenched.

Him and Windy both seem to have an issue with Mourinho, and that's fine if its objective but it doesn't come across that way in the slightest.

Windy even said he would find it difficult to celebrate if we won a trophy because of who is in charge which I thought was a bit sad.

 

[KILLA_SIN]

I remember a number of years ago there was a lengthy BBC Radio 5 Live interview with Ferguson on some anniversary of his time as manager of United. He was talking about this at length and said that the Tottenham job at the time was the much bigger job (much to the chortling of the presenter) but he was quite adamant about it.

I only remember because I immediately saved the audio of this and sent it to my boss who is a Man U fan, he was not impressed

My wife's brother is a United fan and he asked me why I support Spurs [he can't understand why] and I reemed off some players that have played for us and I said Gazza and Lineker. And he said to me who's Gazza and Linekar? I told him Linekar was Bt presenter or he might have been MOTD when we had this convo and I said Gaaza turned down united to come to Spurs. Think most fans young [hes young] and old have forgotten how big we were.

I've said to a few friends that are united that they will never dominate again I don't think it sinks in the EPL landscape is very different now.

 

[Timberwolf]

Him and Windy both seem to have an issue with Mourinho, and that's fine if its objective but it doesn't come across that way in the slightest.

Windy even said he would find it difficult to celebrate if we won a trophy because of who is in charge which I thought was a bit sad.

I suppose it comes down to how people, on a personal level, connect with the club. Some people almost seem to see the club as an extension of themselves and can't bear any aspect of it to be tainted, or get resentful if it's not in line their own personal values.

In my case, as much as I love Spurs and being a fan of the club, I don't actually get too emotionally invested in it off the pitch. As fond as I might be of certain managers and players, I don't truly know them and never will. If they're likeable that's great, but I won't lose sleep over it if they aren't - at the end of the day it's only football and I've got real life shit to worry about. So on that basis, whatever perverse sense of pride I might feel for being led by a lovely bloke like Poch, that will never come close to the glorious elation and memories forged by winning a number of trophies and the team being a genuine success.

If that's how Windy and The Bloor express their fandom then more power to them but personally I'd much rather win a couple of trophies under Mourinho than still have Poch as our manager if that meant winning nothing.

 

[sausage]

Thing is they're acting as if he's always played ugly football when in reality we played some glorious stuff for 3 years and I doubt any fans on here would consider Poch a negative manager or one synonymous with a boring, turgid style of play.

I completely agree that Poch lost his way, and I think he definitely shares a fair chunk of the blame for that, but I think an awful lot of it was due to a lack of squad investment and general entropy/malaise as the natural cycle of the squad came to an end.

To judge Poch on those last 12-18 months is akin to judging Mourinho solely on his latter seasons at clubs - it really doesn't paint the whole picture.

I think the problem, of sorts, with Poch is that Pep kind of ruined it for him. Poch's high-press, high-energy thing was unique at the time and really worked, but Pep 'trended' it, and Poch's lack of adaptability/second-trick really caught up with us.

It's like when Blackpool came up with Phill Brown and were out performing everyone (almost) until other teams found them out, or the George Burley Ipswich years ago - if you have a revolutionary way of playing it really works until people figure it out.

My concern for Poch would be that he would start another PL job as the last one ended, so I hope he goes to PSG or similar and evolves a little, as opposed to letting Man Utd screw him.

 

[sausage]

My wife's brother is a United fan and he asked me why I support Spurs [he can't understand why] and I reemed off some players that have played for us and I said Gazza and Lineker. And he said to me who's Gazza and Linekar? I told him Linekar was Bt presenter or he might have been MOTD when we had this convo and I said Gaaza turned down united to come to Spurs. Think most fans young [hes young] and old have forgotten how big we were.

I've said to a few friends that are united that they will never dominate again I don't think it sinks in the EPL landscape is very different now.

Linekar is freelance I believe, so you'll see him on BBC MotD as much as BT Sport. Different to other broadcasters in that regard.

 

[spud]

My wife's brother is a United fan and he asked me why I support Spurs [he can't understand why] and I reemed off some players that have played for us and I said Gazza and Lineker. And he said to me who's Gazza and Linekar? I told him Linekar was Bt presenter or he might have been MOTD when we had this convo and I said Gaaza turned down united to come to Spurs. Think most fans young [hes young] and old have forgotten how big we were.

I've said to a few friends that are united that they will never dominate again I don't think it sinks in the EPL landscape is very different now.

Unless he's about six years old, I don't get that. When I was a kid I had heard of players before my time, especially really good ones. That somebody who is an adult - even a teenage - football fan in 2020 has never heard of Gazza and Lineker blows me away; especially if he's english.

 

[Insomnia]

I've just read the last 3 pages & had to check what thread I was in? Fuck me am I confused

 

[floydiohead]

And his 2nd Chelsea stint.

Yes, but presumably again (like Trix says) it was his final months (or rather August - December) in his third year that people remember him for. His first season back Chelsea finished 3rd, four points behind City who won the league, and his second season back Chelsea were champions.

 

[Frozen_Waffles]

This is right on the money.

Funnily enough, if you look to the mid-80s, Man U and Spurs were remarkably similar - both big clubs, with occasional successes (us more than them during that period), but still in the shadow of other big clubs (Liverpool, Arsenal, Everton at the time, and with a young pretender in the form of Nottingham Forest also having fairly sustained success) and with their respective golden ages some time in the past.

Enter Alex Ferguson. I'm not sure how many know this, but Spurs were also courting him in the run up to him leaving Aberdeen for Manchester. He could have been our manager. But, he went to United and, after a few years of transition (not an unusual thing in those days), the rest is history. We didn't climb out of the doldrums of the late 80s (87 being probably the closest we came to winning the league during that time). United did.

And then times, and football, changed.

After the advent of Sky Football, there was simply no scope for us to be able to undergo the same manner of transformation as Ferguson brought about at Old Trafford. We needed something different, which we never got. Years went by and we suffered through the 90s and early Noughties, before the Santini/Jol/Ramos/Redknapp/AVB period with it's ups and down, but seeing Spurs make small, incremental progress.

Enter Pochettino. His was the closest to the equivalent of a Ferguson-effect that any club in our situation could reasonably expect, given the way in which football had changed in the intervening years. Through design, accident, or a combination of the two, the Poch years represented that shift from being an old name in the dusty halls of football history to a club with a vibrant potential, a real potential, rather than the 'if Spurs did this, they might win that' kind of way we were used to.

And now, we have Jose to channel that potentiality that was developed during Poch's time (I say during Poch's time, because he wasn't solely responsible for it. He played a massive part, but other factors also played an important role - the development of the training ground and stadium the most obvious amongst them).

But Man United don't need a Ferguson-effect manager. They shouldn't believe that they need to rekindle or try to resurrect what Ferguson did and was for them at the time. Because football is different, and Man United are different.

When I look at it from a distance and try to view the club as a whole, defining their problems and offering the hypothetical solution is actually very simple. Unfortunately, in practice, those solutions are not just difficult, I'd say they were impossible. The problem is that their hierarchy is rotten and rather than working in the best interests of the club, are working to further the interests of the club's ownership. For Man U to be successful again, the hierarchy must be replaced.

And that is the key problem. It's a simple solution ... that is impossible to implement. The Glazer family don't care about Man United, they don't care about Man United fans, entitled or otherwise (the latter does exist, but is difficult to find). They only care about generating income. And everything they do is catered towards the short-termism that infects all aspects of corporate operation these days - make the money this year, make the money this quarter. And in Woodward, they have the perfect channel to do that, so his position is sacrosanct. Even if he displeases the Glazers and is replaced, they will only replace him with Woodward Mk II.

Where am I going with all this?

Ultimately, any manger who goes to Man United will either know, or very soon come to realise, that his job is not to win titles, but to keep the money-spinning machine going. Let the hierarchy sign big-name players who the manager doesn't need, because that draws in neutral viewers on television, which is where the money is. The true, devoted, long-term Man United fan is now such a small part of the Old Trafford money-machine that the Glazers are safe in the knowledge that they can ignore them - a lesson they learnt early on with the complete failure of FC United of Manchester to elicit any serious obstacle to their takeover of the club. Even with the largest club stadium in the country, ticket revenue is still a lot smaller than television money and the Glazers know that.

Will Poch rock up in Carrington soon? Possibly. It's not outside the realms of possibility, because Man United are still a big name, regardless of how much their reputation may have been tarnished since Ferguson left. That will always be an attractive proposition for a manager - to have the opportunity to manage Man United. Will he be allowed to implement the same changes as helped bring about the putative transformation at Spurs? I highly doubt it.

If he's wise (and I like to think he is) he'll consider that aspect of the job far more than any bump to his profile taking the job might bring him.

You have highlighted it and I agree, Ferguson was not a one man show though. He had incredible support, he had David Gill and before that Peter Kenyon. Wenger had David Dein.

Spurs have Levy, all those managers and appointments have been Levy. Well I could go on and on about levy and how good he has been to the club.

I am absolutely convinced that we are ready to go up to the next level. Winning stuff and being title challengers.

Finally we have a structure in place, we have the best manager in the world and the best chairman in the world, Injuries aside I can't see us not challenging.

United are a car crash, poch could be really good for that club, if they back him. I don't mean in the transfer market I mean when he joins and tells the club to sell players like Pogba and shaw they do it. Like Levy did.

What is not helping United is Gary Neville with his "we are united" bullshit. If they just had a bit of humility.... People also forget that United never really signed superstars under Ferguson. They signed young potential or old experience. They also signed a hell of a lot of players from pl clubs, the best of the chasing pack.

Infact the only real superstar they signed was veron. And he failed.

Cavani, Pogba, Ibrahimovic, di María and Sanchez are not really traditional 'united' signings.

So if I was Woodward, I would appoint poch and then have a massive clear out. And only sign players who poch wants (united can probably do this better than spurs could).

 

[tototoner]

I've just read the last 3 pages & had to check what thread I was in? Fuck me am I confused

and me

 

[Insomnia]

and me

Who needs pundits and media when you've got the long long line of spamming good ole ****'s of SC , shame we haven't got multiple thread on Man U in general football where we could all discuss those ****'s and the ****'s who support them, run them & play for them ****s

 

[rez9000]

You have highlighted it and I agree, Ferguson was not a one man show though. He had incredible support, he had David Gill and before that Peter Kenyon. Wenger had David Dein.

Spurs have Levy, all those managers and appointments have been Levy. Well I could go on and on about levy and how good he has been to the club.

I am absolutely convinced that we are ready to go up to the next level. Winning stuff and being title challengers.

Finally we have a structure in place, we have the best manager in the world and the best chairman in the world, Injuries aside I can't see us not challenging.

United are a car crash, poch could be really good for that club, if they back him. I don't mean in the transfer market I mean when he joins and tells the club to sell players like Pogba and shaw they do it. Like Levy did.

What is not helping United is Gary Neville with his "we are united" bullshit. If they just had a bit of humility.... People also forget that United never really signed superstars under Ferguson. They signed young potential or old experience. They also signed a hell of a lot of players from pl clubs, the best of the chasing pack.

Infact the only real superstar they signed was veron. And he failed.

Cavani, Pogba, Ibrahimovic, di María and Sanchez are not really traditional 'united' signings.

So if I was Woodward, I would appoint poch and then have a massive clear out. And only sign players who poch wants (united can probably do this better than spurs could).

I'll move my answer to the Man U thread, as we're beginning to clog this one, I think.

Let's All Laugh At... - Let's all wonder what's going on at United?

I actually thought Fernandes was bought in as his replacement and he’d go there in the summer. Seems Madrid weren’t ready to buy him then though for the obvious financial reasons. I reckon he’ll go there next summer when Madrid have a proper go at the transfer window. That won’t be a good thing...

spurscommunity.co.uk

 

[jurgen]

You have highlighted it and I agree, Ferguson was not a one man show though. He had incredible support, he had David Gill and before that Peter Kenyon. Wenger had David Dein.

Spurs have Levy, all those managers and appointments have been Levy. Well I could go on and on about levy and how good he has been to the club.

I am absolutely convinced that we are ready to go up to the next level. Winning stuff and being title challengers.

Finally we have a structure in place, we have the best manager in the world and the best chairman in the world, Injuries aside I can't see us not challenging.

United are a car crash, poch could be really good for that club, if they back him. I don't mean in the transfer market I mean when he joins and tells the club to sell players like Pogba and shaw they do it. Like Levy did.

What is not helping United is Gary Neville with his "we are united" bullshit. If they just had a bit of humility.... People also forget that United never really signed superstars under Ferguson. They signed young potential or old experience. They also signed a hell of a lot of players from pl clubs, the best of the chasing pack.

Infact the only real superstar they signed was veron. And he failed.

Cavani, Pogba, Ibrahimovic, di María and Sanchez are not really traditional 'united' signings.

So if I was Woodward, I would appoint poch and then have a massive clear out. And only sign players who poch wants (united can probably do this better than spurs could).

They were like Bayern are in Germany I suppose. That's good for us as they've not been after any of our players in a meaningful way for some time, but also because they've been pretty shit and unattractive by their standards since Fergie left.

I guess they still do it a bit.. they broke the world record fee a defender twice on Prem players, for Rio Ferdinand and then for... Harry Maguire...

Those two players alone sum up Utd then and Utd now.

 

[teok]

Ranking Tottenham's last 10 summer transfer windows from worst to best - Planet Football

It can be a rollercoaster ride being a Tottenham supporter - and that has been reflected by the wide range of success in the club's summer transfer window dealings over the past 10 years.

www.planetfootball.com

 

[Thenewcat]

Ranking Tottenham's last 10 summer transfer windows from worst to best - Planet Football

It can be a rollercoaster ride being a Tottenham supporter - and that has been reflected by the wide range of success in the club's summer transfer window dealings over the past 10 years.

www.planetfootball.com

It’s an interesting read. I massively disagree with 2 things.

The 2018 window should be last by a mile. Pretending it was good because of ‘squad continuity’ is utter bullshit, we let the squad go stale and last year was the result of that.

The Bale money was not the disaster they paint it as. Sure Soldado (bless him) didn’t work out, but getting our chief playmaker for the next 6 years and 2 very good squad players (I always like Chadli, and Coco remains a delight) wasn’t a bad return. I’d forgotten we got Mousa, Hugo and Jan in AVB’s window, that was exceptional