Tottenham Hotspur FC 2013/14

[hudson]

Resisted even with the number of emails this week, but had to post one sorry

Haha quality.

[EJG1980]

The early rumours are suggesting that Spurs are interested in appointing Ajax manager Frank De Boer as AVB's replacement.

He certainly seems to have a done a decent job of turning Ajax around since he took charge and I've enjoyed the way Ajax played in the few European matches I've seen them play in recent times. His assistant at Ajax is Dennis Bergkamp, so that'd be quite fun if he ended up at Spurs too

Unless we appoint someone quite soon I expect this story to be repeated every few days with a different manager named.

[On The Edge of Insanity]

The early rumours are suggesting that Spurs are interested in appointing Ajax manager Frank De Boer as AVB's replacement.

He certainly seems to have a done a decent job of turning Ajax around since he took charge and I've enjoyed the way Ajax played in the few European matches I've seen them play in recent times. His assistant at Ajax is Dennis Bergkamp, so that'd be quite fun if he ended up at Spurs too

Unless we appoint someone quite soon I expect this story to be repeated every few days with a different manager named.

I put some money on him when he was out at 12/1, and he is now down to 2/1 on one exchange, but I can't see him leaving Ajax having only recently signed a four year contract, especially mid-season. Possibility he would agree to come at the end of the season, but that is not really much use to us.

As much as I appreciate the excellent work Levy has done in his time as chairman, the decision to part ways with AVB is starting to look more rash by the day. I fear that without a proper manager in place we are going to lose too much ground over the Christmas period and leave ourselves little chance of challenging for a top four place in the second half of the season.

He'll probably pull off something special now [please!], but it currently looks an ill-advised decision.

[VR46]

Yes, can't help but think he should have waited until January at least before sacking AVB. Is seeming very rash and could come back to bite him on the arse if you do drop down the table.

[EJG1980]

As much as I appreciate the excellent work Levy has done in his time as chairman, the decision to part ways with AVB is starting to look more rash by the day. I fear that without a proper manager in place we are going to lose too much ground over the Christmas period and leave ourselves little chance of challenging for a top four place in the second half of the season.

He'll probably pull off something special now [please!], but it currently looks an ill-advised decision.

Agreed. Even if Levy had lost faith in AVB, sticking with him until the end of the season would have been a much safer option and given him time to sound out a replacement before wielding the axe. As our much improved points haul in the second half of last season proved, there was a very good chance that AVB would have got the team to gel eventually.

To play devil's advocate though, there was an article in The Telegraph by Jason Burt (who is meant to be extremely close to AVB) that claims that AVB had been unhappy, wanted to leave the club for a while, and was glad that Levy wanted to let him go. If that's accurate then it may well have been a factor in Levy getting rid of AVB as soon as he did.

Alas, unless you know the people involved personally, you'll never know exactly what went on behind the scenes.

[fallenangle]

There were plenty of rumours in the summer that AVB was being head-hunted for other coach/managerial jobs in Europe, Paris St.G were one club mentioned. Just rumours maybe but would such stories have been likely if AVB was really happy at Spurs? I think not.

Apparently in some interviews AVB has now come out and said he had argued against buying four of the players Spurs spent the Bale money on. I wonder who they would be?

The timing of the sacking though was completely bonkers from the club point of view - just before another important game and in the lead up to the busy Christmas period. As I said earlier with a few of the comments AVB made after the Liverpool match and the earlier complaints about some of the Spurs' fans not encouraging the team enough, he'd put his head on the block. But Levy made the decision and it was bad timing, very bad, even if it was going to happen eventually.

[bwi]

Well Ade played well, perhaps we should have spent the money on Lallana instead of some of the others. Overall a good display , just wish Soldardo could have netted one.
As to the manager, hell with it let Sherwood stay till the end of the season and see how he goes

[EJG1980]

That was fun! Can't beat a thrilling, topsy turvy, goal filled, away day win

None of the names mentioned for the job have jumped off the page at me, so as you say, what the hell, give him a go. Unless we've got someone special lined up we might as well go with Sherwood (I'd rather that than go for an average manager just because they'd agree to join right away).

[On The Edge of Insanity]

As you say, a very enjoyable match despite the fact I was unable to celebrate properly due to sitting amongst Southampton fans. Our supporters created a great atmosphere, the team played quite well and took good advantage of Southampton's defensive deficiencies. Really should have been 4 or 5, but good to see our fans showing their support for Soldado in spite of his misses. Any top six team would have ripped us apart with such an open formation, as Saints threatened to do at times first half, but we looked more solid once Bentaleb [impressive on his debut] came on in the second half. If we can take six points from our two winnable home matches over the next week then things will look much brighter.

[EJG1980]

It was a very good atmosphere today, there was definitely a feel of everyone pulling together and making sure the players got support no matter what. I was lucky enough to be in the third row from the front so had a great view of the second half goals, and, more importantly, Adebayor's dancing

I felt sorry for Soldado, he worked really hard and apart from the finishes he played very well. Just needs a scrappy goal to go in for him and hopefully he could go on a run. At least now we seem to be playing a style that will give our strikers much more to work with compared to the scraps they were feeding on before. Although, as you say, we almost certainly won't get away with being that open against the very best sides.

Re the manager situation, just saw this on Twitter. It was re-tweeted by Gab Marcotti so it should be from a reliable source:

https://twitter.com/HLNinEngeland

NOS reporters went to the house of Louis van Gaal to ask if he already agreed terms with #THFC.

Van Gaal: "Everyone who knows me knows I won't do 2 jobs at the same time." According to a Dutch paper Levy travelled to Holland today.#THFC

Van Gaal: "I've always said that I want to work in the Premier League, so there's a chance." #THFC

[On The Edge of Insanity]

Hmm, replacing the prince of stubbornness with the king would be an interesting move.

[EJG1980]

I suppose it's easier for a manager to have a "my way or the highway" attitude when you can back it up with all the honours that Louis van Gaal has won. He's also shown that he can get the job done when not at the biggest club with his success at AZ Alkmaar. We could probably expect one or two sparks to fly with certain players though

Hard to see him giving up the chance to coach the Dutch national side at the world cup though, so if he did come I doubt it would be until next season, if he comes at all. At least it's not the usual baseless speculation and there are actual quotes from the man in question. I've seen the story running in a couple of other places now.

[saturn-gamer]

They should not do it. He's out sooner than AVB was.

Louis is one of the best managers in the world when it comes to tactical knowledge and making young players better. And he demands attractive football from his players. I figure Spurs will play great football under him and he will give youngsters a chance. So far so good. But as a human being, he's an ass. And he can't deal with the press at all. And I figure the press in the UK is MUCH worse than it is everywhere else, so yeah that will be spectacular but it will also be his downfall I think.

But he does have a desire of working in the PL. I think Spurs have a good chance if Man United etc aren't looking for a new manager. But it will be after the World Cup at the earliest. I don't know if I would want a national team coach that has a very demanding second job.

[EJG1980]

Okay Tim, you've got what you wanted, let's see what you're made of!

Following the departure of Andre Villas-Boas, the Club can announce that Tim Sherwood has been appointed Head Coach with a contract to the end of the 2014/15 season.

Big gamble, but I prefer it to having him as an interim coach and not knowing if/when we're going to appoint someone permanently. We all know he'll be sacked sharpish if he's rubbish anyway!

[BaronSqwelch]

I think it is a daft choice myself...not being a Spurs fan though.

It is like appointing AVB again...but the AVB from the the days before he had won/done anything.