Regular This is Futbol readers will know that I’m most certainly not a fan of AVB. In July, my first post questioned the appointment of André Villas-Boas, in fact I called the decision ‘doomed from the start’. But four months on from that appointment, Tottenham have showed no signs of improvement and if anything have deteriorated. So, how long has AVB got to steady the ship at White Hart Lane before he is made unemployed mid-season again?
Let’s start from the start: in July AVB made Michael Dawson club captain. But almost immediately afterwards he began to fuel speculation that the former Nottingham Forest defender would be sold Queens Park Rangers. Now that’s just odd and defies reasonable explanation.
Moving swiftly on to exhibit two, the transfer market. At Tottenham Hotspur there are three good quality Premier League goalkeepers. Brad Friedel, Mr. Consistency himself, who’s excellent performances for Blackburn, Aston Villa and Spurs had meant that he hadn’t missed a Premier League game for eight years. He also had Heurelho Gomes, the Brazilian ‘keeper who made a nervous start to Premier League life but looked to be finding his feet. Completing the trio was the former Chelsea man Carlo Cudicini, not the world’s best but a safe backup option.
So what did AVB go and do? He bought another one, the French captain to be precise. Hugo Lloris would expect to walk into the team he just signed for at a price of over 10,000,000 Euros. But so would Brad Friedel and then what would Gomes make of being dropped from the bench and finally Carlo Cudicini now finds himself fourth choice. It’s another odd choice from quite frankly an odd person.
Sticking with the transfer market, it’s easy to make a direct comparison between AVB and his predecessor Harry Redknapp. Redknapp brought in Rafael Van der Vaart and managed to persuade Luka Modric to stay in each transfer window, two very respected players in world football who became revelations at Spurs and firm fans favourites. In fact Modric was voted Tottenham player of the year for the 2010-2011 season.
What did AVB do? He failed in attempts to keep Luka Modric and eventually sold him to Real Madrid. Perhaps it was inevitable, but the last thing one would do after that is to sell another vital player. But this is AVB remember. So low and behold, Van der Vaart wass sold. But who were the two replacements? Two world class midfielders? Two proven Premier League, cup winning players? Oh no. They were Moussa Dembele and Clint Dempsey, good players but not great players of the caliber of Modric and Van der Vaart.
More recently his tactical selections have been extremely poor. His decision to drop the hat-trick-scoring-in-form Jermain Defoe for the Manchester City game being an epitome of this. When a decision is as easy as that, it beggars belief as to why he got it wrong. In this weekend’s North London Derby Emmanuel Adebayor was sent off and Tottenham quickly went 2-1 down. So at half time instead on strengthening the midfield to support Spurs’ lackluster defence, he took off two defenders and and brought on a striker. Even Homer Simpson would know better than to do that.
His poor managing hasn’t gone unnoticed on Twitter, with Daily Mirror Sports writer and Radio & TV regular John Cross tweeting ‘Fans analyse closely a manager’s views when they’ve suffered a painful defeat. AVB’s assertion that [Tottenham] ‘controlled’ the game is idiotic.’ and Sports Radio presenter Andy Goldstein tweeting, simply “AVB is shocking. Gotta go”.
It hasn’t gone unnoticed with the bookies either though, AVB’s sack race odds were slashed from 40/1 to 12/1 after the 5-2 Arsenal defeat, they’d definitely be even shorter if Mark Hughes’ situation at QPR was any better. A clear indication that his days are numbered. Maybe Daniel Levy will be encouraged to sack him after seeing what happened in post-AVB Chelsea last year.
Every manager deserves time, but in reality many don’t get it. In an ideal world AVB would be given two seasons to prove himself at Tottenham and build a plan of action. But Tottenham are a club who parted company with a manager who failed to deliver Champions League football last season, if they are to keep those high standards very soon the sacking of AVB will be the only choice.
He has done well as a manager. In Portugal. But was that just beginners luck, I for one think so.
Do you agree with Joseph? Is it time AVB receives the chop? or Has Joseph got this all wrong?
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This has to be one of the worst articles ever written about Spurs and AVB. If the author gets paid for writing this tripe he should be forced to return his fee. I have never seen an article with so many inaccuracies and plain nonsense. Statements suggesting that Gomes is finding his feet and that Redknapp persuaded Modric to stay are so far wide of the mark as to make me wonder if this is just an early April fool’s joke.
What a load of tosh; the man has taken over a broken squad with a list of injuries longer than your arm.
11 games, and provocative articles like this appear; its a disgrace.
Fact 1: Spurs best player is sold in summer.
Fact 2: Management failed in their attempt to get a replacement in Moutinho.
Fact 3: Vertongen and Dembele good acquisitions, but one has been played out of position all season and the other has been injured.
Fact 4: Gilfi and Dempsey are not top 4 club first team players.
Fact 5: Parker, BAE and Younes are all good enough, but all injuries.
FINAL FACT: We went from being 1 to 2 players away from being a real force to now looking like mid-table mediocrity, and I don’t care if Alex Ferguson is manager with pep guardiola his assistant, there is no way on earth we can challenge for anything with this current squad.
What is worse is, I would bet my house on Bale leaving next summer, and then we will be in a proper mess….totally gutted but that is reality.
Blaming a manager saddled with all that, shows naivety to the nth degree…trust me, if we buy players in January, and have a full squad, and are still under-performing, then I will be happy to agree…after 11 prem games, and under the above circumstances, it is IMPOSSIBLE to make an informed opinion.
It’s hilarious how ignorant you are about Tottenham, please don’t write anymore articles about spurs, it’s just embarrassing.
What absolute tosh.
Your article, in summary:
1) You’ve always hated AVB.
2) Dawson was made captain and then almost sold – a fair point, but hardly damning.
3) Lloris wasn’t worth buying – an idiotic point. He’s France’s captain, has over a decade left in him (Brad has a year? Year and a half?), and is easily, EASILY better than Gomes (who isn’t too young, either).
4) AVB failed to keep Modric – another idiotic assertion. It was clear to all and sundry that Modric would leave this year. A deal was almost certainly cut the summer before. Harry wouldn’t have kept Modric this summer and AVB didn’t either. No dice.
5) VDV was replaced with Dempsey and Sigurdsson, with Modric replaced with Dembele – yeah, so Spurs made money (which makes Levy happy), got an extra player into the squad and improved the flexibility of their squad. Modric is a special player and wasn’t going to be replacable, but VDV was unable to finish 90 minutes and has been replaced with two Premier League-proven players.
6) He dropped Defoe – yeah, for Adebayor, who’s the better player. Bad management? I don’t think so…
7) A couple of non-entities don’t like AVB – which is fascinating, really. Mourinho saw enough in him to employ him. Who were your guys, again?
8) Every manager deserves time and AVB should get 2 years, but you’d fire him now – which sums up your intelligence very nicely. Please go away and think about how ridiculous your post is. You’ve really contributed nothing.
“Beginner’s Luck” haha. Get lost. Winning every competition and remaining unbeaten is not “luck”. You obviously don’t know much about anything. Move along people.
Poor article. Dawson was made club captain on the basis of him being Tottenham’s longest serving player and a club stalwart through and through – in a similar way to how Harry used to have Keane as team captain but King club captain despite being rarely able to play. QPR made a good offer for the player but to his credit he decided to stay and fight for his place.
The Lloris signing had been planned for a long time before AVB came in. If there is a problem here it is with the Tottenham transfer policy, not with AVB himself. AVB cannot win with the press here – if he dropped Friedel he’d be seen as disloyal for just casting him out in place of a new boy, yet he gets mercilessly criticised for not playing Lloris because of his cost and his position in the French national team.
Modric was ALWAYS going to leave this summer whether AVB was in charge or not – all Spurs fans know and accept this. And Van der Vaart had long been making noises about returning to Germany for family reasons (his wife’s work) – as a family man no one begrudges him this, and again this wasn’t AVB’s fault.
AVB’s main target was Moutinho, but again this failed at the last minute with more to do with the club’s transfer policy rather than anything to do with AVB. Dembele is a class player who would easily fit into the likes of Man Utd, while Dempsey is a squad player bought in at the last minute. If Moutinho had been signed as AVB planned, things would be a lot different.
Adebayor’s selection against Man City was totally vindicated in his performance – he held the ball up brilliantly, got under the opposition’s skin and very nearly ended up on the winning team away at the home of the champions, who’ve spent half a billion pounds on their team. There is no disgrace in that decision. We were always going to be under pressure in that game and Defoe is not a decent option to be an outlet up front to relieve pressure from the defence.
Your final point re the Arsenal game is the worst part of this article. Yes AVB took off a two defenders but he bought one on to create a back three and bought on an attacking midfielder to support Defoe. We went on to get a goal back and then create numerous chances to get another to get back to 4-3 and then who knows what would have happened. Just about all Spurs fans who were at the game (and not those who just listen to the crap on TalkSport) were proud of the way the team played in the second half and the ambition we showed to find a way back into the match.
Sorry mate but I find this to be a pretty inaccurate and off-the-mark article. In these days when managers are given so little time by trigger happy chairmen it doesn’t help when articles like this are around generating media attention on newsnow etc. AVB has not even had half a season yet, he’s missed out on key players he wanted to sign, and he’s had an absolute nightmare with injuries. Give the guy a chance.
I think a lot of what you say is very fair although I detect the hand of Levy behind much of the transfer deals. Of course it’s worrying either way, if they were AVB’s decisions some were very poor, if they were Levy’s decisions then AVB will never get the players that he will need to actually turn things around and try and hold on to a top four place
I agree it was a poor decision to bring him in as he appears a manager that needs a top squad to do well rather than get the best out of the players he had and unless Levy is prepared to bring in a few quality players in January I can’t see him being around by the end of the season
This has to be one of the most pathetic articles I have encountered since the season began. If you truly believe that AVB had any say as to whether Modric or VDV would stay or not, you are out of your mind and your element. Modric wanted to leave, since about 2 years ago. In fact, the manager who was begging for Modric to leave and join his team was the one and only, Andre Villas Boas. If you really think that AVB “let” Modric go, then all I can say is that you are of a breed with an intellect comparable to a soggy sponge.
VDV is another story. He is still beloved by Spurs fans and he too wanted to continue his career at the Lilywhites. However, personal reasons (his wife of course) persuaded him to move on.
Accusing AVB of failing in the transfer market shows how you are clearly not a Spurs fan, simply because EVERYONE knows that Daniel Levy makes the final call. That is the way it has been, how it is now, and how it will be until a new chairman is installed. Levy is a business man, and Gylfi & Dempsey are a testament to his idea of good business. To blame AVB for the transfers that came in is truly a remarkable accusation that has no substance other than the trash that was spewed by you yourself.
Joseph, you are out of touch with reality. You are out of touch with Tottenham. You have ZERO grasp of where we were and where we are now. You are NOT a Tottenham, but rather a child who thought that complaining about a club was going to put you in an intellectual standing. You do NOT represent Tottenham, or other Spurs fans. You should be outcast from our organization, as people like you contribute to the downfall of clubs that aim to compete at the highest level. Leave. You have no business being apart of my club, our club. Not yours.
You sir, are a muppet!!
I’m going to compare your argument with several examples…
1) SAF at ManU – Trophyless and transitional for 5 hopeless years, a butt of fickle fans and media jibes, did their board decide to sack him?… NO, they backed him and look what happened. He, like AVB, had only enjoyed success in a mediocre league beforehand with Aberdeen in Scotland.
2) David Moyes at Everton – Everton had enjoyed a sustained period of success under Howard Kendall and when he left he was replaced by what even the most ardent Everton fans thought was a questionable choice. The Preston North End manager who had no track record to speak of. Consistently, during his first few seasons radio phone-ins and newspapers were filled with the views of disgruntled fans and journalists (who I should add have the professional integrity somewhere between estate agent and dodgy used car saleman). Any fans calling for him to be sacked now after more than 10 years?… NO!
3) Brian Clough at Nottingham Forest – Sacked after only 44 days at Leeds Utd. The fans and the media questioned the wisdom and sanity of the Forest board at the appointment of the temperamental Clough. He went on to oversee the brightest years at the club including European Cup wins. Anybody questioning his appointment now?… NO!
The question isn’t about the Manager or Head Coach or whatever you call it. It is about the ability of the board to back decisions made by said incumbent.
There is no doubting that AVB has the talent, the ambition and the commitment to make Spurs successful, it’s a question of the board not shooting him in the foot.
Like all football fans you seem to want success now!!!
Well let me tell you something – the only place you’ll find SUCCESS comes before SWEAT and WORK, is in the dictionary.
You’ll also find that Patience comes before Success in the dictionary too…
Keep the faith. COYS.
Hahaha, priceless. Spot on
Great article – if you make a mistake (and this is only the latest of many by Daniel Levy) you put it right asap. ‘Give AVB time’- Why? It’s not going to get any better, and the sooner the boil is lanced (or the prick is boiled?) the better.
Another muppet!
Oh I’m sorry I didn’t realize you could see the future.
I read the heading and that was enough for me. Didn’t waste my time reading any more. I hope for your own sake that you’re better at breathing than you are about writing football articles. If you had another brain it would be lonely.
What a shocking article. How can anyone who knows Spurs think that AVB was responsible for the poor dealings in the transfer window. If he had got the players he actually wanted instead of the usual panick buys on deadline day i think things would be a lot different.
Also the change of formation at half time on Saturday was actually a good move, just a shame he didn’t do it earlier.
I have to admit i’m not fully convinced yet, but it is a tough job and he hasn’t got as strong a team as last year. He must be given more time and the players he wants.
This article seemed to have been written a while back waiting the right time for it to be tweaked and published! AVB is the manager now and either you give him the necessary support or keep your destructive articles to yourself!
I do feel sorry for AVB because he has had some rotten luck.
We’ve been badly hit by injuries with Caulker, Parker, Dembele, Assou Echotto, Kaboul and recently Ade injured. That is the heart of a great side and anybody would miss them.
I also wonder how much he had to do with the summer transfer policy. He cant be blamed for Modrics and Van Der Varts leaving, and did he really choose Siggy and Dempsey? For the price of those two and a certain goalkeeper we didn’t need we could have had a big signing that would have made a difference. We desperately need a top striker and playmaker. I do think Dembele was an outstanding signing and we have probably missed him more than anybody.
In the Arsenal game AVB was right to pick Defoe and Ade. They worked together well. When Ade was sent off Defoe dissapeared. AVB still doesn’t realise that Defoe needs someone with him. If after the sending off he had replaced Deoe with someone to stiffen up midfield and replaced Naughton with Dawson at the same time we could have seen a different result. Naughton was totally out of his depth.
AVB seems to make baffling substitutions that inevitably leave us struggling at the end.
I an not convinced for one.
Personally I think that the player we have missed the most is Benny. Too often we have been badly exposed on the left side of defence. Love him or hate him we look a better side when he is playing.
What a loads of sh*te this article is! It’s November you tool. AVB and Levy obviously have a long-term plan. Even ‘Arry would struggle with the loss of modric and vdv along with all our injuries. AVB got his tactics spot on against the scum and only for Ade’s moment of madness, it would have been a totally different game. Going 3 at the back in the 2nd half I had to applaud the manager for his balls. It’s exactly what every fan would have wanted, he took a risk in going for it and unfortunately it didn’t pay off. I for one was glad he went for it instead of playing one up top and accepting defeat. You obviously have F all knowledge about spurs. It was well documented that spurs and modric agreed that he would give one more year and if Madrid came knocking, we wouldn’t stand in his way… even if redknapp was in charch.
Long story short, you talk utter tripe and haven’t got a breeze about the mighty spurs.
Well said. Couldn’t have put it better myself!
AVB, Should never have been given the spurs manager’s position. The job was always too big for him.Please, get him out now before it’s too late.
Lets go get, DAVID MOYES from EVERTON!!!
What a moron! David Moyes, small time just like Everton. This is a joke article only posted to wind people up. If you were a true spurs fan you’d back you’re team and not jump on the bandwagon and call for AVB’s head……
“The job was always too big for him.”
And you are? How many treble’s has Moyes won? In fact, other than keeping Everton in the top half of the table, what has he done in general?
In all fairness, why would Moyes leave Everton and go to Tottenham?
Everton are playing much better at the moment, he is under no pressure and he is very passionate about the Toffees.
Why would he leave for Spurs?