Daniel Levy's mistake?
Daniel Levy divides fans, usually between those who think clubs should spend recklessly and gamble with their very future or those who appreciate that you can only spend what he can afford, that you have to live within your means.
Not a gambler, he took a gamble during the summer. Gareth Bale was leaving, he had held onto him for an extra year but Spurs failed to get Champions League, the only chance we had of keeping him. The chosen route was to go out and buy a group of quality players to strengthen the squad which lacked depth.
The gamble was would they gel. You hear this excuse bandied about all the time and after a couple of months it ceased to have any bearing. If you can't gel in a couple of months then there is something wrong elsewhere or you simply aren't good enough. As was apparent the Andre Villas-Boas method of football was to pass the ball and shoot from 20 yards, a recipe that was never going to work.
Having bought a goalscorer we refused to pass him the ball, undermined his confidence and we are now seeing the benefit of that ridiculous approach, a totally out of form lacking any confidence striker who can't tuck it in from 4 yards.
The signing of a group of players however was not the mistake, nor was realising AVB was a dud and dispensing with his services. Neither was it not buying during the January transfer window, after all with a new Head Coach being appointed at the end of the season why would you buy anyone in January.
No the error was in not appointing Glenn Hoddle and appointing Tim Sherwood as the temporary boss in all but name.
Glenn Hoddle had publicly stated he would be happy to help Spurs out as he loved the club and take over until the end of the season if required.
Yes Hoddle would have hoped and used that as an audition for the long term role, but that would have been good for the club anyway, he would have given it everything. This time around he would have had quality players to work with.
He has been one of the best, if not the best, England manager since another Tottenham guy had the job, a certain Terry Venables, who the FA should have appointed for longer and not asked him to audition for the role at the European Championships.
The fact that Tim Sherwood and Glenn Hoddle do not see eye to eye shall we say should have had nothing to do with it. Qualification for the Champions League was absolutely essential. There seemed to have been a total lack of understanding that players have joined us to play in the competition and if we don't make it they have no reason to stay.
What happens then is you have to start all over again, you set the club back another couple of years, something that is permanently happening at the moment.
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I can understand the logic of appointing Tim Sherwood. Levy had to see if his blue eyed boy would show any signs that he could cut it as a future manager. The only way to do that was to give him a stint in charge and this was a heaven sent opportunity. If Tim showed something, then a new man could come in in the summer and Sherwood could learn from him as his number 2 until the time came for him to take the reigns.
As a long term plan it has it's merits, it's planning for the future. As someone who has developed a pool of young talent at Tottenham and the clubs desire for a youthful side the attraction was obvious.
However what has been lost is the fact that Champions League was a must. A novice is never going to get you there, he can't just tell a group of players to go on the park and do what you have done for years the way Di Matteo let John Terry run Chelsea because the Spurs players hadn't been playing together for years.
To avoid losing players someone had to appointed who had experience and knew what they were doing. Glenn Hoddle was the obvious choice.
The route we have taken commits us to a summer of rebuilding, a summer of spending and we all know how we spend, last minute dot com.
Not a gambling man, Daniel Levy took a gamble. Has it paid off, well that depends on your required outcome.
If we wanted to keep our players then no, Champions league and an experienced Head Coach were essential for that, so it will have failed.
If the outcome was to see whether Tim Sherwood could cut it as a manager in the future and accept that you will lose players and have to rebuild again, then yes it has probably worked.
It just depends how you look at the equation.
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| Daniel Levy had to ponder Spurs future |
The gamble was would they gel. You hear this excuse bandied about all the time and after a couple of months it ceased to have any bearing. If you can't gel in a couple of months then there is something wrong elsewhere or you simply aren't good enough. As was apparent the Andre Villas-Boas method of football was to pass the ball and shoot from 20 yards, a recipe that was never going to work.
Having bought a goalscorer we refused to pass him the ball, undermined his confidence and we are now seeing the benefit of that ridiculous approach, a totally out of form lacking any confidence striker who can't tuck it in from 4 yards.
The signing of a group of players however was not the mistake, nor was realising AVB was a dud and dispensing with his services. Neither was it not buying during the January transfer window, after all with a new Head Coach being appointed at the end of the season why would you buy anyone in January.
No the error was in not appointing Glenn Hoddle and appointing Tim Sherwood as the temporary boss in all but name.
Glenn Hoddle had publicly stated he would be happy to help Spurs out as he loved the club and take over until the end of the season if required.
Yes Hoddle would have hoped and used that as an audition for the long term role, but that would have been good for the club anyway, he would have given it everything. This time around he would have had quality players to work with.
He has been one of the best, if not the best, England manager since another Tottenham guy had the job, a certain Terry Venables, who the FA should have appointed for longer and not asked him to audition for the role at the European Championships.
The fact that Tim Sherwood and Glenn Hoddle do not see eye to eye shall we say should have had nothing to do with it. Qualification for the Champions League was absolutely essential. There seemed to have been a total lack of understanding that players have joined us to play in the competition and if we don't make it they have no reason to stay.
What happens then is you have to start all over again, you set the club back another couple of years, something that is permanently happening at the moment.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Related Articles
Jan Vertonghen the next big name to go
Candidate 1: Cesare Prandelli a coach with morals, respect and standards
Candidate 2 article released tonight at UK 9.30pm
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I can understand the logic of appointing Tim Sherwood. Levy had to see if his blue eyed boy would show any signs that he could cut it as a future manager. The only way to do that was to give him a stint in charge and this was a heaven sent opportunity. If Tim showed something, then a new man could come in in the summer and Sherwood could learn from him as his number 2 until the time came for him to take the reigns.
As a long term plan it has it's merits, it's planning for the future. As someone who has developed a pool of young talent at Tottenham and the clubs desire for a youthful side the attraction was obvious.
However what has been lost is the fact that Champions League was a must. A novice is never going to get you there, he can't just tell a group of players to go on the park and do what you have done for years the way Di Matteo let John Terry run Chelsea because the Spurs players hadn't been playing together for years.
To avoid losing players someone had to appointed who had experience and knew what they were doing. Glenn Hoddle was the obvious choice.
The route we have taken commits us to a summer of rebuilding, a summer of spending and we all know how we spend, last minute dot com.
Not a gambling man, Daniel Levy took a gamble. Has it paid off, well that depends on your required outcome.
If we wanted to keep our players then no, Champions league and an experienced Head Coach were essential for that, so it will have failed.
If the outcome was to see whether Tim Sherwood could cut it as a manager in the future and accept that you will lose players and have to rebuild again, then yes it has probably worked.
It just depends how you look at the equation.
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