The Daily ITK Discussion Thread - The 19 edition 26th May 2014

Well chuffed. Honestly very excited to see how he gets us playing.

He'll work them like dogs to, and the ones that don't like it can sling their hook if they're not up for a united front.

Drexl said:

Southampton fans seem gutted to lose him but they have a different level of expectation to us, we expect CL qualification and rightly so, just hope he can deliver that

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Not this season...or the next...and probably not the next either. Not now.

The next two seasons should be about great football and doing our best and seeing where it takes us.

7 top teams gunning for top 4, we've no divine right.

I want to see hardcore commitment and good, exciting football and let tino build his philosophy into our players and we do as well as we can stage by stage.

I wouldn't have burdened FDB/Benitez with CL qual either, just unrealistic now.

RuskyM said:

we won't finish top four next season. arsenal, liverpool & united will all be better than us, not to mention chelsea & city

that's not overblown pessimism either - unless we're really, really good, we're not going to overcome at least 2/5 of them

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Agreed. Even had we landed LvG and he had successfully implemented his strategum, with this squad currently as is we won't be getting fourth. I don't think he even would have done so this year.

RuskyM said:

i wonder if i can get it down to bullet points

• he's shown no indication of being able to cope with a difficult situation, when his players are sold or things get tense - hence why he left espanyol and why he's leaving southampton
• a lot of his success at southampton came from being bff's with the chairman. he will not have that relationship with daniel
• for a club that prides itself on ambition and belief it's a tad strange that we've opted for a man with an 8th placed finish and no cup success to his name
• we're picking him on potential rather than current ability: which as ramos, andre and sherwood showed, we're shit at predicting
• if the rumours that we're bringing in rodriguez/schneiderlin/lovren/lallana in are true, then again this doesn't show a man particularly good at adapting
• he has a strict regimented schedule. so did ramos and andre, and clearly our players need some tact - or at least a bigger name they'll instantly respect

he's the only candidate we were linked with that i had genuine issues with, and they're all personal rather than playstyle. southampton play really, really good football. i just hope that hasn't blinded daniel to what a massive risk this is

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One does get the feeling that Levy has seen how well Rodgers and Martinez have done last season and is hoping to replicate that with Poch.

It's a shame Soton haven't got a promising young English left back, still in his teens and who thinks it's perhaps too early for him to be making a mega-money move to Chelsea or United, and would prefer to come to Spurs or something with the manager who brought him into the first team (and harbours ambitions to play for Real Madrid in a couple of years).

Ho hum. We've still got Danny Rose I suppose

yankspurs said:

If a manager that has been successful left us to go to a bigger club, I'd be upset too.

But perusing their board, some
of them view us as a lateral move and are thinking they would make top 4 before we do. Gotta love the ambition, however unrealistic it is. IMO, we have a squad that should be able to get 4th, at the very least. 3rd is realistic if players are settled and performing to the best of their abilities.

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We have a decent squad, but that is some statement.

RuskyM said:

football isn't football manager - you cannot just come in with a series of ideals and instantly integrate them. if you could, we wouldn't even be discussing a replacement for andre. you need grit, determination, tact, a willingness to compromise and adapt. that is what i'm concerned about.

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Great! So your willing to give him time. Good.

Bit underwhelmed by Poch, if indeed he is the next man through the revolving door, but of course I will fully support him. Unless he doesn't play Chadli or Lamela, then I will be mercilessly and voiciferously hounding him out

Bobbins said:

It's a shame Soton haven't got a promising young English left back, still in his teens and who thinks it's perhaps too early for him to be making a mega-money move to Chelsea or United, and would prefer to come to Spurs or something with the manager who brought him into the first team (and harbours ambitions to play for Real Madrid in a couple of years).

Ho hum. We've still got Danny Rose I suppose

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Don't be greedy mate lol

Ghost Hardware said:

One does get the feeling that Levy has seen how well Rodgers and Martinez have done last season and is hoping to replicate that with Poch.

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which is perfectly fair - i understand why pochettino's attractive to him, and obviously the man's not going to show what he can do at a higher level of expectation until he's at that higher level of expectation

i see both sides, i'm just very very cautious

DanielCHillier said:

I don't understand why everyone seems so disheartened with Poch, very good young manager with premier league experience who plays attractive football, some people seem to be writing him off before he's even signed the contract. I suppose it's a case of once burned, twice shy, but I for one will give him every chance and support the team no matter what.

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most peoples fears are because he has done nothing spectacular, in terms of winning anything, though that really should not be a prerequisite for a manager if he offers you a style that suits what the fans want and what the club wants. Poch has a style that we have all craved for, and if you compare him to the next man, Fdb then Poch's style looks more attractive, more fluid and more Biesla. Biesla's system has contributed to Pep Guardiola's success at Barca.

In the defensive transition, Poch's system employs a high pressing game (something that we lacked under Sherwood), in the attacking transition it becomes more fluid and many believe it will be to the benefit of the players we already have, no more slow, ponderous play that negates the likes of Lamela, Soldado and to some extent Eriksen. In essence, I believe that Poch's style will suit us very well.

My main concern over Poch, is whilst his system is very much like the style we want, it does not show me that it has long term sustainability, the Biesla school of thought for this system requires a lot of energy consumption and is quite an intense style to perform for 90 mins, it pretty much demands a high pressing game from defensive to attacking transition. If Poch can answer that with an alternate plan and still keep the fluidity of the attacking phase, then I believe we may have a gem on our hands, also it should be noted that Poch has not been at a club that will offer him the chance to fully exploit his ambition. Make no mistake, Poch is walking into a pressure cooker at our club and it could go either way.

Fdb, for me was the safer bet, winning has been a big part of his life, his success at Ajax, as some have suggested is not as impressive as it looks on paper, though that should not detract from what he has done at Ajax. His philosophy is perhaps the longer of the two to implement and requires the players to be responsible for making their own decision making. It requires a lot more from players and in my mind, over time could lead to whole new brand of football at our club, one that is coached from under 18 level, right through to the first team. I am sure over time this would give us a style of football that becomes our identity, but with an added ethos of attacking flair.

For me, I favoured the Fdb picture, because I would rather much longer stability, though I was also aware that to take this club forward every-one had to be behind the ideas, and It dawned on me that Daniel Levy would not have the patience to see out such a long term project, and neither would our fans. Sometimes I wonder what the expectations of the average fan at Spurs is. To give someone like Fdb time to implement his ideas just would not work at our club, So by appointing Poch it is at least giving the fans something they can relate to, sure we can have a couple of good seasons with Poch and hopefully get "our" Spurs back [whatever that is], but when/if it goes wrong, where are we then? Still for what it's worth, I hope Poch succeeds and I will back him and any other non-believers must too, whatever games I go to next season, I will back the team with a positive voice.

yankspurs said:

If a manager that has been successful left us to go to a bigger club, I'd be upset too.

But perusing their board, some
of them view us as a lateral move and are thinking they would make top 4 before we do. Gotta love the ambition, however unrealistic it is. IMO, we have a squad that should be able to get 4th, at the very least. 3rd is realistic if players are settled and performing to the best of their abilities.

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I can see Southampton getting relegated next season with so many key players about to depart

thinktank said:

Great! So your willing to give him time. Good.

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if he shows he deserves it

Mr Pink said:

Well chuffed. Honestly very excited to see how he gets us playing.

He'll work them like dogs to, and the ones that don't like it can sling their hook if they're not up for a united front.

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I couldnt of said it better mate i think most players will enjoy him incharge like the southampton players do!

thinktank said:

Not this season...or the next...andprobably not hte next either. Not now.

The next two seasons should be about great football and doing our best and seeing where it takes us.

7 top teams gunning for top 4, we've no divine right.

I want to see hardcore commitment and good, exciting football and let tino build his philosophy into our players and we do as well as we can stage by stage.

I wouldn't have burdened FDB/Benitez with CL qual, just unrealistic now.

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Same. I want to see obvious signs of our players having bought into a philosophy, more dynamic and forward play, and no more capitulations when things go wrong. While we likely won't get fourth, I would be very pleased with such a season.

RuskyM said:

we won't finish top four next season. arsenal, liverpool & united will all be better than us, not to mention chelsea & city

that's not overblown pessimism either - unless we're really, really good, we're not going to overcome at least 2/5 of them

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The Telegraph article from Jason Burt says that Levy has demanded that Pochettino qualify for CL next season, clearly Levy thinks differently to many of the fans

thinktank said:

Not this season...or the next...andprobably not hte next either. Not now.

The next two seasons should be about great football and doing our best and seeing where it takes us.

7 top teams gunning for top 4, we've no divine right.

I want to see hardcore commitment and good, exciting football and let tino build his philosophy into our players and we do as well as we can stage by stage.

I wouldn't have burdened FDB/Benitez with CL qual, just unrealistic now.

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No point bringing him in then, Harry delivered two fourths and a fifth place finish in his last three years and was sacked because Levy wanted better than that. Top four has to be the minimum, lets not start making excuses before we even start, we are supposedly looking for a manager who can deliver CL football on a consistent basis, anything less has to be considered failure, Jol got us 5th place first 8 years ago now and but for the Ramos screw up we have been treading water around fifth place since, stage by stage approach now is OK but 4th and above

DiamondLites said:

Bit underwhelmed by Poch, if indeed he is the next man through the revolving door, but of course I will fully support him. Unless he doesn't play Chadli or Lamela, then I will be mercilessly and voiciferously hounding him out

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Could you supply definitions with your big words please?

Drexl said:

The Telegraph article from Jason Burt says that Levy has demanded that Pochettino qualify for CL next season, clearly Levy thinks differently to many of the fans

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He's undoubtedly said that to every manager he's hired, and every one of them have promised him they'd get him there. I do hope with obvious signs of improvement, Levy gives this one more time.

Levy had better put his money where his mouth is then.