How many more years do you want Harry to stay?

[StartingPrice]

Some people defend him to the hilt, others bash him every chance they get.

I just agreed with Mr Pink and Bomber H on the same subject and both have different views. Go figure.

He either gets offered a contract and money to spend, or he goes and a new guy comes in. As I have said elsewhere, there is no sense in keeping him just for another season.

I bash myself every chance I get...

 

[JerryGarcia]

As long as he can continue, we've not had it better as Spurs fans for a long time.

 

[Grey Fox]

Point of order, Grey Fox: When ridiculing someones spelling, always make a point of spelling the ridicule correctly

Was not ridiculing anyones spelling, but my own has been fixed

 

[StartingPrice]

I was, haven't heard about PSV, if it was PSG I would be really excited

You mean you weren't having some funs at his expense for mispelling PSG?

 

[Grey Fox]

You mean you weren't having some funs at his expense for mispelling PSG?

No genuine post

 

[StartingPrice]

No genuine post

Okay...my bad...thought you were taking the pee

 

[sloth]

Some people defend him to the hilt, others bash him every chance they get.

I just agreed with Mr Pink and Bomber H on the same subject and both have different views. Go figure.

He either gets offered a contract and money to spend, or he goes and a new guy comes in. As I have said elsewhere, there is no sense in keeping him just for another season.

Yes there is.

If he wants to stay, but we don't think it's in the long-term interests of the club for him to stay more than a year, but he's not prepared to walk away, or feels he can prove something/change Levy's mind in the next 12 months.

Even if you want to you simply can't sack a manager who's been as successful as he has, it sends out all the wrong messages to any prospective managerial candidate, many will be put off by that lack of fairness. The press would all be against the club and by association new guy, and the first bit of bad luck the knives would be out, and it's easy to tip bad-luck into something real and sustained. A huge constituency of fans would be up and arms and against the Levy and the people who had done the deed, and would not feel charitable towards the new guy. They too would jump on the first misfortune as evidence that the club was crazy to sack Redknapp. In short it would cause huge turmoil and upheaval which is not conducive to success on the pitch.

You suggest the alternative is to offer him a long contract, but that's just as crazy if your assessment is that Harry is not the long-term answer for the club. You may not have made that assessment, but if you have, as I have done, then the last thing you want to do is give him a long-term contract, what you're looking for is a graceful and amicable parting of ways.

Of course there is an issue with not publicly backing him, which is if he's asked for a longer contract and is not offered one then this will be seen as a clear sign of no confidence in the manager. However, these kinds of things can be handled quite nicely behind closed doors, people don't want the public humiliation of being sacked, or not backed, so they could agree that Harry and the club feel it's best if he's kept on a rolling one-year contract a la Pep, Jose, and O'Neill. Or Harry may just decide to take a golden handshake (which Levy can make greater tha the compensation he would get if sacked), and walk away into semi-retirement with his head held high.

At the moment though Harry's played his best hand, and lost. He is no position to negotiate with Levy, as he had a contract on the table and didn't sign it because he wanted the England job. He cannot make snide remarks in the press any more, deflecting blame onto the chairman, or the fans or whoever because his stock has fallen. Harry will have to decide whether he wants to continue under Levy's terms, or walk away under Levy's terms, or make himself unemployable by claiming he's been snubbed on a new contract, and the chairman has no faith in him. It's up to him, but only one choice gets him nothing.

If he does stay for a single year then the only other thing you risk is the chance that Harry loses authority, in the way he seemed to with all the England speculation, however as with Joes, Pep et al, it's perfectly possible to maintain authority on a rolling one year contract, especially if it's clear the boss will sign another year if he so desires and if he's given the opportunity to do so. If we have a stonking year next year, as the Harry believers think we will, then they'll be happy and we can retain him. If we have a middling year, in which the same faults are exposed, then the club will be free to sign another man next summer without having to sack Harry with all the ructions that would entail.

 

[Lo Amo Speroni]

Yes there is.

If he wants to stay, but we don't think it's in the long-term interests of the club for him to stay more than a year, but he's not prepared to walk away, or feels he can prove something/change Levy's mind in the next 12 months.

Even if you want to you simply can't sack a manager who's been as successful as he has, it sends out all the wrong messages to any prospective managerial candidate, many will be put off by that lack of fairness. The press would all be against the club and by association new guy, and the first bit of bad luck the knives would be out, and it's easy to tip bad-luck into something real and sustained. A huge constituency of fans would be up and arms and against the Levy and the people who had done the deed, and would not feel charitable towards the new guy. They too would jump on the first misfortune as evidence that the club was crazy to sack Redknapp. In short it would cause huge turmoil and upheaval which is not conducive to success on the pitch.

You suggest the alternative is to offer him a long contract, but that's just as crazy if your assessment is that Harry is not the long-term answer for the club. You may not have made that assessment, but if you have, as I have done, then the last thing you want to do is give him a long-term contract, what you're looking for is a graceful and amicable parting of ways.

Of course there is an issue with not publicly backing him, which is if he's asked for a longer contract and is not offered one then this will be seen as a clear sign of no confidence in the manager. However, these kinds of things can be handled quite nicely behind closed doors, people don't want the public humiliation of being sacked, or not backed, so they could agree that Harry and the club feel it's best if he's kept on a rolling one-year contract a la Pep, Jose, and O'Neill. Or Harry may just decide to take a golden handshake (which Levy can make greater tha the compensation he would get if sacked), and walk away into semi-retirement with his head held high.

At the moment though Harry's played his best hand, and lost. He is no position to negotiate with Levy, as he had a contract on the table and didn't sign it because he wanted the England job. He cannot make snide remarks in the press any more, deflecting blame onto the chairman, or the fans or whoever because his stock has fallen. Harry will have to decide whether he wants to continue under Levy's terms, or walk away under Levy's terms, or make himself unemployable by claiming he's been snubbed on a new contract, and the chairman has no faith in him. It's up to him, but only one choice gets him nothing.

If he does stay for a single year then the only other thing you risk is the chance that Harry loses authority, in the way he seemed to with all the England speculation, however as with Joes, Pep et al, it's perfectly possible to maintain authority on a rolling one year contract, especially if it's clear the boss will sign another year if he so desires and if he's given the opportunity to do so. If we have a stonking year next year, as the Harry believers think we will, then they'll be happy and we can retain him. If we have a middling year, in which the same faults are exposed, then the club will be free to sign another man next summer without having to sack Harry with all the ructions that would entail.

Sloth, you make some good points that are difficult to argue with. So I wont.

I believe we are at a crucial stage in our development and have a very strong squad at the moment. The chairman backed Harry throughout the trial, was very supportive as stated by Harry himself.

Other managers out there will know this and as you quite rightly say he flirted to get the England job and has played his hand and lost.

I want what is best for Spurs, not Harry and therefore we should pay him off, whilst allowing him the opportunity to say it was his decision (difficult I know bearing in mind what he has just said). Find a new long term manager with tactical nous and move on.

So, okay you have changed my mind on the possibility of giving him a new contract and money to spend.

But I don't want to give him that year either. We must act on this soon, May 14th sounds good to me.

 

[timfrancis]

This vote needs a "No F***ing idea" button - I really don't know what I want. Harry might want to prove the FA wrong and really do a job for us or he may just decide he's had enough and effectively become semi-retired.

 

[Real_madyidd]

Went with the maximum possible. Making an assumption that it means we are really successful so we don't get rid of him. 20 years of dominating the prem will be fine by me.

 

[animal]

At the moment though Harry's played his best hand, and lost. He is no position to negotiate with Levy, as he had a contract on the table and didn't sign it because he wanted the England job. He cannot make snide remarks in the press any more, deflecting blame onto the chairman, or the fans or whoever because his stock has fallen. Harry will have to decide whether he wants to continue under Levy's terms, or walk away under Levy's terms, or make himself unemployable by claiming he's been snubbed on a new contract, and the chairman has no faith in him. It's up to him, but only one choice gets him nothing.

This is the bit that makes me happy for Harry to stay on for another year and potentially further if next season is a success. I would hope that this whole situation (our slump in form and the Hodgson surprise) has humbled Harry to a degree and will highlight various issues with the way he has handled our squad. Playing the strongest eleven all the time has been proven to not always be the best option. Sometimes playing a few weaker players in a tactical system that suits them is the better option, but does Harry have the tactical ability and intelligence to do this? I also really think that Levy needs to put a proper structure in place. If he thinks that a sporting director is the best route of acquiring new players then he needs to tell Harry that it's his way or nothing at all.

Harry was brought in as the best man to halt the threat of relegation and he did that with some aplomb. Now the situation at the club is about progression and we need to return to the policy of identify young talent with potential rather than old but reliable performers who can come in to do a job in the short term. Harry also needs to prove in the next season that he is capable and willing to work this way.

If next season sees us simply in a battle to qualify for CL rather than challenging for the title and winning a trophy as most people would like then that's fine. I think we need to be realistic about our ability to challenge at the top with our financial constraints. Until we have the cash to buy the top players we have to settle for players a level down and hope to uncover some exceptional talents along the way.

I don't envy Levy's position. He has the constant pressure from the fans to pursue the best players in the world and then the fans get angry when we don't buy them or show serious intent to buy them. Levy's commitment to building a new stadium and the new training ground should be evidence enough that he is serious about taking this club forward. We all need a little more patience. Great things will come as a result of Levy's leadership, I'm convinced of this.

 

[lukespurs7]

We have seen some of the best football at the Lane since the 80's and perhaps even the 60's, yes we hit a dip in form but I see no reason to get rid of him. However I worry on two accounts:
1) Harry's signings are too short-term in nature, which is not in-line with a club looking to develop it's long-term future.
2) If Hogson has a shocking Euro's then the FA may come after Harry again which brings us back to square 1.

In terms of his managerial ability, the way he has got us playing etc I think if he can get a few more of the kind of players in that he wants then we may have another strong year next year. As people have pointed out until we get a new stadium and can raise our transfer budgets and more importantly our wage structure, we will be doing well to even get near a title challenge like we did this season, and scraping into the top4 will be a success considering the strength of the teams competing for that position now.

 

[Gilzeanking]

He needs to demand more from himself and raise his game as a manager to suit the level he's now managing at.

Yes managers need to be constantly reevaluating their own performances and looking to improve things ....and its in this area that being 65 years of age doesn't help .

 

[DiamondLites]

I think he has made his position untennable personally, and that a mutual parting of ways would be for the best in the summer. Say england crash and burn in the summer, how long for the media to drum up a 'Give 'arry the job' campaign and we are back stuck in the middle again getting 3 points from 24,all the while he is whoring himself out to the press again. Also, if we aren't going to renew his deal after this season then surely we will be in the same position as last few transfer windows where the board won't stump up the cash because they don't think he will be here the following season. Again, we will be stuck in limbo If he does stay, then the board need to back him and not try and get champions league on the cheap

 

[Mr Pink]

I think he has made his position untennable personally, and that a mutual parting of ways would be for the best in the summer. Say england crash and burn in the summer, how long for the media to drum up a 'Give 'arry the job' campaign and we are back stuck in the middle again getting 3 points from 24,all the while he is whoring himself out to the press again. Also, if we aren't going to renew his deal after this season then surely we will be in the same position as last few transfer windows where the board won't stump up the cash because they don't think he will be here the following season. Again, we will be stuck in limbo If he does stay, then the board need to back him and not try and get champions league on the cheap

Its a fair way to look at it.

Get these next two weeks out of the way and then Levy has to think about what the short and longer term future holds regarding Harry and the Club. One thing is for certain, if Harry is to say it has to be understood on both sides what the plan is. No more being ambiguous and unclear regarding speculation, although I'm not entirely confident he can help himself.

I think Levy needs to think about this in a structured way and we need to address our recent approach/attiitude in the transfer market.

Some big considerations for Levy I would say but hopefully Harry feels a bit like a naughty school kid at the moment, and feels he needs to prove himself by getting us fourth.

 

[Lo Amo Speroni]

Its a fair way to look at it.

Get these next two weeks out of the way and then Levy has to think about what the short and longer term future holds regarding Harry and the Club. One thing is for certain, if Harry is to say it has to be understood on both sides what the plan is. No more being ambiguous and unclear regarding speculation, although I'm not entirely confident he can help himself.

I think Levy needs to think about this in a structured way and we need to address our recent approach/attiitude in the transfer market.

Some big considerations for Levy I would say but hopefully Harry feels a bit like a naughty school kid at the moment, and feels he needs to prove himself by getting us fourth.

It would seem logical to me that Levy was cautious in the summer and January transfer windows because Harry had the court case hanging over his head, therefore making long term planning impossible. Surely if he keeps Harry that can no longer be the case?

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

It would seem logical to me that Levy was cautious in the summer and January transfer windows because Harry had the court case hanging over his head, therefore making long term planning impossible. Surely if he keeps Harry that can no longer be the case?

Yeah, you'd hope so.

I'm not sure how long I want him to stay personally I can't be arsed to think about it, but I do think if we don't get CL he might very well be out on his ear.

 

[Lo Amo Speroni]

Yeah, you'd hope so.

I'm not sure how long I want him to stay personally I can't be arsed to think about it, but I do think if we don't get CL he might very well be out on his ear.

Do you think?

 

[Misfit]

A decision needs to be made PDQ. Couple of weeks and it's on like Donkey Kong. Whether we get top 4 or not, Levy needs to decide whether he gets a new man in and back him this summer or gives H a new contract and backs him. This dead man walking scenario isn't going to cut it.

Either way, and hopefully this is with a top 4 place secured forobvious reasons, this summer we need to bring at least - at least - a couple of strikers. No more loans, no more "veterans".

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

Do you think?

Not often, no