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Rafael van der Vaart exclusive: "Leaving Tottenham was the most stupid decision of my career"

Timberwolf

Well-Known Member
Jan 17, 2008
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According to him in the article it was AVB telling him he wasn't his number 1 anymore, not the girlfriend thing that made him leave.
Well he does also say "It was private things", hinting at marital troubles. I'm sure Sylvie played her part in his departure.
 

davidmatzdorf

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Jun 7, 2004
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According to him in the article it was AVB telling him he wasn't his number 1 anymore, not the girlfriend thing that made him leave.

You missed the phrase about "private things". That was plainly a reference to his marriage problems. And it was the first thing he listed.

It was private things, but also when what's his name [Andre Villas-Boas] came he said to me 'you're not my number one' and I had played two years, like, unbelievable, so for me it was really strange that he said that to me. So then I said, well, it's better to leave and that is what happened.
 

Spurger King

can't smile without glue
Jul 22, 2008
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You missed the phrase about "private things". That was plainly a reference to his marriage problems. And it was the first thing he listed.

The section you quoted simply highlights how his conversation with AVB was the catalyst for him leaving. Clearly other factors were involved, but VDV himself says that following his chat with AVB he decided that "well, it's better to leave."

To me that comes across as someone who had good cause to go back to Holland, but hadn't made up his mind until he spoke with AVB.
 

Sweetsman

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Jan 30, 2011
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I always diverge from the consensus when considering that season. I think our missed opportunity had virtually nothing to do with transfer business in January 2012 - or the lack of it.

The team was on a roll, right up to the point where Capello resigned. From that point, or rather one match later, results collapsed. After beating Newcastle, we won 3, drew 4 and lost 6 of our next 13 matches (+1 abandoned). Then Hodgson got the England job and we won 3 and drew 1 of our remaining 4 matches. It wasn't subtle, it was as black-and-white as that.

I can't see how different transfer business would have affected the damage to team morale and managerial concentration caused by the England-manager circus (the incident with Fabrice Muamba arguably didn't help, either).

Despite the slump in results, we still finished 4th and were looking forward to another season in the Champions League. Eden Hazard was announcing in interviews that he wanted to join Tottenham. We were still the fashionably exciting team to watch.

Then Chelsea won the CL final. That single, semi-flukey event was what really did for that team and four years of Redknapp's management. There was little doubt that Levy was fed up to the gills with Harry's bullshit and self-promotion by that point, but I do not reckon that he would have been able to terminate his employment if we had qualified for the CL. He just wouldn't have dared.

And who knows: if we were in the CL, we might have signed Hazard...
We trounced a Newcastle team without a defensive midfielder, something that Pardew was aware of. The turning point was when we were two-nil up against the Goons and didn't shut up shop when the signs were there that they were hammering at the backdoor.
It was Redknapp's turning down of the new contract that was on the table even after the court case, followed by the use of an aggressive agent, as well as the loss of places in the table for the second year running despite a stellar squad, that probably did for him. The board had probably already identified AVB (remember that someone had been scouting Oscar in Brazil, which was where AVB was spending his time after Chelsea) to take over from Redknapp once they thought that he would take the England job that everyone thought was his; the FA probably thought that the verdict in the court case would be too tainted whatever the outcome and so opted for Hodgson.
 
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davidmatzdorf

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Jun 7, 2004
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It was Redknapp's turning down of the new contract that was on the table even after the court case, followed by the use of an aggressive agent, as well as the loss of places in the table for the second year running despite a stellar squad, that probably did for him. The board had probably already been identified AVB (remember that someone had been scouting Oscar in Brazil, which was where AVB was spending his time after Chelsea) to take over from Redknapp once they thought that he would take the England job that everyone thought was his; the FA had probably thought that the verdict in the court case would be too tainted whatever the outcome and so opted for Hodgson.

And all of that is entirely consistent with what I wrote. Just two parallel tales of simultaneous events, both true.

What wasn't a major factor was the transfer business done (or not done) in January 2012.
 

Sweetsman

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Jan 30, 2011
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And all of that is entirely consistent with what I wrote. Just two parallel tales of simultaneous events, both true.

What wasn't a major factor was the transfer business done (or not done) in January 2012.
If you don't believe your manager will be with you next season, it is a bit stupid to let him, especially given Redknapp's incontinence when it comes to spending, have the keys to the coffers. They assumed wrongly that it was highly unlikely that we wouldn't be in the CL. They made a mistake in not telling Redknapp that they would do all they could to promote him for the England job as long as he ensured that we would not be below third. On the other hand, they couldn't tell him who they were sounding out for the post when it clearly wasn't Sherwood.
 

Jonesey

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2004
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You missed the phrase about "private things". That was plainly a reference to his marriage problems. And it was the first thing he listed.

I don't see the point to your post David - especially when you just quoted exactly the passage that proves my point. And, TBH, it's irrelevant that the "private things" line came first.

At the time I had a mate who was pretty close to the club. He confirmed that VDV never wanted to leave us - until AVB questioned his place in the team saying he wasn't sure if he would "fit into his planned system" [or words to that effect, it was a while ago] and wouldn't guarantee him first team football.

I posted to this effect at the time but got shot down by a couple of people on here who claimed they knew better and moaned that I was doom mongering, not getting behind AVB, etc, etc.

They were probably right - but it was based on this and other tid-bits of information that came I'd heard from the club at the time ...

The jury was most definitely out inside the club RE: AVB long before the wheels actually came off, trust me.
 

Tomdon

Active Member
Jul 27, 2012
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We can get the expected results by improving of squad, the fact that at that time we did not have any quality striker and on the market there were 3 world class strikers at a reasonable price, I see it as a big miss.
We should have taken this oppurtunity in both hands - taking in consideration that all our quality players often upgrade them self to a bigger club.
But it's true that there are other factors in the equation that helped us to decline.
 

davidmatzdorf

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Jun 7, 2004
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I don't see the point to your post David - especially when you just quoted exactly the passage that proves my point. And, TBH, it's irrelevant that the "private things" line came first.
...
The jury was most definitely out inside the club RE: AVB long before the wheels actually came off, trust me.

I'm not seeing any real disagreement here. Of course he didn't "want to" leave the club. But his marriage was in trouble, his wife was going back to Germany and his new manager didn't give him the respect he thought he deserved. So he left and then regretted it when the marriage failed and his new club underperformed.

Both factors were important and he quoted both in his interview. It's a matter of hunch which one you or I think was more influential.

You post reads as if you think you need to convince me that AVB mis-managed the situation. You don't: read my posts again.
 
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