Was there always a plan ?

[coys200]

Was just looking at our league finishes and thinking exactly how did we go from mid table obscurity to now being a consistent top 4 team. Because the only other clubs that have done that over the last 30 years are chelsea and Man City and they spent billions.

I’m sure most of us old enough will remember the complete wilderness between 1990-2005 where we were a mid table club occasionally flirting with relegation. In all honesty not a million miles off where West Ham or palace are now. That’s the magnitude of what weve actually achieved on a very conservative budget. Imagine me telling you in 10 years West Ham will be a solid top 4 outfit without oil money you’d think I was bonkers.
The training ground and stadium clearly show there was plan from the get go. The total net spend from 2005 is around £180m which over 12 seasons is hardly anything. Although I didn’t realise 2007-9 we actually net spent £120m when we bought bale and modric that’s what got our moneyball rolling. People say the bale money was wasted but really it wasn’t we got Eriksen from it one of 3 most key current players. Plus Lamela and the rest was re cycled again.
Honestly think what weve done is unparalleled in the modern game without a billionaire owner. Yes other clubs have had the odd season of success from nowhere. But I can’t think of another club that’s made such a dramatic transformation and continued to grow it for over a decade in the modern game. Yes I guess there’s been elements of luck along the way. Jol was key to get the ball rolling. Bale modric Redknapp at a key time. And obviously Kane dele Poch. But I do believe you make you’re own luck. We set out a definite policy of buying talented youth and it paid off big time. The whole evolution over the last 12 years is actually pretty fascinating. And with the new stadium now we Hopefully will go to the next chapter. Add silverware and really be able to look at the next 10 years as a defining period in the clubs history. In the way that Liverpool united had that established them as the clubs they are. Chelsea and city kind of cheated.

 

[parj]

Spurs fans have to remember we are on a journey. Even Poch said plan was to get champions league football once in the new stadium. We are ahead of the plan and we don't have the additional financial muscle to compete on wages yet.

Looks like we will lose Toby and maybe Rose, but we do sign replacements now. We don't sell and then buy dross, we buy good players now consistently. Ok didn't replace walker but what we miss is his speed more than anything but we will get those replacements.

A serious title challenge in 3 years will be good, but it's the "elite" clubs now swapping places in champions league with Europa, we are actually starting to cement our position in the Top4.

 

[coys200]

You also have to remember this is probably an unprecedented time having 6 such strong clubs. It’s almost like we are in an elite 6 team league with just 3 trophies to be won and 2 teams get relegated every season. It’s when you step back and look at the big picture and realise how far the clubs come in 12 years. Exciting to think this could just be the beginning.

 

[SUIYHA]

Remember when they used to call it the "big four". We were just an afterthought, there to make up the numbers. Remember when Arsenal signed our captain free transfer, when Chelsea tapped up our Director of Football, when our star striker suddenly decided he wanted to join his "boyhood club" Liverpool, when Man Utd sniffed around Sheringham, Carrick and Berbatov and you knew instantly that there was absolutely no chance of them staying at Spurs.

Can you imagine any of that happening now? We don't get bullied like that any more. Now it's no longer the big four, now it's the big six. And whilst other clubs like Leicester and Everton have broken into the top 6 momentarily, we're the only one that's managed to stay there without being backed by an oil billionaire. Win on Sunday and we're the only team in the country to have finished top three in each of the past three seasons. We'll have also finished above every team in the league at least twice in the last three years. It's remarkable consistency from a club that has far less resources than some of our competitors and has also had to deal with playing home games in an alternative stadium this year.

 

[coys200]

We just need a little more patience in regard to trophies the foundations are now in place. I’m not foolish enough to say we will have a period of dominance like Liverpool in 70/80s or united 90/00s . But the decade preceding both their dominance is very similar to our last decade , a period of sustained improvement. As said these are different times with oil rich clubs. But as long we continue to push forward and properly invest in the team , I think the next 20 years should be the greatest in the clubs history for sustained success. Levy ultimate exit plan has to be to sell spurs at their peak. It would make no sense for him to have put in all this work to let it regress. And anyone that may buy is in the future would have to have a shed load of money. Unless we really balls it up, it’s very hard to see us going back to mid table obscurity.

 

[Drink!Drink!]

It has been a journey more than a plan
Delighted to put the dark days behind us
Off the pitch, a clearer plan exists, and the stadium is so, so vital
On the pitch, there have been some leap forwards and at the same time some inexplicable decisions
The whole year with a caretaker manager apparently in order to head hunt the very best...only to see Santini get the job!
If we had a genius plan how on earth did Sherwood get given the top job
I still believe the dof experiment was the genesis of our transformation. Arnesen and Jol was the turning point. Also the pleat whisperer in Levy’s ear. Suddenly finding a player development and transfer strategy. Rather than Levy chasing the likes of Kevin Doyle and Michael rickets in the final hours of the transfer window
As we stand today we are an exceptionally well run club, it wasn’t that like from day 1 with enic and Levy, they were headless chickens at times in their early years, but “lessons were learned” lol. Now there is progress and a strategy and i say stuff Pochettino’s mouth with gold, got to keep him, he is vital to it all

 

[tommyt]

All Hail Lord Levy


Even you @Archibald&Crooks ya #### ;-)

 

[coys200]

It has been a journey more than a plan
Delighted to put the dark days behind us
Off the pitch, a clearer plan exists, and the stadium is so, so vital
On the pitch, there have been some leap forwards and at the same time some inexplicable decisions
The whole year with a caretaker manager apparently in order to head hunt the very best...only to see Santini get the job!
If we had a genius plan how on earth did Sherwood get given the top job
I still believe the dof experiment was the genesis of our transformation. Arnesen and Jol was the turning point. Also the pleat whisperer in Levy’s ear. Suddenly finding a player development and transfer strategy. Rather than Levy chasing the likes of Kevin Doyle and Michael rickets in the final hours of the transfer window
As we stand today we are an exceptionally well run club, it wasn’t that like from day 1 with enic and Levy, they were headless chickens at times in their early years, but “lessons were learned” lol. Now there is progress and a strategy and i say stuff Pochettino’s mouth with gold, got to keep him, he is vital to it all

In regard to Sherwood I think the plan was always to find a young vibrant manager who ideally could do exactly what Poch is doing. Apart from Redknapp who was an emergency situation. ENIC have always gone for managers under 50( I think Jol was). I can see how they got taken in by Sherwood. He did well with our youth and talks a good game. In theory he fitted the blueprint. But some credit to the club in that they did stick to the young manager philosophy and eventually it paid off.

 

[spursfan77]

In regard to Sherwood I think the plan was always to find a young vibrant manager who ideally could do exactly what Poch is doing. Apart from Redknapp who was an emergency situation. ENIC have always gone for managers under 50( I think Jol was). I can see how they got taken in by Sherwood. He did well with our youth and talks a good game. In theory he fitted the blueprint. But some credit to the club in that they did stick to the young manager philosophy and eventually it paid off.

I agree to some extent but didn’t we luck upon Poch to a degree. It was lewis who wanted him through his contacts in Argentina rather than Levy. That was the itk at the time. I’m not bashing anyone but there is a degree of luck in appointing the right guy. It took us decades to find the right manager.

 

[Drink!Drink!]

In regard to Sherwood I think the plan was always to find a young vibrant manager who ideally could do exactly what Poch is doing. Apart from Redknapp who was an emergency situation. ENIC have always gone for managers under 50( I think Jol was). I can see how they got taken in by Sherwood. He did well with our youth and talks a good game. In theory he fitted the blueprint. But some credit to the club in that they did stick to the young manager philosophy and eventually it paid off.

That is an incredibly generous interpretation of events. The majority of people associated with the club, and us as fans, were gobsmacked at his appointment. Most of us could only see it being a disaster. No hind sight this, we were all saying it at the time. Sherwood had no CV and no qualification for the job.

In terms of the "plan", Sherwood was outwardly hostile to the DoF system, he made no secret he was a fellow of the order of the "proper football men" and even boosted that he didn't pay attention to tactics. He made no secret he was against how the club had been recently organised i.e he was against "the plan". Yes, he made a play about giving youth a chance, but as a chancer, he knew, we all knew, he was a chancer, he knew he had to big up his role in youth development (even that is debatable, but let's not go there for now), I mean that was all of his CV, there was nothing else on it.

If the question is, did the club have a plan that it was following, then Sherwood's appointment is evidence to say that actually, no there was no plan. It was a period when Levy swung wildly from DoF system to old school manager in total charge and back again. Perhaps what happened was there was a plan, but Levy seriously wobbled when things didn't go well. Eventually, the coach/transfers/player development strategy returned, and we lucked out getting the perfect man for such a system in Poch.

 

[Shadydan]

The plan was to get Sherwood out the club and Levy gave him a noose to hang himself.

 

[topper]

You also have to remember this is probably an unprecedented time having 6 such strong clubs. It’s almost like we are in an elite 6 team league with just 3 trophies to be won and 2 teams get relegated every season. It’s when you step back and look at the big picture and realise how far the clubs come in 12 years. Exciting to think this could just be the beginning.

This!

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

In regard to Sherwood I think the plan was always to find a young vibrant manager who ideally could do exactly what Poch is doing. Apart from Redknapp who was an emergency situation. ENIC have always gone for managers under 50( I think Jol was). I can see how they got taken in by Sherwood. He did well with our youth and talks a good game. In theory he fitted the blueprint. But some credit to the club in that they did stick to the young manager philosophy and eventually it paid off.

Jacques Santini and Juande Ramos were both over 50 when they were given the poisoned chalice.

Lets be generous and not count the caretaker managers (4), Poch is the eighth man in the hotseat since his loftiness took over, three have been over 50.

TBH I'm guessing they were over 50. They fucking looked it But if I'm right it casts serious doubt on this philosophy malarkey.

 

[ernie78]

I had this chat with my Dad the other week after he made a knee jerk comment after an abject performance.
I’ve supported Spurs since ‘87 & I had to remind my Dad how happy both of us were just to get back into Europe under Jol, watching Getafe, Feyenord etc & now this season we’d watched us thrash Real Madrid & potentiality finish in the top 3 for the third season running. It’s a far cry from the 90’s. Where we’ve come from and doing it in the manner we have should be lauded a lot more than it is

 

[Kilkenny Cat]

For me the summer of 2004 was when it began. We signed Sean Davis AND Pedro Mendes to stiffen the midfield and got rid of Jamie Redknapp, the poster boy - pretty and lightweight - for everything that was wrong with Spurs.

 

[Saoirse]

I think with Sherwood we have to bear in mind he was a mid-season appointment on a short-term contract. The plan obviously didn't involve having to sack a manager who'd lost the dressing room and regularly lead us to 5-goal margin defeats. At that time we were 7th in the league, our GD was -6, the squad was in turmoil, and us making the Champions League looked about as likely as business mogul Donald Trump becoming President of the United States. We weren't going to get a good long-term manager in at that point, but equally we didn't need an Emergency Harry Redknapp to keep us up either. So we got in someone who knew the players already, was very cheap, would take an 18 month contract, gave some promising kids a chance over some fairly useless seniors, and told him to get us into the Europa. Pragmatically it was a decent short term choice and I expect we always planned to get someone different in in the summer unless he pulled off a miracle.

 

[hellava_tough]

Off the pitch, there was always a business plan (training ground + stadium, etc) in place and this allowed a certain amount of stability for new managers to work with. Tbh, you'd expect this from someone like Levy; a man who holds a First from Cambridge in Economics and Land Economy.

On the pitch however, I'm not sure there's been much of a plan or consistency of approach. Many managers, dozens of coaches and backroom staff and hundreds of players have come and gone. The 'churn' continued until it worked itself out with Poch. We also got a little bit lucky with signing the likes of Carrick, Modric, Berbatov and Bale, and Levy did very well to get mega fees for them and reinvest the money into the team.

So overall, we could have done better, we had bit of luck, but were always ambitious and looking to improve on things year in, year out.

 

[coys200]

This will be our 9th season of consecutive top 6. Honestly can’t think of another club outside the obvious top 5 that’s done that. You may have to go back as far as Leeds in the 70s.

 

[Lighty64]

Was just looking at our league finishes and thinking exactly how did we go from mid table obscurity to now being a consistent top 4 team. Because the only other clubs that have done that over the last 30 years are chelsea and Man City and they spent billions.

I’m sure most of us old enough will remember the complete wilderness between 1990-2005 where we were a mid table club occasionally flirting with relegation. In all honesty not a million miles off where West Ham or palace are now. That’s the magnitude of what weve actually achieved on a very conservative budget. Imagine me telling you in 10 years West Ham will be a solid top 4 outfit without oil money you’d think I was bonkers.
The training ground and stadium clearly show there was plan from the get go. The total net spend from 2005 is around £180m which over 12 seasons is hardly anything. Although I didn’t realise 2007-9 we actually net spent £120m when we bought bale and modric that’s what got our moneyball rolling. People say the bale money was wasted but really it wasn’t we got Eriksen from it one of 3 most key current players. Plus Lamela and the rest was re cycled again.

Honestly think what weve done is unparalleled in the modern game without a billionaire owner. Yes other clubs have had the odd season of success from nowhere. But I can’t think of another club that’s made such a dramatic transformation and continued to grow it for over a decade in the modern game. Yes I guess there’s been elements of luck along the way. Jol was key to get the ball rolling. Bale modric Redknapp at a key time. And obviously Kane dele Poch. But I do believe you make you’re own luck. We set out a definite policy of buying talented youth and it paid off big time. The whole evolution over the last 12 years is actually pretty fascinating. And with the new stadium now we Hopefully will go to the next chapter. Add silverware and really be able to look at the next 10 years as a defining period in the clubs history. In the way that Liverpool united had that established them as the clubs they are. Chelsea and city kind of cheated.

I might be wrong, but I'm sure ENIC/Joe Lewis were billionaires before they took the club over

Remember when they used to call it the "big four". We were just an afterthought, there to make up the numbers. Remember when Arsenal signed our captain free transfer, when Chelsea tapped up our Director of Football, when our star striker suddenly decided he wanted to join his "boyhood club" Liverpool, when Man Utd sniffed around Sheringham, Carrick and Berbatov and you knew instantly that there was absolutely no chance of them staying at Spurs.

Can you imagine any of that happening now? We don't get bullied like that any more. Now it's no longer the big four, now it's the big six. And whilst other clubs like Leicester and Everton have broken into the top 6 momentarily, we're the only one that's managed to stay there without being backed by an oil billionaire. Win on Sunday and we're the only team in the country to have finished top three in each of the past three seasons. We'll have also finished above every team in the league at least twice in the last three years. It's remarkable consistency from a club that has far less resources than some of our competitors and has also had to deal with playing home games in an alternative stadium this year.

nope I remember there being the big 6, Liverpool, Man U, Arsenal, Everton, A Villa and us in the 80's

 

[Drink!Drink!]

if we are looking at our recent history and the big picture

it has been a real struggle, a long climb up the mountain - and it shows just what a disaster Alan Sugar's reign had been. We went from "big 5" to relegation scrappers. When ENIC took over, our previous equals, such as the goons, had disappeared over the horizon, they had seen the new TV money age and were playing to its new rules, meanwhile Sugar was talking about talking about turning our great club into "wimbledon with fans". Sure, the club needed financially rebooting after Irving Scholar's misadventures, but bloody hell, that clown did a lot of damage