When did you first become disillusioned with AVB?

[Gassin's finest]

I wouldn't say I was disillusioned, but maybe a tad disinterested after the Emirates game. I've never rated Rose or Naughton; Chadli, Paulinho and Ciriches aren't doing much for me, Lamela and Soldado have looked lost and frustrated. Dawson is flailing badly in a system unsuited to him and Townsend frustrates the fuck out of me. Even Dembele is looking fed up and surly. Walkers gone backwards. The only players still doing what they usually do is Lloris, Sandro, Defoe and Lennon, and tbh I thought we'd improved on the latter two.

So yeah... not sure really. Plenty of good, good players there, just need putting into the right places.

 

[markiespurs]

Had doubts about the appointment of AVB from the off, but as Levy didn't feel the need to consult me about the appointment, I decided to do the only thing I could do and give the man the benefit of the doubt and get behind him and the team.

I don't think there was one particular point where I became disillusioned with AVB, but more of a growing belief throughout the season that he was not the man to turn things around.

 

[EssexSH27]

For me it was West Ham at home, I didnt understand why such a strong team went out on the long flight for the Anzhi game, players like Soldado/Eriksen just going to sit on the bench (Walker playing 90 with Naughton there). Then breaking to the media pressure to start Defoe when Soldado hadnt really been doing anything wrong and was essential in our build up play, not playing Sandro and sticking to the Paulinho/Dembele combo which I'm not a fan of. To lose to West Ham without playing a striker up top and clearly being tactically outclassed by Sam Alladyce was when I started having doubts.

 

[Shea]

It was while he was managing Chelsea and Walcott was making Terry and their back line look like a clown - I was thinking then that Chelsea mugged themselves off with a shit manager who sold them a dummy on the back of his one good season for Porto (with an amazing team that was put together by other people) and the lazy comparisons to Jose


The last laugh was soon on me as Chelsea sacked their hopeless boss and went on to win the CL without him knocking us out of the CL in the process and then to top it off we went and hired their clown of a previous manager who I'd been laughing at

I live in West London, as a result I know a lot of Chelsea fans - not one of them said anything other (in between laughing fits) than AVB is shit and soon enough we will see how shit he is and he won't last long

I was disillusioned with this man before we even signed him and the end result was exactly what I was expecting

For the record I am not being smug or a know it all - I would have loved to have been very wrong about the guy.

He seems like a nice enough guy though and he's young and new to his game - he had great success at Porto and I wish him much success in his future. I don't blame him at all for the way things went, to his credit he brought us a record points tally and its not his fault he was hired and just not up to the job. Possibly he's ideals are just not suited to the English game or he needs more experience before returning to a league such as our own.

Levy and the board are to blame for this situation and they need to get it right next time

 

[Mullers]

I never did.

 

[Caco]

It was while he was managing Chelsea and Walcott was making Terry and their back line look like a clown - I was thinking then that Chelsea mugged themselves off with a shit manager who sold them a dummy on the back of his one good season for Porto (with an amazing team that was put together by other people) and the lazy comparisons to Jose


The last laugh was soon on me as Chelsea sacked their hopeless boss and went on to win the CL without him knocking us out of the CL in the process and then to top it off we went and hired their clown of a previous manager who I'd been laughing at

I live in West London, as a result I know a lot of Chelsea fans - not one of them said anything other (in between laughing fits) than AVB is shit and soon enough we will see how shit he is and he won't last long

I was disillusioned with this man before we even signed him and the end result was exactly what I was expecting

For the record I am not being smug or a know it all - I would have loved to have been very wrong about the guy.

He seems like a nice enough guy though and he's young and new to his game - he had great success at Porto and I wish him much success in his future. I don't blame him at all for the way things went, to his credit he brought us a record points tally and its not his fault he was hired and just not up to the job. Possibly he's ideals are just not suited to the English game or he needs more experience before returning to a league such as our own.

Levy and the board are to blame for this situation and they need to get it right next time

Can't really disagree with a lot of what you said, but I reckon the comparison between his time with Chelsea and us is irrelevant. Reason being that he was brought to Chelsea by the chairman and given the task of overhauling and rebuilding what the chairman saw as an aging squad. The players that he attempted to oust from the club instigated his departure, possibly should have received more support from the chairman though, but thats life.

At Spurs he didn't need to overhaul the squad, it needed a few new faces, but it was then and still is a young squad crying out for direction. I'll stop short of saying he added players that weren't needed or got rid of players that were crucial because I don't think we'll ever know the truth about our transfer policy.

The only undeniable truth was that neither teams were meeting the fans expectations on the pitch so there was a very clear inevitability about what would happen next.

It's quite possible that given time at both clubs he could have made it work, but football is all about results and making money so he was never going to get that luxury. And to cut Levy a bit of slack I don't think thats a Spurs only policy, the days giving a manager a few years are gone. People go on about Ferguson getting time at Utd, but that was the 80's, things have moved on.

 

[sbrustad]

The first time I thought maybe he wasn't the right man for the job was after the humbling defeat at home versus Liverpool. I may not have agreed with lineups and tactics all the time, but there's a reason I am stuck in my shit job and he's a (or rather, was a) Premier League manager.

All managers gets it wrong from time to time, but the last couple of months it seemed like everything was starting to fall apart for him. I've been a staunch supporter of AVB and I also hate the fact that continuity has become a foreign word at boardroom level.

I think sacking him now was possibly a mistake but only time will show if I'm right. If he lost the dressing room then it was probably the right decision.

 

[ItsBoris]

I wouldn't call it the truth, but playing Benny on left midfield at home to Fulham was a bit of an eye opener.

Not starting Lamela against Newcastle, and not bringing him on when we were chasing the game, was probably the point when I realised he was destined for the chop. Such an obvious time to make the most of his performance in the Europa League (which really lifted the crowd), but instead AVB probably set back Lamela's confidence another month or two (plus we lost).

To be honest I was sceptical last season when it became clear that he wanted us to play a terrible form of football. From that point I was mainly optimistic that our style was just teething problems, followed by the slow realisation that this is how AVB thinks football should be played.

Probably this, the Newcastle game made me ask serious questions but it was probably the City game where I thought his head might be on the chopping block.

 

[only1waddle]

West Ham for me was the one, unbalanced team, lacking any attacking intent and motivation.
The persistent use of 2 inverted wingers, of which i said as early as the Swansea game wouldn't work, actually got bored of my own posts harping on about it.
Constantly watching some talented players regress while the side was being built around Townsend and his left foot.

Answer: West Ham.

 

[TheSecretNonFootballer]

When he stopped responding to my texts.

Men are bastards.

 

[Abdoujaparov]

Used to rate him when he turned Chelsea from a team that probably should have won the title the season before into a complete laughing stock.

Then he joined Spurs.

Seriously though - it always seemed like a risky (stupid) move by Levy to get him in. He made some very bad decisions at Chelsea. I did start to hope he was getting there last season, but it'd take a fool to think we've looked remotely capable this season despite spending time in the top four.

Over all I'd say AVB isn't a bad manager, he just isn't a good one either.

 

[southlondonyiddo]

17th October 1977

 

[ibbz]

Became worried when we looked so shit vs palace and hull and then finally ManCity.
What went wrong? Last season we were great. Last season we weren't playing AVB preferred suicide way

 

[Bulletspur]

To be honest I was impressed with our new "steeliness" and being hard to beat but this came with a price, we were no longer attractive to watch and found it hard to score. I thought it would pan out eventually once the squad bedded in but this had not happened or didn't seem like it was going to.
The disillusion took hold at the 1-1 draw against Chelsea this season. We scored and outplayed them in the 1st half. 2nd half Chelsea added another midfielder - Mata - and what did AVB do? Instead of countering by bringing on Sandro who was chomping at the bits to come on, he replaced our best player of that game - Townsend - by playing Chadle out of position on the right. The rest was history

 

[beats1]

What pointless drivel.
I don't know about AVB but....I first realised the OP didn't have a clue, when I opened this thread.

I wonder what the op was doing when we beat utd at ot for the first time in god knows how long? I could go on but I fear it would be lost on this numpty.

I know right and where was the OP for the Ramos thread when we beat Chelsea 2-1 and Arsenal 5-1 for the first time in years!

 

[Gbspurs]

The big one to me is selling Caulker. Why sell a talented, young, club trained England international? Reckon he will be the one that got away in a few years time.

 

[Chilli]

I know right and where was the OP for the Ramos thread when we beat Chelsea 2-1 and Arsenal 5-1 for the first time in years!

To be fair it's stupid to compare the two managers and hence why this thread is pointless.
I personally don't think AVB deserves this thread, he wasn't that bad and he hadn't lost the dressing room, so start saying basically 'I knew AVB didn't have a clue when....' is laughable

 

[UncleBuck]

Became worried when we looked so shit vs palace and hull and then finally ManCity.
What went wrong? Last season we were great. Last season we weren't playing AVB preferred suicide way

There were a lot of people who held their tongue when he was appointed, last season wasn't even about what AVB done or didn't do because one player 'Baled' him out and he was accountable for 15-20 points!