Today's Football

[Kai]

I can hear John McDermott (in charge of the academy) screaming into a pillow from here

Years of hard work and a very close relationship with Poch down the toilet.

I can see the logic in Levy going with Mourinho. Poch has taken the team to the CL final and the last step for developing Spurs would be to win a trophy, everything else including the stadium seems to be in place, Levy obviously feels that Mourinho has a decent chance of delivering a trophy (any trophy) and should be a strong enough character to stop the best players leaving the club right after Poch, but a trophy would probably need to happen sooner rather than later before other players get the idea to leave like Eriksen apparently plans to do. Jose is a cup competition manager by trade after all, that is (or was?) his specialty, in tactically nullifying the opposition into the ground.

Still, Jose feels completely the wrong fit for Spurs, even more so than at United, and I can easily see him clashing with Levy over a number of things. Jose is also used to spending ridiculous amounts of money in order to deliver titles so will be interesting to see just how much he will be allowed to spend. Very ballsy move by Levy, it could be the right thing or it could be disastrous because when Mourinho has a bad season the whole club usually implodes.

But feel terrible for Poch, never in a million years deserved to be sacked. Wouldn't surprise me if Mourinho made the first move beforehand, and it could get very interesting if Poch ends up at United, the two clubs could potentially develop a bit of a rivalry for once

[Kafkaesque]

I cant help but wonder if Levy would of made these same decisions before they bought the stadium... i smell a little bit of panic, either that or there was a serious breakdown in the relationship between the two. Either way, let's see how long it takes before Utd fans start dreaming of Poch and chanting Ole out.

It's open for debate whether Levy should have given Poch time to turn it around; possibly given him another two windows to rejuvenate the squad and start fresh next season. It's not up for debate whether it panicky or there was a breakdown in relations. It wasn't and there was.

The talk of whether Poch needed to go started creeping in amongst Spurs even 6-9 months ago. There was clearly something unhealthy happening behind the scenes. I love Poch to bits, and always will. He gave me most of my best moments as a Spurs fan and will forever be a legend as a manager and a man to me. But no matter if people stood in the Poch out or the stay loyal to Poch (among them, me) camp, there's a general feeling now of, this was coming, it had to happen, but it makes me immensely sad. Or reverse the order of those feelings.

Poch has been increasingly erratic in his cryptic comments on transfer policy, on his position at the club, and on his interest in other jobs. Nobody, still now, are quite sure whether Levy was holding back transfer funds or Poch was too selective in who he wanted, and Poch's comments just kept stoking that fire, instead of calming the waters. Meeting with Fergie, praising Real Madrid, claiming he would resign if we won the CL, just the other talking of wanting to go back to Spain, and many many other comments, and I can - with a heavy heart - see how Levy felt it, along with the results, was becoming unsustainable. So yeah the breakdown has come; most likely just something that broke the camel's back very recently.

[Kafkaesque]

I can see the logic in Levy going with Mourinho. Poch has taken the team to the CL final and the last step for developing Spurs would be to win a trophy, everything else including the stadium seems to be in place, Levy obviously feels that Mourinho has a decent chance of delivering a trophy (any trophy) and should be a strong enough character to stop the best players leaving the club right after Poch, but a trophy would probably need to happen sooner rather than later before other players get the idea to leave like Eriksen apparently plans to do.

I agree, and the more I allow it to sink in (and get the dirty feeling of having Mourinho as manager out of the system!), the more it seems inevitable that he would be the choice. In many ways, the Spurs squad in terms of player types is suited to Mourinho. But he's got a massive job on his hands with the squad mentality and getting them onside from day 1. If he's not careful, he'll have lost the dressing room within a week. From a footballing perspective it's logic for Levy, but it's a massive, massive gamble. There's no new manager effect to be had here.
1) He needs to sort the four hold-outs in Eriksen, Vertonghen, Toby, and Rose
2) He needs to get those very close to Poch, especially Lloris, Winks, Alli, and Kane, but by the sound of it also Son, Foyth, Sissoko, Gazzaniga, and Lamela.
3) He needs to get three summer signings who, they've said and I believe, signed mostly due to Poch in Ndombele, Lo Celso and Sessegnon.

So yeah, that's 4/5 the squad who'll be starting off with, well look at this **** coming in the door.

Still, Jose feels completely the wrong fit for Spurs, even more so than at United, and I can easily see him clashing with Levy over a number of things. Jose is also used to spending ridiculous amounts of money in order to deliver titles

I'll gladly chime in with some negative things on Jose, but I don't believe that bit is fair or correct. He created a domestic powerhouse and CL winner in Portugal with little spending. Likewise Inter wasn't excessive at all, and Real, well they're Real, and it certainly was huge amounts compared to other managers there.

He did so at Chelsea, but how could he not? He was clearly tasked with building a title winning in short shrift. Say no, no I want to do organicly and be sacked? It was their MO, and he want with it. I don't like what Chelsea and City did to the English game, but at least Mourinho and Pep brought some sanity to the insane spending, and stopped the spending on anyone fancy and expensive, to switch to "built for purpose" signings who fit into what they wanted to do, instead of the Mutu's and Robinho's of this world.

Same at United. He was tasked with bringing United on par with City in no time. Guess what, if you want to do that and they're throwing silly money, you'll need to as well. Liverpool hasn't quite gone silly money, but they have spent a fair pound here and here - smart signings though they may be - to get there.

[Kafkaesque]

But feel terrible for Poch, never in a million years deserved to be sacked. Wouldn't surprise me if Mourinho made the first move beforehand, and it could get very interesting if Poch ends up at United, the two clubs could potentially develop a bit of a rivalry for once

Oh, forgot this bit. I feel pretty confident in saying that almost all Spurs fans feel, that - as I said in another post - this was coming, and we part ways feeling, Poch deserves a top job. If that turns out to be at United so be it, even if you'd prefer abroad. So long as he doesn't go Chelsea or Woolwich, he'll remain a legend, and him going to United wouldn't cause an increased rivalry on our side of it.

[Kai]

I agree, and the more I allow it to sink in (and get the dirty feeling of having Mourinho as manager out of the system!), the more it seems inevitable that he would be the choice.

#MourinhoOut already trending on Twitter so not off to a great start for the man who once said that he would never take the Tottenham job because he loves the Chelsea fans too much

Couldn't help but notice your postcount approaching a diabolical milestone as well, this is surely a bad omen Kaf for all hell to break loose?!?

[greenmark]

Looks like he's got a bit of his mojo, charisma back.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/football/50510357
Imagine, all of his want-away players sign new contracts and are on top of their game, maybe a bit of spice in the January window.
I used to hate him, but now I see how hard it is to survive as an EPL manager.
Plus when he's charming and cheerful, he's brilliant. Just hope "The Grumpy One" slagging off players in public doesn't re-emerge, that diminished his achievements.

[Kai]

Mourinho's first press conference as Tottenham manager if anyone is interested : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggtCxEJahyw

[Kai]

Btw, anyone else think that the Amazon Prime documentary series on Tottenham's season played some kind of a role in Pochettino's sacking? To perhaps create extra layers of drama for the series and to put all eyes on the club and Mourinho and consequently on the series itself?

Just think it feels a bit odd, because when you think about it a season without any real drama and full of underwhelming performances and results would probably be a very boring watch, if that were to happen. But shaking things up and going for a controversial manager with a proven track record of nicking a trophy at the end of the season the series could potentially get an epic finale and could bring the club a lot of popularity, spotlight, new fans, commercial deals and so on.

Reminded me of the NBC commercial that Jason Sudeikis did with Spurs years ago, quite the throwback : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KeG_i8CWE8

[Kafkaesque]

Btw, anyone else think that the Amazon Prime documentary series on Tottenham's season played some kind of a role in Pochettino's sacking? To perhaps create extra layers of drama for the series and to put all eyes on the club and Mourinho and consequently on the series itself?

Just think it feels a bit odd, because when you think about it a season without any real drama and full of underwhelming performances and results would probably be a very boring watch, if that were to happen. But shaking things up and going for a controversial manager with a proven track record of nicking a trophy at the end of the season the series could potentially get an epic finale and could bring the club a lot of popularity, spotlight, new fans, commercial deals and so on.

Reminded me of the NBC commercial that Jason Sudeikis did with Spurs years ago, quite the throwback : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KeG_i8CWE8

It would probably be naive to rule anything out, in the commercial version that modern football is, and especially with a chairman as cynical and calculating as Levy, but I simply cannot see it. There's just too many moving parts to the equation of a football club and the manager is such a key cog in it, that I cannot see a decision in that regard being anything other than for footballing reasons. So no on having something, directly, to do with the sacking.

That said, it might have played a role in the hiring of Mourinho. If the decision was borderline, it might have tipped the scales towards Mourinho and against say Howe or Allegri, who's more likeable but arguably less interesting.

Also, it could indirectly have influenced the sacking in that I'm 99% certain that Poch will have been completely and vehemently opposed to the documentary. That sort of ego show is the complete opposite of who he is and how he believes a squad should be maintained. So it could have been a large part of the rift.

[Kai]

The series that Amazon did on City was a massive success and they actually wanted to do the next one on Liverpool. The Liverpool ownership liked the idea but Klopp was emphatically against it, even publicly saying a few times that he would instantly quit the job if that were to happen. He feels that the cameras would intrude on everyone's privacy and that the players would behave differently around them, which is something that I can definitely understand since Klopp has a specific man-management style and wants a genuine human connection to his players first and foremost, so he probably feels that he wouldn't be able to properly do his job if too many invasive cameras were around.

Maybe these extra cameras at Tottenham have a bit of a negative effect on the players themselves and are affecting their confidence levels after the heartbreak of the CL final, not to mention adding additional pressure this season because the producers of the show indirectly expect more thrilling rides to finals and stuff. In any case, I think Klopp made the right call about Amazon.

By the way, Liverpool already did a fly on the wall type of documentary back in 2012 called Being Liverpool. It reflected negatively on the club and in particular on Brendan Rodgers and that's why he got the nickname of "David Brent", his behavior was very strange to say the least

[Kafkaesque]

The series that Amazon did on City was a massive success and they actually wanted to do the next one on Liverpool. The Liverpool ownership liked the idea but Klopp was emphatically against it, even publicly saying a few times that he would instantly quit the job if that were to happen. He feels that the cameras would intrude on everyone's privacy and that the players would behave differently around them, which is something that I can definitely understand since Klopp has a specific man-management style and wants a genuine human connection to his players first and foremost, so he probably feels that he wouldn't be able to properly do his job if too many invasive cameras were around.

Maybe these extra cameras at Tottenham have a bit of a negative effect on the players themselves and are affecting their confidence levels after the heartbreak of the CL final, not to mention adding additional pressure this season because the producers of the show indirectly expect more thrilling rides to finals and stuff. In any case, I think Klopp made the right call about Amazon.

By the way, Liverpool already did a fly on the wall type of documentary back in 2012 called Being Liverpool. It reflected negatively on the club and in particular on Brendan Rodgers and that's why he got the nickname of "David Brent", his behavior was very strange to say the least

I remember those comments Klopp....now that you mention it. Completely forgot. No anti-Klopp bias I promise But very well done Klopp As you say, the right call.

Don't know why Poch didn't make the same statement (the quit one), as I'm, as mentioned, convinced he will have been just about as oppossed to it as Klopp.

Indeed Rodgers didn't come out well. But that's the thing and danger about these shows. What's in - and lost in - the edits? If they see an angle to portray in a light that will cause a stir, they will take that and run with it. Positive or negative angle; true, false, or in between; all the same to them, if it attracts attention and by extention viewers.

[Kafkaesque]

Meanwhile down under I see the A League has found a way to boost advertisement money.

"McDonald's VAR check"

I feel a bit five Big Macs in five minutes sick to my stomach

[Kai]

Meanwhile down under I see the A League has found a way to boost advertisement money.

"McDonald's VAR check"

I feel a bit five Big Macs in five minutes sick to my stomach

Definitely a new low for the overall commercialization of football

At the end of the day it really is just a product that many of us very much enjoy consuming Talking about football of course and not Bic Macs.

[Kafkaesque]

Meanwhile down under I see the A League has found a way to boost advertisement money.

"McDonald's VAR check"

I feel a bit five Big Macs in five minutes sick to my stomach

Definitely a new low for the overall commercialization of football

At the end of the day it really is just a product that many of us very much enjoy consuming Talking about football of course and not Bic Macs.

Since you mention, it being a product we consume, aka. watching, the worst for me is actually the Danish and Swedish leagues, where they in recent years have taken up the habit of a few times during matches announcing inplay prices from a specific bookie over the PA system. These are from the previous national monopolies which, comparetively, are the good guys in the market place.

I know, you can't watch a match on telly without 10 gambling commercials before, during HT, and after, and whether in attendance or on telly, there's banner ads and teams sponsored by bookies. The announcing is just a step too far, and is taking away the natural beauty of just going out with friends to watch two teams compete, without subplots. More to the point someone with "a problem" can't go without having his/her problem rammed down the throath.

Bookies are really testing their luck on many fronts, and if they're not careful in their persuit of ever-increasing margins, it seems inevitably, we'll have a backlash sooner rather than later. Public and as is always the case naturally followed by a political one. Which could be detrimental to those of it, who've congregated here.

[Dublin_Flyer]

Meanwhile down under I see the A League has found a way to boost advertisement money.

"McDonald's VAR check"

I remember Specsavers got great publicity for sponsoring the refs in Scotland years back, could be something similar in the pipeline;

"Durex VAR review, just to be sure"