As I have said several times, this is an opinion I stated before he arrived at CFC, and I hope now he is our manager that I am proved to be horribly wrong. This is the equivalent of me saying I hope gutterboy is finally right about something, which hurts to even think about.
Why couch it like that? Because thats the way I see it, do you want me to use fluffy euphamisms?
If you have half the fun in this world that I'm having, you will have done well - I'm a very happy and satisfied human, I just want to be happier and at the moment that means that AVB has to prove me wrong, thats all (this is a personal perspective and bears no relation to yours or anyone elses, I know that - for the sake of clarity)
Mick: I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that I am the only person who has fun in this world, and by extension that you don't for whatever reason. I think the slight difference in our positions is that I have high expectations (unfounded perhaps, but how can you ever support spurs without being an optimist?), and expect AVB to live up to them, whereas you have lower expectations, but hope for AVB to exceed them. There's not too much difference there
Jurgen: While Moutinho/Hulk/Falcao is very formidable, it's also them from 3 years ago (IIRC)
If we imagine them as the players they were 3 years ago, they all had a far lower profile and weren't rated as much. I'd even bet Falcao was rated underneath 82 on FIFA
. Comparing those 3 from 3 years ago to today's version of Bale, Adebayor and VDV doesn't feel so different.
In my honest, brutal, no optimism opinion; AVB's done the business before. When he did he was well equipped to the task, and when he's tried to do things without being equipped, he's flopped it. It appears we are attempting to equip him to the best of our ability. He might not be able to manage it, but football's a game with 22 men and a ball - belief and passion play a massive part. As fans, if we create an atmosphere where winning is expected, and support them in doing so until the final whistle, I feel that this is our best chance at succeeding this season, and will also probably be quite enjoyable.
Alternatively, if we set expectations low and understand that things probably won't be so good ever again, what do we expect to happen?
If it helps, I predict 5th in the league, Europa League Qtr finals, and top 8 in a domestic cup. While I wouldn't be over the moon with this, it's next season where we'll have had a year to gel and I will be more demanding of CL qualification. I guess my basic message is we've got him now, and our best shot is to give him a chance.