I think people are justified in frothing. These are big decisions that say everything about the ambition of the club and our standing in the game.
When a few weeks ago it looked like we might be in the Potter / Martinez side of things, unable to attract a more proven name, I was very sceptical of ENIC, and felt they had taken us as far as they can. I listened to a number of people who made fair points, and said spend in the new stadium should go up and put us closer to Liverpool and Chelsea. We then get heavily linked with Poch and Conte, and I’m totally willing to think ‘Damn, I was wrong, the club is entering a new phase and Levy is making the moves to take us forward.’
But it didn’t work that way. We are now back to a position where it looks like if we are lucky we can sign ETH, and a world class manager has turned us down because he doesn’t believe we have the ambition to win. I don’t think Conte would want City levels of money, I think he would have been with money closer to the top 3/4 spend in the league which looked like it may have been a realistic proposition given the new stadium.
These are big, serious decisions that say a lot about where the club is heading and how far the owners can take us. Conte would have been a real statement that we are here to stay in the top table of clubs. I think it would have shown Kane he could be serious about winning here, and we would have given it a real go. As far as I’m concerned, the only way Levy saves this summer is by bringing Poch back now. To sack Poch, to hire Jose, to then decide you needed a ‘DNA’ manager all along, only to then fail on an opportunistic bid for a free, title winning coach, to end up with an inferior / less experienced version of Poch having overseen a slide from 3rd to 7th (I’m counting the 0 signings in this slide) and from the Champions League to the Conference League? Nah…Levy is done for me if he can’t get Poch back.
I will accept an admission of mistakes that have been made, and a desire to now get back onto the right path, and right a wrong. I will not accept that getting an inferior version of Poch after a slide to 7th and losing our best player being any indication of competent leadership on the football side, or that we intend to genuinely fight for titles.