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Next Manager?

Everyone spends money. Leicester have spent improving their team. Villa have spent, Everton have spent. Lots of teams pay money, £25m+ to bring in quality players.

we've broken the £30m barrier 3 times ever, Ndombele, Sanchez, Sissoko. Football in today's game you can't go far without spending, and we're the proof of that.
Considering that we've had Kane, Bale, Son, Eriksen, Dembele, Alderwiereld, Vertonghen, Lloris and I'm sure plenty of others that don't come to mind play for us in recent times, isn't that a sign of us being quite good in the transfer market?
 
"Conte's camp were disappointed that Tottenahm rejected him" - Fabrizio Romano to Chris Cowlin.

Fabrizio also claims there was a £3m difference between Spurs offer and Conte's request. Seems money isn't an issue to pay the salary of the highest paid chairman in the league though.

“ Fabrizio Romano to Chris Cowlin”. Enough to stop reading there really!

There was a tweet from I think Sky Italia before things finally came to an end saying the salary wasn’t a sticking point.
It did seem that not being able to guarantee whatever Conte felt he needed for instant success was the main hurdle. Although I can see how that might be linked to salary i.e. any differential in salary expectations could be made up via bonuses, but then if Conte felt the only way to achieve those bonuses was through getting a big transfer budget then the two issues become conflated.

Edit : And I’ve just got the irony in slating Romano and Cowling, then quoting Sky Italia.
I’m Tottenham Hotspur, I’ll pick and choose as I want:)
 
Glenda, I'd say that Tottenham and Conte reached the same conclusion that most level headed Spurs fans would have when this started. He's a money spender, an instant winner with a squad that is in better shape to start than ours. In exchange he wants a lot of salary and to have a big team.

We want someone to Poch us up a level again, to have us punching above our current financial weight, and someone who will turn to youth or look to improve the existing squad before demanding squillions in transfer budgets.


Game over on that one. Next!
 
Sorry precious, last thing i wanted to do was hurt your feelings. Never said/hinted that you hate Levy but there have been a lot of different posters who have answered you posts about calling out on specific points and yet you still keep coming back with the same questions. Is that because you did not get the answers you wanted? You suggested earlier that you thought s ome were trying to shut you down, it was rubbish then and still is.

Why are you assuming that because some posters have come back on specific points that it should be the end of it, and that we should all go back to being unquestioning of the people that run our club? Maybe the people that came back on my points aren't right? Maybe I do have a point and it's worth exploring further? Maybe I don't think those answers make sense?

I didn't think some were trying to shut me down. I thought your tone was personal, you act way to sensitive to any criticism of him and even in your post here, you come across like any question of Levy has to be dealt with and answered before we move on, like the 'truth' is presented so people can fall into line again.
 
Its pretty obvious that the length of time the media speculate about something doesnt equate to the amount of time spent on talks. The media dont pick up on talks happening until after the initial event has happened, and clearly continue to speculate until they hear either he's agreed to sign or its not happening. You seem to place way too much emphasis on the tit bits you've been hearing, but hey ho - you do your thing.....

Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh...again, I'm not a kid that needs to be told not to believe everything you read.

Supposedly, we didn't come close to appointing a manager since Jose was sacked. All of a sudden, in one week, we are told that Poch would seriously consider a move back to the club, and that Conte is now the front-runner with talks progressing quickly.

I am not assuming, because the media didn't report things definitively, that we didn't have discussions with Nagelsmann or Ten Hag prior to Poch or Conte. I am saying, leaks are a thing. All clubs do it. We have a few closely associated journalists who will have a line into the club. These are facts. Now, why did we go almost 2 months with absolutely nobody coming close, only to have one week where it looked like we were close to both the romantic homecoming that many fans hoped for, and close to signing the best available manager in the world? Where do you think those stories came from? Why, if the media would just speculate for clicks, did we not hear anything anywhere close to that substantial in the prior 2 months? There was plenty more opportunity to whip fans into a frenzy, but the journalists who can be trusted with club news were entirely non-committal? Why was that.

And yes, to @glorygloryeze 's point. Maybe we started speaking to Conte's camp before it was reported? Maybe they actually had far longer to come to the conclusions that any average fan would have been able to come to before the meetings?
 
strange that city’s best player according to some last season was Foden who was free
Ours is Kane who is free
Pools is TAA (according to some) who was free
Arsenals is Saka ... free

All surrounded by team mates who cost loads.

we signed a manager yet?

I have it on good authority that Mason will be announced as permanent tomorrow morning.

Considering that we've had Kane, Bale, Son, Eriksen, Dembele, Alderwiereld, Vertonghen, Lloris and I'm sure plenty of others that don't come to mind play for us in recent times, isn't that a sign of us being quite good in the transfer market?

Just as easy to produce a very long list of our flops.

What's Woodward got to do with this?

What's Woodward but a second hand emotion?
 
First I thought we were signing someone's cat, now it's a bunch of otters? Maybe we should just become a petting zoo instead.
 
Let me try to answer this in components

- Having a PR team is part of running a large company, it is NOT equal to creating a "false ambition" program.
- Yes, the club wants a bigger profile but again I can't see the point/value of a multi-year pretense (and let's be clear there is a big difference between not taking a risk, or potentially not taking a final step that might be more aggressive vs. what you are saying is building a dishonest campaign over a long period)

Let's get to the on the field stuff

- We went from Poch to Jose, and this is the perfect example of picking points. Jose failed (let's get that out of the way), but in every measure possible he was a step up, and ambitious play.
- You could argue ETH now is a more qualified manager than Poch was when we hired him. But again - > Chelsea appointed Lampard, United - OGS, Scum - Arteta, Madrid - Zidane, Barca's original Pep appointment, are all of these clubs lacking ambition?

Re the players, two things
- All clubs win some, lose some
- We agreed with Dybala, turned out he had fudged up naming rights that would almost double his price, Hazard didn't come to us because we got 4th and not CL (IIRC), but Modric, Berbatov, VDV, etc. came over other clubs ..

It costs time and money to negotiate with players/managers, I really find weird that you genuinely think we spent two+ weeks talking to Conte with no real intention.

To be clear, I'm not talking about 'having a PR team'. I'm talking about having someone in a position of Executive Director, likely reporting to Levy, with this background in PR and Communications. You have said repeatedly that ENIC and Levy don't care what fans think and I'm challenging that. I'm not saying it's a constant false ambition program, I think we absolutely met Conte etc, but I don't know how you square the idea that the club doesn't care what the public thinks while employing a senior PR person on the executive team.

I've checked the other club's executive's listed - Emirates Marketing Project, or rather the City Football Group, have a Chief Communications Officer listed who has been there since before the current owners, and who was promoted from Press Officer.

I put it to you that ENIC actually care quite a bit about their reputation, and I would not be surprised if they were conscious of the fact that they need to do strategic, proactive work to keep the fanbase on side when it is clear they will not be investing money from outside. I think to be seen as one of the biggest clubs is a win for them because the supporter base feels like they is progress, that we are always on the cusp of something. And that consent allows them to maintain their investment with little pressure, relatively speaking.

As for the other points, I don't think Jose is ambitious when the idea is to have him squeeze more out of the core of the squad we already had. We didn't back him like Jose usually is. As for Chelsea - they appointed Lampard after a transfer ban to work with young players, I don't think that's a great example of anything. Arteta and Arsenal are hardly pulling up trees or pictures of ambition, and Zidane is one of the best players of all time and served as Assistant and Head of the B team. There was no one more suited to understanding the pressures of succeeding at that club. We'll see about OGS, I think United are ambitious with their spending and are probably enjoying the relative calm and placidity he brings, but we'll see how long he lasts. And still, it's hardly been a roaring success, has it?

I don't see how sacking Poch to end up with ETH can be construed as a worthwhile use of 2 years. We may as well have backed the guy we already had. I'm not saying ETH would be bad, I just don't think he's the step change that Conte would have been. I think getting Conte and doing what needed to be done to get that deal over the line is real 'we want to win things' ambition. But I think what we often see is stories that seem uncharacteristically un-Spurs get floated and encouraged by the club, and I'm sceptical as to the reasons for it. The Dybala image rights thing just sounds like another ridiculous excuse to me. As if we couldn't possibly have known the magnitude before entering into the deal. It feels like the Moutinho ownership rights. I don't blame the club for Hazard, I think Chelsea got the CL and got him. But Modric and Berbatov don't feel like 'wholly fudge Spurs are really making a push for it' type signings. They feel like N'Dombele / GLC / Eriksen type signings. Obviously talented, jury is still out whether they can do it at the very top level, and Spurs being the great proving ground to help them elevate their game. But the real step ups, the Dybalas, the Conte's, I remember all of these stories having a very similar bent, which is respected journalists connected to Tottenham pumping them hard. Stories of talks progressing well, Levy really wants to get it done etc etc. When it really comes to someone who is the best in the world in their position, it feels like we use those stories to engage the fanbase but we don't ever follow through.
 
Going to post what I've heard just now but I want to make it clear that this doesn't mean Conte is coming, it just means it's not completely dead....

- Levy supposedly contacted Conte and his team over the weekend. He tried to negotiate a better deal but has realised that Conte isn't budging on his demands.

- Paratici's arrival is obviously imminent and he is pushing hard for Conte.

- The backlash Levy has received when the deal was practically 99% done is possibly a major factor why he's revisited Conte and his team.

Nothing groundbreaking but does suggest that talks aren't dead and there is a chance.


ITK as of 7 o clock tonight, pretty sure i read similar earlier this afternoon. it does amaze me how people believe this kind of stuff.
 
So anyone want to guess who's actually on the shortlist thats gettable. I'd be happy with Potter or ETH who I think would suit the style of play we want and would also be good at developing young players but those links seem an age ago now.

Just hope we don't so something stupid like Martinez or Southgate.
 
So anyone want to guess who's actually on the shortlist thats gettable. I'd be happy with Potter or ETH who I think would suit the style of play we want and would also be good at developing young players but those links seem an age ago now.

Just hope we don't so something stupid like Martinez or Southgate.

Any “up and coming” coaches from Serie A that Paratici might put forward?
 
strange that city’s best player according to some last season was Foden who was free
Ours is Kane who is free
Pools is TAA (according to some) who was free
Arsenals is Saka ... free
United.... nit sure TBF but last season it was possibly a free transfer again

money means nothing
It’s quality that matters
Pepe cost £70m... he hasn’t shown that quality has he?
Dele cost £5m... who would you take?
Think Liverpool fans would tend to choose VVD, Mane or Salah as their best player mate.
Man Utd - Bruno Fernandes.
Emirates Marketing Project’s was Dias.

I do agree with you that it is quality that matters though and not cost....
 
Maybe it was a last ditch attempt to grab Nagelsmann but it proved too late. Or Mourinho was more toxic than we know? I can imagine Sonny coming in crying every day and asking everyone ‘why can’t we all just be friends?!’...

Regardless, it all looks a bit of a mess, to me at least.
There are some stories that Hitchen was recommending Nagelsman back when Poch was being sacked but Levy ignored him and went for Mourinho.
 
Think Liverpool fans would tend to choose VVD, Mane or Salah as their best player mate.
Man Utd - Bruno Fernandes.
Emirates Marketing Project’s was Dias.

I do agree with you that it is quality that matters though and not cost....
Again it’s all opinions on whose best
But the price you pay doesn’t always equate to quality
 
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