Who is the best Spurs manager/coach of the Premier League era?

[Jordinho]

So you're saying that Ramos could have easily steered the ship and then got 4th the very next season? Remind me where he's managing these days? He was such a genius that he played King in Europe and rested him in the league games despite being bottom of the league.

He managed Real Madrid for 6 months. Currently at Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in Ukraine, top of their EL group and 2nd in the Ukrainian league with 31 points from 15 games. Only problem is Shaktar Donetsk have won all of their 15 games so far and have a GD of +39.

 

[ArnieArdiles]

He quite probably would have signed more of his old mates from Swindon and Saudi Sportswashing Machine! I mean, fudges sake, what was Calderwood, Kerslake and Kevin Scott all about? Rosenthal replaced Sheringham when he broke his leg. Again, WTF? Jason Dozzell? Ossie wasted a fair bit too in his short time! Obviously, love him and Steve Perryman but they weren't up to it!

Penny pinching by Sugar forced those buys ....... The squad was in a shambles when, Ossie and Stevie took over.

Ossie lost Ruddock and Fenwick due to the Venables/Sugar fallout . Hence the above cheap quick fixes in defence or was Ossie just to rely on the youngsters in Nethercott and one Judas?

We lost Erik our goalie to a long term knee ligament injury and back problems, replacing him with a rookie Walker .
Walker if it didn't work out , which it didn't , would've been replaced either with a returning Erik which sadly never really happened or a top class goalkeeper.

We lost our right-back Dean Austen to a broken leg and replaced him with a 16 year old Carr until Kerslake was bought in.
Again Kerslake was short term.

Gary Mabbut had his face disfigured by a Fashanu elbow, no caution.

Sheringham as you say had, I think his Achilles tendon snapped by a Bryan Robson tackle from behind , again not even cautioned if I remember correctly.

All managers make mistakes in buying players , but Ossies mistakes were not expensive ones , was there a David Bentley ,a second signing of Robbie Keane amongst them ?

IMO Ossie was not given a fair crack of the whip and the Venables loving press were on his back early on. Had he and Stevie been given the funds that were then wasted with the hoof it up to the forwards Gerry Francis, we would not have endured the nightmare years that followed in the 90s. We were ahead of the Chavs and the Goons with our thinking of pass and move football but instead we went for the short term outlook .

 

[Jurgen the German]

Corluka, Kranjcar, Pav, Gomes, Bent (embarrassment), etc.

Pav- one of the laziest players I have ever seen at Spurs!
Bent- ok the Sandra comment was ill advised, but he's also fallen out of favour with not one but two managers at Villa.
Gomes- is that serious? His shocking performances cost him his place in the side. If anything Redknapp always publicly backed him.
Kranjcar- I was sad to see him leave, but in hindsight he could have utilised him more despite not being quite good enough to start every week.
Corluka- agreed

 

[joey55]

I really don't understand why so many people seem so determined to downplay or diminish Redknapps achievements. Surely his time in charge made Spurs fans happier than at any time in the last 20 years. We played brilliant exciting football, saw great players playing to their best and had our best ever Prem finishes. Yet a large section of our fan base never accepted Harry and went to great lengths to find reason to criticize him, right from the start. When he took over he wasn't deemed good enough yet he did so well that by the time he left, instead of hating on him for having saggy cheeks, many chose to resent him for us finishing 4th instead of 3rd! The madness of football fans for hating a coach that took a team from bottom of the league to finishing above Chelsea in the space of 3 and half years is just incredible.

I remember on COYS when Jol was coming to the end, people started calling him "a bald taco" and other things like that. So I suppose if our fans can talk about a top bloke like Jol in that manner, then it shouldn't be surprising that a less likable character such as Harry gets slated.

 

[Jurgen the German]

He managed Real Madrid for 6 months. Currently at Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in Ukraine, top of their EL group and 2nd in the Ukrainian league with 31 points from 15 games. Only problem is Shaktar Donetsk have won all of their 15 games so far and have a GD of +39.

And he got sacked by Madrid.

Also got sacked by CSKA Moscow.

He can't even get a decent gig in his home country.

 

[Harry_Perkins]

Bloody hell your right. I just remember him reigning back the famous 5, and benching Dumitrescu, and us winning a few games and playing well. Maybe the badger triggered our crappest period with Graham and Gross...

Yep, I think the rot started under Ossie, and apart from a brief upturn under Francis, it actually continued until Hoddle arrived. I think Hoddle actually came in after a long period of decline, with little money (as Graham before him even said: 'limited resources') having to deal with the crushing blow of losing Campbell and did okay to finish 9th and 10th before it also fell apart for him. But that is when a bit of belief and confidence returned to the club. The Chelsea 5-1 semi win a big part of that. Then Arnesen/Jol took that onto to another level, albeit with more backing.

If I had to rank them, I'd go: Redknapp, big gap back to Jol, Hoddle, Graham, big gap back to Francis, Ossie. Hard to judge Gross and Santini as they weren't really here long enough but I do think Gross gets a raw deal. He took over a terrible situation when it looked quite possible we could drop down. IIRC, he actually won about many away games in time in charge as Graham then did over the next 3 years or so!

 

[Harry_Perkins]

And he got sacked by Madrid.

Also got sacked by CSKA Moscow.

He can't even get a decent gig in his home country.

Bit harsh to say he was sacked by Madrid. He went in when they were about 5th, went on a hell of a winning run and only really got turned over by Barcelona. I don't think he did himself any harm there at all. He has basically dropped out by going to the Ukraine for the money. I'm sure he could have got a bigger club after Madrid but he is apparently on about 80k a week with the Ukrainian club! But he was no mug to go from starting out in the Spanish 3rd division to managing Sevilla, Tottenham and then Real Madrid.

 

[Jurgen the German]

It's a public poll - you can see the voters by clicking on the numbers. And I'm not surprised in the slightest.

Neither am I.

Scara
Punk is back
ArcspacE
Gutterboy

All Redknapp haters

 

[jts1882]

I really don't understand why so many people seem so determined to downplay or diminish Redknapps achievements. Surely his time in charge made Spurs fans happier than at any time in the last 20 years.

Not really, he just made losing matter more and everyone more miserable.


P.S. Wasn't Ramos only a temporary appointment ( 6 month?) at Real?

 

[Jurgen the German]

Heikki Kovalainen.

He once won a Grand Prix in a McLaren, but few people will try to argue that he's any better than average (I'd be surprised if they even tried that). Put him in the fastest car in the world and suddenly he seems like a decent driver.

So what about the 5th place finish with West Ham (how many times have they achieved that since then?) and the FA cup win with Portsmouth at a time when the big 4 won everything in sight?

 

[ArnieArdiles]

Yep, I think the rot started under Ossie, and apart from a brief upturn under Francis, it actually continued until Hoddle arrived. I think Hoddle actually came in after a long period of decline, with little money (as Graham before him even said: 'limited resources') having to deal with the crushing blow of losing Campbell and did okay to finish 9th and 10th before it also fell apart for him. But that is when a bit of belief and confidence returned to the club. The Chelsea 5-1 semi win a big part of that. Then Arnesen/Jol took that onto to another level, albeit with more backing.

If I had to rank them, I'd go: Redknapp, big gap back to Jol, Hoddle, Graham, big gap back to Francis, Ossie. Hard to judge Gross and Santini as they weren't really here long enough but I do think Gross gets a raw deal. He took over a terrible situation when it looked quite possible we could drop down. IIRC, he actually won about many away games in time in charge as Graham then did over the next 3 years or so!

The rot did not start with Ossie . In fact , the rot started with the sacking of two of the great Spurs legends which ripped the heart out of the club!

Klinsmann and Sheringham pleaded with Sugar not to sack Ardiles and Perryman and Sugar in later years was quoted as saying , that sacking Ossie and Stevie was the biggest mistake in his time as Spurs chairman.

 

[billyiddo]

Who are these countless players he alienated?

Corluka, Pienaar, Pav, Krancjar, Bent, Bentley arguably Gomes as well

off the top of my head

the first four leaving a particularly bad taste in my mouth as they would have been mightily important for us in the second half of last season and allowed us to rest/rotate first team players, possibly (probably imv) shortening the poor run of results we suffered in the home stretch

 

[Jurgen the German]

Corluka, Pienaar, Pav, Krancjar, Bent, Bentley arguably Gomes as well

off the top of my head

the first four leaving a particularly bad taste in my mouth as they would have been mightily important for us in the second half of last season and allowed us to rest/rotate first team players, possibly (probably imv) shortening the poor run of results we suffered in the home stretch

See my post above mate.

Did he really alienate Pienaar? You can argue he didn't get the best out of him but he hardly alienated him.

What about all the players who he helped and got the best out of?

 

[scaramanga]

So what about the 5th place finish with West Ham (how many times have they achieved that since then?) and the FA cup win with Portsmouth at a time when the big 4 won everything in sight?

West Ham had one of the best teams in the country at that time - even Hartson was a threat.

Portsmouth only did what they did by 'doing a Leeds'.

And with Spurs he had a couple of below par finishes and one which was about right for the squad in hand (when the performances of those around us are taken into account).

 

[billyiddo]

See my post above mate.

Did he really alienate Pienaar? You can argue he didn't get the best out of him but he hardly alienated him.

What about all the players who he helped and got the best out of?

what about them? you asked what players he alienated and i provided you with the first few names which sprung to mind. are you saying he didn't alienate players? can you admit that he did? admitting/noticing a flaw in a manager doesn't make you hater mate, it's ok

 

[Harry_Perkins]

The rot did not start with Ossie . In fact , the rot started with the sacking of two of the great Spurs legends which ripped the heart out of the club!

Klinsmann and Sheringham pleaded with Sugar not to sack Ardiles and Perryman and Sugar in later years was quoted as saying , that sacking Ossie and Stevie was the biggest mistake in his time as Spurs chairman.

Well, it is novelty to hear someone defend his time but I can't agree. We were heading for our 2nd relegation battle in two years. Just not on with the quality had he available. And I wouldn't just blame his sacking on football ignorant people on the board. It is worth remembering that the fans were banging on the team coach after 0-3 at Notts County and were calling for him to go. It wasn't right but most of the support had turned on him by that stage too.

 

[Harry_Perkins]

West Ham had one of the best teams in the country at that time - even Hartson was a threat

Which was nothing to do with Redknapp? He signed Hartson in the first place and then sold him for a big profit and reinvested in Di Canio. Pretty good going, I would say. It wasn't just a case of the quality coming through the ranks, he 'wheeled and dealed' really well, as much as he might hate that description :lol:

 

[Jurgen the German]

what about them? you asked what players he alienated and i provided you with the first few names which sprung to mind. are you saying he didn't alienate players? can you admit that he did? admitting/noticing a flaw in a manager doesn't make you hater mate, it's ok

So he doesnt get credit for the players who flourished under him?

Once again, see the post above. I went through each name you and Arc mentioned. I said he did a bad job with Bent, Corluka and Kranjcar. I'm not having it that he alienated Gomes, he publicly backed him no matter how many fudge ups he made!

 

[scaramanga]

Neither am I.

Scara
Punk is back
ArcspacE
Gutterboy

All Redknapp haters

I'm happy to admit my dislike for Redknapp and just about everything about him.

That doesn't change my opinion of his ability as a manager though.

A truly good manager would have:

Finished 3rd with last season's squad when only two other teams turned up in the league for most of the season.
Aimed for a comfortably achievable 3rd until 4th was guaranteed to qualify for the CL.
Continued to work hard at league results rather than thinking that half a good season is enough on his CV.
Avoided alienating useful squad players especially given his penchant for ageing players with large agents fees.
Realised that Nelson and Saha are not professional footballers.
Found out a way to break down stubborn teams.
At least come up with a good excuse for Chimbonda when we had more right backs than any team could ever want.
Put in place some kind of forward thinking so that our performances didn't rely on keeping our best players.
Come up with a system that meant we didn't need moments of individual brilliance to win.
Fired up the team enough to beat some relative minnows a Wembley.

 

[scaramanga]

Which was nothing to do with Redknapp? He signed Hartson in the first place and then sold him for a big profit and reinvested in Di Canio. Pretty good going, I would say. It wasn't just a case of the quality coming through the ranks, he 'wheeled and dealed' really well, as much as he might hate that description :lol:

Much of that club's success at the time was down to the academy - as was shown when they were all sold.