Sunday Farewells (including Odes to the King)

[Parklaner81]

Mate, I don't get wound up by you, but when you suggest a manager will be fired for having finished 5th (our second highest level in the PL, ahead of Cheat$ki/Pool, a position only bettered once by same said manager, with 3rd still being a possibility down to last game), it really opens you to ridicule.

This isn't Cheat$ki/Madrid/etc. where finishing 1 spot below your goal will get you fired.

I'm not so sure that this was an entirely ridiculous suggestion. Wasn't Jol reportedly perilously close to being sacked in spring/summer 2007, for 'only' finishing 5th?

 

[Jurgen the German]

i think its far too easy to assume his performance is injury related. form is temporary and all that

I reckon hes got loads of life left anyway, if managed correctly ie, not 2 games a week at congested fixture periods.

How many times can he keep coming back from injuries though?

As I've said many times recently, he's still a class defender, but he's been getting slower and slower as the season has gone on. I'd keep him around for another year, but he's not good enough to be automatic 1st choice anymore.

 

[The Moonlit Knight]

I'm not so sure that this was an entirely ridiculous suggestion. Wasn't Jol reportedly perilously close to being sacked in spring/summer 2007, for 'only' finishing 5th?

I think Levy wanted Jol out but knew he couldn't pull the trigger because we had salvaged the season and finished 5th.

I also believe Levy wants Redknapp out and has wanted him out for sometime. Same thing though, he can't pull the trigger if we finish top four. If we finish 5th under Redknapp though? Wouldn't be shocked if he was fired.

 

[Raziel]

I think time/injuries has caught up with Ledley, I'd really hate for him to have a mare in potentially his last game for Spurs.

Much rather Kaboul/Galas CB pairing, and if we are 2-0 or 3-0 up towards the end, bring him on for the fans to cheer.

I really don't see the value in trying to play him next year, he's no longer so good that we have no choice, and disrupts partnerships. If the club wants to keep him in a coaching/embassador capacity, I fine with that.

 

[Raziel]

I also believe Levy wants Redknapp out and has wanted him out for sometime. Same thing though, he can't pull the trigger if we finish top four. If we finish 5th under Redknapp though? Wouldn't be shocked if he was fired.

I think the league/competition is very different that the Jol era.

I don't believe Levy and Redknapp are a natural fit, but I think Levy has probably learnt the value of stability, and over the next two years with the stadium being built, I'm not sure there is much value in a managerial shakeup if Redknapp keeps us in top 5.

 

[DanishWhite]

I think Levy wanted Jol out but knew he couldn't pull the trigger because we had salvaged the season and finished 5th.

I also believe Levy wants Redknapp out and has wanted him out for sometime. Same thing though, he can't pull the trigger if we finish top four. If we finish 5th under Redknapp though? Wouldn't be shocked if he was fired.

If we finished 5th, when the clear goal was 4th and the manager himselft claimed to be in the hunt for 1st several times, then a sacking would be understandable, in particular following a gargantuan collapse in a season, where the spots from 2-7 have never come cheaper.

In fact, Redknapp and countless supporters in the media and messageboards like this keep saying "we are 4th and can go 3rd on final day". If we end up 5th, that very same assurance become more or less an outrigt confession of failure.

That's the way spin works. Can't have it either way. Can't besing your succes and then relativise failure.

I wouldn't necessarily have sacked him myself, but I can see Levys choice right there.

 

[DanishWhite]

I think the league/competition is very different that the Jol era.

I don't believe Levy and Redknapp are a natural fit, but I think Levy has probably learnt the value of stability, and over the next two years with the stadium being built, I'm not sure there is much value in a managerial shakeup if Redknapp keeps us in top 5.

As much as I agree in the overall opinion, there is absolutely no such guarantee. Quite the opposite.

If we end 5th or even 4th we can still risk to lose Bale or Luka or both final day of the window with no replacements available despite money burning through our pockets. If so, we'll struggle to get 7th let alone 5th, as numerous ****-ups against preconcieved small teams bear witness of.

 

[Raziel]

Danish, the piece that we don't have visibility/privy to is the agreed pre season targets, imo most likely looked like this

- Minimum target for season, UEFA Cup spot (5th/6th), QF/SF Domestic Cup run
- Successful season target, CL Spot (4th), SF or better Cup Run
- Bonus time target, 3rd or better, Cup Win

What people say, mid term results, etc, while they change fan/media expectation, it won't change the pre season agreed targets.

What I put above is purely a guess, but (I work in a very quota/target based org and am part of setting goals), probably a fair guess. On that, it's very difficult to categorize Harry as being anywhere near at risk for firing. Now Levy might add that he has to play a part in convincing Bale/Modric to stay, but on pure performance alone, Harry is probably safe.

 

[Golfball]

If we finished 5th, when the clear goal was 4th and the manager himselft claimed to be in the hunt for 1st several times, then a sacking would be understandable, in particular following a gargantuan collapse in a season, where the spots from 2-7 have never come cheaper.

In fact, Redknapp and countless supporters in the media and messageboards like this keep saying "we are 4th and can go 3rd on final day". If we end up 5th, that very same assurance become more or less an outrigt confession of failure.

That's the way spin works. Can't have it either way. Can't besing your succes and then relativise failure.

I wouldn't necessarily have sacked him myself, but I can see Levys choice right there.

5th wouldn't be a complete failure though, it's failure by the smallest margin possible. However it would be failure and I'm sure the pro HR people will recognise this.

If we get 3rd, how many of the anti HR lot will recognise it as a brilliant season? These ppl seem to concentrate on the fact 5th is a possibility and use it against HR, when in fact 3rd is much more likely than 5th. That's why these people get deserved abuse, inability to recognise the full story.

 

[Golfball]

I think Levy wanted Jol out but knew he couldn't pull the trigger because we had salvaged the season and finished 5th.

I also believe Levy wants Redknapp out and has wanted him out for sometime. Same thing though, he can't pull the trigger if we finish top four. If we finish 5th under Redknapp though? Wouldn't be shocked if he was fired.

Why would he want to pull the trigger if he gets 4th? We can't exactly achieve much higher with the resource we have.

What makes you think Levy wants him out? From what I have seen 1st hand, they are genuinely friends and their families are all friends. If anything, HR has much more time than Jol had due to the friendship that was there before Spurs.

 

[Raziel]

If anything, HR has much more time than Jol had due to the friendship that was there before Spurs.

Harry has more time because Comolli isn't here trying to stab him in the back at every opportunity