Andre Villas Boas sacked by Tottenham

I am actually quite surprised by that, backed him heavily in the transfer market and the season hasn't been a massive disaster apart from the two poor results against City and Liverpool.

Not sure what manager is available that they plan to replace him with. Unless Levy plans to spend heavily breaking somebody out of a contract.

I also think AVB will end up back at Porto.

i am so happy

I'm a little surprised, but that is the nature of the Prem if you keep getting hammered.

So long AVB.

he was terrible and was only taking us in one direction. he signed good players, but his use of them was a joke. someone needs to come in and bring defoe in to partner soldado. for gods sake, he was playing first team players in dead matches in europe. it was so frustrating to watch. but today, i am happy

dont think anybody can be too surprised he took over a team that looked like challengers to top 4 and at the moment they look like they would be lucky to get a europa spot. going backwards having spent all that money is not good enough

NickisBHAFC wrote:LOL WHOEVER FELL FOR THE AVB SACKING!!!!

No surprise really. Matteo next?

cant really think of any standout candidates at the minute, someone like simeone is doing really well but cant see him leaving there to go to spurs

 

We've got Benoit Ekkotto (?) on loan so hope whoever comes in doesn't recall him. We need hair like that in the Championship.

Damn - and we've got Tom Carrol...

I honestly find much of this criticism funny. New manager is walking into a dream job, with expectations lowered, a squad growing together and defenders coming back to fitness. It would only be fair that Spurs sink now, but they won't

read somewhere that he has the best points per game ratio in Tottenham EPL history. Back to back thrashing don't look good, but I think Levy was as rash now as when he fired Redknapp.

Rightfully sacked.

The Swansea manager they should go after. If they fail to get him. Give Hoddle the job until the end of the season.

Neil Lennon for Spurs...  

Best manager in Britain Mr Levy...go on go on go on..

you know it makes sense


  

5 points behind City, 6 points Chelsea and Liverpool. New team, mass injuries, Europa League and League Cup progress.

AVB is just an awful manager, as an Arsenal fan I am really sad to see him go. A hi-iq chimp that could learn simple sign language would do no worse of a job. He stank at Chelsea as well. I don't know how people are saying he did well in the transfer market. Eriksen and Paulhino represent a little more than 1/3 of the Bale money and they are the only players he purchased worth anything. He spent 100 million and had no backup at CB when injuries came, whose fault is that? We kept hearing how deep his squad is, apparently not deep enough. He really should have let Defoe play in league, I don't know why he didn't rate defoe the guy has been a good goal scorer in the premier long before this fool came to the league. On top of that he bought a bunch of squad players with the bale money when he should of instead bought 2 or 3 really world class players. A real manager would have known that you can't just bring 7 new players into your squad, into a new team, into a new league and incorporate them effectively without creating chaos.

People can point to the table and say they are not that far off and have injuries. That is not the whole story. They have been extremely fortunate with some penalties and late goals saving them points against weak teams. The team is unwatchable they make Stoke look like 1970 Brazil in terms of watchability.

That being said I wish he would have manage the Spurs for another decade, I guarantee he would get them relegated.

I will point to the fact that they have made good signings. The problem has been trying to replace one of the worlds best players without being a top team that can attract players of that status. I would say he has barely made a transfer mistake - they might not be world class but they are bloody good players. Point me to anyone who thought Lamela and Soldado were a bad idea in August?

Paulinho, Eriksen, Lloris, Vertonghen, Chiriches have all worked. Lamela and Soldado are both quality players who are adapting. Better players than those have had worse opening Premier League spells.

Suarez rips great defences apart, Spurs' two best defenders were out. I'd fear for Arsenal, Chelsea, United and even City if they had their best two defenders out and Suarez came to town.

I'm not sure where Spurs are meant to be these days, but it isn't demanding a top four place with ease. Its fighting against bloody good teams who are there. Moyes must be thanking his board

What the hell has lamela accomplished or Soldado, they may be good players but AVB did not use them effectively. Why does he keep playing lennon if he bought Lamela and he has such quality. And frankly he should have played Defoe if his side needs goals, he is not a great player but he has never been a full time starter whenever he has played he has brought a fair number of goals.

NickisBHAFC wrote:Rightfully sacked.

The Swansea manager they should go after. If they fail to get him. Give Hoddle the job until the end of the season.

So he's rightfully sacked despite having the best win % of any Spurs manager in the Premier League, being 7th and 4 points off the champions league, whilst the sacking of Clarke is a disgrace when he is 16th, 2 points above the relegation zone and has won 7 games all year.

Mat wrote:

NickisBHAFC wrote:Rightfully sacked.

The Swansea manager they should go after. If they fail to get him. Give Hoddle the job until the end of the season.

So he's rightfully sacked despite having the best win % of any Spurs manager in the Premier League, being 7th and 4 points off the champions league, whilst the sacking of Clarke is a disgrace when he is 16th, 2 points above the relegation zone and has won 7 games all year.

Here, don't let logic get in the way of anything.

socal1976 wrote:What the hell has lamela accomplished or Soldado, they may be good players but AVB did not use them effectively. Why does he keep playing lennon if he bought Lamela and he has such quality. And frankly he should have played Defoe if his side needs goals, he is not a great player but he has never been a full time starter whenever he has played he has brought a fair number of goals.

I think you may know the answer. Lamela hasn't settled. Lennon is vastly underrated anyway, but if Lamela hasn't settled then there's no point just throwing him straight in. And what have they accomplished? If you mean just now for Spurs then why argue with shortsightedness, and if you mean in their careers well they have accomplished being seen as very good players.

I think he probably didn't play Defoe as he wanted Soldado to get used to the Prem and knows that there isn't much in Defoe's game that Soldado doesnt have. Maybe one has proved himself to be a better player and will do so in the future again. Maybe its December and they are still doing fine.

Cant say im surprised at all. Hammered by liverpool and city, embarrassed by west ham who had no strikers. Spent nearly 100 million and look no closer to cracking the top 4 than when they were relying on one man last season

In his tenure at Spurs I think they only thing he got right was leaving Bale to do what he does best instead of putting him left wing every game

Tottenham have four first team quality centre backs in Vertonghen, Kaboul, Dawson and Chirches, to have three of them injured is just unfortunate and not indicative of a shallow squad. Arsenal only have three top centre backs, Chelsea have four if you count Ivanovic who mainly plays as a right back, Manchester City have had similar issues and they have four as well.

I said in another thread that one of the reasons I don't think AVB used both Defoe and Soldado together is that the main strength for Tottenham is in midfield with players like Eriksen, Paulinho, Dembele, Sandro, Sigurdsson and Holtby. To play just two central players, two wingers and Soldado and Defoe up front would be weird when the strength lay in midfield. They were also fighting on four fronts so needed to have keep forward fresh, they have two good forwards in Soldado and Defoe but fighting on so many levels, it was a risk to play both if one or both got injured. Why Defoe didn't start over Soldado is probably because Defoe is a poor lone forward and Soldado needed time to adapt, which he wouldn't get on the bench. I don't rate Giroud that highly, but I think it has paid dividends that Wenger stuck with him last year as he has hit form and confidence this year.

I'm 50/50 on this, Last season he finished 5th with Spurs best ever EPL points total, which would have been enough to finish in the top 4 in almost every season in the past and had equalled our best ever start this season. As others have said spurs are not that far off the pace despite the two hammering in the last month. Now the other side of the coin...

Last season he had the bale factor, a world class match winner playing at the top of his game and the failure to find a real replacement is ultimately what's cost spurs this season. The system employed by AVB is so rigid, slow, cautious and ponderous. No cutting edge and no creativity and despite scrapped wins via penalties he failed to address the problem, the squad has the quality yet he couldn't or wouldn't change the system to get the best out of them. In my opinion he's to stubborn and his ego is massive, all the pundits and fans could see the problems even before the city demolition yet AVB refused to adapt his approach and even criticised the fans for voicing their concerns. He had this master plan of how he believes you win football matches and was so invested in it despite its obvious lack of diversity, there was no plan b and 75% of possession in the middle third with square pass after square pass resulted in spurs being voted the most entertaining team to watch under Harry to a boring, unimaginative, directionless mess.

AVB was incredibly lucky to get the spurs job in the first place and even luckier to have a player like Bale to dig him out of so many holes last season but without that special player all of his frailties as a manger are clear for everyone to see.

But if AVB goes then so should Baldini and Levy, the players brought in for £110m we're not good enough, evolution was needed in the summer not revolution and it's the exec team that should be held accountable for that. Levys obsession with continental style of club management just doesn't work for spurs, our most successful period in modern time was under redknapp, when the manager called the shots and signed players he wanted and needed to suit the system and style, AVB wasn't given the opportunity to do that.

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:

socal1976 wrote:What the hell has lamela accomplished or Soldado, they may be good players but AVB did not use them effectively. Why does he keep playing lennon if he bought Lamela and he has such quality. And frankly he should have played Defoe if his side needs goals, he is not a great player but he has never been a full time starter whenever he has played he has brought a fair number of goals.

I think you may know the answer. Lamela hasn't settled. Lennon is vastly underrated anyway, but if Lamela hasn't settled then there's no point just throwing him straight in. And what have they accomplished? If you mean just now for Spurs then why argue with shortsightedness, and if you mean in their careers well they have accomplished being seen as very good players.

I think he probably didn't play Defoe as he wanted Soldado to get used to the Prem and knows that there isn't much in Defoe's game that Soldado doesnt have. Maybe one has proved himself to be a better player and will do so in the future again. Maybe its December and they are still doing fine.

Lennon, vastly underrated? I think the opposite he is pretty much awful. And obviously AVB knows that as well or he would not have spent 30 million on lamela. He spent 30 mil on Lamela and then sat him on the bench and played lennon. If Lennon is so vastly underrated and a wonderful attacking threat why spend 30 million on a right winger.

As for Lennon he shouldn't even be in premier league. The guy in 300 caps for Leeds, Spurs, and the national team has a whopping 25 goals. And please don't tell me he makes it up with his great crossing ability. Seriously can't think of a more overrated player in the entire league.

Sell the best player in the league, build a whole new team with the funds, sack the manager in December with the team in 7th


About time Levy and Baldini copped some flak

They've looked better with Lennon in the team, thats why hes played. Granted, he doesnt score enough, but he rips left backs to shreds.

I mean, you've gone back and forth there. What is the question really? I like the fact that spending £30m on a player to replace someone makes them cack now. Not Premier League quality is baffling.

I'd take Lennon over Nani, Valencia, Sterling, Young and on the basis of being as selfish as hell I'd play him over Townsend at the moment too.

You dont have to rate the guy, but the hyperbole is ridiculous. Vastly underrated isnt to say I think hes the worlds best winger.

Last year he was very good for Spurs and I thought any bright spots for Tottenham against Liverpool came from him as well. He's not superb and doesn't have a vast skill set but I think people are too quick to judge him, he's a typical winger and his final ball isn't as atrocious as people like to make out.

Lamela isn't necessarily a replacement for Lennon as they could fit into the same side quite easily. I think it's quite clear that there is more going on with Lamela than AVB simply not using him, he's struggling to settle at Spurs and probably the country as a whole. There is no way that is AVB's fault or even something that you can always predict.

Lamela along with the majority of the Sumer signings were purchased by the director football not AVB, the manager was handed a bunch of new players and told "there you go", I think it's obvious that if AVB rated Lamela he would have been in the team more.

The manger wanted to sign hulk but he didn't fit the mould that Levy and Baldini had come up with.

Lennon was excellent for spurs last season and our season tailed off around the same he got injured, AVB trusted Lennon to put in hard working honest performance and that's what you get, he generally works hard for the team and supports walker defensively well.

Goals and assists have always been hard to come by for Lennon it's just not something he has in his locker.

MtotheC wrote:Goals and assists have always been hard to come by for Lennon it's just not something he has in his locker.

He's an attacking winger, if he struggles for goals & assists - he isn't good enough for Tottenham Hotspur.

For me the failure of Soldado was the main factor & ABV's failure to work it out was his downfall. He wasn't helped by a team that was so reliant upon Bale for so long, to suddenly have to do it themselves.

The problem with Lennon is he has no final ball. He can rip left backs to shreds, can he pick Soldado out for the tap in.....no! Neither could Townsend either, hence why he was dropped too. I keep hearing Tottenham's midfield is the strong point......what? In my opinion, it's shocking. What have they created for Soldado? Absolutely nothing, service has been diabolical. Soldado is a quality operator, proven in La Liga, Champions League, Europa League & for Spain, when called upon. He moves to Spurs & he looks woeful......I wonder why. Let's move on, Chadli.......oh dear. Centrally, Dembele.......oh my god. I used to love this player, gliding past players & making things happen, all I see now is him losing the ball or hitting the ball in the stands. Terrible. Eriksen has been injured but from what I've seen, even he's been average & was dropped. Game against Newcastle he was terrible, missed an absolute sitter. Paulinho is the only one who's looked decent. Lamela is a great prospect but he's what I call a 'give him 12 months' guy. It's unfortunate, but the reality with some players who just take time to adapt. Was Cristiano a world beater when he came to the EPL.....no! Patience.

Think AVB deserved the sack, yeah, you can blame Baldini or Levy but this is a manager & player responsibility business. AVB in the end just looked clueless in setting this side up. Of course players let him down but he should of known the style n tactic he was using was not working in getting the best out of what was available. He didn't change it and in the end was his downfall.

Enter Hoddle, it appears.

We carry more of an attacking threat than Spurs.

For that fact alone he deserves to be sacked

I have got to say that Lennon probably has had a higher influence on goals than is being suggested here. I'd love him at West Ham. He's better than so many wingers in this league. Always thought his final ball if it was a pass was fine, but not a natural crosser. Only the very best combine the pace and trickery with crossing nowadays, a fact you'll see at most premier league clubs.

Weird few days, I've been sitting here defending spurs players and (now ex) manager. Don't even think much of the players or AVB, just think the criticism is misguided, the expectations of Spurs a bit much and the decision a little harsh. I laughed when I saw the news, I laughed heartily throughout the game yesterday too.

Hope Millwall have a bad week and I can just swear and laugh.

One of the few times I completely agree with you Chris, feel in the same position as you as well.

I can't think of many wingers in the Premier League who haven't suffered from the criticism that they're just fast or just tricky without a proper final ball. It's thrown at SWP, Walcott, Nani, Young, Lennon, Sterling, Valencia and probably others. I'm shocked that it comes as such a surprise to many that so many players exist like that, it's unfortunately part of modern football.

For me Lennon is as good as Valencia and Walcott. He's good enough for Tottenham easily.

MtotheC wrote:Lennon was excellent for spurs last season and our season tailed off around the same he got injured, AVB trusted Lennon to put in hard working honest performance and that's what you get, he generally works hard for the team and supports walker defensively well.

Goals and assists have always been hard to come by for Lennon it's just not something he has in his locker.

Goals and assists are hard to come by, he is a winger if he can't pass or score he is pretty much useless. I really don't know what people see in Lennon, he is the kind of player who does dazzle with some speed and fancy footwork but a player is measured in his end product and Lennon has no result for all that pace and dribbling. He doesn't produce anything. For my money one of the worst England internationals in history.

Crimey wrote:One of the few times I completely agree with you Chris, feel in the same position as you as well.

I can't think of many wingers in the Premier League who haven't suffered from the criticism that they're just fast or just tricky without a proper final ball. It's thrown at SWP, Walcott, Nani, Young, Lennon, Sterling, Valencia and probably others. I'm shocked that it comes as such a surprise to many that so many players exist like that, it's unfortunately part of modern football.

For me Lennon is as good as Valencia and Walcott. He's good enough for Tottenham easily.

As good as Walcott? Walcott scored almost as many goals last year as Lennon has scored his entire career. Theo is both a better passer and a much better scorer than Lennon. All those players you listed are better than Lennon in my mind. Even god awful Ashley young occassionally lets fly a highlight reel long range blast that scores. I think it is a massive indictment of the people in the English FA that this guy has managed 20-30 odd caps, it shows complete incompetence by the managers in question. What is funny is that lennon has always lived a charmed life he didn't do much for leeds either and then got a gig at tottenham. When he was 14 he got a shoe deal and he really had done nothing at that stage, maybe Aaron lennon is part of illuminati because he is just awful but yet he seems to always convince enough people that he is good enough or has enough potential. A winger who can neither pass nor shoot is completely worthless no matter how fast he is and how well he can dribble.

Players have got to take a lot of the blame. He didn't field a 'bad' side. There are plenty of good enough players turning out to be able to put on a decent performance and not losing games like Newcastle & WHU. Citeh/'Pool are arguably more forgiveable, even if they were bigger thrashings.

you take pace out of lennons game and he has absolutely nothing to offer, at least wallcott is a proven finisher when given the chance and valencia offers more defensively as well as a lot more power to his game. walcott and valencia have been first teamers to two top four clubs for quite a while, lennon has been barely making a weaker spurs team yet he's as good as the others? not for me, and neither would it appear for the england managers

If you take away most players best asset they'd be worse too

If you took away Theo's best asset (finishing) he'd be Lennon.....

TopHat24/7 wrote:If you took away Theo's best asset (finishing) he'd be Lennon.....

agreed

GSC wrote:If you take away most players best asset they'd be worse too

no doubt, that wasn't my point. other players would still offer other attributes though. i doubt lennon would be any where near top flight football without his pace

If you took away Drogbas strength would he?

That argument is about as pointless as x player has y trophies so he must be good

If you took away Drogba's strength he'd still be quick and a great finisher.

Point is 'top' players have multiple attributes, Lennon does not. He's one dimensional.

GSC wrote:If you took away Drogbas strength would he?

That argument is about as pointless as x player has y trophies so he must be good

still great in the air, quick, great finisher, great composure, great feet

the question isnt whether a player is weakend by taking away there strongest attribute, every players is. its what they offer without it and something which you haven't answered for the "talented" lennon

Theo's best asset is finishing? Jeez, he's not that bad a player! I like Walcott, I rate him over Lennon cos of his goals, but if I wanted a winger who stayed on the touchline I'd choose Lennon. Walcott scores goals, though his finishing is as erratic as his crossing at times, and his decision making needs to improve, but he has a higher ceiling and current ability too.

not sure theo is worse than lennon at crossing, quick check on wiki and they have a similar amount of assists lennon has played 230 games with 40 assists (that's one assist per nearly 6 games!!) , theo 37 assists in 190

so theos beating him on assists, of course we dont know fully how many were crosses but they have been playing in the same position. i think a winger should be encourage to be able to cut inside. a winger who just stayed on touchline is pretty one dimensional, something which sums our point up about lennon

Walcott needs to stay instinctive, when he is he is devastating. When he's got time and needs to think it all falls apart.

However I'd still have him as a more dangerous attacker than Lennon who struggles with a lack of end product. Theo's crossing is no worse, arguably better given the amount of assists he gets, and his finishing and eye for goal are much much better than Lennon's.