The Barclays Premier League Thread 2013/14

[Jimmy]

Fair enough :/

Daily Mirror report Tottenham want Ajax manager Frank De Boer and he has been approached. #THFC

[brenchill]

I don't know. He did well at Porto, sure, but that was with an excellent team in a mediocre league.

Since then he's failed at two high profile jobs. I wouldn't take a chance on him again. He's tactically naive, aloof and abysmal at coping with pressure. You get the impression he doesn't get on very well with.

I completely agree with all of this.

It's hard to even consider his achievements at Porto when you look at the team he had in such a weak league.

His personality suggests a job managing people isn't for him.

[Jimmy]

Going unbeaten in any league is a huge achievement. He also won the Europa League which is no easy task whatsoever. I understand people have their doubts about his job in England but he did a wonderful job at Porto.

[METALMAN]

Do you have a thing for rubbish people who are forced out of Spurs because they are rubbish? :/

[brenchill]

I wanted him to do well at Spurs, and I guess he did in his first season.

You have to ask serious questions about what he did with the Bale money, though. Even if the players weren't chosen by him, I think he could have found a better system to accommodate them and I guess his failure to do so has resulted in being sacked.

[Colly]

It's madness to suggest that those players should have instantly adjusted though, and given that Bale practically was the team last year he did have to improve it. Someone's going to come in and reap the benefits of a decent side in a months time, but we'll never know how well AVB would've done with them.

[Nerf]

I fully agree with AVB being tactically naive and having poor man-management. He's also very stubborn. I think these are traits he inherited by coming into football as a scout; he's undoubtedly a very intelligent man, but he doesn't have the qualities to succeed in high profile management.

Crazy to think that we originally wanted AVB and Spurs wanted Rodgers.

[METALMAN]

It's madness to suggest that those players should have instantly adjusted though, and given that Bale practically was the team last year he did have to improve it. Someone's going to come in and reap the benefits of a decent side in a months time, but we'll never know how well AVB would've done with them.

Right but that was always going to happen. They shouldn't have signed all those players and tried to introduce them as a job lot.

[Colly]

That's Sugars opinion too...

I don't think he had that much option, the team wasn't fantastic last year and he unquestionably needed more attacking options. It's not like he was just bulking out a squad, he was mainly filling gaps that needed to be. Although I am still slightly bemused by letting Assou-Ekotto out on loan to reduce the number of regulars even more.

[Nerf]

That's Sugars opinion too...

I don't think he had that much option, the team wasn't fantastic last year and he unquestionably needed more attacking options. It's not like he was just bulking out a squad, he was mainly filling gaps that needed to be. Although I am still slightly bemused by letting Assou-Ekotto out on loan to reduce the number of regulars even more.

Yeah, the one thing Spurs were lacking was attacking midfielders.

[stokeriño]

And they tried to get Willian too...

[Colly]

That's Sugars opinion too...

I don't think he had that much option, the team wasn't fantastic last year and he unquestionably needed more attacking options. It's not like he was just bulking out a squad, he was mainly filling gaps that needed to be. Although I am still slightly bemused by letting Assou-Ekotto out on loan to reduce the number of regulars even more.

Yeah, the one thing Spurs were lacking was attacking midfielders.

Of the standard to push them to the top four which is clearly what the board want? Outside of Bale I'd say so.

[Hobo]

AVB seems to have been used as a scape goat for wider problems Spurs have. They bought excessively and sold their star player. That's going to take time to fix and I'm not sure sacking a manager is really going to help.

I feel like Kenny Dalglish's second Liverpool spell is somewhat comparable to how AVB ended up. The FA Cup Final and a League Cup weren't good enough so Kenny got sacked.

But not just Kenny Dalglish but Damien Comoli was sacked too - because the transfer policy was his. There were a number of changes behind the scenes at Liverpool around the time Dalglish went actually.

Meanwhile Spurs have sacked the manager, but seemingly the people who sold Gareth Bale and signed all these players are still at the club. AVB was doing a decent job with Spurs, now someone else has to come in and take over and deal with the same issues he had but start from scratch.

[Crybaby Bunting]

Meanwhile Spurs have sacked the manager, but seemingly the people who sold Gareth Bale and signed all these players are still at the club. AVB was doing a decent job with Spurs, now someone else has to come in and take over and deal with the same issues he had but start from scratch.

Except it was noted today that AVB sanctioned all the transfers in the last transfer window so the guy who signed all those people did actually leave the club.

[Lineker]

Spurs do transfers by a committee, which Levy, Baldini, and AVB all sat on.

[brenchill]

Should have just kept Bale, tbh. You could've kept him another year.

[Hobo]

Fair enough. I thought the situation was different.

[brenchill]

Bale + a couple of solid additions, like Paulinho or Capoue, and you could have been challenging for the title. But never mind.

[Lineker]

I'm still convinced that Soldado was bought with the intention of him tapping in/heading in crosses from Bale.

[Lineker]

FA confirm that Jack Wilshere will serve a two match suspension for his offensive gesture.