From day one no matter what the tactics were the Tottenham players never really seemed to put in 100% for the ex boss and with their poor performances it is even more of a shock for me to hear that the players are surprised.
According to Brad the players liked AVB and will be sad to see him go, however what have they actually done to help their ex boss?
Here is what Brad had to say;
"I think all the players in the changing room really wanted things to work out for Andre. From day one that he came to the club, open door policy, very good communication with the players. None of us were happy to see him go.
"In saying that, we still have to continue to have a very good team spirit, which I know we will. We have a lot of quality in the changing room.
"I'm sure the board are going to be hiring a very good manager to take us forward, who the players will all be behind again, because, at the end of the day, we are employed by Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, not by the manager they're bringing in."
What is good to hear is that at least Brad understand who his employer is, as a lot of players in today's game seem to ignore who is paying their wages.
Despite what Brad says I do not think that things were as rosy as that. Firstly there is the issue surrounding Adebayor. Ok the player was poor last season, however he has been poor under AVB full stop, but again I had highlighted that AVB never wanted the striker in the first place. It was this attitude that essentially contributed to his dismissal. With Tottenham struggling to convert chances he only used Defoe and Soldado, which as we have heard in reports was not appreciated by the board. Can you blame them though? The amount of money the player is on and AVB refuses to play him? There was also a distinct lack of adaptability from AVB. He had a plan and never strayed from it. It is commendable that AVB felt that, but fundamentally as a manager you have to adapt your tactics to each and every opponent.
What I wish to point out though is that although the players supposedly got on very well with AVB they still failed to support him by getting the results.
The issues of AVB's tenure will come out eventually, but there are some huge issues that may never get released (Levy is famous for gagging orders).
It has been suggested that AVB was not in full charge, but if this was the case it would have been linked in with Baldini. However it was AVB that asked for a DOF and it was him who suggested Baldini! So again was it AVB's inability to adapt and stubbornness that led to his eventual downfall?
For me I hope that the players up their game for the next manager as they MUST shoulder some of the blame for AVB's departure. He may have selected the players and formation, but professional footballers should be able to adapt and play to their managers tactics.
Soldado and Lamela will hopefully flourish under the new manager and in all honesty it will be good to see if there is a change with a new face in charge. If they do, then again we have to highlight that it was AVB that had hindered their successful integration into the team.
The new manager must re-install the team with fast paced, positive and forward thinking football. Without it we are stuck in the same place, again this is why I do not feel that Hoddle would be suited to our game (his game is about slow build up and possession, that is what got AVB fired).
Fingers crossed that we get someone with some proven success and although it's hard to find it, it's imperative that Levy does the right thing by the club, not the accounts. We all know that success will put further money into the budget, which I am sure Levy will know already.
COYS!!!!
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