Poke us higher Poch!

With a busy few days at work, I guess the news about Pochettino (I hope that is spelt right) has not really sunk in yet.

In a way, it reminds me of the hiring of George Graham in 1998 - everyone knew it was going to happen so it was only a matter of when. I'm a bit ambivalent on it to tell the truth: he has proven his capability in building a team of some good English players, shown a keeness to work with the youth team and taken an average promoted team and finished 2 places below Spurs in the league.

So why am I not happier? Well, two things - one we know little of his ability to take this team on and push them further up the league, what we were expecting from AVB I guess, and secondly what is his ability to work with under performing and obviously quality players - Paulinho, Soldado and Lamela.

The other name in contention was Frank De Boer, who has won 4 back to back titles with Ajax. Yes he has won at a high level but in truth, is he capable of delivering at this higher level? The word is the smart money is on De Boer and Dennis Bergkamp becoming a managerial double act at Arsenal some day.

I suppose as a Spurs fan I am going to be sceptical. We've seen big name management come and go, and the last manager showed some potential with his getting the best from Adebayor and Eriksen, but failed in his ability to communicate with the media and ultimately, the fans. Sherwood will be fine I suspect though, a championship club would be a good next position and I suspect we'll see him in the Premier League sometime soon.

As for Pocchetino, well what needs to be done has been detailed and despite the claims of £100m being "wasted", with the right moulding he could turn the squad into something interesting with a full pre-season ahead of him. Let's hope he brings Luke Shaw and Ricky Lambert with him to plug the left back and up front problems, sells what needs to be sold and makes a valiant effort to bring Steven Caulker back and identifies a decent solution to the left wing issue. Then we'll be satisfied.

One more thing before I finish, there was a lot of Spurs hate going on in regards to Gareth Bale's champions league win last weekend. Some said that the money we made was wasted, I say wait and see, others suggest what could have been. I just say congratulations Gareth, never been more delighted to see a former player succeed so well so fast.

The Spinal Countdown

This post was originally going to be about the lack of Tottenham players in the England squad and then Spurs went and sacked their manager.

Yes Tim Sherwood only ever was an interim and his lack of media training and lack of a plan B ultimately worked against him. In a way those two stories do work together as Sherwood did do more in getting the youth team up to standard than any other manager in recent history. The addition of Bentaleb was a good move but ultimately it wasn't clear when the player's form had gone and how much this affected his confidence.

Also other youth team players saw their chances come in the last 8 months and wherever their playing careers lay, at least they got an opportunity.

This ties into the England idea as most of these players are English and could present good opportunities for England at future tournaments. However it was with a heavy heart that I looked at the England squad for the 2014 World Cup and saw not one Tottenham player.

Our four most viable options were Kyle Walker (injured), Andros Townsend (also injured), Jermain Defoe (sold to Toronto FC) and Aaron Lennon (a huge lack of form this season). Sadly only Lennon was a Spurs contender and to pick him would see the absence of a worthy player like Sterling or Milner (the only Englishman to score for the English Premier League Champions this season). 

There were days when the Spurs spine was that of the English team, and last night I attended Ledley King's testimonial at White Hart Lane, where notable players of King's Spurs career played including Englishmen Sheringham, Anderton, Robinson and Crouch. Sadly those days are gone, for this summer at least.

There will be plenty of speculation about who comes into Spurs to replace Sherwood; the smart money is on Frank De Boer from Ajax, Southampton's Pocchetino, but Napoli's Rafa Benitez or (shudder) David Moyes, but whoever takes the hotseat, youth has to be a priority. 

Last summer the club spent over £100 million on some players who came good, some who we will wait and hope on and some who may go, but I would love to see the 2014/2015 squad be one made up of experience, 1 or 2 marquee signings and the cream of our youth team. Only this way will Spurs dominate the England setup once again.