The future IS bright. The future IS lillywhite!

Losing any game is disappointing and being knocked out of the FA cup yesterday was a bit of a blow to be honest as I really thought we could go all the way this season and a favourable tie away at Reading would have been the reward for beating Palace.
Alas, it was not to be but we still fight on 2 fronts. However, I want to put aside potential silverware this season and talk about the future regardless of what happens at the end of the season.

Before this season began, I was pretty pessimistic about our chances of finishing in the top 6 let alone the top 4 or winning the league. I just didn't feel we had a good enough or strong enough squad. I now admit the error of my ways.

With the new stadium looming, it was little surprise that funds in the transfer market would be squeezed tighter than ever. Pochettino and Paul Mitchell however knew that they could develop youth. Knew that they could be prudent but still bring class to White Hart Lane. Pochettino also knew he could turn also rans into winners.

Whilst Lamela may never be 'worth' 30 million pounds, his form under Poch has been good to see. From a one trick pony to a typical Argentinian 'beast' he now gets stuck in, sees simple passes and is a fabulous squad player. He has really bought into the fitness regime and is one of our unsung heroes this year. Not spectacular but certainly an asset. If he starts finding the net then he could become a complete player under Pochettino. That is testament to our managers work ethic. It also shows he gives everyone throughout the club their chance to shine.

Rose is now one of, if not the, best left back England has to offer. His physical strength is impressive, his fitness is excellent and going forward he is dangerous. But at the back he is solid and puts his body on the line to protect our goal, non more so than in the recent game at the Etihad. From a frustrating, erratic left back to where he is now is an amazing turnaround.
Add to that the strides forward that Davies has been making and we have 2 excellent players at left back.

Vertonghen has got back to his best form under Pochettino and even Walker has improved although I think Trippier has been the better performer. Again, we have 2 very good players at right back.

Toby Alderweireld. The best signing by any club the summer. Controlled, calm, skilful, able to score, tough, honest. An absolute steal and a truly fabulous signing. One for the Spurs hall of fame in years to come I believe.

Eriksen is still young, perhaps younger than many believe, but under Pochettino he is having more freedom to dictate games. If only someone could show him how to beat the first man from a corner eh?!

Pochettino has also unleashed the beast. ( not a euphemism I promise! ). Dembele has become vital to this Spurs squad with some vital goals along with commanding and powerful performances. He drives forward, is hard to knock off the ball and rather than trying fancy turns in dangerous positions ( something Bentaleb still tries and therefore makes mistakes ) he plays it simple.

Dele Alli just misses out on signing of the summer to Toby but what a signing. From league 1 to Premier league star in less than a year is incredible, albeit not quite as incredible as the rise of a certain Jamie Vardy. He has a temper which needs harnessing but his skill is there to for all to see and he could be pivotal to England's chances of success this summer. His goal at Selhurst Park wasn't lucky. It was awareness, skill and pure, raw talent.

And as for Harry Kane. Well, he's one of our own.

Son is another shrewd signing who is full of energy and getting better the more he plays.

Whatever happens come May, keeping Pochettino and this squad together will be the best business we could do this summer. Yes, we will need to add a few but this core has the opportunity to bring the glory days back to White Hart Lane. If it happens this season, great. Fantastic. But if it doesn't I don't believe that we need to hit the panic button. If we finish outside the top 4 then I may need to revise that but I simply don't see that happening this year.
The whole squad has improved this season and will only get better under Pochettino and his coaching staff.
Pochettino isn't looking for instant success because that is not his way. He is about nurturing players, squads, football clubs.
The fact we are even considered one of the favourites to win the league this season just shows how hard our manager has worked with his players. But not just the first team regulars. From the academy to the top, Poch watches everything. He considers everyone at the club capable of playing a part in the future of this great football club.
He oozes confidence and knowledge about football, people and motivation. He has the respect of the fans, the players and his peers. He is a wanted man but everything he says indicates he is at Spurs for the long term. He is not here for one trophy, one title. He wants to build a dynasty. He wants to be a hero in Spurs folklore.

So , as exciting as this season continues to be, not winning the league or Europa league would be a shame. But let's not be deluded and think it would mean disaster because under Pochettino, and with the band of merry men, Spurs will achieve success. Not short term, bite sized success, but long term, sustained success.

Glory nights are close. But the most important thing for us Spurs fans to remember is that they are coming and when they arrive, they will be here for many years to come.

 

Im not so sure we can sustain it in the immediate future to be honest , as I've mentioned before , we can't realistically expect to keep all our top assets paying restricted wages .. ..Now maybe all that will change in time when the stadium is finished and paid for but how long will that take ... It's one thing getting the stadium built but something I haven't heard discussed is how do we pay for it and how long will that take , how long will it take before financial restrictions are over ... Let's see what happens this summer for a start , nearly every top club in the continent needs center backs , I think it's fair to say top C.Bs are few and far between at the moment .. One would imagine Toby will be near the top of a lot of lists and a lot of these clubs will be able to double , even triple his wages straight away , what's he expected to do , what would you do ... That's just one issue , another is spending a full season away from home , impossible to know how that will go ... You paint a pretty picture about the future but for me it's a lot more complicated then that especially in the short term .. I think there'll be difficult times until all this is sorted if I'm honest .....

 

Let's keep in mind we spent £20mill on Son - money is there for the right player.

 

Given MP previous history he may leave this summer to one the larger suitor. THFC will become the next Southampton with various players sold, some kept to be sold anyway later. Levy will hire David Moyes and we all will be back to "spursie" days.

 

There's a reason Moysie was at the game. Levy had better give Pochettino whatever it takes to keep him.

 

Let's keep in mind , over the 4 windows Poch,s been here he's made 15ish mill profit ....

I'm not saying we have no money to spend , of course we do , the question is will we break the wage structure to give us a better chance to keep these players ... If you were offered a deal in the morning to double or even treble your wages to work somewhere else what would you do ? ......

 

I like the feel good factor at present as we seem to have put the shambles of the last 3 years behind us.
But Spurs fans must understand its the serious dip in form of the establishment that has us where we are not the major strides forward.
We are beggining to play better football and as team which lets face it couldn't of got much worse from the Boas constrictor to Sherwoods shambles and that defence last year.
It seems to me we have the slightest turn in fortune and fans get carried away.
The domestic cups are done, we still have some very difficult games ahead in the league with plenty of points to play for still and the Europa which is going to need full attention if we're serious about winning it.
Points made earlier by Burnt about wages are valid as they always are an issue and certainly the stadium issue. Last i heard the bill was reaching 700mil + not the 400mil first mentioned and with the all singing all dancing add ons retractable pitches sky walks etc this build would have to be executed to the tee for us to be away for 1 season, for 400mil and ready for the 18/19 season, theres still no confirmation even as to where we are going to be playing.
In short this Stadium bar the visible excavation work is still very much in the blue prints stage i'll be shocked if its done in the proposed time frame.
The progress i see is that at worst we get a CL spot this season, we must use this as a spring board to buy some quality additions to make the most of our CL status and the fact Utd Chavs City Liverpool are all in transition most likely next season aswell.

 

Absolute codswallop - had to stop myself from swearing!

No way Poch will leave this summer....all the papers writing "he left Southampton for a bigger project and has no loyalty etc. etc." are missing one simple fact - he left Southampton because the guy who brought him there (Nichola Cortese) left the club.

It's equivalent to your mate bringing you into a company, then him getting the boot 12 months later...would you want to stay if the main reason (person) why you were there was no longer present?

From what I gather, Poch has a great relationship with Levy (you only have to look at the fans forum back last year to see that there is a rappport between the two). Levy was more than happy to dish out money for a striker this Jan, but Poch said no.

In simple terms....Poch knows Levy will back him when he needs it. We have one of the best training academies in the world, great prospects and a bright future.

Poch always talks of a 'project' and at Spurs, the project is coming along nicely. Man United are a massive club...no doubt about that, but he's still a young manager and he knows himself he's got 20/30 years to manage at the top level.

Personally, I think he'll end up at Barcelona (whether it be soon or 20 years in the future). He has family in Espanyol (Barca's less fashionable neighbours) and remember he took the players on warm weather training camp in Barca not so long ago. His high-pressing system and focus on developing youth will suit Barca to a tee - but Poch knows himself he still has a lot to learn as a manager.

Anyway lets focus on the positives - what a great future we have at Spurs...while Poch IS OUR MANAGER!!

 

I totally agree. What we are seeing is a change of the old guard in the league and the gap between teams will continue to diminish. Poch knows that if he can build a squad from within the club and achieve success that in time he will be able to build a dynasty rather than a quick fire win. As much as I am no fan of Levy, Poch seems to have his support and he would not get that kind of backing at either United or a Chelsea.
Chelsea may have been successful in recent times but they are not and never have been or will be a bigger club than Spurs. Pre Abramovich they only got 17 thousand attendances which tells you plenty.
I would stil like to see Poch given a new contract now though rather than waiting until he end of the season when speculation will only get stronger.
I believe Poch will be at Spurs for the next 10 years if things go right. And as the title says, the future is lillywhite.

 

I disagree wholeheartedly with your view of Poch's history. He stayed at Espanyol for 4 years(ish) only leaving after a chat about the future of the club with the board and the explanation that they would continue to sell their best players every year to balance the books.

The reason he joined Southampton was because of Nichola Cortese's long term plan. The reason he left is because that long term plan left with Mr Cortese and so did most of the players.

Why join Tottenham, because of the long term plan that was presented to him. Allow the plan to continue and we will get a few years yet, I'm not naively expecting a Wenger or Ferguson dynasty but into and beyond the new stadium

 

Regarding the stadium Felon, there is not a snowball's chance of being away for only a year. We are being mislead.....sad but true. The club told me that they had done the due diligence on the plans and that We will only be away for a season. It's cobblers. The stadium is big, complex and also going to be expensive. It might have been £400m once, but not now......the lack of credibility, for me, lets down the good work that has been done by the club on a number of other fronts. Do they think that by telling us it's only a year we will believe them........now't as queer as folk eh!

 

The size of the stadium is irrelevant if the team is not successful. Poch has the ability to bring success with this squad for a good few years. Without success the new stadium will forever be a millstone around our neck.

 

For me Matt it's about how much of the Sky money will fund the stadium, as to whether we have some development monies, or none at all....surely he can't carry on with the no buy, net inflow approach to running the finances. Sooner or later new players will be needed and I'm still not sure about the depth of the squad, if we aspire to operate at the CL level.

 

Did we....must have not registered with me.....at £20m he needs to do better....a few more PL goals please Sonny....

 

I agree. Poch will not go Chelsea. MU is entirely different case. How many chances in one's career may be like that? The austerity that inevitably coming with stadium would be absent there, plus most of the players might follow, as, with MU deep pockets, there will be no serious competition for them, as it very much was with his move to Spurs. By selling current Spurs players and their HC to MU Levy may be able to pay for HALF of new stadium, or THIRD depending on whether Felon correct in his predictions. Needless to say 200 million is a lose change for Woodward and Co.
Not that I insist on such scenario, but I am very much concerned, very much indeed. I just hope MUFC will be arrogant and stupid enough to go with Jose to counter Guardiola.

Yeah, that should help. I just would like to see the release clause amount in this new deal.

 

Spurs will have some money to spend but we just won't see 6 or 7 players at a time and to be honest the last time we signed 7 players it didn't end well. It will be a case of build with the youth and add a couple of extra quality players as needed.
That's sensible.

 

Yes, it is. My only point, the big one, is that all of this sensibility and many other good things in lilywhite future pictured are hinging on MP leadership. What kind of retention plan does Daniel Levy have for our manager?

 

We also don't want to be splashing cash on top-end players as that rarely works for us and Pock knows that it will disrupt the team, which is all important. Let's not forget that if many fans had had their way we would have been saddled with Benteke for the last year and probably the best thing for Benteke is a saddle.
Our best policy is integrating astute buys into the team and bringing through the youth - just as we are doing now. Levy will have no problem to find the money for that.
As for keeping Poch - having the chance to create an empire has to be his incentive rather than a better-paid, short-term stint at a crumbling empire.

 

I'd have to confess I'm a Benteke fan and have banged his drum many times on this forum. Slopp has just totally destroyed his confidence, diminishing his value in the process. He's strong, very unselfish, good in the air and for a big man pretty mobile.
With other notable Belgiums' in our squad, I for one think he'd do well for us. With CL football looming, there would be a place in my squad for him.

 

I wish it was the case. World class managers, however, do not build empires. Those who do are not world class, but rather a second tier type.