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Has Steve Hitchen signed a single player that gets into the Spurs XI of the two title chasing sides?
The best signing he has brought us is an often injured Lo Celso and he wouldn't have got near Dembele or Eriksen's spots.
The best signing he has brought us is an often injured Lo Celso and he wouldn't have got near Dembele or Eriksen's spots.
Hitchen is one of if not the biggest problem. When your CHIEF SCOUT doesn't give a toss, its no wonder we have mediocre players in the squad, and players that no one wants to buy from us.
And here's what really chaps my ass about it.
It's been crystal clear since before January that we were in desperate need of a proper other option at striker.
It's been known since 1 August that we were facing a massive fixture pileup in exactly this moment.
It's been known also since 1 August that we were loaning Troy Parrott to Millwall, and that the club are looking to get him up to speed to be a potential future at that position.
It's been known all along that the target list would reflect that, and we've been linked with a lot of older players, or unproven younger players. We just want a useable body to spell Kane as necessary. Maybe a bad plan, but a plan.
And it's obvious that there are dozens of players across the continent and indeed the world that could fit that very limited bill. The bar is not high.
How is it September 15th, with the fixture list cresting over us like a tsunami, and we've not gotten the business done? How are we at square zero at this late date?
It's just completely unforgivable. Flagrant mismanagement.
It's been crystal clear since before January that we were in desperate need of a proper other option at striker.
It's been known since 1 August that we were facing a massive fixture pileup in exactly this moment.
It's been known also since 1 August that we were loaning Troy Parrott to Millwall, and that the club are looking to get him up to speed to be a potential future at that position.
It's been known all along that the target list would reflect that, and we've been linked with a lot of older players, or unproven younger players. We just want a useable body to spell Kane as necessary. Maybe a bad plan, but a plan.
And it's obvious that there are dozens of players across the continent and indeed the world that could fit that very limited bill. The bar is not high.
How is it September 15th, with the fixture list cresting over us like a tsunami, and we've not gotten the business done? How are we at square zero at this late date?
It's just completely unforgivable. Flagrant mismanagement.
It's embarrassing how amateur hour it is time and time again.
We seem to be the only club in the world who just can't get shit done.
We've needed a striker that can complement Kane. We signed 2 backups in Janssen and Llorente, both immobile and not able to play out wide or with Kane. Fair enough have a 3rd choice backup but have an actual option who can get minutes in games for Kane to rest + if they hit form can keep the spot WITH Kane.
These aren't new problems. These are problems we faced back when we were actually within touching distance of actually doing something (apart from a skywalk, cheese room, longest bar etc.) as a club.
Are we a football club with business operations like cheese rooms and skywalks?
Or are we a business that has a football operations arm?
Personally I'd say it is already too late. With how long it takes to integrate a player and the upcoming fixtures, whatever happens in the next few weeks we will be playing catch up.
The reason as to why was announced in the Amazon series. Levy himself said that nothing happens until the last week of the window. A bunch of suits nodded. It is the history of the Tottenham.
It is no wonder that Levy likes Hitchen and promoted him. A more dynamic and proactive head scout wouldn't work under these conditions.
Like the one we had who left for those exact reasons!
Only silver lining of this early fixture pile up assuming we get through against the Bulgarians is that match fitness and cohesion should be achieved quicker than usual
No - it’s actually based on utterly shambolic transfer dealings for years now and contributing significantly to winning fuck all with the best team in 35 years. The bloke is a clueless chancer chav as many have already suspected - this doc simply confirmed it
Mourinho has NO choice
We never tried to Fernandes - another ENIC paid rumour leaked to the press to appease the more gullible fans
The words of the player himself:
‘The first club that was close to signing me was Tottenham,’ Fernandes said on Instagram Live.
‘With Pochettino…But I don’t know maybe they thought the amount Sporting wanted was too much so in that moment Sporting decide they don’t want to sell.
‘Tottenham came in the summer but Manchester [United] was in January. Maybe Tottenham came again in January but when I knew Manchester was interested I just wanted to talk to Manchester.’
Apparently we have a strategic plan for every position...
Translation - we offered a bid so low we were never really interested just tested the water. Then we got Ndombele instead
bus-conductor
good post with plenty of relevant content. Thanks.I've excerpted the list of players bought since Mitchell left because it represents signings made without a true, hardline, DoF structure, and instead on a system where the Head Coach outlines the type of players and positions he wants, and the Chief Scout prepares a list of options.
Of course the DoF structure is intended to ensure continuity regardless of who the head coach is, whereas our current structure is far more Head Coach-led.
Sissoko appears to have been an opportunistic Levy buy (Ncastle were going down). Whoever scouted him, paid that large a transfer fee, and gave him two lucrative contracts, is an idiot. My considered opinion is that the prime culprit is Daniel Levy.
Lucas Moura and Aurier were both opportunistic buys because PSG wanted to sell. Moura was a January punt. Aurier was bought as the "Ivorian Kyle Walker" to replace our outgoing player at half the price to provide an athletic RB to rotate with the more technical & unathletic Trippier.
Llorente was brought in as the highly experienced back up for Kane. Now Hitchen's job was to find somebody better, and ideally younger, but it's entirely possible that Poch vetoed all the alternative options.
Davinson Sanchez was considered perhaps the best young pure defender in Europe when we prised him out of Ajax. We'd already heard Mourinho highlighting his lack of ball-playing ability, so we knew he wasn't a de Ligt-style defender. But many people thought we'd pulled off a coup because if we'd waited another year it was possible Sanchez would have cost even more. With hindsight, we probably did pay too much, but the club was buying a young, fast, CB who'd already played in a European final to provide a succession plan for Verts & Toby. Surely this is precisely the kind of move a DoF would have advocated?
Foyth and Sessegnon were also talented young players bought with the future in mind, as any DoF would want. Foyth was almost certainly not the product of Hitchen's scouting, but of Poch's contacts in the game. Sessegnon was wanted by lots of PL clubs. What we don't know is whether Hitchen & Poch saw him as a LB to eventually replace Rose and/or Davies, or as a wide AM.
Ndombele was one of the hottest talents in Europe. The club did very well to sign him. Now, should our scouting and medical staff have identified any physical issues? Yes. But I wonder how much of the criticism Ndombele gets is because of his gait, his running style. Ndombele lopes, but that forward leaning posture often enables him to escape from pressure. And then he gets his head up and plays aggressive forward passes better than anyone else at our club.
Lo Celso had just had an outstanding season at Betis, and was clearly a Poch target. I think he will become a key Spurs midfielder. Ndombele is 23 now, and GLC 24. Both should have their peak years ahead of them.
Bergwijn is clearly a Hitchen signing, with Amazon revealing we'd been scouting Stevie & stalking his family for at least 2 years. The jury is still out, but he clearly has talent and is much better at linking play than Moura. Again, I think a DoF approves this recommendation from his Chief Scout.
Hojbjerg is a Mourinho signing.
Doherty is a Mendes signing.
The only older players on that list, with little resale value, are Llorente (a short term option to fill a squad place) and Doherty (who Mourinho had the hots for, and Mendes facilitated).
All the rest are young, talented, players. We can argue about how talented they are. And it's always the case that some signings are mega flops, a few are huge successes, and most are in the good to meh range.
bus-conductor
What do you think a DoF would have done differently?
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I don't imagine anyone in that room would have spoken up even if they disagreed. It looks like a bunch of yes men all doing Levy's bidding.
Nothing happens until the last week of the window is total bollocks. That's a choice Spurs make because that's what Levy wants to do. Other clubs are getting their deals done.
We need someone in there who can actually say no to Daniel but i don't see anyone there who can do it.
the 35m for Sissoko can never be explained to me as a smart transfer. Paying so much money in fee and wages... i really respect the player and i know he works himself crazy for the team, he just isn't needed. I think people overlook the reality of an opportunity cost in football. All that money AND the fact we actually had to play him consistent minutes has really hurt the squad imo.
Moura and Aurier were misfits at PSG, you have to question why we are stealing a right-sided combo that another team classed as not good enough. Aurier was a weird choice to sign when Pereira was available but even overlooking that, there is an even higher opportunity cost with Lucas as he does not create for others and gives the ball away a lot. He had a lot of potential as a youngster but what I have seen from him is what I expected... he can show flashes but he is who he is, won't get much better. With Sissoko and Moura, that team could have really used some creative options instead, not these guys.
Moura and Aurier were misfits at PSG, you have to question why we are stealing a right-sided combo that another team classed as not good enough. Aurier was a weird choice to sign when Pereira was available but even overlooking that, there is an even higher opportunity cost with Lucas as he does not create for others and gives the ball away a lot. He had a lot of potential as a youngster but what I have seen from him is what I expected... he can show flashes but he is who he is, won't get much better. With Sissoko and Moura, that team could have really used some creative options instead, not these guys.
For the record, Mitchel's appointment was Levy, nothing to do with Pochettino.
Pochettino: I had nothing to do with Mitchell appointment
Following Paul Mitchell's appointment as Tottenham's head of recruitment and analysis, Mauricio Pochettino has indicated he had nothing to do with his departure from Southampton.www.dailymail.co.uk
Why Mitchell quit nobody really knows, as you say reports of a falling out with Levy in the press, and I've posted links to Gab Marcotti claiming Mitchell is "known in the industry as the man who fell out with Pochettino". For all any of us know, it could have been neither and Mitchell just fancied to move on after being with us for a couple of years as he has at every other job he's had I think.
But it wasn't as some have suggested on here, anything to do with us not stumping up for Batshuayi, we'd already bought Janssen for that role a month before that(a player scouted and researched by Mitchell and his head of scouting Rob Makenzie - who spoke about ion the scout 7 podcast).
Levy had drawn up a list of replacements for Mitchell but according to this article in the Times he ditched the idea to keep Pochettino happy as he was being courted by RM and Levy wanted to get him to sign a new deal, going with Hitchen as head scout instead:
Mauricio Pochettino halts Tottenham search for head of recruitment
Mauricio Pochettino has vetoed Tottenham Hotspurs’ proposal to appoint a new sporting director with the manager eager to retain a significant influence over transfers. The club are understood to have assembled a shortlist of potential candidates to replace the former head of recruitment, Paul Mitchewww.thetimes.co.uk
Mauricio Pochettino has vetoed Tottenham Hotspurs’ proposal to appoint a new sporting director with the manager eager to retain a significant influence over transfers. The club are understood to have assembled a shortlist of potential candidates to replace the former head of recruitment, Paul Mitchell, but have abandoned the process after talks between Pochettino and Daniel Levy, the chairman. Many of Mitchell’s functions have been taken by the chief scout Steve Hitchen, who reports to the club’s football committee of Pochettino, Levy and the academy manager John McDermott.
There's nothing to prove conclusively the above is accurate representation of events, but it is how we proceeded for the next 4 years and did make sense, Poch made a power play while his stock was hot, fancied himself as our SAF, Levy was desperate not to lose the hottest young manager around....this is where the first huge mistake by both men was made IMO, that ended up fucking them both (and us).
Here is Levy stating for the record to the trust our recruitment structure:
THST meeting with the Spurs Board: Report - Tottenham Hotspur Supporters' Club
On the evening of Monday 2 March 2020, representatives of the Trust Board met with representatives of the Spurs Executivewww.thstofficial.com
• DL explained that the process is unchanged. The Chief Scout – Steve Hitchen; the Head Coach - Jose Mourinho; the Chairman – DL; the Head of the Academy - John McDermott (if it concerned a youth player) along with the Head of Football Administration – Rebecca Caplehorn – were involved in the process
• SH and JM would discuss what areas needed strengthening and who might be an option, considering age, salary expectations, nationality, language etc.
• The list would be narrowed down and then presented to DL
• The list would be put in order and they’d then see what was possible
As far as our new Big Fat Gypsy DOF goes, I think what he said about January has been jumped on primarily because we have an angry fan base right now, they were throw away comments that most involved in football seem to say about January windows, they are for the desperate traders and nobody wants to lose their best players halfway through the season and clubs will have to pay through the nose often to get them - clubs don't generally plan to sell or buy in January.
But as far as the rest of our opinion and assessment of Hitchen goes, we can only judge by the players we have bought and/or been seriously linked with because that's primarily all we have to go on. And by and large it's a pretty unimpressive track record over the last 4 years isn't it? But lets be clear, according to Levy, Poch (several times in interviews) and recently Hitchen on the doc, Hitchen is working with the managers - first Poch and now Mourinho - on putting those lists together.
With regards to our whole recruitment strategy, ultimately the buck stops with Levy for allowing this situation to persist when it clearly wasn't working and not reinstating the system that by and large got us to a pretty god place 4 years ago, there was great opportunity to do it a year ago, instead he's doubled down and brought in a manager with outdated ideas and promoted a head of scouting who none of us rate to DOF and we seem to be operating for all intents and purposes an old school set up, where the manager is far more powerful than the DOF.
Since Mitchell left we've bought (€):
Sissoko 35m
Moura 28m
Aurier 25m
Llorente 15m
Sanchez 40m
Foyth 13m
Sess 27m (- Onomah)
Bergwijn 30m
Ndombele 60m
Lo Celso 48m
Hojbjerg 16m (- KWP 12m)
Doherty 16.6m
Of those transfers I rate about two of them as making rock solid sense at the time they were made (Nd/GLC), another one (Sess) I liked the kid but I think we overpaid. Sanchez I don't hate but 40m for a kid with his lack of technical ability was staggering. How the fuck we looked around Europe at young CB's and thought we couldn't find better and much cheaper is staggering. The rest I really don't like as transfers for price, quality and in some cases both.
Some of those early buys - Sissoko, Aurier, Moura - may well have been the work of Mitchell that was just followed through by the club - Mitchell has shown interest in Aurier this summer at Monaco for example.
Sterling work, Blakey!!!
Now that he is our DOF I hope he really puts together a good group of people working under him. The more he can delegate to other people with better knowhow and drive than him the better.