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Player The Autopsy

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First off, an autopsy thread should be looking backwards at what went wrong. Not another let’s do xyz transfers.

To that end:
1). Injuries. Second year in a row completely derailed by significant, widespread player availability. Our squad as composed for last 2 years had issues. Coaching was suspect at best. But the sheer volume and seriousness of the injuries was a huge detriment to our ability to compete.

2). Recruitment. Unbalanced squad. Too many similar players in same positions. (Midfield). Not enough cover in others. (LB in particular, but also at the 10)

3). Coaching. I was cautiously optimistic on Frank, but pretty quickly it was obvious he was a mistake. No discernible attack patterns. And obviously he lost the dressing room quickly. Compare both to RDZ.

4). Board decisions. Kept Frank WAY too long, dug a deep hole. Brought in Tudor who floundered immediately.

5). Winter xfer window. Almost smugly proud of no panic buys, but left us terribly short and in a position where more injuries would destroy us. There were players available that would have allowed us to easily be well out of relegation danger. Incredible gamble by the club.

Those are my backwards looking thoughts.
 
candrews said:
The Club, owners, board whoever the fuck it is need to call out the PGMOL no matter the fines or costs.

We can't afford to be officiated like this again - in part our injuries are being caused from this also.

Grow a back bone Tottenham.
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I don't understand why we don't get someone expendable like Lange to hold a press conference after every really bad decision

What could the authorities do??

Banning him would be irrelevant and a fine would be no worse than the current situation
 
There are two paths the autopsy can take.
The path that will focus on a quick and sustainable turnaround with one goal - footballing success on the pitch.
Or there is the path where we do the minimum in order to placate the masses whilst asset value increases.
After 25+ years of ENIC I know exactly which path will be chosen.

For the right path
Vinai sacks Lange
Viv sacks Vinai
Viv hires new CEO with some footballing experience to work with Rafi Moersen and Dan Lewindon.
These three work with RDZ to hire a new DoF
Reduce the first team squad size 24 players. We will be playing one game a week next season. (3 GK, 4 FB, 4CB, 5 CM, 4 Wingers, 2 x 10s and 2 x 9s)
Sell any player baring Madders who made up the leadership group (so that's Vic, Porro, Romero and VDV - they can all go)
Buy players with proven track record - no more youngsters, no more punts
Create a pathway from the Academy to the first team

Squad for next season
GK1 - Kinsky or new GK
GK2 - new GK or Kinsky
GK3 - Austin
RB1 - new RB
RB2 - Spence
LB1 - Probably Robertson
LB2 - Udogie
CB1 - Vuskovic
CB2 - Senesi
CB3 - Danso
CB4 - Phillips
CM1 - new CM who is out of the top draw and can play progressively through the lines
CM2 - Bentancur
CM3 - Palhinha but not at 30m (15m or another season loan)
CM4 - Gray
CM5 - Bergvall
RW1 - Kudus
RW2 - Deki
LW1 - new LW who can beat his man, deliver good crosses and generally cause chaos
LW2 - Tel/Moore (loan one keep the other)
AM1 - Gallagher
AM2 - Madders/Simons
ST1 - new number 9 who can score goals
ST2 - Solanke if we can't get shot of him

anyone not in this list is expendable and can be sold if their is no path back to the first team or loaned if they are a youngster like Souza for example.
 
Whatever it is, it needs to be swift and decisive. There are too many cooks in the kitchen, meaning decisions are protracted, and evidently, often wrong.

The squad requires some significant surgery. Outgoings happening quickly feels imperative. Some players it's fairly obvious are done at the club; Romero , Richarlison and Vicario can bring in good money. Try as best as is possible to have them out of the door within a couple of weeks, ideally pre-WC.

The incomings might take a little longer but really oughtn't. Having RDZ for two months already will be advantageous. He's got a good understanding of who's in and who's out, which really should make who to buy far easier to track. We know we're desperate for attackers. A wide left forward and striker are must haves, as to a progressive midfielder who's not a push over (Anderson isn't remotely possible but he's the definition of who we need).

I don't have a clue who they are, not my job, but it worries me that Lange remains the man to do so.

Get rid of the entire medical team.

No more words alluding to caring, actions only.
 
Get a proper DOF Freedman or Mitchell. Overhaul the youth and academy with RDZ preferred tactical set up used through the age groups. Committ officially to one youth homegrown player per match day squads inclusion. Bring one home grown kid into the squad each season. NO MORE LOANS its incredibly small time. Form a three man council of owls to work as advisers to the board on player integration and possible scouting input. Fire Alan Dixon give his role to an EX player like Sandro. Encourage Ben Davis to tailor his post playing career education toward becoming sporting director in the next five years.

Loan :Bergvall, Moore, Hall, LWB, Lankshear

Sell: Romero, Sarr, Vicario, Bissouma, Richarlison, Tel, Dragusin,

Buy:( S) Ramos, Toney, Nunez
(CM) Stiler, Hackney,
(Gk) Keeley
(LB) Estupiñán,
(LCB) Senesi
(LWF) ??
 
All the whines re officiating are just that, whining after the fact. Personally I couldn't care less how or why last season happened and even less about dwelling on it.

That doesn’t mean we weren't on the bad end of some atrocious decisions but I'd rather concentrate on the more relevant issues like getting these pampered lazy overpaid fuckers to carry out what they are actually employed to do, get stuck in, play some football and put a shift in.

:rdzarms:
 
The autopsy is 90 percent of our squad is fucking useless, our owners are also fucking useless . There will be no investment in the summer, it’s complete bullshit.
 
KentuckyHotSpur said:
First off, an autopsy thread should be looking backwards at what went wrong. Not another let’s do xyz transfers.
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Correct.

Unfortunately the story is almost boringly simple, which is that a world class once-in-a-generation goalscorer papered over a declining squad for a decade amid a rapidly strengthening league especially in the middle to bottom tier.

A clumsy metric admittedly, but take a look at our raw point total of Premier League + Europe (with Europa/Conference points halved to adjust for difficulty)

16-17: 94 points (86 + 8)
17-18: 94 points (77 + 17)
18-19: 91 points (71 + 20)
---Lose Poch---
19-20: 69 points (59 + 10)
20-21: 73 points (62 + 22/2)
21-22: 74.5 points (71 + 7/2)
22-23: 72 points (60 + 12)
---Lose Kane---
23-24: 66 points (66 + 0)
24-25: 54.5 points (38 + 33/2)
---Lose Son---
25-26: 61 points (41 + 20)

It's a much steadier decline that irons out a lot of the noise when you consider the midweek burden.
 
Looking back, the main thing that's gone wrong over the past few seasons, and particularly the last two, is recruitment.

Ange, Frank, Tudor, dreadful players, medical staff that seem to be actively trying to injure our players, directors of football that don't know much of anything about football and an ex Woolwich man as chief exec.

The Lewis family and those they delegate to are fucking awful at identifying and picking talent across the entire spectrum of the club.
 
Agree that the club went with “good enough” when we had 2 absolutely top players. Instead of seizing that as an opportunity to truly allow us to challenge for titles year over year, they went cheap.

I get the stadium was a part of this.

But if we had pushed on during the Kane years, maybe he doesn’t leave.

And once he and a declining Sonny left, our cupboard was grim.

And efforts we did make (Ndombele!) were often a disaster.
 
KentuckyHotSpur said:
First off, an autopsy thread should be looking backwards at what went wrong. Not another let’s do xyz transfers.

To that end:
1). Injuries. Second year in a row completely derailed by significant, widespread player availability. Our squad as composed for last 2 years had issues. Coaching was suspect at best. But the sheer volume and seriousness of the injuries was a huge detriment to our ability to compete.

2). Recruitment. Unbalanced squad. Too many similar players in same positions. (Midfield). Not enough cover in others. (LB in particular, but also at the 10)

3). Coaching. I was cautiously optimistic on Frank, but pretty quickly it was obvious he was a mistake. No discernible attack patterns. And obviously he lost the dressing room quickly. Compare both to RDZ.

4). Board decisions. Kept Frank WAY too long, dug a deep hole. Brought in Tudor who floundered immediately.

5). Winter xfer window. Almost smugly proud of no panic buys, but left us terribly short and in a position where more injuries would destroy us. There were players available that would have allowed us to easily be well out of relegation danger. Incredible gamble by the club.

Those are my backwards looking thoughts.
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Close the thread. This is the only take that's needed.

3 Top quality signings and limit the fucking never-ending injury crisis there's no reason RDZ can't bounce us like 23/24.
 
I think we should look back farther, to where things started turning around in our fortunes compared to Woolwich and the Bin Dippers, who, for the best part 8 or 9 seasons, we finished above them. 6 years later, that's all it took, for us to then be pathetic in comparison.

You can't sit on your laurels. You can never be happy with your current squad. To stand still is to fall behind. We must never stop improving the squad. Woolwich can now spend £100m per season on one player and it will do wonders for their squad, even small percentage point improvements is good enough. Bin Dippers made it work for them too, at least for a while.

Spurs keep spending £30-£40m on multiple players that mostly turn out to be mediocre or injury-prone. Or worse, we spend £50m-£60m on the same over-priced and over-rated junk. We've got to be more clinical with our transfer decisions and it will surely help if the wage structure isn't going to hold us back from genuine quality.

It could take 3-5 years to turn this club around, but it won't happen a) with a succession of average players coming in and failing, again and b) with 3-5 different managers in that time.

Back RDZ - he's saved the club from literal oblivion, so spend what it takes and then see the revenues, gate receipts, merchandise, advertising, sponsorship, and more, pay it back, and then some.
 
KentuckyHotSpur said:
First off, an autopsy thread should be looking backwards at what went wrong. Not another let’s do xyz transfers.

To that end:
1). Injuries. Second year in a row completely derailed by significant, widespread player availability. Our squad as composed for last 2 years had issues. Coaching was suspect at best. But the sheer volume and seriousness of the injuries was a huge detriment to our ability to compete.

2). Recruitment. Unbalanced squad. Too many similar players in same positions. (Midfield). Not enough cover in others. (LB in particular, but also at the 10)

3). Coaching. I was cautiously optimistic on Frank, but pretty quickly it was obvious he was a mistake. No discernible attack patterns. And obviously he lost the dressing room quickly. Compare both to RDZ.

4). Board decisions. Kept Frank WAY too long, dug a deep hole. Brought in Tudor who floundered immediately.

5). Winter xfer window. Almost smugly proud of no panic buys, but left us terribly short and in a position where more injuries would destroy us. There were players available that would have allowed us to easily be well out of relegation danger. Incredible gamble by the club.

Those are my backwards looking thoughts.
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Really good assessment.

To improve for next season:

+ A few ins and outs at board level (Vinai and Lange out) , as we need the right leaders in place
+ Constructive discussion and outcome re. strategy and identity at N17. We need to go back to the attacking football ethos and build from that
+ Proper support for RDZ (a massive achievement to keep us up in the short time he had)
+ Recruit in accordance with core philosophy/principles in terms of playing and managerial staff - no more random signings, but acquisitions in accordance with a core set of values that all of the top team in the club are in alignment on
+ Proper teamwork between board, director of football, RDZ, and player leadership team - acting in alignment on core values/identity
+ Find out why we get so many long-term injuries. I'm not suggesting there's a conspiracy of any sort, but something must be going on re coaching and rehab as this has had (again) a huge impact on our ability to compete
 
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