A New Direction for Tottenham Hotspur

In June, when Harry Redknapp left Tottenham, as way of explanation for his departure, he said that the chairman and the owners were looking to take the club in a different direction.

"“I didn’t want to leave but they made a decision to go in a different direction……It’s entirely up to the owner of the club. I was an employee and if they want to go down a different road, they own the club.”Harry Redknapp in an interview following his dismissal on 14th June"

Some critics in the media harshly suggested that direction would be ‘Down!’ but in the past hectic week at the club, Tottenham have already shown that they are doing things differently – not least with a modicum of pace to their summer activities. The new direction for Spurs has brought a feeling of

• The new Head Coach, Andre Villas-Boas, appointed in under three weeks, unlike the lengthy deliberations back in 2003-04 after the sacking of Glenn Hoddle. Daniel Levy spent nine months to find a manager, Jacques Santini, who stayed little more than nine weeks.

• Today’s announcement that Spurs have appointed the experienced Luis Martins as First Team Coach continues that momentum as Villas-Boas and his coaching staff prepare for the start of pre-season training.

• The completion of two transfer deals, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jan Vertonghen, in the first week of July. Any delay in the completion of the latter’s transfer was entirely due to difficulties between the player and Ajax. In summers past, such transfer activity was simply unheard of at Tottenham Hotspur. Mr Levy was much more inclined to deal in the ‘bargain buys’ department on the last day of August when one could not be sure of the wisdom of the transactions or the quality of the goods. In August, 2008, Dimitar Berbatov made a late, hasty departure to be replaced by Fraizer Campbell but in 2010 the last day bargain search unearthed Rafael Van der Vaart. The final day dealings in 2011 did help to turn Tottenham’s season around when Emanuel Adebayor and Scott Parker were signed but at the end of January, 2012 the signing of Louis Saha and Ryan Nelsen did little to strengthen the squad.

I have always advocated that the summer transfer dealings should be completed early to enable the new players to become acquainted with the club, the players and the manager’s methods. Missing pre-season preparations can affect a player throughout the season as Scott Parker admitted last year, with negotiations to leave West Ham going on during the summer he didn’t have a proper pre-season and found it difficult to keep going throughout the season with niggling injuries taking their toll before the end of the season.

Bill Nicholson always wanted to have new players at the club to take part in pre-season training – he would identify the player he wanted to sign and go off and complete the deal in a matter of days. In 1971 he signed Ralph Coates while the team were playing their final match of the season. It was a different world back then – no prolonged discussions – the clubs agreed a price and the manager met the player to discuss wages with no need for agents and a host of advisers.

With more signings to be made, it’s to be hoped that they can be finalised quickly so that they can be part of Andre Villas-Boas pre-season preparations, both on the training ground and friendly matches to be played.

For the moment there is a feel good factor around Tottenham. Harry Redknapp did a massive job in his three and a half seasons with Spurs but at times there was a feeling that it was a matter of the same old ideas, with nothing new to challenge the players. Hopefully, as the players return to training this week they will buy into the ‘new direction’,the new ideas and the challenges which the club have employed Andre Villas-Boas to bring to Tottenham Hotspur. Andre Villas-Boas’ comments on the club web-site announcing his appointment, certainly show his commitment to the new direction for the club.

"“Tottenham Hotspur is a great club with a strong tradition and fantastic support, both at home and throughout the world.  I feel privileged to be its coach.  For me, this is one of the most exciting coaching positions in the Premier League.  I have had several discussions with the Chairman and the Board and I share their vision for the future progress of the Club.  This is a squad any coach would love to work with and together I believe we can bring success in the seasons ahead.”"

Andre Villas-Boas speaking on the Tottenham Hotspur web-site

Is there a feeling of excitement among Tottenham supporters as they look forward to the new season or have I overstated the AVB affect?