Dear Daniel

well, you’ve done it again. That makes nine managers since you arrived at the club in 2001 – and that’s the conservative estimate counting caretakers David Pleat and Clive Allen/Alex Inglethorpe just once (and the latter pair as one manager).

Don’t get me wrong. Spurs fans are grateful for much that you have done. Never mind the results on the pitch, the club was a laughing stock off the pitch when it nearly went bust in the early 90s. How could a club that had been relatively successful for three decades and had such a big fan base nearly go under?

You couldn’t make it up. So compared to some of the boards we’ve had at Spurs, we’re grateful to have yours. Moreover, while you can’t please all the fans all the time, we generally all welcome your ambition for the club both on and off the pitch. We all want to see great players at a great stadium playing in the Spurs way lifting trophies and competing in the Champions League.

But key to this is what we do on the pitch and key to that is the manager and this is the challenge you have. You are clearly not very good at hiring managers.

Since you joined the club our record is nine managers, one league cup and one Champions League qualification; the record of Arsenal is one manager, two league titles, several trophies and continued Champions League qualification. You don’t need to be a business or football genius (or any sort of genius) to see what might be going on here. You need a coach for the long run.

When you appointed AVB we thought that you’d figured this out. There’s no way, given what happened at Chelsea, that you could in all sanity have hired him on his Premier League credentials. The only plausible basis on which you could have hired him was on the potential you saw in him. That being so, you should have had courage in your convictions and given him the players and back-room staff he wanted – at least as far as you could. Obviously the fans don’t know exactly what goes on behind closed doors at the club but can you honestly say you did that?

Nobody would criticise all those sackings since 2001. If there is a risk of relegation you have to act. You may argue that today for Spurs, with our financial commitments and ambitions, missing out on the Champions League is as bad a relegation.

I would argue that if true, your gambling the club’s future on the top four lottery makes you every bit as reckless as those who nearly brought the club to its knees 20 years ago. So let’s assume that failure to qualify for the Champions League would not be the end of the world.

The really weird thing about your collection of managers is that most of them are decent managers with good track records but only Martin Jol and Harry Redknapp really delivered at Spurs.

You’ll know better than me why that is. Maybe they just got lucky with players. But maybe the board need to look at their role down the years too. The sword of Damocles always seems to be hanging over the Spurs manager.

At WHL you’re not five or six bad games away from the sack but always about two. We read that some of your board wanted AVB sacked after the City defeat. Really? Ours was the worst mauling at the Etihad but not the only one. Even Arsenal let in six. So, if these stories are true a little perspective from the board would be welcomed.

Again, anybody in football will tell you that getting the right blend between a manager, the players and the club’s tradition takes time. This was the case to an exponential degree at Spurs this season. Why?

First, because this particular manager has very strong ideas on tactics and how to play. (You must have known this when you recruited AVB. Everybody else in the game did.)

Second, because this group of players was so raw. Seven first-team players is arguably too many to bed in at anytime but add in their lack of English experience and the loss of our one genuine world class player and it was always going to be a tough ask of a young manager without a free hand, almost impossible.

Third, because the Spurs tradition is a very strong one. We want our teams to play in a certain way more than many other group of fans. That’s probably a good thing but for a team in transition it’s another complication.

All this means you simply cannot justify the firing of AVB without implying that you were a fool to appoint him in the first place. Don’t be a fool again, Daniel.

When you choose your tenth manager, think long and think long-term. Choosing a manager is the toughest thing you will ever do as chair of a football club. If you can’t do it, be a man about it and admit it – at least to yourself.

Do whatever it takes to get the decision right. Given your track record it may even make sense to get in some consultants. That’s what you’d do in business if a particular area of the business were consistently failing, isn’t it?

Whoever you choose let him run the team 100%.

It may be different on the continent but there isn’t a single successful manager in English football history who hasn’t had pretty much complete control. Look no further today than Ferguson and Wenger. Look no further than the troubles Chelsea have had when they have deviated from this model.

Don’t pick a back room team for your new manager. Don’t pick the squad for him. Carry on playing hardball in the transfer market – you do it well – but put your ego second to the team. Don’t quibble over a few quid or a few days. Let the boss be the boss.

And once you’ve made the decision give them at least two full seasons.

Good luck and COYS

[author name=”Jim Pollard” avatar=”http://i.imgur.com/LHJaICC.jpg” twitter=”” website=”www.malehealth.co.uk” tag=”JimPollard[/linequote]