Paul Mitchell To Leave Saints

[whelk]

Nearly 500 posts to this guy. Not like we found obscure finds from West Africa. Most have been well known and mostly internationals. Sure others maybe able to do the trick. Esp when we have Koeman - the greatest of all men.

[mcjwills]

I think one thing in life is fairly certain (along with death and taxes) is that my football allegiances will not be moving to Spuds, even if they triple my wages.

I heard your head was already at the spurs wage packet.

[KelvinsRightGlove]

Nearly 500 posts to this guy. Not like we found obscure finds from West Africa. Most have been well known and mostly internationals. Sure others maybe able to do the trick. Esp when we have Koeman - the greatest of all men.

 

Agree with this.

 

I highly doubt that any Prem team wouldn't be aware of Tadic, Pelle and Mané. Given their stats over the past couple of years, I'd expect plenty of teams would be monitoring them to at least some extent.

 

Toby was hardly an unknown, neither was Bertrand or Long.

 

Don't get me wrong, I've stuck up for our recruitment on plenty of occasions since I've been on here (which as I understand it is about the same amount of time Mitchell was here) and think it's clear he's done a fine job. I don't however think this is a huge deal to worry about. We've got the set up, he may be able to replicate it, but he can't take that with him. Convincing Levy & Baldini to buy into and not meddle is a whole other matter (that is not me claiming I think he'll be unsuccessful there either).

[CB Fry]

Nearly 500 posts to this guy. Not like we found obscure finds from West Africa. Most have been well known and mostly internationals. Sure others maybe able to do the trick. Esp when we have Koeman - the greatest of all men.

We've got Radhi Jaidi on that job anyway. Or is that East Africa?

[Toon Saint]

Hope the black box has an 'autopilot' function.

[KMondo]

I don't see it as a big loss. Only thing is they will know our transfer targets etc. BTW did he suggest veggard Forren?

 

Yes he did. Mayuka too, and Ramirez, and Gazzaniga. Osvaldo was Pochettino's fault, the rest have all been Reed / Koeman signings.

[whelk]

We've got Radhi Jaidi on that job anyway. Or is that East Africa?

 

I await the 'new Patrick Viera' tag for anyone over 6ft tall

[St Chalet]

Apparently Levy has done what he normally does when confronted by a problem and thrown money at it. I'm told he's trebled Mitchell's salary to £300,000.

 

But there's no flappage at Saints because he wasn't that key a cog in the machine. Even Mitchell himself has been surprised by all the attention and hype surrounding him.

 

His role is more of an administrator than a facilitator. lack box? He put the right people in the right job. He wouldn't have much of a clue about the Black Box and what it does. But he appointed a man who does.

 

Spurs might think they have pulled off a coup, but Levy has typically got the wrong man if he wants the secret to Saints player recruitment. That's Bill Green.

 

Thanks for posting. Based on the above, hardly surprising he left and sounds like we'll survive.

[Turkish]

We've got Radhi Jaidi on that job anyway. Or is that East Africa?

 

He did a great job finding Wanyama before the rest of Europe spotted him.

[Smirking_Saint]

Its something the new staplewood video mentioned, supposedly the nerve centre of all our incoming transfer targets.

 

Personally, I felt "black box" might not have been the ideal description given that's what they look for after the plane has crashed.

 

Then I googled black box, and it just got worse.

 

Yup

 

Seen a few videos about entering the black box, no wonder the lads are smiling all the time

[James]

I'd like to know which of our signings Mitchell was actually responsible for.

 

Of our summer signings:

 

Tadic - clearly Ron influenced

Pelle - definitely Ron influenced

Mane - reportedly Ron wanted him after he tore apart Feyenoord playing for Red Bull

Alderweireld - he's a Belgian international, hardly requires some genius scout to unearth him

Forster - England international keeper, see above

Long - possible that he had influence

Bertrand - possible that he had influence

Gardos - definitely possible, but yet to prove how good he actually is.

 

Also worth remembering that for every good signing we have made this summer there is a Gazzaniga, Forren, Mayuka, Ramirez or Osvaldo.

 

Not quite sure what Spurs think they are getting here...but happy to be corrected.

[Turkish]

I'd like to know which of our signings Mitchell was actually responsible for.

 

Of our summer signings:

 

Tadic - clearly Ron influenced

Pelle - definitely Ron influenced

Mane - reportedly Ron wanted him after he tore apart Feyenoord playing for Red Bull

Alderweireld - he's a Belgian international, hardly requires some genius scout to unearth him

Forster - England international keeper, see above

Long - played in premier league for years ans well known

Bertrand - Champions league winner and called up by England not long ago. Surplus to requirements at a much bigger club than us but a good player.

Gardos - definitely possible, but yet to prove how good he actually is.

 

Also worth remembering that for every good signing we have made this summer there is a Gazzaniga, Forren, Mayuka, Ramirez or Osvaldo.

 

Not quite sure what Spurs think they are getting here...but happy to be corrected.

 

Fixed for you.

[shurlock]

Nearly 500 posts to this guy. Not like we found obscure finds from West Africa. Most have been well known and mostly internationals. Sure others maybe able to do the trick. Esp when we have Koeman - the greatest of all men.

 

Begs the question what spurs chief scout does.

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/tottenham-transfer-news-sadio-mane-3275913

[Golden Balls]

No panic. He's a replaceable head of department. The team of scouts/analysts are still as good at their job as they were before their line manager left.

[Turkish]

I dont know about now but 18 months or so a go we used a scouting agency for Europe the same agency and same scouts were used by Spurs, hence why we were often linked with the same players.

[DuncanRG]

There's a reason most of us hadn't heard of Paul Mitchell until a couple of days ago. He's not that important in the grand scheme of things.

 

The reason being it's a role that doesn't involve any public interaction. That doesn't mean it's not important!

[Smirking_Saint]

I'd like to know which of our signings Mitchell was actually responsible for.

 

Of our summer signings:

 

Tadic - clearly Ron influenced

Pelle - definitely Ron influenced

Mane - reportedly Ron wanted him after he tore apart Feyenoord playing for Red Bull

Alderweireld - he's a Belgian international, hardly requires some genius scout to unearth him

Forster - England international keeper, see above

Long - possible that he had influence

Bertrand - possible that he had influence

Gardos - definitely possible, but yet to prove how good he actually is.

 

Also worth remembering that for every good signing we have made this summer there is a Gazzaniga, Forren, Mayuka, Ramirez or Osvaldo.

 

Not quite sure what Spurs think they are getting here...but happy to be corrected.

 

I see we have started the white wash

[Torrent Of Abuse]

Levy strikes me as being like one of those guys who goes in the store, demands the best, most expens

[Saint Charlie]

Thankfully the team is run on football priorities, not PR stunts to keep bed wetters happy.

 

Is Clyne a better RB than Chambers - yes clearly by a fair distance.

Is Chambers decent player who will have decent career? Yes.

Did he ask to leave? Yes.

 

Would he have played at all for us so far this season? Probably not a single minute (maybe in cup).

Has Long assisted us? Yes.

Was it a good decision to exchange a player who wanted to leave and would play for a player keen to play for us and is making an impact? Clearly yes.

 

Not sure if you are just on a wind up with your posts?

 

The only wind up here is saying Chambers probably wouldn't have played a single minute for us in the league this season. Fair play if you really believe that.

 

Other than that I mostly agree, Clyne is a better right back than Chambers but for me Chambers much better value for Arsenal than Long for us, not that it matters and my post about it (with the winky face) was meant in jest at Batman's comment.

[Torrent Of Abuse]

Gah. I should wait until I am on the PC instead of trying to type on my iPhone while walking. I'll try again...

Levy strikes me as being like one of those rich guys who goes into the store and demands the best, most expensive, most feature-rich TV set-up in the place but then gets frustrated when he gets it home and finds that it doesn't read his mind and change channel automatically, and ends up throwing it out.

 

It's a shame we've lost such a capable head of department but I'm sure we will adapt and bring in someone else equally capable. I think Saints' strength lies in the patient way we grow systems like this. Just buying in bits of it or all of it doesn't work well. You have to have the attitude to make it work properly or you just end up misusing it and throwing away all the hard work.

I remember being sad when Georges Prost and Huw Jennings left - yet look at us now. I think we're in a good position to get some very high quality CVs on the desk for Paul Mitchell's job. Such is our profile. I'm not sure I'd like to go into a club as short-termist as Spurs no matter what money they throw at me. Unless I planned on raking in the cash short-term too.

[Smirking_Saint]

The only wind up here is saying Chambers probably wouldn't have played a single minute for us in the league this season. Fair play if you really believe that.

 

Other than that I mostly agree, Clyne is a better right back than Chambers but for me Chambers much better value for Arsenal than Long for us, not that it matters and my post about it (with the winky face) was meant in jest at Batman's comment.

 

I agree with the first comment re chambers, saying he wouldnt get a game for us is laughable, he kept clyne out of the side for a lot of last year, though Clyne is the better RB, arguably Chambers will be a v v good CB

 

But realistically Long IS better value for us, J Rod is injured and behind Pelle we have nothing (even if SG was fit), so in that respect Long gives us competition and a better option then we would have had should Pelle be injured

[James]

I see we have started the white wash

 

Which part of the post do you dispute? I'd be interested to hear.

[scotty]

I agree with the first comment re chambers, saying he wouldnt get a game for us is laughable, he kept clyne out of the side for a lot of last year, though Clyne is the better RB, arguably Chambers will be a v v good CB

 

But realistically Long IS better value for us, J Rod is injured and behind Pelle we have nothing (even if SG was fit), so in that respect Long gives us competition and a better option then we would have had should Pelle be injured

I wasn't thrilled when we signed Shane Long, but have to say now that he could be one of our most important signings this season. There are so many question marks over J Rod, we definitely need cover for Pellè, and we don't have much of a clue what's happening with Gallagher. Long turned around a difficult game against Leicester, fair play to him.

[Smirking_Saint]

Which part of the post do you dispute? I'd be interested to hear.

 

The majority really, Mitchell was in charge of putting together and oversee a recruitment department that included our now highly thought of scouting networks as well as helping to develop the facilities that we have as part of the player analysis and recruitment side at the new staplewood.

 

So likelyhood is he was directly involved in most if not all of the last few years worth of player and staff recruitments. He has an excellent name in the game and it has been reported that Manè, Tadic and Pellè were all on the radar before Koeman.

 

Im not saying he isnt replaceable, he probably is. But it will be a blow.

 

Saying he has done very little is shortsighted in reality

[SarniaSaint]

Cant see what the Yids get out of this in the short term. To add more players they have to move on a lot of crap overpaid who nobody will sign except at bargain basement prices or free lol.

 

Just Levy and the argie showing how not to do it.

[Weston Saint]

Apparently Levy has done what he normally does when confronted by a problem and thrown money at it. I'm told he's trebled Mitchell's salary to £300,000.

 

But there's no flappage at Saints because he wasn't that key a cog in the machine. Even Mitchell himself has been surprised by all the attention and hype surrounding him.

 

His role is more of an administrator than a facilitator. lack box? He put the right people in the right job. He wouldn't have much of a clue about the Black Box and what it does. But he appointed a man who does.

 

Spurs might think they have pulled off a coup, but Levy has typically got the wrong man if he wants the secret to Saints player recruitment. That's Bill Green.

This explains a lot. I am aware you have very good sources and a good track record.

[trousers]

Apparently Levy has done what he normally does when confronted by a problem and thrown money at it. I'm told he's trebled Mitchell's salary to £300,000.

 

But there's no flappage at Saints because he wasn't that key a cog in the machine. Even Mitchell himself has been surprised by all the attention and hype surrounding him.

 

His role is more of an administrator than a facilitator. lack box? He put the right people in the right job. He wouldn't have much of a clue about the Black Box and what it does. But he appointed a man who does.

 

Spurs might think they have pulled off a coup, but Levy has typically got the wrong man if he wants the secret to Saints player recruitment. That's Bill Green.

 

Cheers for the insight. I guess the only concern is whether or not he manages to persuade some of the key 'shop-floor' personnel to follow him to Spurs.

Edited 18 November, 2014 by trousers

[Unbelievable Jeff]

Good article on his impact at Saints.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/tottenham-hotspur/11236180/.html

 

As I said a couple of days ago, he may feel he has done his job here and that the challenge of revamping a poor setup is one that excites him. No reason Saints can't continue to excel in his area without him.

 

Fair enough and very interesting line of work.

 

Shame the Black Box hadnt been developed sooner and couldnt have told us Chambers was a better centre back than Hooiveld last December!

 

You'd have thought a manager that worked with both of them day in, day out wouldbhave recognised this.

[Coxford_lou]

 

Spurs might think they have pulled off a coup, but Levy has typically got the wrong man if he wants the secret to Saints player recruitment. That's Bill Green.

 

Ooh, tell us more about Bill Green...

[farawaysaint]

Ooh, tell us more about Bill Green...

 

**** off Levy.

[david in sweden]

Good article on his impact at Saints.

 

Shame the Black Box hadnt been developed sooner and couldnt have told us Chambers was a better centre back than Hooiveld last December!

 

 

Interesting that the versatile Chambers started out in the Academy U18s as a midfielder, but converted to RB last season when Clyne was injured pre-season 2013. Wenger now uses him as a CB.

Few could have imagined how well he started with Arsenal, but (as Roy Hodgson intimated in an interview last year) lots of good young players show up well for a few games, but tend to lose their form after 6 or 7 matches. Although he started well, Chambers seems to have come down to Earth with a bump in the last couple of Arsenal games. No matter he still has talent, and will come again.

 

Hooiveld, is another case of the " journeyman " signed in a panic who came to our rescue at an important time, and DAJFU when most needed. His own goals (not always his fault) turned fans against him.

He has his limitations (as everyone) but passing 30 is not a good recommendation for such a player at this stage of his career. He undoubtedly has a few more good years in him, but sadly not at Prem. level.

 

Chambers surprise £16 million move to Arsenal was certainly a good deal for Saints, but I doubt that we will miss someone who was never a " regular " in the side, even though vastly talented.

Edited 18 November, 2014 by david in sweden

[Mowgli]

The majority really, Mitchell was in charge of putting together and oversee a recruitment department that included our now highly thought of scouting networks as well as helping to develop the facilities that we have as part of the player analysis and recruitment side at the new staplewood.

 

So likelyhood is he was directly involved in most if not all of the last few years worth of player and staff recruitments. He has an excellent name in the game and it has been reported that Manè, Tadic and Pellè were all on the radar before Koeman.

Im not saying he isnt replaceable, he probably is. But it will be a blow.

 

Saying he has done very little is shortsighted in reality

 

 

Of course. Pretty much every player on the world is on our radar now. But Koeman made a point of saying these were players that he wanted. The club's response was they knew about them and saw little risk in the signings.

[angelman]

Begs the question what spurs chief scout does.

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/tottenham-transfer-news-sadio-mane-3275913

 

This always leads me to ask, what really do scouts do? Mané, Pellè, Tadic etc were not secret gems being unearthed out of the blue. Mané was possibly the most exciting talent in a minor league. Tadic was recognised to be the best player in the Dutch league, and Pellè was known to have the 3rd best strike rate in Europe since 2012, after Messi and Ronaldo. South America and African based players are more risky and where scouts really can earn their corn, but European based players aren't a secret. If the fans in the stands know who is causing a stir in their league (and lower leagues in their country) then I am sure that professional scouts know.

 

So basically a lot of (or even all) scouts can identify the same players. It's then up to the team and the processes to see whether they will fit into the club.

[KK the 2nd]

I would have expected PM's contract at SFC to include three months notice at least and surprised that this is not being enforced (as gardening leave) to exclude him from engaging in the Jan transfer window? Or have I missed something?

[CB Fry]

I would have expected PM's contract at SFC to include three months notice at least and surprised that this is not being enforced (as gardening leave) to exclude him from engaging in the Jan transfer window? Or have I missed something?

Not sure anyone has said he hasn't.

[Coxford_lou]

**** off Levy.

 

Ha ha, rumbled!

[Smirking_Saint]

Of course. Pretty much every player on the world is on our radar now. But Koeman made a point of saying these were players that he wanted. The club's response was they knew about them and saw little risk in the signings.

 

Which is how the 'committee' has worked for a few years

[ToreSF]

I wonder if Mitchell will manage to convince Pochettino about Townsends amazing qualities.

[Batman]

I wonder if Mitchell will manage to convince Pochettino about Townsends amazing qualities.

 

in what respect.

MP hardly plays him

[Gingeletiss]

Tottenham now targeting Southampton’s Car Parking Chief!

 

When Tottenham Hotspur Chairman Daniel Levy stated that the Culture at Spurs had to change he was not joking as our mole at White Hart Lane has discovered.

 

Spurs defeat against Stoke City at White Hart Lane was the straw that broke the camel's back for Daniel Levy, obviously the North London Soccer Chickens had been in sticky situations before, but this one was different, none of the other periods of turmoil had been the fault of Levy and he wasn't about to be blamed for the latest one either.

 

This was a situation where he could no longer just point the finger at the current manager , for one reason he has had so many in the last year he couldn't quite remember which ones he had fired and which ones he hadn't got round to yet.

 

The discovery of Tim Sherwood in a room outside his office back in June had been a wake up call for Levy who had left last season's coach outside and forgotten to invite him inside to fire him, it was only when Mauricio Pochettino asked where his tracksuit top was that Levy had remembered where he had left Sherwood.

 

But this was only the tip of the iceberg, with Levy's rotating door policy there were always being people discovered on the payroll whom the Chairman had forgotten to sack, these included Harry Redknapp's dog and Glenn Hoddle's personal hairdresser, as Levy knew well when you are firing people on a weekly basis its easy to miss one or two.

 

So the culture change will start with the appointment of Paul Mitchell who had been employed at Pochettino's former club Southampton as head of player recruitment, Levy knew that although it probably would be of no help to Pochettino whose Spurs future is still plottable on a 2014 Calendar at the moment, but it would convince ENIC that Levy himself did have a plan that could be construed as long(ish) term and that player tranfers would no longer be done by drawing balls out of a hat FA Cup draw style.

 

But culture changes have to be far reaching, the Spurs Chairman had been concerned for some while about the state of the car park at both White Hart lane and the training ground, Bentley's, Ferrari's and Range Rovers were all over the place, at times it resembled the Spurs back four in its shambolic state with no discernible way of knowing what exactly was going on.

 

Levy had been impressed by the slick parking regime at St Mary's when he had visited in the past, he had had little time for Nicola Cortese but he did admire the way the Swiss Italian had changed the parking culture at the stadium, on previous visits Levy had been unable to park in a good spot, now with gates and ticket machines it was a pleasure.

 

In fact even when Levy had attempted to leave and could not find his £2 to pay the parking, he was not annoyed by the almost military style in which he was told that he either found the £2 or stayed where he was, this is what he wanted at the Lane, someone with that authority to impose the rules and that there would be no deviation from them. The Spurs Chairman was even more impressed when an Old Age Pensioner lost his ticket, perhaps understandably given his age, but there would be no pity shown by the Saints car parking department, the old man who possibly had fought for his country was told he either paid the full 24 hour cost for a lost ticket within 15 minutes of his car would be blown up in a controlled explosion.

 

However back last December when Levy had been so impressed by this Adolph Heartless head of parking at St Mary's turned down all of Spurs furtive advances, trebling his salary was not enough for Heartless who felt that no money would be enough and no club ruthless enough to tempt him away from his dream job.

 

Now though Levy saw his chance, the Parking regime at St Mary's was now different, he could now park for an hour without charge rahter than the previous 44 1/2 seconds and when he said he lost his ticket, someone even came to help him look for it and when it couldnt be found told him not to worry and opened the gate, what sort of way was this to run a car park Levy thought.

 

He sought out Adolph Heartless and was dismayed to find him sat in a shed behind the Gasometer, a broken man bemoaning the lack of "Good old fashioned parking values at Saints".

 

It did not take long to bring a smile to Heartless's face once Levy had explained the remit.

 

1.To ensure no former Spurs manager gained entrance to the WHL car park (even Heartless knew the enormity of this task and asked for and was granted an extra 4 members of staff to enforce it)

 

2. To bring in and enforce draconian parking measures based on Mussolini's 1935 "No alla Fiat" laws that made it a capital offence to overstay your time in a parking bay

 

3. To enforce a zero tolerance policy on those without the correct change.

 

4. To create an armed response unit in the Spurs car parking department, with a shoot to kill policy being implemented.

 

5. To create a minefield in the car park

 

6. To build a series of watch towers with machine guns.

 

7. To set up a canine unit made up of half starved pit bulls abandoned on the nearby Broadwater Farm Estate

 

This brought joy to Heartless, this was almost identical to the Blueprint that had enticed him to Southampton Football Club initially, albeit without the wanton hatred of the Club's supporters . Heartless had so much enjoyed that at St Mary's, however as he felt in time he would be able to bring the Spurs Chairman round to this way of thinking after a couple of more home defeats, he immediately accepted the job, clamping Levy's car for good measure to show his professionalism.

 

So that is another member of our staff heading to White Hart Lane, brazenly poached by a club that will seemingly only stop at changing Spurs kit to red & white stripes before they are finished

 

As we speak Southampton Football Club Officials are desperately covering St Mary's and Staplewood with a fine toothcomb to find out if anyone else is missing as well as to find the full extent of Spurs territorial ambitions

[Batman]

I'd like to know which of our signings Mitchell was actually responsible for.

 

Of our summer signings:

 

Tadic - clearly Ron influenced

Pelle - definitely Ron influenced

Mane - reportedly Ron wanted him after he tore apart Feyenoord playing for Red Bull

Alderweireld - he's a Belgian international, hardly requires some genius scout to unearth him

Forster - England international keeper, see above

Long - possible that he had influence

Bertrand - possible that he had influence

Gardos - definitely possible, but yet to prove how good he actually is.

 

Also worth remembering that for every good signing we have made this summer there is a Gazzaniga, Forren, Mayuka, Ramirez or Osvaldo.

 

Not quite sure what Spurs think they are getting here...but happy to be corrected.

 

we have a committee. which PM was very much a part of...

[S-Clarke]

we have a committee. which PM was very much a part of...

 

So yes, it's a group effort. Also we have a huge team of scouts and analysts from all over the world (I think Tord Grip is involved with us in a consultancy role), Paul's job was to collate everything and run the operation in essence. He didn't do any of the real 'unearthing', his job simply wouldn't allow for that. I'm sure we can find someone equally as capable to oversea and run the operation.

[trousers]

Ooh, tell us more about Bill Green...

 

It would appear he left us for Leicester in 2010 (having only been with us 6 months) only to return a year later.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Green_(footballer)

 

 

Edited 18 November, 2014 by trousers

[sotonist]

Apparently Levy has done what he normally does when confronted by a problem and thrown money at it. I'm told he's trebled Mitchell's salary to £300,000.

 

But there's no flappage at Saints because he wasn't that key a cog in the machine. Even Mitchell himself has been surprised by all the attention and hype surrounding him.

 

His role is more of an administrator than a facilitator. lack box? He put the right people in the right job. He wouldn't have much of a clue about the Black Box and what it does. But he appointed a man who does.

 

Spurs might think they have pulled off a coup, but Levy has typically got the wrong man if he wants the secret to Saints player recruitment. That's Bill Green.

 

Given Tottenham have no scouting department left, he's appointed the right man.

 

If anyone follows him that's a bonus.

[KelvinsRightGlove]

It would appear he left us for Leicester in 2010 (having only been with us 6 months) only to return a year later.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Green_(footballer)

 

 

 

Strong tache game. Lot of time for that.

[ToreSF]

in what respect.

MP hardly plays him

 

Reported as a target for us in the summer. Mitchell must have seen something in him...

[Coxford_lou]

Strong tache game. Lot of time for that.

 

Proper old school. None of this Movember hipster nonsense.

[S-Clarke]

People talking like Mitchell was the only one finding players here.

 

He headed up an entire department full of people finding players. That's the truth.

[Batman]

he has clearly gone to spurs to set up something very similar...not to personally unearth another tadic etc

[redmotorstone]

If Levy wants to have sex with Katharina Liebherr why doesn't he just ask?