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On the eve of the Premiership new season we caught up with Tottenham manager Tim Brown before the big kick off. Brown was sitting in his office, the Premiership winners trophy firmly in pride of place in an otherwise bare cabinet.
So, tell us what your hopes and expectations are for the new season?
Well mate, it’s going to be tougher than ever - we are well aware that we nicked one from under the noses of the big boys last year so to repeat that would be an ever bigger miracle - i still expect us to compete at the top though - our starting line up matches up to most, although our squad depth will be tested. We’ve got some good youngsters that have come through the academy and they will get chances particularly in Europe.
And are you expecting to challenge in Europe?
Look, realistically our squad is miles off some of the European giants. We probably need 2 new players to come in to compete on a ‘first team’ basis to get closer, but we proved last year that when we get it right we can beat anyone on our day. This is very much the start of our journey so i would realistically expect us to be mounting a genuine challenge in 3 or 4 years time.
And what about personnel, any changes?
We’ve added a little depth with a couple of squad players, Nightingale and Larsson, Vrsaljko has signed from Betis to complete our defensive unit, he’s an experienced player and in this market the older players are good value for money! Riyadh Mahrez is our biggest signing, and again an older player but he actually comes in to replace Dusan Tadic in a very similar role and we wish the mighty Dusan the very best of luck in his next chapter at Juventus. Ultimately we go in pretty similar to last year, but the specialised training work we have done has seen a few of the lads come back much better players to be fair.
Who do you see as the main contenders to take your crown?
The Premiership was such an amazing competition last year and let’s hope this year matches up! There are some great teams and managers to play against and it is a division where anyone can beat anyone on their day. I would expect Man City to come back strong this year after what was a poor one for them, United, Arsenal, Liverpool will all be up there. Chelsea will mount a serious challenge, watch out for Southampton - as ever there will be some surprises I’m sure - it’s what makes the Premiership the number one competition
Some would argue that EFL1 has better teams, what is your take?
There are a few top European teams out there that are obviously ahead of the rest in terms of squad quality and resources, but clearly the Prem is the place to be - there are a lot of guaranteed 3 pointers in that division so with less ‘big’ games week in week out maybe it suits them better for European games. I think a league that really could see anyone from about ten teams in it versus 2 or 3 is a far more competitive place to be.
Where next do you see the development of Tottenham?
We are building still and money is tight so we need to get into a position where we can create some ‘home grown’ talent. We’ve promoted 3 academy lads this year, Popov, Valbuena and Gervinho, all of who will get game time and we will see how they develop as they can be a part of our long term future. Ultimately we can’t improve on last years position so i think any form of European qualification again would be considered a successful campaign.
First game of the season sees newly promoted Bristol City visit - a team you know well?
Haha yes - it was great to win the Championship last year with City who are still very close to my heart - and great for the fans too, who have been desperate for Premiership football. They have made a lot of changes to a squad that i thought was close to being ready for the Prem, so i don’t have quite so many familiar faces there, but no doubt they will give us a game and we will need to be at our best to get the win.
And this year you will be caretaking in the Netherlands, at PSV - how is that going to work with your Spurs role?
I’ve had a little word with Spurs legend Glenn Hoddle who is going to go to Holland and do a bit of work with the Dutch lads and help develop the academy out there, so as long as we keep him away from the press conferences we should be fine - and the PSV journey is right back at day 1 and developing a club infrastructure with plenty of young players which we will look to add to. Glenn’s already done some great work with Couto who looks even better this year and he will be crucial to the team’s success. Rest assured, it will take nothing away from my role at Spurs - they are my club, always have been, and all i want to do is keep getting this grand old club back up to where it should be.
Newspaper rumours had Juventus looking to bring you in, following the earlier Madrid rumours - what do you say to them?
It’s all hearsay mate to be honest - it’s so flattering to be linked with clubs of this stature and i guess with what we achieved last year, the currency of success is trophies and that’s what all of these chairman want. The prem will miss Tony (Ayre) and Freddie thoroughly deserved the Madrid gig - like i said, i am very happy to be here at my club and i am also pleased to say that i have just agreed a 4 year contract extension with the club.
And what of the criticisms around your squad depth and age?
Well, it is what it is mate - basically we massively over-achieved last year. We finished 14th the year before, and there was a reason for that - so we needed to rebuild. After around 20 games we were still very much in it, so directionally i cashed all my chips effectively, loaned in and sold and upgraded players to get the best possible X1 out there - and it worked - we won the league! However close/lucky it was, the gamble paid off and we delivered silverware to a bare trophy cupboard. The depth of the squad is the price we’ve had to pay for that, and the age is symptomatic of it but also there are some bargains to be picked up in that area of the market. We can find some legs to run around the quality of the likes of Tadic and Mahrez - not everything has to be about building for 5 seasons time. In a perfect world we would maximise our academy and have it dully stacked and have a couple of younger players coming through, but we still have some real quality in the over-30’s department.
Thanks for your time - any final words
Yeah, we’ll just keep trying to play attacking football and raising a few eyebrows - it won’t be any easier that’s for sure. We’re really excited about bringing European football back to the club, there have been some great European games here over the years. We’ll keep nudging in the transfer market and we’ll give the defence of our cherished title the very best shot that we can. If we can finish as the highest of the London clubs again we’ll be close enough.