Put yourself in the mind of an Egyptian/American billionaire

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One of our billionnaires made £3bn in the first half of the year. I know it doesn't directly correlate, but it is quite funny how insanely rich they are.

On the one occasion when I met them, I reckon they earned in twenty minutes as much as I will in the rest of my working life.

That's mind blowing. We thought we struck lucky in 2006 and for 3 years in fairness, the level of investment was there, if not the knowhow.

But these pair are next level. If we ever have a chance of breaking into the top echelon, then it is with these 2. They are rich enough to compete.

[Ivo Stas]

I had a look at the odds on the next Spurs manager, just to see what the current list of available elite managers looks like. So, with some assistance from Wikipedia and recognition that this list has a somewhat Tottenham Hotspur flavour (Parker, Mason, Rebrov, Klinsmann), this is what our billionaires will be keeping in mind...

Simone Inzaghi (9/4) - Lazio manager
Brendan Rodgers (17/2) - Leicester manager
Scott Parker (9/1) - Fulham manager
Graham Potter (10/1) - Brighton manager
Nuno Espirito Santo (14/1) - Wolves manager
Roberto Martinez (16/1) - Belgium manager
Christophe Galtier (16/1) - seems to have been out of work since leaving Saint-Étienne in 2017
Antonio Conte (16/1) - Inter Milan manager
Rafa Benitez (20/1) - recently left Dalian Professional (in China)
Ryan Mason (20/1) - Spurs care-taker manager
Ronald Koeman (20/1) - Barcelona manager
Julen Lopetegui (20/1) - Sevilla manager (and he's the guy that was dimissed by Spain just before the 2018 World Cup)
Maurizio Sarri (20/1) - out of work since winning the league with Juventus in 2020
Carlo Ancelotti (25/1) - Everton manager
Massimiliano Allegri (25/1) - out of work since winning the league with Juventus in 2019
Mauricio Pochettino (25/1) - PSG manager (presumably on the list just to troll Spurs fans!)
Erik Ten Hag (25/1) - Ajax manager (just extended his contract there)
Marcelo Bielsa (33/1) - Leeds manager
Didier Deschamps (33/1) - French manager
Steven Gerrard (33/1) - Rangers manager
Zinedine Zidane (33/1) - Real Madrid manager
Ralph Hasenhuttl (33/1) - Southampton manager
Jurgen Klinsmann (33/1) - out of work since quitting Hertha BSC in 2020
Julian Nagelsmann (33/1) - RB Leipzig manager (but heading for Bayern Munich)
Gian Piero Gasperini (33/1) - Atalanta manager
Sergei Rebrov (33/1) - Ferencvaros manager
Hansi Flick (33/1) - Bayern Munich manager (but available in the summer)
Adi Hutter (33/1) - Eintracht Frankfurt manager
Marcelino (33/1) - Athletic Bilbao
Laurent Blanc (33/1) - Al-Rayyan manager
Ralf Rangnick (33/1) - was RB Leipzig manager until 2019
Gareth Southgate (40/1) - England manager
Diego Simeone (40/1) - Atletic Madrid manager
Paulo Fonseca (40/1) - Roma manager
Niko Kovac (40/1) - Monaco manager
Slaven Bilic (40/1) - Beijing Guoan manager
Frank Lampard (40/1) - recently sacked by Chelsea
Sean Dyche (45/1) - Burnley manager
Joao Sacramento (50/1) - is or was Spurs assistance manager (to Mourinho)
Joachim Low (50/1) - Germany manager
Sergio Conceicao (50/1) - Porto manager
David Moyes (50/1) - West Ham manager
Marcelo Gallardo (50/1) - River Plate manager
Chris Wilder (50/1) - recently left Sheff Utd
Ledley King (50/1) - coaching at Spurs
Oliver Glasner (50/1) - Wolfsburg manager
Ryan Giggs (50/1) - Wales manager (by a thread)
Chris Powell (50/1) - Spurs assistant manager
Xavi Hernandez (66/1) - Al Sadd manager
Roy Keane (66/1) - TV pundit (and ex-Villa assistant manager)
Lucien Favre (66/1) - left Borussia Dortmund in 2020
Daniel Farke (66/1) - Norwich manager
Harry Redknapp (66/1) - retired?
Luiz Enrique (66/1) - Spain manager
Chris Coleman (80/1) - Hebei China Fortune manager until 2019
Jonathon Woodgate (80/1) - Bournemouth manager
Michael Carrick (80/1) - coaching at Man Utd
Dean Smith (80/1) - erm, current Aston Villa manager..!
Neil Lennon (100/1) - ex-Celtic manager
Emma Hayes (100/1) - Chelsea women's manager
Tim Sherwood (100/1) - out of work since being sacked by Villa in 2015
Alan Pardew (100/1) - technical director of CSKA Sofia..!
Eddie Howe (100/1) - out of work since Bournemouth's relegation
Mark Hughes (100/1) - out of work since a brief stint at Southampton
Derek McInnes (100/1) - recently left Aberdeen by mutual consent
Sol Campbell (100/1) - definitely on the list to troll Spurs fans..!!!
Wayne Rooney (100/1) - Derby manager
Sam Allardyce (100/1) - West Brom manager

I stopped at the 100/1 odds. Thomas Tuchel was 150/1 for the Spurs job and the idea that he'd leave Chelsea for Spurs is just fantasy stuff.

Now I have my doubts how available some of these are (Rodgers, Conte, Koeman, Ancelotti, Simeone) and suspect they are just on the list to separate gamblers from their money.

I imagine some of the international managers may be available after Euro 2020. Personally I would view the likes of Martinez, Southgate and Low with suspicion but perhaps, to a billionaire, being in charge of a national team adds a certain glamour to a candidate.

To my (would-be billionaire) mind, the serious threats to Dean Smith would be the two Italians Allegri and Sarri, the two Germans Flick and Rangnick and the Spaniard Benitez (all being available). Sarri and Benitez have slot-straight-in Premier League experience. I don't know too much about Flick and Rangnick other than that they are highly regarded in Germany (and German coaches are flavour-of-the-month these days). Plus, as a couple of outsiders (and possibly only because I often see them click-bait linked with Villa) Steven Gerrard and Sean Dyche. I don't see Dyche as an upgrade and I see Gerrard as a gamble (and someone who would treat the Villa job as a stepping stone to Liverpool). I have a suspicion that Purslow is a Gerrard fan though. I may be overlooking some red-hot foreign manager (the River Plate manager is on that list, no idea how they are doing!).

Personally, I have to say the more I look at the alternatives, the safer Dean Smith looks. Would someone like a Benitez be happy to accept a coach role without control of transfers (or agree to submit to our sign-them-young-and-develop-them strategy)? Benitez left Newcastle because he wasn't allowed to sign an aging Salomon Rondon.

[Monty]

Christoph Galtier is currently leading Lille to the top of Ligue 1, Flick is going to be Germany manager after the summer, Rangnick doesn't look likely to do much fulltime management anymore due to his health. Allegri and Sarri are serious top level choices, but one has never managed in England before and the other had a decent but sometimes iffy year (and in my view has never reproduced the magic of his Napoli period - winning the scudetto with Juve was not necessarily that impressive).

As for Benitez, I think he's a very impressive manager, but if we do replace Smith it would need to be with someone who can virtually guarantee bringing Villa right to the cutting edge of attacking football coaching, positional play, planned moves etc. Benitez, for all his tactical nous, is never going to be that.

[Meanwood Villa]

I think Smith is safe as houses this summer but we will need an improvement in form start of next season no doubt, particularly if we spend as much as is being touted.

Out of interest, who will be deciding how this money is spent? Smith, Purslow or Lange? Is there some sort of committee?

[Smithy]

Every year we should get rid because he's taken us as far as he can, then every year he takes us a bit further.

Indeed.  And while the year-on-year improvement continues, I think it would be a mistake to get rid of him.

Also, I'm not sure I want Villa to be "that" club.  The club that sacks managers who appear to the outside world to be doing more than OK.  Imagine the press we'd get for sacking a manager that got us promoted, kept us in the league, and turned us into a solid premier league team in less than three years?

Not that what the press thinks is in any way important, or what other fans think of us for that matter, but I actually quite like being proud of my club, and the way it conducts itself.  I think becoming the sort of club that fires managers, even when they're making progress, would take the shine off that.

(To be clear, I could live without that shine if it was replaced by a couple of titles)

[in exile]

If I was one of the owners, would I trust Smith with my millions?
I'm afraid the answer is no.

[algy]

If I was one of the owners, would I trust Smith with my millions?
I'm afraid the answer is no.

It's also a "no" from them, since Lange is the one who'll be identifying the players.

[Monty]

They've been pretty clear that the transfers are a team effort, no? They all sit down, get their various priorities and ideas together and go from there. And as the OP perceptively pointed out, it's the clearly more Deano-influenced signings (Mings, Konsa, Watkins) who've made the most obviously positive impact.

[in exile]

If I was one of the owners, would I trust Smith with my millions?
I'm afraid the answer is no.

It's also a "no" from them, since Lange is the one who'll be identifying the players.

So Smith will have no input at all?
Nah.

[Drummond]

They've been pretty clear that the transfers are a team effort, no? They all sit down, get their various priorities and ideas together and go from there. And as the OP perceptively pointed out, it's the clearly more Deano-influenced signings (Mings, Konsa, Watkins) who've made the most obviously positive impact.

Quite. We're taking on youngsters too, (Barry at £1m wasn't, at this point, a snip) and that won't be Smith, that's a discussion with the Academy team.

I think we're getting our shit together, most of the investment is paying off as we're improving.

Grealish being out, and Barkley being injured and out of form are the main factors, in my view, of us not managing to continue in the same vein as we started. That and the fact we were clearly punching above our weight too.

I'd be happy with overall progress if I was the owner, and also I'd realise that with more investment the performances under this manager could be fantastic. Add in the quality of the U18 and U23 set-up and we're looking good for the future.

[SamTheMouse]

Christoph Galtier is currently leading Lille to the top of Ligue 1, Flick is going to be Germany manager after the summer, Rangnick doesn't look likely to do much fulltime management anymore due to his health. Allegri and Sarri are serious top level choices, but one has never managed in England before and the other had a decent but sometimes iffy year (and in my view has never reproduced the magic of his Napoli period - winning the scudetto with Juve was not necessarily that impressive).

Rumour has it that Lille expect Galtier to leave this summer, with Laurent Blanc his mooted replacement.

They also have financial problems - they've been under new ownership since January - and apparently even if they win the title, they will have to tighten the purse strings next season.

Being sued for 19 million euros by Bielsa for wrongful dismissal won't help, either.

Incidentally, we should look at Luis Campos for a DoF position of some description. Currently out of work I think, but he has essentially built two title-winning teams, at Monaco and potentially Lille.

[SoccerHQ]

Just to say, in every sense, no to Rafa Benitez. I like him, I think he's a fine manager, but if Smith isn't what we need then by Christ Benitez isn't either.

He'll never manage us while Purslow is here, no love lost between the two at Liverpool.

Wouldn't shock me if he ends up at Spurs if some more of their top targets turn them down as the summer goes on.

[Sexual Ealing]

If I was one of the owners, would I trust Smith with my millions?
I'm afraid the answer is no.

It's also a "no" from them, since Lange is the one who'll be identifying the players.

So Smith will have no input at all?
Nah.

Having an input isn't the same as being the man solely responsible for the allocating of millions of pounds.

[SoccerHQ]

If I was one of the owners, would I trust Smith with my millions?
I'm afraid the answer is no.

It's also a "no" from them, since Lange is the one who'll be identifying the players.

I find it hard to believe Lange last summer put all the figures through the database and found the best pound for pound value striker in world football was Ollie Watkins.

Given DS managed him for two years at Brentford that was obviously a DS signing and really been a great success. So DS can say to the club, I trusted you with 30m spent on Wesley and Samatta but sometimes managers know something about players and Watkins has been different level compared to those two combined for the same amount.

So I suspect he'll have some say in the type of players we go after, likes of Rico Henry (if Brentford don't go up) and Dwight McNeill feel like types he'd want and then he'll trust the club to come up with real match winner from europe from all the data.

Interesting when we signed Engels DS made a big thing after desperately wanting to sign him for Brentford. Plays him for first two months of 19/20 then quickly discards him and we don't see him for a whole year so sometimes even manager picks can go a bit wrong.

[SoccerHQ]

Christoph Galtier is currently leading Lille to the top of Ligue 1, Flick is going to be Germany manager after the summer, Rangnick doesn't look likely to do much fulltime management anymore due to his health. Allegri and Sarri are serious top level choices, but one has never managed in England before and the other had a decent but sometimes iffy year (and in my view has never reproduced the magic of his Napoli period - winning the scudetto with Juve was not necessarily that impressive).

Rumour has it that Lille expect Galtier to leave this summer, with Laurent Blanc his mooted replacement.

They also have financial problems - they've been under new ownership since January - and apparently even if they win the title, they will have to tighten the purse strings next season.

Being sued for 19 million euros by Bielsa for wrongful dismissal won't help, either.

Incidentally, we should look at Luis Campos for a DoF position of some description. Currently out of work I think, but he has essentially built two title-winning teams, at Monaco and potentially Lille.

Galtier is going to OGC Nice apparently, going to double his salary. I assume Brian Green has started a crowdfund there (wink).