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Paul Mitchell To Leave Saints


Saint-Armstrong

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If he has a contract and most employees do then the club can insist on him honouring his contract or seek compensation for the loss of his services or they could just pay him and as many have hoped, send him on 'gardening leave'. That may sound more actionable that it is in reality. If a footballer is sent on gardening leave it would be easy to monitor whether he breached the agreement or not but with an employee like Mitchell how would you know? How would you stop him phoning or e-mailing his new boss or watching football matches or analysing video footage? You can't so it is probabe that 'gardening leave' makes no sense in his case.

That's true of gardening leave in almost all industries in fairness.

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I don't see this as a massive issue. Don't get me wrong I'm sure the bloke is talented but he is the head of a successful department, he doesn't do all the work himself. Its like any managerial/head of department/supervisory job, your just the face of the good work done below you most of the time.

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That's true of gardening leave in almost all industries in fairness.

 

Agree - It is impossible to manage what he already knows (or anybody else on gardening leave for that matter), but what it does prevent is "the gardener's" knowledge being current.

So if in the case of Mitchell, and lets assume he does have 3 months gardening leave, The Club's recruitment strategy may well change in that intervening period which will of course not be within Mitchell's sphere of knowledge.

His knowledge will be out of date before he even starts at Levy-Ville!

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Starting to think Saint Charlie is a parody account......no one can really be that much of a f**tard in real life surely?

 

I can just imaging him running around screaming "nurse, nurse where's my medication".

 

Would have thought he learnt his lesson from the summer that no one part of what we do is irreplaceable.

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Its definately a shame as he is obviously highly thought of in the game and by us. You cant blame him entirely though, Levy has made his intentions known that he requires a shake up of his scouting department and that would certainly be an excited prospect. Add to that the fact that they are a bigger club and the bright lights of london.

 

I cant blame him too much really, though Id suggest working under Levy wouldnt be my ideal port of employ.

 

Will it damage us ? In reality I dont know if any of us actually know. I imagine he has had a hand in all of our recruitment and the setting up of our scouting networks, my immediate thoughts are those of losing somemore of that if Mitchel walks out of the door. It also has the potential to damage our recruitment this close to january though Id like the think the majority of target aquisition is done.

 

Id say we are pretty good at recruiting the right people, though that may or may not have been through Mitchel. Overall Im not worrying too much, people move on, we have recovered before. Lets not lull ourselves into some false reality in which you can have an exodus often and survive, we did tue extraordinary over the summer, I wouldnt condone a continuation of that policy

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This is going to be a job that a lot of top people will want. You never know, we might improve upon him.

 

As for Spurs, they're not going to finish in the top four any time soon, so bit of a backwards step for those who keep heading to White Hart Lane as soon as Levy wants to make changes.

 

That's the point. Levy changes his mind with the weather, I can only imagine he's offering megabucks for this to happen. The only thing from Mitchells standpoint I suppose is that the backroom staff are less likely to get sacked than the manager, but surely any players going to spurs must realise that the managers position is, to say the least, tenuous? So for example, if J Rod went there with the idea of hooking up with Pochettino again, he must be aware that given Levys form, Poch is unlikely to be there for more than a season even if he lasts this one?

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When you lose a head of a department who is highly respected and effective it is always going to be a blow but he has been head hunted by Spurs who see themselves as a bigger club faltering at present because they have got the infrastructure wrong for so long now.

 

We do not know what Mitchell was earning at Saints but it is well know that "backroom" staff are not well paid. I am sure Spurs will have offered him a large increase over his wages at Saints who maybe were unable to match for fear of triggering a wage war among the other departments. Perhaps Saints or he (or both) felt he had achieved his objectives and with all that is now in place including technology it was time for a new challenge (Mitchell) or a man/woman with different qualities (Saints). Maybe Mitchell felt he could no longer work within the constraints of the job or the people above him. It seems in going to Spurs he will not have to report to the Director of Football as he does now.

 

The fact is we just do not know his reasons for going or Saints "reluctance" to convince him to stay. Suffice to say, he appears to have done a fine job at Saints and I for one wish him well in his new job.

Edited by Weston Saint
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When you lose a head of a department who is highly respected and effective it is always going to be a blow but he has been head hunted by Spurs who see themselves as a bigger club faltering at present because they have got the infrastructure wrong for so long now.

 

We do not know what Mitchell was earning at Saints but it is well know that "backroom" staff are not well paid. I am sure Spurs will have offered him a large increase over his wages at Saints who maybe were unable to match for fear of triggering a wage war among the other departments. Perhaps Saints or he (or both) felt he had achieved his objectives and with all that is now in place including technology it was time for a new challenge (Mitchell) or a man/woman with different qualities (Saints). Maybe Mitchell felt he could no longer work within the constraints of the job or the people above him. It seems in going to Spurs he will not have to report to the Director of Football as he does now.

 

The fact is we just do not know his reasons for going or Saints "reluctance" to convince him to stay. Suffice to say, he appears to have done a fine job at Saints and I for one wish him well in his new job.

 

good analysis , but it sounds like Pochettino is trying to buy himself more time by bringing in Mitchell.....before Levy's axe falls on his neck!

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good analysis , but it sounds like Pochettino is trying to buy himself more time by bringing in Mitchell.....before Levy's axe falls on his neck!

 

Levy has seen what Pochettino can deliver in the Premier with Saints. That is why he bought him in. He is foreigner with proven Premier experience. Spurs are not performing because they have the wrong players who just do not fit the high tempo game he wants. Levy has now gone for Mitchell to find those players.

 

I said all along that Pothettino would struggle at Spurs if the players did not immediately buy into his way. When he came to Saints he had a ready made team who were bonded and played together for long time. That bond and experience is not at Spurs at the moment. Credit to our previous Managers for our position and he was an upgrade then even if he lacked a plan B. He will need time at Spurs and Mitchell may give him that time. Levy has to stop sacking sometime, surely!

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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.

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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!

Edited by Saint Charlie
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Yes because its good PR for the decision to sell a future 60+ cap England Intl for a fraction more than Shane Long cost. ;)

 

What a bizarre comment. First because Chambers is not yet the finished product, although personally I expect him to get over his current struggles and become a half-decent premier League player and secondly because Long only cost 75% of Chambers fee - hardly a fraction. Are you pursuing some strange agenda here? Still my main point isn't about this but I have read that Telegraph article and the weird thing is that - and to be fair they may be distorting what he said - Mitchell does not appear to speak English. The quotes from him in the article don't actually say anything and are simply gobbledegook.

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That's the point. Levy changes his mind with the weather, I can only imagine he's offering megabucks for this to happen. The only thing from Mitchells standpoint I suppose is that the backroom staff are less likely to get sacked than the manager, but surely any players going to spurs must realise that the managers position is, to say the least, tenuous? So for example, if J Rod went there with the idea of hooking up with Pochettino again, he must be aware that given Levys form, Poch is unlikely to be there for more than a season even if he lasts this one?

 

And herein lies the problem. Mitchell can get the club to sign whoever he wants but when you have no continuity as a result of sacking managers, those players will not perform as hoped. When that happens, and Spurs don't achieve, they get sold. So what's the point?

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But will you stick around when Levy comes along offering more money to switch to Spurs? The fans deserve to know.

 

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.

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Has this been linked yet? It's the thread from when we acquired him from MK.http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?34980-MK-Dons-Head-of-Recruitment-Paul-Mitchell#.VGoafstFDqA

 

So, in theory, he hasn't been here that long, the "system" was probably being implemented before he arrived, he probably made a couple of tweaks and is the figurehead who presents a list of players at a monthly meeting to senior Management? He's also a line manager.

 

Have I summed up his job spec? I'm sure he'll be replaced suitably, so like many others, I couldn't care less.

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So, in theory, he hasn't been here that long, the "system" was probably being implemented before he arrived, he probably made a couple of tweaks and is the figurehead who presents a list of players at a monthly meeting to senior Management? He's also a line manager.

 

Have I summed up his job spec? I'm sure he'll be replaced suitably, so like many others, I couldn't care less.

 

 

Don't know if this has been posted yet. Wilso is normally fairly accurate. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/tottenham-hotspur/11236180/Who-is-Paul-Mitchell-and-why-have-Tottenham-Hotspur-prised-Southamptons-head-of-recruitment-away.html

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Fair enough - I just wonder how much of this was in progress before he arrived? We know that Cortese, love him or hate him, had some mad plans!

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Just seen it was referenced above.

 

He's not going to recreate all that overnight at Tottenham!

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And herein lies the problem. Mitchell can get the club to sign whoever he wants but when you have no continuity as a result of sacking managers, those players will not perform as hoped. When that happens, and Spurs don't achieve, they get sold. So what's the point?

 

Thats the point of appointing a proper backroom team that has a job of finding players that suit the system. The same as we have. When all were talking about what formations Koeman would be playing with us I pointed out that it wouldnt be vastly different to what we were already playing.

 

Its no mistake that Adkins, Poch and Koeman all play in similar ways (though with a few differences) whilst you look at Spurs and the differences in tactics between Sherwood, Redknapp, AVB and Poch.

 

What Spurs need is continuity, and for that you need a recruitment team that bring in the right players and staff (that transfer comittee everyone hated a few years ago :mcinnes: ) which I imagine is why he has brought in Mitchell, and no doubt some more to bolster that backroom department.

 

Most modern forward thinking clubs will operate this way, as, like you say, otherwise it just ends up a mess with eaxh manager wishing to buy players that dont necessarily fit the system of the previous etc

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What a bizarre comment. First because Chambers is not yet the finished product, although personally I expect him to get over his current struggles and become a half-decent premier League player and secondly because Long only cost 75% of Chambers fee - hardly a fraction. Are you pursuing some strange agenda here? Still my main point isn't about this but I have read that Telegraph article and the weird thing is that - and to be fair they may be distorting what he said - Mitchell does not appear to speak English. The quotes from him in the article don't actually say anything and are simply gobbledegook.

 

Which part of it is gobbledegook ?

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Yes because its good PR for the decision to sell a future 60+ cap England Intl for a fraction more than Shane Long cost. ;)

 

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?

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it is quite clear that Mitchell is an intelligent guy and has certainly developed his department probably in ways not envisaged when he was recruited. He will clearly be hard to replace but we probably thought that when Pochettino left. As people have mentioned on here already it gives us an opportunity to find some one even better.

I am left though wondering why with all the potential for development ahead of us that he would want to leave. I would love to know the reasons behind him leaving. was there something inside the club that he was unhappy with, ie. relationships, budgets, direction etc. Is there a danger that the positive PR around the club is masking problems? I just have a little niggle that with such a highly regarded club and high profile and well publicised role in it, why would he leave now?

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it is quite clear that Mitchell is an intelligent guy and has certainly developed his department probably in ways not envisaged when he was recruited. He will clearly be hard to replace but we probably thought that when Pochettino left. As people have mentioned on here already it gives us an opportunity to find some one even better.

I am left though wondering why with all the potential for development ahead of us that he would want to leave. I would love to know the reasons behind him leaving. was there something inside the club that he was unhappy with, ie. relationships, budgets, direction etc. Is there a danger that the positive PR around the club is masking problems? I just have a little niggle that with such a highly regarded club and high profile and well publicised role in it, why would he leave now?

 

 

Bright Lights and Money.

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Sorry

 

Have I missed something, what the **** is the black box ?

 

 

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.

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