A Swede to Steer the Ship

After weeks and weeks of silence from Spurs Women, we finally received some much-needed news: we've got a new manager! The following day, a new player signing was also announced to get the ball rolling on incoming summer transfers. I'll break down these two arrivals plus the latest signing for Spurs Men, along with a quick news roundup and some pub chat.

In this issue: Robert Vilahamn appointed manager | Squad talk: Signings for both teams | News from around the Lane | Pub chat

Another up-and-coming manager

The news that Robert Vilahamn had been appointed as Spurs Women's new manager came almost out of nowhere; there was a teaser Tweet from reporter Amanda Zaza indicating the move would be completed soon, but before an hour had even passed Spurs had already shared the official announcement. Since I'm sure most of us didn't know much, if anything, about Vilahamn before the news (myself included), it felt even more abrupt. But I think he could actually end up being a good appointment despite the relative unknown factor.

At 40 years old, he's still relatively young for a manager, and most of his experience comes from the Swedish leagues—both men's and women's. After helping BK Häcken's Men's side achieve Europa Conference League qualification as an assistant, he was named head coach of their Women's side. He has managed them in the Champions League as well as cup finals, and leaves them atop the Damallsvenskan table (the highest division in Swedish women's football) at the midpoint of their season.

I've already recommended this podcast interview with Vilahamn over on Twitter, but I really think it's worth highlighting again:

‎Sports CDP Crash Course - Data Talks: #28 In conversation with ... Robert Vilahamn on Apple Podcasts

‎Show Sports CDP Crash Course - Data Talks, Ep #28 In conversation with ... Robert Vilahamn - Jul 11, 2022

Apple Podcasts

In it, he discusses his managerial career path as well as the soccer academy he founded in Uganda. Education is clearly a topic of passion for Vilahamn, so I can see him being a positive manager for our younger players still developing their craft, like Celin Bizet and Asmita Ale. I was also impressed by his frequent and insistent calls for more investment in the women's game, something Daniel Levy and other club leadership would be wise to heed. I completely agree that it's important to inject investment now to bolster the foundation of women's football in its growth phase, not wait until the audiences have fully arrived. Overall, he seems like a pretty forward-thinking manager, and refreshingly respectful of female athletes, which is sadly not always a given in women's football. My favorite bit from the interview:

My motto is to be kind.

Can't argue with that!

Vilahamn's coaching staff hasn't been revealed yet, so it's unclear if Vicky Jepson will be staying at Tottenham or not. Either way, we can only wish her well for helping the team to avoid relegation last season.

For some insight into his preferred tactics at BK Häcken, I recommend this piece from friend-of-the-newsletter Harsh Mishra over at Spurs Women Blog:

Knowing Robert Vilahamn’s playing style

Tottenham Hotspur Women are not manager-less any more! But most of us know little about Spurs’ incoming manager. To rectify this Harsh Mishra takes a deep-dive into how Robert Vilahamn set up…

harshm16Spurs Women

So although I didn't know this man's name a week ago, I feel ready to get behind him as he manages Spurs Women in this crucial comeback (hopefully) season. Welcome to Spurs, Robert!

Squad Talk: Bolstering the backline for Spurs Women, added depth for Spurs Men's attack

The first summer signing for Spurs Women is Luana Bühler, a Swiss international arriving from TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in the Frauen Bundesliga. Her contract runs till 2025.

She has played primarily on the right side of a center-back partnership or as a right CB in a back-3 formation, but can also play at right full-back if needed.

Bühler brings Champions League-level experience from her previous two clubs and has also won titles with Zurich, including the Swiss Pokal (their domestic cup). I think it's a good mark of ambition that we're starting off our transfer business this summer with a player who is at her peak and ready to immediately insert into the starting XI—which I don't doubt she will. She also brings leadership experience, having captained Hoffenheim. In her first interview with the club, Bühler noted that she enjoys organizing her fellow teammates from the backline—such organization was sorely lacking in Spurs' defense last season.

We'll get our first glimpse of her at the upcoming World Cup since she was selected for Switzerland, and will face Ria Percival's New Zealand in the group stage.

The only downside I see to this signing has nothing to do with Luana herself, but rather that her position wasn't the biggest need in the current transfer window. We have a much greater need for a left-sided center-back/full-back, as well as a goalkeeper and a defensive midfielder. But there was a suggestion that Rehanne Skinner had been working on recruiting her back in January, so this move was obviously already in the works, and I'm fine with it being completed now. It's definitely not a bad thing to add some more quality to the backline, especially since we don't know what Shelina Zadorsky's contract status is yet.

Hopefully we won't have to wait several more weeks before we hear about the next Women's team transfer!

Meanwhile, on the Men's side, the signings just keep coming. We'll have to keep waiting for the much-anticipated center-back transfer(s), but today it was announced that Manor Solomon is joining the club on a contract until 2028.

The 23-year-old Israeli winger joins us from Shakhtar Donetsk, though he was at Fulham last season on loan. I touched on the controversy around foreign player contracts from the Ukrainian league in the last issue, and it remains true that this was a rather opportunistic transfer from Tottenham's perspective.

As for what he brings on the pitch, I think Solomon will be a decent addition to the depth chart, but certainly has a lot to prove before getting close to supplanting one of our starting wingers. It does speak well to his ability that he scored on his Champions League debut with Shakhtar, as well as scoring the game-winner in their wild 2-3 away win over Real Madrid in the group stage a few seasons back. That big-game confidence, plus his stint in the Premier League last season, should make him a reliable option to call on from the bench.

He's probably one for the long term, but if he doesn't work out, at least he was a free transfer who could have some sell-on value. I liked the suggestion on the last The Game is About Glory podcast that Spurs give a portion of any future sale to Shakhtar as a gesture of goodwill since they essentially lost an important asset of their club for nothing. That would be the ethical thing to do, above and beyond the upcoming friendly whose proceeds will benefit the Ukrainian war recovery efforts, but does nothing to compensate Shakhtar itself. I know the world of football finance is becoming increasingly cutthroat and devoid of decency, but Spurs can make an active choice not to operate that way.

News from around the Lane

There are a few international tidbits to share, a new contract for a youngster on the Men's side, and yet another injury update for a certain beleaguered wingback.

• Oliver Skipp won the U21 Euros with England! He didn't start every game in their campaign but was a consistent contributor. Congrats to Skippy!

• Ria Percival was named co-captain of the New Zealand national team, the Football Ferns, alongside Angel City's Ali Riley. This video almost made me choke up because I'm just so happy Ria recovered fully from her ACL injury in time to play in her home World Cup! I hope she crushes it. (Side note: Snacks podcast interviewed Riley recently and she gave lots of great insight into the Ferns, including a nice shoutout for our Ria).

• Speaking of women's internationals, Angharad James captained Wales in their first-ever friendly outside of Europe, taking on the USWNT. The US won 2-0, but Angharad and her teammates (including former Spurs players Josie Green and Esther Morgan) put in a spirited performance. It's just a bummer Jess Fishlock wasn't fit to play! I loved this video the Wales team shared of Brandi Chastain visiting their camp.

• Oliver Irow signed his first pro contract with the club. He was a prolific goal-scorer with both the U17 and U18 teams last season (both of whom won their respective cup finals). It's interesting to see the club highlighting all of these recent youth contracts so prominently, aligning with the stated intent of improving the Academy setup as well as giving more youth players an opportunity to train with the senior team under Ange Postecoglou. Congrats to (another) young Oliver!

• Ryan Sessegnon will miss Spurs Men's pre-season tour after undergoing hamstring surgery. He truly cannot catch a break when it comes to persistent injury issues, though the club seems hopeful this operation will put him back on the path to full fitness in a lasting way. Good luck to Sess with his recovery, and we'll see him in the new season.

Pub Chat: Off the Shelf podcast review

I was intrigued to hear that the club was (finally) launching an official podcast. Naturally, being someone who contributes to two Spurs-related podcasts and co-hosts both on occasion, I knew I would have a lot of opinions about the podcast itself as well as the rollout. And indeed, I have thoughts! So here's a mini-review of Off The Shelf, hosted by Michael Dawson and Paul Miles (whom most of us know as "Milesy" from watching N17 Live).

First off... I take umbrage with them calling it a podcast at all since it is exclusively available on SpursPlay in video format on release date, then uploaded to all the major podcast platforms a few days later. If it's not available immediately in podcast format, it's not a podcast. Just my two cents.

That's also just a strange decision from a content marketing standpoint. If it's going to be available in both formats in the end, why not have it that way from the start? Different fans will prefer different formats; I much prefer podcasts to videos myself, because I can listen while I cook or take a walk or otherwise go about my day. Video tethers you to your screen. But again, it's just a matter of personal preference. Making fans either opt for the video or be several days behind the content curve creates unnecessary frustration for some.

In fairness to Michael Dawson, he is a very expressive person and entertaining to watch, so I can imagine plenty of fans are happy to go with the video version of the pod.

The first episode featured Ledley King as Dawson and Miles' interview subject, and Ledley is always a great listen (I got to attend a Q&A with him last summer in Louisville). Dawson was quite chatty outside of his questions, and I wonder if that will be the case when the interviewee is not someone he used to play with. The interview definitely had an informal vibe. His sign-off was pretty abrupt, but that may be a symptom of the video-centric production. Overall, I thought it was a pretty engrossing interview and well worth a listen—or watch.

The next episode, which is already out on SpursPlay, features former Spurs Women captain Jenna Schillaci. I haven't had a chance to listen yet. But I will now shamelessly plug the interview we did with Jenna for N17 Women a few months back. It might be one of the last interviews we get to do now that Spurs have decided to put out their own podcast, but we'll see. One of the downsides to an "official" club pod is that the interviewees are less likely to say anything even borderline critical/honest about the club's shortcomings, so I would argue (with bias of course) that there's still space and a real need in the football landscape for fan-created podcasts & other platforms.

One last minor note about Off the Shelf: I quite like the logo!

I hope y'all are enjoying the summer (or winter, if you're down under) and are getting as excited for the Men's pre-season tour as I am. The club mentioned that the Women's team pre-season will officially begin after the World Cup ends, so we have a while yet before we get to see them back in action. Good thing there's the best tournament in world sport in between!

COYS

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