When asked at which point a club gives up on a “project”, a mixture of current and former directors at Premier League clubs tend to arrive at the same answer.

“When the fans say so,” says one of them, who would like to remain nameless because he does not really want to admit publicly that, in the past, he has helped pull the trigger because of the pressure he and his colleagues were under.

On that occasion, there had been a well-laid-out plan and the club were convinced they were following the right path.



Yet he is a reminder it is a results-based business and the smartest clubs always have a succession plan if and when things go wrong — one that involves numerous options because football, after all, is a fast-moving world.

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Something to consider, perhaps, especially for anyone with an interest in Tottenham Hotspur.

They face Arsenal in the North London derby tomorrow (Sunday) at the end of a season which initially promised so much — born of the early achievements of a new manager — and, despite perhaps not quite living up to those raised expectations, should still ultimately be reflected upon as progress.

There was a consensus at Spurs at the start of the season that, following the summer sale of one of the greatest players in their history, any form of European qualification at the end of it would be considered a success — and they are on course to achieve that.

Tottenham’s excellent start under Ange Postecoglou raised expectations (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

For Tottenham fans, the example of neighbours and rivals Arsenal is worth consideration, given this is their second title attempt in as many years.

In Mikel Arteta’s first full season in charge, Arsenal finished eighth with 61 points; one point above where Spurs — in fifth with six games to go — find themselves now.

Perhaps crucially for Arteta, he had won the FA Cup at the end of his debut campaign following his mid-season appointment, proving he could deliver trophies and therefore buying himself more time.

Yet, by December 2020, after a year under Arteta, Arsenal were just four points above the Premier League’s relegation zone having played more games than the teams below them.

That 2020-21 season was almost entirely played behind closed doors because of restrictions on crowds related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yet he has also done a lot of work improving the working relationships with previously disillusioned staff.

In Arsenal’s toughest period under him, the top brass did not bow to pressure even if the particular circumstances at the time ensured that dissident fan voices were confined to angry reactions on social media.

Arsenal have never been a club who change managers often, but it is different across London at Chelsea — who endured the end of an era when Roman Abramovich was forced to sell up in the summer of 2022.

New owners BlueCo, a consortium led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, wanted to change things, and the hire of Graham Potter that September was evidence of that.

Only four years earlier, Potter had been in charge of Ostersunds in Sweden.

But City had been attempting to secure him as their manager, and Lionel Messi as a player, at various points since the Abu Dhabi takeover in 2008.

Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak is, was and seemingly always will be genuinely convinced that Guardiola is the right man to lead his club and has never done anything but be supportive by trying to meet his needs.

Yet in Marti Perarnau’s latest book about Guardiola, he reveals that the manager was worried he would be sacked in his 2016-17 debut season if City — who had already lost 4-0 at Camp Nou — did not beat Barcelona in the reverse fixture a couple of weeks later to give themselves a good chance of progressing from their Champions League group.

Guardiola subsequently discovered that they could only carry out half of this business in the season after he joined, with the rest of the revamp to be completed ahead of year two.

Guardiola feared he might lose his job ahead of a meeting against his former club in 2016 (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

City knew the first campaign, in which Guardiola led the team to a third-place finish in the Premier League, would be relatively difficult.
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