It’s a sign of the growing profile of the women’s game that there some were voices on social media questioning whether Tottenham Hotspur’s joint-head coaches Karen Hills and Juan Amoros should be dismissed after only a handful of games played this season but was it the right decision to end their tenures?
The managerial merry-go-round is not something that is often associated with the women’s game but with the stakes growing higher with every season, it comes as no surprise that it is beginning to creep in. Not only did Hills and Amoros leave Spurs but West Ham United also parted company with their manager Matt Beard on the same day with both clubs in the bottom half of the table.
The question is did Spurs pull the trigger too early on a managerial partnership that, over the last decade, has seen the club rise through the leagues to take their place in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League? Hills had been at Sours for 20 years, initially working in the community with girls football and working her way up to managing the first team. She was then joined by Amoros and together they achieved great things including winning the quadruple and promotion to the Barclays FA Women’s Super League a season ahead of schedule.
Their first season in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League saw Spurs exceed expectations finishing seventh in a season curtailed by COVID-19. The expectation for their second season was that they would match or beat that finish. When the fixtures were realeased it was clear to Spurs fans that the table would not be an accurate reflection of their likely finish until Christmas with five of their first six games being played against teams who finished ahead of them last season.
The first day of the season saw them play West Ham United who they had beaten three times last season but the North Londoners only managed a draw on this occasion. They then went to Everton who have arguably been one of the most improved teams this season and Spurs lost by a goal to nil. After an 2019/2020 Vitality Women’s FA Cup quarter-final against Arsenal, Spurs faced both Manchester sides and The Gunners in the league.
Having only claimed one point from the season, some senior officials at the club were labelling the home game against Reading a ‘must win’ game. Considering that Kelly Chambers’ had beaten Spurs 4-0 last season, this seemed like an unfair pressure to be putting on the game. In what might otherwise have been seen as a positive result, the game finished 1-1 with Alex Morgan finally making her debut in a Spurs shirt.
The building pressure was then carried onto the next game away at bottom of the league club Bristol City. When you play in the top league these games are never easy, The Robins had yet to collect any points and were themselves under great pressure. Things were looking good for Spurs until Rianna Dean was sent off with Hills and Amoros’ side leading 2-1 and then Bristol City found the equaliser which would seem to have sealed the fate of the joint-head coaches.
Despite winning their first point against North London rivals Arsenal four days’ later in the FA Women’s Continental League Cup, the next day it was announced that the management duo had left the club. Was this the right decision? Only time will tell but it was certainly a harsh one influenced no doubt by the higher profile that the women’s team have been given at Spurs this year and the cost of being relegated from a fully professional league to a still semi-professional FA Women’s Championship.
Based on points and league position, second from bottom of the table with three points from seven games, it seems like a fair decision but when taken in the context of the teams played, it certainly seems less of a clear cut judgement. Given that after the international break Spurs have three games before the Christmas interval, two of which are home games against sides who were below them last season, a more measured response might have been to wait until these games had been played, especially after the promising draw at Arsenal.
Injuries are also not spoken of so much in the women’s game, we don’t get the same run down of squad availability before every game as we do in the men’s Premier League. The fact that Spurs have had five players out injured over a number of weeks including Chloe Peplow, who had looked so good against Arsenal, and Kit Graham who’s creativity was so important last season, made getting results all the more difficult.
Looking deeper though, there was growing concern from the fans that perhaps Hills and Amoros had reached their maximum level. Despite the successful season last year, there were worrying signs in terms of player selection. Fans were perplexed at the lack of opportunity afforded to Megan Wynne who eventually went to Bristol City and again at the decision to bring in Emma Mitchell on loan from Arsenal despite left-back being a strong position for the club. Mitchell was picked ahead of Siri Worm for much of the rest of the season despite the Dutch defender being in good form and being the likely long term holder of that position in the new look Spurs side.
This season has seen further questionable decisions with an insistence on playing one stiker despite a lack of goals from open play. Dean, last season’s top scorer, has found it hard to get starts and when she has, the player has often found herself out on the wing rather than in the box. A lack of a Plan B has also been a concern as too often, the answer from the joint-head coaches seemed to come from the bench with varying impact. Within this, there has also been a concern that some players are being moved around so much on the pitch they don’t have time to grow into a position, an example being Lucia Leon who for many seasons was a right-back but is now playing right midfield or also as a striker.
In the Reading game with the match at 1-1, Elisha Sulola was brought on for only her second appearance in her first professional season. It was a strange decision, not because the youngster doesn’t have the potential to be a great player but because she is still finding her feet as a professional and had not shown signs that she was ready to have a big impact on this game. In the post match press conference, the questions were about Alex Morgan but joint-head coach Amoros was keen to point out that Sulola, an academy graduate, had also come on. Perhaps a sign of the growing pressure that he seemed to be so worried about the narrative of the club.
Finally, there was a concern that Hills and Amoros might not have the respect and standing with the more experienced big name players. Last season, this was a worry and this term that concern had only increased with the arrival of three star players from the United States who have all played at the highest level. There have been signs of this on the pitch with players getting mixed messages from the bench and others around them. For example, we have witnessed full-back Ashleigh Neville caught between the joint-head coaches telling her to push up and her defensive colleagues instructing her to stay back. As we have seen in the last couple of games, Neville is at her best when allowed to go forward, as well as carrying out her defensive duties and perhaps this was lost on the new arrivals.
Ultimately Hills and Amoros were victims of their own success and the results of the last two years set expectations high this season. The women’s team has being given greater prominence at Spurs and is under the spotlight with the arrival of Morgan and the pressure of the gulf between the top of the Barclays FA Women’s Super League and the FA Women’s Championship. In order the keep the momentum, Spurs cannot afford to be relegated and with only 12 teams in the league and being second from bottom with seven games gone, the margin to correct the season was slim.
Hills and Amoros will be remembered as legends of Spurs Women, the architects of so much success at a time when the support system really wasn’t there. The manner of their departures was created by bad luck and concerns around ability and results. Sadly, we will never know whether they had what it takes to recover this season and push the team further. The pressure was on for the decision makers at Spurs and they blinked, perhaps too early, but not without reason and only time will tell how far this Spurs team can go under new management.