There has been much written and said regarding the
latest episode going on at Spurs, all of which is worthy
of the worst kind of soap opera, unlike the stuff served
up by the TV companies, I can't escape this farce, that
has been scripted by the board at THFC.
First things first Jol
is/was very popular, has given us two fifth place
finishes. He made mistakes. He is a good
man, but maybe he could not take us on to the next step.
This is open for debate, what is beyond debate is the
shabby and underhanded manner in which this whole
episode has been conducted.
The perception
of contempt that they have shown to Martin Jol and the
rest of us is deplorable. We live this, as fans.
Let's not forget it is us, who put the money into the
club, and who's club this should be.
A internal investigation as to who sent a text to
Jol to say he had been dismissed, at half time,
should be easy to complete. The Sun and Times
broke the news on their website at half time, ITV
reported this at the same time. Do you think
we will ever be told !!
How Levy can say that
they did not sack Jol until after the Getafe game, if
true, then the action of an individual or group, is just
another example of the bitter back-biting and briefing
against each other going on at the club.
Levy is the figure head
and ultimate decision maker. He should say, yes,
we had made the final decision after the Newcastle game,
approached Ramos, told him it was now or never and
decided this was the direction the club wished to take.
That at least would
have been progressive and shown a true step forward.
You would have thought
that the club would have made sure that they conducted
this business with some decorum, having already been
caught with their pants down meeting Ramos, but never
underestimate the contempt that this board has had for
it's coach and us.
Let's look at the main
characters in this. Levy as Chairman should make
the decision and be decisive. I wonder what Joe
Lewis thinks of the way his appointment is running
the (Business) Football club.
Paul Kemsley. He says
that he is a true fan and wants what's best for Spurs,
but he may also want want's best for him.
Damien Comolli. A
Director of Football, a position once described as the
chance to play as manager without any of
the accountability of failure and only the benefits of
success. Pretty much sums it up. Those that
can do ... those that can't, become directors of
football ...
The buys this summer
were awful, with the notable exception of Gareth Bale
... That is £30m wasted on average players, to compete
with good and average players. Is Bent better than
Keane, Defoe or Berbetov ? This answer is no.
Kaboul is better than
Gardner and Rocha, but he needs to learn to defend,
needs a bit more Graham Roberts and not try and be Rio
Ferdinand.
If all the buys are a
collective decision, as described by the club, then all
parties are accountable.
The absence of Ledley
King, can't be underestimated. Would we have lost
the leads against Fulham, Bolton, Arsenal, Aston Villa,
Liverpool, Getafe, Blackburn, with Ledley playing.
Maybe some, but not all. Dawson looks like a
stranger to his team mates without Leds alongside him.
We have been crying out
for a truly creative midfield player and a defensive
midfield player ... creatively we have not replaced
Carrick or Mendes for that. Zokora, has a
wonderful engine, but switches off far to easy and
allows people to run by him at will. His passing
is awful. Tom Huddlestone is in need of a major
confidence boost. Trying to get this back with an
array of flicks and tricks, Hoddlesque, needs to get
back to basics. Pass and move Tom.
Looking forward, the
appointment of Ramos may be the best piece of business
that this club has done. It may not be (see
one to many false dawn and messiahs at Spurs). The
appointment of his own fitness coach will be a step
forward (it has been rumoured that the players were
unhappy about their fitness regime at training) and the
removal of Chris Hughton, a wonderful servant to the
club, had to happen when Jol went.
I am glad to see that Hans Segers also left. A
goalkeeping coach should have identified that
Robinson has technical deficiencies in his game.
He does not set himself correctly when people are
shooting at range, does not palm the ball away, but
back into the middle of the goal. He also
needs to be taught how to catch the ball from
crosses not just try and punch them away. They
used to spend more time playing keepy uppy than
basic goalkeeping drills before each game. It is
also clear that Cerny is a poor back up.
I hope that we have found our way to a top manger.
I hope he does bring us all the success that we all
want. Let's hope that we have made the right
decision in the wrong way.
The board should now conduct themselves in the
manner that befits a club of Spurs stature.
Have a long hard look at yourselves, think about how
this should have been done and then make the right
decisions. Act with class, dignity and
honesty, and if you can't, then you will continue to
drag the proud name of our club through the papers.
Whilst trying to flog everything about 125 glorious
years, think of Billy Nick. Think how he would
have conduct himself. Manners make the man, Mr Levy.
If you can't rise to this, then I hope that Tom
Kraft (owner of New England Patriots) takes a flight
to the Bahamas and provides a price that is
acceptable to Mr Lewis and we can have some pride
and dignity ... "There used to be a football club
over there" ...
