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29th April 2013 - Bale Well Done
to Gareth Bale on being voted player of the year again, joining Clive Allen
and Ginola in winning both awards in the same
season and also established legends Big Pat and Danny B in winning the gong
in more than one season, and the first Spurs player to do both. Those Spurs Footballers of the Year in full ….1957/58 Danny Blanchflower Football Writers Player of the Year 1960/61 Danny Blanchflower Football Writers Player of the Year 1972/73 Pat Jennings Football Writers Player of the Year 1975/76 Pat Jennings Professional Footballers Association Player of the Year 1979/80 Glenn Hoddle Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year 1981/82 Steve Perryman Football Writers Player of the Year 1986/87 Clive Allen Football
Writers Player of the Year; and Professional Footballers Association Player of the Year 1991/92 Gary Lineker Football Writers Player of the Year 1994/95 Jürgen Klinsmann Football Writers Player of the Year 1998/99 David Ginola Football
Writers Player of the Year; and Professional Footballers Association
Player of the Year 2010/11 Gareth Bale Professional Footballers Association Player of the Year 2011/12 Kyle Walker Professional
Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year 2012/13 Gareth Bale Football
Writers Player of the Year; and Professional Footballers Association Player of the Year Luka who? 11th April 2013 – UEFA exit Adebayor’s spot kick summed up his season, lacking conviction, effort or outcome
but the real question is why are Spurs forced to compete at this level with
only two strikers at the club? Spurs started with their one and only out of
sorts striker and with the tie up for grabs in the second half Spurs
introduced Carroll, Hudd and Benny – and allowing
for how well Carroll played, no game changers or players able to offer
something different from an attacking perspective. At the
same stage in Europe two seasons ago Spurs started with Crouch, Modric and
VDV with Defoe, Lennon, Pav and Krancjar
on the bench … with the ultimate irony being our very own useless lump up
front managed to have a rare going day scoring twice for Madrid. A gallant
effort by the rest of the team tonight, all of whom chipped in with solid
efforts, none more than our very own Lionheart
Dawson who really deserves to have his courage on the pitch backed in the
boardroom by little Levy .. the short armed, long
pocketed chairman with a penchant for U-21 players with sell on value. Its not the path which ends in
glory. Levy needs to be able to identify and buy a good player, and sign them
in time and at a fair price before the season starts. Not easy but its an essential ingredient of
his job. (and don’t sell Bale on 31 Aug, esp
without a replacement) Yet
another penalty shootout exit – p158 of The
Glory of Spurs lists the
previous 16 first team penalty shootouts going back to a 5-3 win over San
Lorenzo in a tour game in 1979 where Gordon Smith was amongst Spurs scorers.
Spurs have won only 4 of the 17 now but in the scheme of things, they did win
the important one in 1984 so should not complain too much Two more
In the ‘Spurs by numbers’ series .. Spurs won just 4
of the 12 UEFA Cup ties this season which seems incredible for a quarter
finalist … …. and
also in the 5 previous European ties where Spurs played the first leg at home
and failed win … Spurs have gone out in the second leg. Make that
six now, but it puts the task in context and shows what a creditable effort
it was overall. Those previous ties: 12-Mar-08
UEFA 3 (2L) A PSV Eindhoven W 1-0 (a.e.t) Berbatov (Spurs lost 5-6 on pens) 06-Mar-08
UEFA 3(1L) H PSV Eindhoven L 0-1 20-Mar-85
UEFA. Cup 4 (2L) A Real Madrid D 0-0 06-Mar-85
UEFA. Cup 4 (1L) H Real Madrid L 0-1 03-Nov-82
ECWC 2 (2L) A Bayern Munich L 1-4 Hughton 20-Oct-82
ECWC 2 (1L) H Bayern Munich D 1-1 Archibald 21-Apr-82
ECWC SF (2L) A Barcelona L 0-1 07-Apr-82
ECWC SF (1L) H Barcelona D 1-1 Roberts 29-May-74
UEFA Final (2L) A Feyenoord L 0-2 21-May-74
UEFA Final (1L) H Feyenoord D 2-2 England, Van Daele
og Here’s
hoping for Champions League qualification and a strong end to the season to
round off what has been another good season overall 8th April 2013 – Which way now for
the mini Golden Era Stop me
if you’ve heard this before … coming to the end of what has been another
excellent season but Spurs are hitting wall, mentally and physically and all
the good work of the season may be becoming undone as a threadbare squad runs
on empty after a weak January transfer window failed to sustain the momentum.
Two
seasons ago a 1-0 win in the San Siro was followed
by a defeat to Blackpool and a run of one win in
ten before finishing a creditable 5th overall in a season with a
great Champions League run. Last season Spurs thumped Newcastle 5-0 at the
start of Feb and then went on a run of one win in nine before coming back to
finish what should have been a target finish of 4th. This seasons is hardly a slump, as five wins in eight games
since the start of February testifies, but the recent performances in all
competitions and importantly injuries tell a different story. Some of the
recent wins were gained by the worlds third greatest player being in the
goalscoring form of his life and now with him gone for a few weeks and
injuries to Defoe, Lennon and er Gallas and a run of tough pressure games coming up thick
and fast, even the most optimistic will be fearful as the momentum seems to
have stalled As
always, the best way to understand the world is through numbers and the
following graph of season points accumulation paints
a very interesting picture of Spurs recent seasons.
As the
seasons start to take shape after about six games, this season has followed
the 2010/11 season – another season with a long challenge in Europe - quite
closely. However, whereas the 2010/11 team really flattened out in Feb, once
again through lack of goals from misfiring forwards, the recent Bale inspired
wins have taken Spurs up to the points level of last
season, which although forgotten in all the anti-harry bullshit, was still
the second best season going back 25 years. And since
getting up to the level of last season, its
funny that the graphs have matched each other over the last few games. Which
way will our season go? It was tough enough for Spurs to come again and grab
4th last year but it would be even more remarkable if Spurs can
somehow match or even improve on the points haul of last season with the
current form and injuries, esp to Bale. You never
know and its still all to
play for, but it would be remarkable. And even if Spurs fall short, its still been a very good first season from AVB, who
deserves as many plaudits for keeping things ticking over as much as trying
to change things The other
thing the graphs show is that we are still riding high in the Spurs modern
golden age which through a bit of luck (being rescued by Redknapp/Jol after
Santini/Ramos) and a bit of good management has been delivered by chairman
Levy and his team. Spurs are achieving just about what they should be for a
club without a sugar daddy owner/large stadium – not just ahead of Everton
and Newcastle, but also the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and until today
Chelsea. As well
as Spurs have done, there is one area which holding Spurs back from an even
better performance – and that is the transfer policy in both summer and
especially winter transfer windows. While I appreciate that considerable
difficulties in attracting top players to Spurs wage structure and don’t want
Spurs to do anything financially reckless, how did Spurs end up in a position
of only having two strikers this season and have situations where one or none
of them were fit? And why did Spurs only end up with yet another U21 roll of
the dice for the “premium feeder club” model when it was clear the priorities
were elsewhere in the latest window. Where was the intent to correct the
imbalance? as it was evident for a very long time No one
will object to a few rolls of the dice with the likes of Holtby
but quality must be replaced by more quality and Spurs cant take the mini golden age for granted. In the
mid 90s when Francis turned Klinsmann, Barmby and Popescu into Armstrong,
Sinton and Vega, it still took a season before things properly imploded due
to Sheringhams goals masking the real decline for a
while. From VDV/Modric/King to Siggy/Demspey/? and Bale’s goals …. While
Spurs are on a much higher plane thesedays, it is a
lesson worth remembering, esp as the goal
difference is painting a less rosy picture. Not many pay much attention to
goal difference but for me it is the true measure of quality which is often
masked by the cap on 3 or 1 point per game. This season Spurs have +15 after
32 games, half a goal a game superiority, around about the same as Everton on
+12 and Liverpool flattered by Suarez on +19. In contrast, despite being
perceived to have poor seasons, City, Arsenal and Chelsea are up near a goal
a game superiority which is typical of a top 4 side. Even when
Spurs finished 4th in 2010 and 2012, +25 and +26 goal differences
while being generational bests for Spurs were still on the bottom level of
the normal EPL average for a top four side, and its telling that the only
other team who have not registered a +25 goal difference in a top4 finish
were our fellow top-table interlopers Everton who somehow got away with a -1
goal difference to finish 4th in 2005 What does
all this mean – it means that money provides wages, which are a good
corollary for quality and quality buys goals which buy league position. If Spurs
want to stay near the top or even improve on the current level (which will be
very difficult given the financial clout of some of the opposition), Spurs cant afford just to pick up
bargains with potential re-sale value - Spurs have to go for quality, top
class match winners. It will
be tough to attract them to Spurs but the footballing upside could be
enormous – imagine Suarez/RVP or even a circa 2007 Berbatov in that Spurs
side this season, a season where the league title and even 2nd
place have not taken much winning. More people from Levy’s fantasy league team
or U21 players for the ‘never never’ wont keep
Spurs at this level forever. The
warning lights are not flashing but they are on. 11 of the 17 league wins
this season have been by a single goal, including all the five wins since New
Years Day where the magic man Bale has scored in
everyone. Spurs have not been a one man team but when he went over on his
ankle against Basel, the world looked a much tougher place for Spurs Despite
the “doom and gloom” reputation of this column, I’ve been almost totally
upbeat about Spurs since the Redknapp rescue, aside from the uncertainty
caused by his sacking last summer and hopefully, the next few weeks will see
Spurs come together in adversity and see the season through with a top4
finish and maybe even a European final, followed by a strong transfer window
to replace good with better and to fill out the squad in weaker areas.
However, anything less (and god forbid the loss of Bale), and the mini golden
era will be seriously under threat. 4th April 2013 – The Glory of
Spurs out on Kindle Good to
see Spurs arrest the slump at Swansea although League Cup winning teams are
often a soft touch at this time of the year an tougher challenges lie ahead
in the quest for League and UEFA glory For those that are interested, the Glory of Spurs book is out in Kindle/ebook format http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Glory-of-Spurs-ebook/dp/B00C2JTO8G/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1364489602&sr=1-1
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4th April 2013 – The Glory of
Spurs out on Kindle Good to
see Spurs arrest the slump at Swansea although League Cup winning teams are
often a soft touch at this time of the year an tougher challenges lie ahead
in the quest for League and UEFA glory For those that are interested, the Glory of Spurs book is out in Kindle/ebook format http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Glory-of-Spurs-ebook/dp/B00C2JTO8G/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1364489602&sr=1-1 And as its that time of year again, the traditional TOPSPURS Grand National pinstickers guide http://www.topspurs.com/gn13.htm Managed to have 33/1 winner, 2nd and 4th
on the shortlist of 9 last year but feel a bit less inspired this year with
nothing really standing out as ticking all the right boxes for National
success. Have fun and fingers crossed all the horses return home safely 19th March 2013 – If you know your
Spurs For those
of you who have invested in the TOPSPURS book, The
Glory of Spurs (now reduced to £6.39 at Amazon with free UK delivery) you
will have seen P186, Spring Collapses … repeated here …. With Spurs in a good position as the days get longer, a
collapse is more likely than glory. Here are ten examples of Spurs throwing
away strong league positions through a collapse commencing around the start
of March: 1.
2011/12
http://www.topspurs.com/201112.htm
From 2-0 up after 40 minutes at
Highbury on February 25th, Spurs season went into reverse with 5
defeats in 9 to end League Title and ultimately Champions League hopes under
Redknapp. 2.
2010/11
http://www.topspurs.com/201011.htm
On February 22nd Spurs
lost 1-3 to soon to be relegated Blackpool, a week
after Beating AC Milan in the San Siro. This
started a slump of 1 win in 10 and missing out on Champions League
requalification. 3.
1999/00
http://www.topspurs.com/9900.htm
Four defeats in five from
mid-March to mid-April end hopes of UEFA qualification under Graham 4.
1984/85
http://www.topspurs.com/8485.htm
Four consecutive home defeats
starting in March end Spurs title hopes under Shreeves. 5.
1977/78
http://www.topspurs.com/7778.htm
Only 2 1-0 wins from the last 8
games cost Spurs the 2nd Division title but fortunately not
promotion. 6.
1963/64
http://www.topspurs.com/6364.htm
Three consecutive home defeats and
four defeats in five from the start of March see Spurs blow a four point lead
at the top of the table to be 4th and five points adrift by the
start of April under Bill Nicholson. 7.
1962/63
http://www.topspurs.com/6263.htm
Four games without a win from the
end of March see Spurs blow a three point lead at the top of the table before
eventually finishing runners up to Everton. 8.
1961/62
http://www.topspurs.com/6162.htm
Five games without a win from the
end of February including the infamous 1-3 home defeat to eventual Champions
Ipswich Town put an end to a Double Double as the
title passes from Nicholson to Ramsey, former team mates in the push n run
championship. 9.
1959/60
http://www.topspurs.com/5960.htm
Only one win in seven including
four defeats from the middle of March sees Spurs give up a 3 point lead in
the title race in the warm up to the Double season, which also had its only
consecutive defeats at the start of March. 10.
1956/57
http://www.topspurs.com/5657.htm
Only one win in eight in the league after the FA Cup 5th round shock at Bournemouth sees Jimmy Anderson’s team drop of the title pace before rallying to finish runners up. So its something that has been with
Spurs from Jimmy Anderson, through successive Bill Nick teams, Omar Shreeves
and now Redknapp and AVB. In a more modest way, is incredible how 62-64 are
mirroring 2011-13 On one
hand it’s is as good as Spurs are entitled to be. As topspurs
favourite Spurs columnist RBS has mentioned in his
piece today, http://www.topspurs.com/thfccol-rbs.htm
there are few mysteries in football thesedays – you
get what you pay for, and you pay for what you can afford. Spurs are
invariable 4th-6th in most of the financial
measurements in football and without an idiot in charge, tend to finish in
that position in the league And on
the other hand it’s the culture of the club, Spurs can accumulate more points
than the long term average during less pressured times of the season but with
the intensity and focus of a season run in, successive generations have
under-performed. The club with the skillful players but lacking bottle to
outsiders, still seems to lurk somewhere within the modern form which
superficially appears quite different Nothing
to complain about - its who Spurs are – all the more reason to enjoy the
victories when they come along, be thankful we don’t follow a club any lower
down the pecking order and laud those on and off the pitch who can keep Spurs
above the long term average … and you never know, despite the tricky fixtures ahead
there is still a great opportunity to break this spell and enter a new
dimension for Spurs. 4th March 2013 – TOPSPURS “The
Glory of Spurs” book Competition – Part 4 – Winner Mat Snow Another
great win for the mighty Spurs against Arsenal and another book on offer as part
of the new book launch of the now amazon bestseller
“The Glory of Spurs”. The Glory of
Spurs, Competition 4 Spurs also won
the North London Derby at White Hart Lane the last time we finished above
Arsenal in the 1990s. Who scored the winning goal that day (and as a clue, he
later scored decisive penalty to beat Arsenal in a UEFA Cup final) Answers to nicolaberti [at] topspurs.com or reply to @topspurs on twitter or on the facebook
page comments & a
very nice review of the book by the Spurs institution, Martin Cloake: http://blog.martincloake.com/2013/02/10/his-eyes-have-seen-the-glory/
26th February 2013 – Super Spurs Aside
from bemoaning a weak transfer window which did not delivery a top class
striker, there’s never a lot to complain about Spurs thesedays
– its all good. West Ham
were the latest to be blown away by the one of the worlds
top three footballers at the top of his game
& while the other 10 have been water carriers in recent weeks,
they are more than good enough to chip in to keep things going when
necessary. It was
not always like that, before Jol Spurs were between inconsistent and rubbish
for the Sugar years but the big Dutch lad laid the platform, which after the
wobble of Ramos Redknapp took up to the next level … and now AVB seems to be
going even further. After his
27th match at Chelsea he was sacked and after his 27th
with Spurs he has taken Spurs into 3rd with an astonishing 1.89
points per game – by miles Spurs best manager record (see graph)
Maybe
anyone could do it with Gareth Bale (and his post-it notes do worry me) but
with a record of #WDWWWDDDWWW (and #WWWLWDWWWDDDWWW if you go back to the
reverse fixture against Arsenal), Spurs are right up there with the best in
the land again. The
bottle has failed the last twice against Arsenal, this time hopefully there
will be no mistake and Spurs can crack on for that first podium finish this
season as a platform for the big one next year Here’s
hoping & up the Spurs 25th February 2013 – TOPSPURS “The
Glory of Spurs” book Competition – Part 3 – Winner: Stephen Lawrence As part
of the new book launch, TOPSPURS has 5 copies to give away in a series of
competitions over the coming weeks. The Glory of
Spurs, Competition 3 Spurs have
faced three teams twice in major Domestic and European Cup Finals – and of
course lifted the trophy on all six occasions – name all the beaten finalists Answers to nicolaberti [at] topspurs.com or reply to @topspurs on twitter or on the facebook
page comments 11th February 2013 – TOPSPURS “The
Glory of Spurs” book Competition – Part 2 – WINNER: Leigh Richards As part
of the new book launch, TOPSPURS has 5 copies to give away in a series of
competitions over the coming weeks. The Glory of
Spurs, Competition 2 The last
Chinese New Year to usher in the Year of the snake saw Spurs on a run of four consecutive 0-0’s under George Graham in early
2001. Which then record signing broke the spell with the late winner up at
Manchester City? Answers to nicolaberti [at] topspurs.com or reply to @topspurs on twitter or on the facebook
page comments 6th February 2013 – TOPSPURS “The
Glory of Spurs” book Competition – Part 1 – WINNER: Stuart Allison As part
of the new book launch, TOPSPURS has 5 copies to give away in a series of
competitions over the coming weeks. Each competition
will run for 1-2 weeks and will feature a question relating to a topical
issue which is also covered in the book. All you need to do is email in the
answer to win, with lucky winners announced on here The Glory of
Spurs, Competition 1 Spurs played
Lyon in the ECWC in a bad tempered affair in the late 60s. Who was the Spurs
and England legend who was sent off after being kicked in the face? Answers to nicolaberti [at] topspurs.com or reply to @topspurs on twitter or on the facebook
page comments 12 January 2013 – New Book, out now As some of you know, I was asked to write a book which at long last is out now & cheapest place to buy it seems to be amazon (although if you hang on a month or so, its going to be even cheaper) … and ereader version out around then as well. 12 January 2013 – New Book, out now All good
with Spurs again thesedays and a bold transfer
window could see even better in the new year. After the depression of the
Sugar era, its great to
see Spurs play so well and so consistently and after one or two teething
problems, it looks like the transition of managers has gone very well.
Onwards and upwards and hopefully the chairman can believe in the vision
enough to buy one or two game changing players (who the manager wants) rather
than a load of U21 players for the never-never. 19th November 2012 – Notebook Man Aside
from the giddiness of the unlikely win at Old Trafford, its been a difficult season so far for Spurs. There
was a winning run of four games but the performances did not quite match the
results and things have regressed since then in the face of difficult tasks. With all
the changes at Spurs over the summer the first part of the season was always
going to be difficult with new players bedding in and a new system to be
adopted by the squad. And even with no managerial changes over the summer,
the squad who over-achieved last year were looking in need of renewal and
this season was always likely to be a major challenge to retain top4 status AVB has
done ok so far. Not brilliantly but equally not badly. Spurs have adopted for
the most part a progressive looking 4-2-3-1 formation which makes best use of
players available in the squad. However, it has not worked effectively (so
far) breaking down dogged sides at home or holding on to advantages. There
have been criticisms of AVB negative approach at the club which is celebrated
for flair football, especially when holding on to a lead into the last
20minutes of a game. We’ve been here before with Jol and while it is mostly
frustrating, managers are judged on results and its
just one we’ve got to wear … as long as its
effective. However,
after about 30mins of the Arsenal game, the Sky cameras panned over to the
Spurs bench to reveal the Steffan Fraud looking
blank and AVB ruffling through a notepad. It was an awful moment of
Television, invoking images of a manager by numbers who never played the game
looking for what to do next in a specific situation (as crackers tweeted, you
don’t want your pilot looking at the manual when he is flying the plane), but
hopefully not an insight into the future The
pressure is on AVB, but then again its
on every manager in this over-obsessed EPL. First and foremost, Spurs need to
start playing well. Effective, pragmatic football which they players are
comfortable with and most importantly gets results.
Wins are always welcome, but a sequence of games playing well will herald the
new dawn … we wait and hope. 29th September 2012 – A win at Old
Trafford at last! Its been a long time coming but Spurs have
finally won up at Old Trafford. Glory Glory
Hallelujah! (and we’ll have our Glory Glory back as well as the three points). Funnily enough
Hallelujah by the Happy Mondays was one of the songs of the moment the last
time we won up there back in December 1989; a time of the Acid House, Joe Bloggs clothing and the Berlin Wall coming down
This is a
very important win for Spurs. Before todays game,
Spurs had played 20 times at Old Trafford in the EPL. In those games Spurs
had only taken 3 points and scored a paltry 8 goals and lost 17 of the
matches. Of those 8 goals, only a Jenas goal in 2005 was good enough to earn
a point as the other two points had come in 0-0’s (albeit one with a Mendes
winner). United have been a dominant side in the EPL but this record went
beyond the level of difference between the two sides, especially in recent
seasons as Spurs have improved and Utd, for all the
League titles, don’t look as good as dominant thesedays,
which suggested a mental weakness at Spurs which was as evident in the
toothless 0-2 defeats as in the infamous collapses 2-5 & 3-5 Going 1-0
and then 2-0 up so early on, with goals of great pace and passion, gave Spurs
a great start but it also gave them a long time ahead before the final
whistle – which has tended to be a curse rather than a blessing, esp with that recent defeat to Arsenal so fresh in the
mind. During the game I always try and stay positive- there is nothing you
can do about it and you may as well enjoy your team in the lead rather than
worry it away thinking the other team are going to get back. However, its impossible for your mind not to drift to other similar
situations where Spurs have built a lead playing well, stopped going forward,
the other team have got back into it and Spurs have failed to find a reply
before being rolled over. But it
was different today. Just as in the 5 goal capitulations, Spurs conceded just
after half time to let United back in.
But for the first time in years, rather than get swept away by the
other teams comeback, Spurs went up the other end
and scored. When was the last time Spurs took the lead against a good side,
saw them make a comeback and then go away and increase the lead? 1991 Semi?
For me, this was a very important line in the sand. United
managed another goal and it felt like Spurs sat back too much inviting United
on but the final score showed a memorable win for Spurs. And its not just recent teams that have been no good at Old
Trafford, this was only Spurs 11th league win up there 76 League
games http://www.topspurs.com/thfc-manchesterunited.htm Division
1 04-Nov-11 26,000 A W 2
- 1 Minter, Middlemiss Division
1 25-Sep-20 52,000 A W 1 - 0 Grimsdell Division
2 19-Feb-38 34,631 A W 1 - 0 Sargent Division
1 30-Nov-57 43,307 A W 4
- 3 Smith R (3), Blanchflower
og Division
1 12-Sep-59 55,641 A W 5 - 1 Mackay,
Harmer, Smith R (2), Dunmore Division
1 09-Mar-63 43,416 A W 2
- 0 Saul, Jones Division
1 28-Oct-72 52,497 A W 4 - 1 Peters
(4) Division
1 23-Mar-74 36,278 A W 1
- 0 Coates Division
1 04-Sep-76 60,723 A W 3 - 2 Coates,
Pratt, Moores Division
1 16-Dec-89 36,230 A W 1
- 0 Lineker A few
weeks after the OT win in Jan 1990, another Lineker goal helped Spurs to a
2-1 win at Chelsea which has not been repeated since. Would nt it be great for Spurs and esp
AVB to go to Stamford Bridge next year, a game which could be shifted back to
St Hotspur day, and end the last remaining hoodoo Where
does all this leave Spurs? The infamous 6th game into the season
and he has a record of W3-D2-L1, progression in the League cup and a
respectable result in Europe which is a healthy start for any manager.
Perhaps a point ahead of expectations (2 points lost against Norwich or WBA vs 3 points gained at Old Trafford) which gives a decent
platform for the rest of the season. Spurs only got 2 points from 9 as the Levy
transfer circus dragged on to the end of the window yet again, but have won
all three since the return of players after the international break, which in
effect becomes the pre-season. However,
aside from the sensational win against United and the consummate performance
at Reading, Spurs have looked a bit shaky with poor home performances. Two of
Spurs wins have been against sides who are bottom
and second bottom and its fair to say a bit of luck
helped Spurs against Norwich and QPR (and indeed in hanging on against
United). Villa should be a gimme but the
performance side of things will need to improve with three elite sides in the
next five. This should come with time and much of the previous issues have
been attributable to the new players settling in & injuries to Kaboul,
Parker and BAE have not helped. All the new signings look useful players or
better and should be able to do a job for Spurs over the season. As for
AVB, it came as no great shock that some of the players were not happy with
the new set up but like all of these things, if the changes happen when Spurs
are winning no one is too bothered but if Spurs have changed a winning system
for one which is not producing results, the players are not going to be
happy, although one suspects its more workplace grumbles than full on revolt.
Hopefully the imminent removal of the ever loyal Sherwood will see an upturn
in morale (another great decision by Levy to retain him as DoF). I do look
at how Chelsea seem to have progressed after his removal and have concerns in
the back of my mind about him over complicating things (which have yet to be
borne out by fact) – which does not make me ‘anti-AVB’ but are just that,
concerns (before the monks of the twitterati
descend upon me as a non believer in the new online fan fascism) - but AVB
seems a good chap who works hard and is determined to succeed. I like the
4-2-3-1 system which gives Spurs a more contemporary look and allows Spurs to
simultaneously look solid but hit other teams with a blast of pace. As with
all Spurs managers, I want him to do well and the more I get to see him, the
more hopeful I become that Spurs can remain at the top table after the
turbulent summer. All in
all its been a decent start. The challenge now is to
step up the level of performance over the coming months and maintain the
winning/points haul. Spurs have 14 more games in 2012 and a quick look
through suggest Spurs should be able to produce a record of W7-D5-L2 which
would give an overall record of P20-W10-D7-L3 and a wave full of optimism
going into the new year. And why not, we’ve just beaten United away! And one
last one, this unsporting image which lacks class appeared in the United programme in the return fixture after the 5-3 defeat in
2002.
At last,
up yours! 27th August 2012 – Modric sold at
last After
nearly 18 months of Modric being unsettled and looking for a new club, any of
the super clubs with unlimited wages, Spurs have finally got the deal done –
this time with five days rather than five minutes before the end of the
transfer window. Its not
the deal itself, which was inevitable and in the end the right deal for
everyone involved, but the bullshit around the deal from Spurs which has
flushed me out. This is how Spurs announced the deal to the world: http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/spurs/News/club-announcement-27082012.page Just
embarrassing. Rather than just yield to the inevitable and say player sold to
bigger club who can offer more wages, in the light of Daniel Levy’s ‘we will
not sell any under contract players’ from last summer, the club have chosen
to erect a bullshit smokescreen with some woolly nonsense about a partnership
with Real Madrid, and even announce the transfer as an add-on to the sub
headline “CLUB ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP
AGREEMENT WITH REAL MADRID AND TRANSFER OF LUKA MODRIC” The world
of Real Madrid is not so rocked by this relationship – failing to mention it
at all in its main Modric Signs for Madrid article http://www.realmadrid.com/cs/Satellite/en/1330111187690/noticia/Noticia/1330111187690.htm although
it did rate the smallest of mentions elsewhere: The idea
of a special relationship with Real Madrid is there just to mug off the most
gullible of fans and comes from the same PR think-tank which 10 years ago
almost to the day gave us the equally unconvincing “Rivaldo
letter” when the jelly legged Brazilian expressed his regret at not being
able to sign for Spurs. Quite how
is this going to work for Spurs: Real Madrid have a good player – just as
now, Spurs will not get him if they are any good. Just as now, Spurs will not
get them if someone else offers more money but Spurs may get them if Real
Madrid don’t want them and Spurs offer the most money … er
just as now. And not sure anything has changed the other way – if Real Madrid
are after a Spurs player, the player is likely to
want to go to Madrid both for financial and footballing reasons as Madrid can
offer more on both counts and they are likely to move. Its just the way it is. Spurs do it to smaller
clubs, and the bigger clubs do it to Spurs. The
‘relationship’ is utter nonsense, a smokescreen for Levy’s climbdown, and once again no appearance from Levy in
front of the press to answer questions. I think the idea of trying to keep
Modric last summer was done with good intentions although it possibly proved counter productive as it widely accepted the player was
below form for most of the season. Maybe its good
that he did not go elsewhere in the EPL but that was more a coincidence than
policy as Carrick and Berbatov were both sold within the league (and neither
has particularly done much to harm Spurs) 18 months
ago, Spurs and Real Madrid contested a Champions League quarter final and now
… we apparently have a partnership, and presumably it will be a UK-USA
relationship which is only really recognized by the smaller partner until the
more powerful partner pays lip service to it when it needs something –
presumably Gareth Bale at some stage. Should
Spurs ever qualify for a European competition that Real Madrid are involved,
I wonder if this relationship will be exposed to UEFA
independence/competition lawyers. And have n’t
Spurs got some special love in with Internacional
after the Sandro deal? Not seen many fruits from
that tree thus far. And then
there is the fee. No announcement on either club website although BBC and
ESPN quoting a leak from Spurs suggesting 37m Euro (£29.5m in real paper
money) And with
five days to go, presumably Levy has no wriggle room but to reinvest some of
the profits in squad improvements for his new manager. Not just available
bargains, but in players the manager wants in the areas of the squad which
are looking thin. But past history suggest that big money in is rarely
reinvested in new players. Going back to Berbatov’s
£30.9m transfer, Spurs got Frazer Campbell on loan and then spent some money
to avoid relegation on three re-signs (all at lower prices, so no net
investment) and Wilson Palacios. And the rest of the dough …. And Carrick, it
was nearly a year before Spurs spent a record £16m on 4th striker
Darren Bent after £3.5m on Ricardo Rocha (how we have missed the director of
football inputs!) Modric
was a good player, but Spurs will survive ok without him and all still to
play for this season As for
the season thus far, its too early to make any
judgments which is why I intend to stay away until there is enough evidence
to start to form an opinion, but its worth
remembering that Spurs ended last season in 4th with a squad who
won 20 of the league games and there is no particular need for this to be a
transitional season which is starting to be wheeled out. A transitional
season occurs when a new manager takes over a failing side and needs a season
to get his ideas across. If Spurs slip back to mid-table, it will be a
‘deconstruction of success’ season rather than a transitional season. Early
days though and AVB not had much luck so far (both on and off the field) and
hopefully over the coming weeks with a new signing or two, things will start
to take shape under his guidance and Spurs back amongst the top six, pressing
for that fourth champions league place which is the realistic ambition of a
club with Spurs spending power. 13th August 2012 – Season Preview After the wonderful
Olympics, it was always going to bad enough going back to a load of ponce footballers ‘simulating’ their way through 90
minutes for the love of money but its been made doubly difficult by the
changes at Spurs over the summer where a successful football person has been
sacrificed for the dogma of more control from the directors box. All
organisation structures where the most powerful person is not the most able
suffer in a similar away and further melancholy is added to the brew by extra
voices (some of which are frustrated at not getting the main job) where there
should only be one, the football man doing the football thing. Spurs success has been
inversely proportional to the level of input from our esteemed Chairman. When
he is active, Spurs slide back into chaos but when he is shamed into his box,
a football man like Redknapp can get on to achieve the potential of the club,
which in the modern era is between 4th-6th
with a strong run in the cups. Spurs appointed a
complicated Frenchman in Santini and he lasted 11 league games. After being
rescued by Jol, Spurs returned to the DoF dogma and
appointed a complicate Spaniard and just over a year later he left Spurs with
2 points in 8 league games. After being more than just rescued by Redknapp,
Spurs have now appointed a complicated Portugeezer.
History does nt repeat but I’m picking up a rhyme On paper, AVB is a strong
candidate for the Spurs job given his success at Porto and I’ve still got an
open mind that he may be ok, esp as he ‘speaka da lingo’ a bit better
and inherits a squad who have finished 4th/5th/4th
with a world class match winner in Bale. However, when reading up about him,
perhaps the most telling negative was that Chelsea had to build him a pod at
the training ground as he was working so late! Blimey, anyone who cant get
the job done in normal time is struggling, over complicating by not seeing
wood for the trees and as all successful managers have proved, keeping things
simple is the key to success. This over analysis from someone who never
played the game at the top level is sure to run into resistance if its not
instantly successful, let alone the fact the club that sacked him last season
reverted back to ‘simple’ and won both FA Cup and Champions League. AVB worked at Porto but not
at Chelsea. Its too early to even hazard a guess at Spurs, but given his
chairman (and director of football entourage) have sent him into the last
week of pre-season with only one full forward on the books, its easy to be
cynical. Throw someone as ‘charismatic’ and self serving as Sherwood into the
mix, the inexplicable Steffan Fraud as his cones
man and rumours that David Pleat is lurking again and it’s a slow motion car
crash. Its been years and years since Levy has been interviewed by
anyone other than someone on his payroll and once again some or all of these
baffling decisions will not face the normal rigour of judgement. Targets were
conspicuous by their absence in the dictated stuff on the appointment of AVB
but surely its natural for success to be measured as
being more successful than the last fella. Over the last three full
seasons, Spurs have finished 4th, 5th, 4th
with a record of P114, W57, D30, L27, FA188-128, with a 1,763 points per game
which equates to 67 points over the season (and got to the last 8 in
Champions League, the only Cup competition taken seriously). Anything less,
and Spurs have gone backwards is a fact. 67 points – are you a buyer
or a seller? Sporting Index are 64.5-66 I’m sure some ‘new’
qualitative targets will be introduced to make things look a bit better if
Spurs are not in the usual top4 position. The ‘cult of young players’ has
once again risen where people are judged on their age rather than ability to
do the job in the next game, manna from heaven for the supporters who have
morphed into a ‘mini-chairman’. The Squad Friedel did a great job last season, adding some consistency between
the sticks and emerging with a +25 goal difference with 30 games where one or
fewer goal conceded. The sands of time are going for the EPL legend but to
think he may be usurped by Gomes who’s lack of consistency did so much to
weaken the 2010/11 season is a major worry. At fullback, Spurs are well
served by BAE and Walker who are in the best traditions of the club. They
will make mistakes but overall they should continue to be excellent. Not such
good news in the middle of defence where Ledley has jacked it in after great service to Spurs
and he will be much missed. Kaboul has stepped up to the mark for one of the
CB places and hopefully Jan V will be the other but with the admirable Dawson
at 28 coming back from another injury, the poor bassong
and old Gallas, its looking a bit thin and
hopefully Caulker can go on like Walker did after his loan year away. Spurs have one world class
matching winning player in Gareth Bale and we have been very lucky to see him
at Spurs, now entering his 6th season at the club. Assuming he
stays fit and continues his awesome form, footballing gravity means he will
no doubt be made an offer no one can refuse over the next 12-18 months and
hopefully the fans can act like adults for once and wish him well. While Levy was mostly in
the background last year, his one big play was to say Modric was going nowhere
and while he stuck to his guns with commendable conviction it did nt really do Spurs or Modders
much good over the season. Modric is now in the pantomime of a Spurs transfer
which will be done on 31 August for an extra quid or two but leaving Spurs without
time to reinvest. Greater people than me saw the brilliance of Modric but
never quite registered with me. An injury to Parker makes
AVB start more problematic but with Parker and poss
Modric out of the way, Sandro
has a great opportunity to make that central midfield jersey his own. In
fleeting moments, he certainly appears to be good enough. The new signing Siggy should add some goals and has the potential to be
very useful. In terms of stats, Lennon
has been a model of consistency over his previous 7 seasons with between
19-26 starts and 3 goals. Not quite the superstar but still very useful on
his day and hopefully stagnation will not affect his performance. Up front, VdV likely to get game time beyond the 75th
minute at least in the opening games as Spurs have only him and 118 goal Defoe as proven EPL performers. Injury or suspension
leaves Spurs in a very big mess, at least until Rasiak
or Frazer Campbell signed in the closing minutes of the window. The rest of
the forwards who have played do not look ready to step up. All in all, some good
players but lacking balance and depth in certain areas. As Spurs buy on a
bargain basis, don’t expect this to change anytime soon. Prediction Time Obviously, I hope my
worries are totally unfounded and Spurs step up on what they have achieved
under the previous regime. I am very open to be impressed by AVB getting
Spurs winning matches playing good football as Spurs doing well is all that
matters. I can’t reiterate this enough. I like Spurs winning, which is why I
liked Redknapp. I had huge misgivings about Redknapp’s appointment at the
time but was easily won over by simple, winning football done well and will
be the same if AVB can pull it off. However, the task at Spurs
this season looks enormous: a decent but unbalanced squad and a football
structure that does not seem to work with the wrong people given too much
influence in decision making. This represents a massive challenge for anyone
and all indicators point to a slip back to something around 58-60 points (and
whatever that buys you in terms of League position next season). Given the
nature of the squad, it was a little alarming to see AVB target the UEFA cup
which will be another almost half season to get to the final. The League Cup
is a cheaper and easier target if Spurs feel the need to improve upon one
trophy in the 11 Levy years but even that could go to hell to concentrate on
the EPL and re-entry to CL or even better. The first three home games
look very winnable, even if they are muggy 2-1’s while the players get used
to the new system/new signings but the four elite sides in the next seven
(with three away) will represent a very serious test. While nothing will be
decided during that period, it should give us a good indication of the
direction of the season. Here’s hoping we’re dusting
off the old #WWWWWDWWWWW hashtag on twitter 7th August 2012 – Vox Pop time As the season draws near, its that
time again to record your hopes and fears for Spurs for the new season for
the TOPSPURS Vox Pop Anything from one word to an essay
along with the name you would like it published under over to me at the usual
address - word or email text (but not funny apple softwares)
and it will form the latest in the long line of unique records of the
mighty Lilywhites (see below from previous seasons) The vox pop
will be officially published on the friday before
the first game so any time before that if you can be arsed Here’s what went before … http://www.topspurs.com/topspursvoxpop1112.htm http://www.topspurs.com/topspursvoxpop1011.htm http://www.topspurs.com/topspursvoxpop0910.htm http://www.topspurs.com/topspursvoxpop0809.htm http://web.archive.org/web/20080101152519/http://www.topspurs.com/topspursvoxpop0708.htm Jim 3rd July 2012 – Its AVB As
expected, AVB or Luís André de Pina
Cabral e Villas-Boas to give him his full name was unveiled as Spurs manager
& TOPSPURS wishes him all the best in keeping the good form of the last
few years going and hopefully even improving upon it or failing that, just
giving it a bloody good go with common sense and passion. Its
not just the policemen who are getting younger, at 34 years old AVB the
youngest Spurs manager, being born just a few days before the 9-0 win over
Bristol Rovers in October 1977 which has to be a good omen. Its too
early to have a serious opinion on AVB – good or otherwise as he has not done
anything yet in the job but my feeling about him personally is mostly
positive but my main worries are not with him personally but beyond him at
the re-introduction of the director of football system (or technical co-ordinator system – windscale to
sellafield name change) and the all the boardroom
meddling which failed in various guises in the past at the club. When
going through the potential manager list a few weeks back, his summary was: “AVB fits very nicely into the Levy system.
Young, worked under DoF and desperate to get
another chance and given his record at Porto may have something to offer.
However, with any sort of pressure on how much weight will his team talks
carry with his Chelsea failure fresh in the mind.” I’ve not
got a great deal to add to that now he has been appointed. He seems to
have a strong character, is well versed in English football and should not
suffer the communication problems of Santini or Ramos which should end all
comparisons. He has worked with some of the greats
ad despite his lack of years, he has been a coach since his teens. Given his
meteoric rise, its probably not a surprise that this
is his fourth different job at the start of each of the last four seasons. My
main worries are that he
will over complicate things tactically and there is still a nagging doubt
over his ability to command a dressing room giving his lack of playing
record/what happened at Chelsea. All those stories of him overanalyzing
stats, bombarding often dopey footballers with too much info and sleeping
over in his pod at the training ground are a concern. There is also the fact
that Chelsea went on to win FA Cup and CL after he left by keeping things
simple/relying on experience which indirectly adds some pressure That said, I am definitely more worried about the thin areas of the
squad more and these need to be solved in terms of quality and volume well
before the season kicks off, let alone any last minute stuff at bargain
prices for positions Spurs don’t need. Spurs
recent transfer dealings come under two distinct phases. In the first year of
Redknapp’s time at Spurs masses of money was thrown at the problem of keeping
Spurs in the EPL. Since then, Spurs success on the pitch has not been
supported by big transfer fees off it (mostly as Spurs don’t have money to
burn/world financial crisis) but the last two windows has seen turn a profit,
which seemed a false economy with Spurs in the title race in the last window.
A pinch of salt is required with all these fees given the lack of accurate
reporting but assumes the net difference evens out. Winter 2011/12 – Net surplus of £8m on Sale
of Pav 2011/12 Ryan Nelson, Blackburn Rovers, free 2011/12 Louis Saha,
Everton, free 2011/12 Brad Friedel,
Aston Villa, free Summer 2011/12 – Net surplus of £24.5m on
Crouch, Palacios, Keane, Hutton, O’Hara 2011/12 Scott Parker, West Ham United,
£5,000,000 2011/12 Yago Falqué, Juventus, loan 2011/12 Emmanuel Adebayor,
Manchester City, loan 2011/12 Souleymane
Coulibaly, Siena, Undisclosed Winter 2010/11 – Net
spend £4.5m 2010/11 Steven Pienaar,
Everton, £3,000,000 2010/11 Bongani Khumalo, Supersport United,
£1,500,000 Summer 2010/11 – Net
spend £14m 2010/11 William Gallas,
Arsenal, free 2010/11 Rafael van der
Vaart, Real Madrid, £8,000,000 2010/11 Stipe Pletikosa, Spartak Moscow, loan 2010/11 Sandro Ranieri, Internacional,
£6,000,000 Winter 2009/10 – Net
spend £5m 2009/10 Younes Kaboul, Portsmouth,
£5,000,000 2009/10 Eidur Gudjohnsen, Monaco, loan Summer 2009/10 – Net
spend of £9m with Sale of Bent, Chimbonda, KPB 2009/10 Niko Kranjcar Portsmouth,
£2,500,000 2009/10 Sebastien
Bassong, Newcastle United, £8,000,000 2009/10 Peter Crouch, Portsmouth,
£9,500,000 2009/10 Kyle Naughton,
Sheffield United, £4,000,000 2009/10 Kyle Walker, Sheffield United,
£4,000,000 Winter 2008/09 – Net
spend £46m 2008/09 Robbie Keane, Liverpool,
£15,000,000 2008/09 Pascal Chimbonda, Sunderland,
£3,000,000 2008/09 Carlo Cudicini,
Chelsea, Free 2008/09 Wilson Palacios, Wigan Athletic, £12,000,000 2008/09 Jermain
Defoe, Portsmouth, £16,000,000 In the 18
months before, under Comolli as Director of
Football … 2008/09 Frazier Campbell, Manchester
United, loan 2008/09 Vedran Corluka, Manchester City,
£8,500,000 2008/09 Roman Pavlyuchenko,
Spartak Moscow, £14,000,000 2008/09 Cesar Sanchez, Real Zaragoza,
Undisclosed 2008/09 David Bentley, Blackburn Rovers,
£15,000,000 2008/09 John Bostock Crystal Palace, £700,000 2008/09 Heurelho Gomes, PSV Eindhoven,
£9,000,000 2008/09 Giovani
dos Santos, Barcelona, £4,700,000 2008/09 Luka Modric,
Dinamo Zagreb, £15,800,000 2007/08 Gilberto, Hertha
Berlin, £1,900,000 2007/08 Alan Hutton, Rangers, £8,000,000 2007/08 Jonathan Woodgate,
Middlesbrough, £7,500,000 2007/08 Chris Gunter, Cardiff City,
£2,000,000 2007/08 Kevin-Prince Boateng,
Hertha Berlin, £5,200,000 2007/08 Danny Rose, Leeds United,
Undisclosed 2007/08 Younes Kaboul, Auxerre, £8,200,000 2007/08 Darren Bent, Charlton Athletic,
£16,500,000 2007/08 Adel Taarabt, Lens, Undisclosed 2007/08 Yuri Berchiche,Athletic
Bilbao, Undisclosed 2007/08 Gareth Bale, Southampton,
£5,000,000 This
equates to around £42,000,000 net spent with £122m of fees the above being
covered by about £80m in sales inc Berbatov and Keane. As with all of these
lists, there are some good ones like Bale and Modric but perhaps the most
telling is the transfer of Darren Bent who arrived on what is still now Spurs
record fee paid for a player. When he arrived, ahead of him in the pecking
order were Berbatov and Keane and possibly Defoe which was a crazy situation
for the record signing. In more distant history, Carrick (who bizarrely was
not wanted by Santini) and Postiga
are other examples of players not wanted by the manager but signed anyway
which creates tensions between the Board and manager (Carrick’s omission was
up there in reasons for Santini’s plank walk) and
wastes resources When
having a look at the transfers, Spurs best value seems to be hunting the
lower leagues for first or second season players who are showing a lot of
class. For every Andy Reid there is a Michael Dawson and with the example of
the two Sheffield Utd lads and the youth team’s
Caulker, a season on loan is a better grounding than mooching round in the
stiffs, even if it is in Spurs state of the art training facility. If Spurs
set aside someone specifically for this role, perhaps working in tandem with
another few scouts combing the world for the best talent – then it would
provide Spurs with a very strong intake of good players at a low fee. Where
it has fallen apart in the past is that when the chief scout is called the
director of football, they are promoted beyond their natural support role and
hinder the first team manager doing his job of winning the next match. And
also, it allows the club owner to have a voice in first team matters
irrespective of their only qualification for the role is finance rather than
football ability. Maybe it
will all be different this time but years with a director of football system
11th, 10th, 12th, 9th, 10th,
14th, 9th, 5th, 5th, 11th
& 1.36 points per game or 52 points a season, and the four years without
8th, 4th, 5th, 4th & 1.66
points per game or 63 points a season If Levy
keeps out of the way, if Sherwood is a benign DoF …
there is no reason why someone with AVB credentials cannot keep the
consistent form going at Spurs but history suggests is massive task. The club
announced the deal via the website: This
statement was a bit depressing for what was in it and a bit interesting for
what was not mentioned. “Andre shares our long-term ambitions and ethos of developing players
and nurturing young talent, and he will be able to do so now at a new world
class Training Centre.”
Going on
about youth development was the depressing bit and the missing bit was no
setting of EPL or trophy delivering objectives. Until
FIFA start to award special points for average ages of teams or number of
young players – it does not matter how young a player is, how good he may be
in 18 months – its about
the best player for the next game. There is a lot of feelgood
about long term plans, jam tomorrow stuff about developing young players but
all that matters is the next match, and then the one after that. When Crouch
swept home the winner in Milan, did it matter that he was 29 or 19. That is
not to say that the team should be all old players – they should just be the
best possible around – where neither age or nationality matter, and the first
team the number one focus of the club. One of the drip fed articles from the
Spurs press office into a newspaper suggested that at 22 and 20 respectively
Sigurdsson and Oscar are ok but Vertonghen is on
the fringe at 25. This sort of stuff is nuts. They are either good enough or
not, and the manager who has to use them decides. Having just sacked a manager who delivered a 4th
place finish, it was always going to be a tough one to set achievable
objectives for what Levy expects from the first team but its complete
omission tells you a lot. The long and short of it is that Levy wanted his
club back and is prepared to sacrifice near term success on the pitch to
provide a management system which gives him greater control of all areas. While
Levy did not make any reference to EPL targets next season, Topspurs will.
Spurs have a good squad but it is becoming increasingly light at centre back
and only one forward is owned by the club. In this context, it will be
difficult to expect anyone to improve upon last seasons
69points but with what looks like the first serious backing for four seasons
in the offing and with current players, AVB should be able to produce a team
to get 62 points or thereabouts. Anything above that will be a very good
season, and he will be a total genius if Spurs can crack the 70 point
barrier. Anything down to 55 points (a 14 point swing) will be a bit
disappointing while anything around 50 points or lower may have the little
man itchy for a new playmate from next summer. I’m
hopeful AVB will be a success at Spurs and believe he has the ability to do so, I just worry that the change in direction away from
the first team will make it a very difficult task for anyone. Boa sorte a partir de Topspurs 17th June 2012 – Regression by
committee The news
of Redknapp’s dismissal did not come as a total shock but it wrong footed me
enough to forget to mention the director of football system. After a
decade of shambles ending with Spurs rooted to the bottom of the league with
doughnuts like Pleat and Comoli being a nuisance to
the managers in that time, surely the appointment of a very successful
Redknapp working in a conventional way put all that shit to bed Apparently
not. Fuck my old boots. Anyone
can make a mistake but the definition of an idiot is someone who repeats that
mistake And
fucking Sherwood as Director of Football I’d like
to be optimistic, but if the rumours of Spurs going
back to the Director of Football system/Levy more hands on - Spurs are on the
way down. Whether
it was Redknapp or someone else is in charge at the start of next season, its going to be a struggle to
get that thin squad to match the achievement of last season. Ledley, bless
him, seems to have finally gone, Bale and Modric are looking elsewhere and
the forwards look pretty thin on the ground. And Spurs plan to address this
by going back to a system that has not worked and will not work. Everything
is pointing one way, and Yazz aint
singing. And if there are funds to spend this summer – net funds not just
sale proceeds – and they were denied Redknapp in January to allow a director
of football/Coach/Levy to spend them in the summer ... its
almost too sad to contemplate There
were times last season when fans seemed to be getting very used to being in
the elite, like it was somehow Spurs right and not a brief rise out of a
majority of mediocrity through hardwork and talent.
Successful clubs keep doing the right things and unsuccessful don’t. Just how
far are we away from falling into shambles like Liverpool, or falling back to
nothingness like Everton or Villa. Even with everything in place, Spurs
financial backing is unlikely to get much higher than 4th/5th
given the financial resources of rivals. Levy’s
tenure at Spurs has little to recommend it apart from the success on the
pitch between 09-12 under Redknapp as manager/no director of football … a
time where he took a back seat and prevaricated over developing a new
stadium, a project which has entered its 10th year without a brick
being laid. The rest of it has been pretty poor. Santini,
Comolli, waiting to the last minute of the last day
to sell Berbatov (and get Fraser Campbell), Rasiak
and Pleat as manager during 2003/4 which is the lowest point in the clubs
recent history. Take away
the good years of Redknapp and it starts to look pretty thin. The successes –
Jol, a lucky appointment after taking 9 months to appoint Santini and
Redknapp gone to in extremis after his disastrous interference – have both
been sacrificed to his better judgement when he
thought he knew best. I watched
the Wicker Man the other day and the scene at the end where Edward Woodward’s
Sergeant Howie looks across at Christopher Lee’s
Lord SummerIsle and says “ your crops failed because they
cant grow in this environment. Even if you sacrifice me, they will fail again
next year and then the only sacrifice the gods will accept will be Lord SummerIsle himself” Levy has
sacrificed yet another manager and in trying to implement a failed Director
of Football arrangement, is trying to get crops to grow outside nature. If he
screws up this time, will he finally accept some responsibility and walk the
plank – or will another manager go up in flames as Lord SummerIsle
sings madly on. Remember 4th & 69 points is
a sackable offence. As for
the managers mentioned... AVB fits very nicely into the Levy system. Young,
worked under DoF and desperate to get another
chance and given his record at Porto may have something to offer. However,
with any sort of pressure on how much weight will his team talks carry with
his Chelsea failure fresh in the mind. Martinez is just some sick joke who you would not
even wish on West Ham Moyes does not do a lot for me in terms
of setting the imagination racing but am starting to come round a little to
his pragmatism, experience and ability, every now and then, to get Everton to
out perform their budget. In someways
he represents the safest pair of hands but then again he’s done less at
Everton than Redknapp did at Pompey and there is not a strong case for
bobbing Redknapp for him. Also has the common sense to want work away from
the DoF system Capello. He would
be a fine choice having experience of the EPL as well as a fine CV of
success. The only worry with him would be the hunger to keep winning in his
most challenging role outside managing the best club in the league Blanc Success at Bordeaux and the international
team make him a high quality candidate but that controversy over quotas
taints him a little. Poyet. May not be the most obvious candidate but a
strong character who has done a great job at
Brighton and knows Spurs very well. It would be a massive gamble but he
definitely has the potential to be great manager and possibly a silver lining
to this whole mess Mouninho or Pep.
Unconditionally Yes but they wont come If they
are insistent on a director of football and all its nonsense, AVB seems the
best fit. If they want to build on the platform Redknapp has left them, not cos I want him but cos he’s
most likely available, Moyes should be the choice.
But do either of them or any of the others really
give you more confidence than Redknapp? As ever
the Betfair manager market is the best place to get
the real feel for whats going on rather than a load
of vain phoney ITKs http://sports.betfair.com/football/market?id=1.105931046
esp if my old mate is betting again ‘-) The press
reaction to the Redknapp sacking has been fairly predictable. Redknapp has a
lot of friends in the tabloids which have come out in favour
of him, irrespective of the common weight of opinion supporting his case –
while some of the broadsheets have been briefed by the Spurs press office ‘daniel levy did not go into that meeting to sack Redknapp
… ‘ trying to repaint Levy as some sort of victim have been equally partisan The two I
have chosen to link here are from award winning journo David Conn …
“Delusions of grandeur haunt the men running Tottenham Hotspur Sacking
Harry Redknapp will not solve Spurs' pressing need to generate enough revenue
to compete with the elite” and an
Arsenal fan on his blog http://www.arsenalinsider.com/6717/spurs-shoot-themselves-in-the-foot/?#axzz1y30obr00 Both
contain simple home truths which make awkward reading for those looking to be
optimistic about Spurs future. Perhaps the fans will have more than just the
manager not referring to the club the first person to outrage them next
season And
finally, I thought it would be interesting to visit the topspurs
editorial from the time of the last shambolic sacking. To put it in context,
in 2007 they had sacked Jol at half time two good seasons and almost exactly
a year later they sacked the whole of the new coaching staff just a year on –
with Levy blaming everyone else and Spurs in a total shambles at the bottom
of the league http://web.archive.org/web/20090120124417/http://www.topspurs.com/jmdview.htm (scroll down to 26th October 2008 – Whatever happened to Tottenham Hotspur. There have been some gorblimey moments following Spurs …. You’ll see a number of recurring of themes, not least – why does Levy not come out and speak to someone outside his payroll. If he has the confidence in his vision, it would be a great way to get that across to the fans. Has anyone ever heard Levy speak? Or is it that there is no justification in his actions or worth to his vision? Here is
what he dictated to the Spurs website the during the last crisis on the
sacking of Ramos/appointment of Redknapp – when for once expediency overcame
dogma Here are
some selected quotes: In Harry, we are also accepting with his
appointment that now is the right time for us to move back to a more
traditional style of football management at our Club, one which we believe
will be capable of initiating our climb back up the Premier League table and
to maintaining our challenge in the UEFA, Carling and FA Cup competitions.
Not even
a mention of the Champions League at that desperate moment – and yet this
manager and this manager system outperformed all expectations at
that dark hour. And … Quite simply, we failed because we were not
as decisive or as successful in identifying or replacing the two strikers as
early as we should have been.
With this
weakness identified, surely Spurs fans can expect their esteemed leaders to
do business – whether selling Bale/Modric early and buying players to
strengthen the squad early rather than panic buys on the last day. How
confident are you that this is going to happen? Look out
for more cobblers ‘youth’ & ‘planning for some future’ when all that
really matters is the next match as there is no point planning more than a
seasons given the nature of player contracts/average length of stay of top
players. As ever
when pessimism reigns, I hope I am wrong but it’s all starting to point to
another very Spurs shambles 14th June 2012 – Redknapp sacked Its been coming. Undeserved, but coming and if
one there is one consolation the uncertainty is over and Spurs have plenty of
time to prepare for next season. Levy may have basked in the reflected glory
of the success Redknapp delivered to the club but has not been a big enough person to be able manage the first serious
tensions with Redknapp without sacking him. The inevitable outcome of the
weaker man being in a position of greater authority. Levy has
now sacked a manager at half time during a UEFA Cup game and now one via rumour on twitter/Sky Sports news. Very classy, well
done. The facts
of the matter are Spurs have sacked a manager who has just guided Spurs to 4th
place and has won 10 of the last 12 points. In his reign, Spurs improved from
2 pts in 8 games to finish 4th/5th/4th his
full seasons in charge - the first
time since the early 1960s Spurs have achieved this, has the highest points
per game record of 1.74 of any Spurs manager ever, got Spurs to the last 8 of
the Champions League - the first appearance in Europe’s top competition since
1962, a League Cup final lost on penalties against Manchester Unite and 2 FA
Cup semi finals – and for the most part playing attractive football in the
best Spurs traditions …but he
did n’t ‘love’ Spurs or say the right things at
press conferences – boo fucking hoo His
‘crime’ was to only finish 4th – let down by a very
suspicious display from Marton Fulop
and Chelsea’s unlikely CL victory. Most of the ungrateful masses forget Spurs
won 20 of their 38 games that season, only beaten by the 21 of 09/10 (manager
HJ Redknapp) which is a lot for a team without a billionaire backer. Arsenal
nicked 3rd place by a point and for all the collapse after the
England job stuff, it just came down to not being able to beat a shit Aston
Villa side, even with 10 men. That draw felt like the worst result of the
season at the time and so it proved. People
say Arsenal were shit this season but to get 3rd, Spurs would have
needed to equal or better 70 points with a plus 26 goal difference which is
something Spurs have managed once in all the EPL seasons (Manager HJ Redknapp
09/10). And conversely, something not achieved but any number of other
managers in the other 20 years. Too many people focused on the games lost
rather than the points accumulated. And lets
not forget, Spurs are the first team ever to be denied a CL place after
reaching the start of the season criteria – there were some huge elements of
cursed luck involved. Some fans
reckon that Redknapp has no tactics and was holding Spurs greatest ever squad
back. I don’t see that – Redknapp was getting a very good return out of a
very good squad, but it was a world away from the sort of players Man City/Utd were going after – Spurs best forward was on loan
from one of em! Maybe we’ll find out now under the
new man or will we? as players will use this incident to demand a new
contract or a reason to bugger off if they are any good as Ruddock did when
Sugar cut Venables loose in 1993. More instability If Levy
somehow delivers a Mourinho level manager (and
backs them with sustainable money), so much the better onwards and upwards.
There should be respect for achievement but no room for sentiment in helping
Spurs progress. But can Levy deliver something better? Lets
check So far
Levy (and dear old Kemsley) spent 9 excruciating
months scouring Europe to come up with Jacques Santini (sacked after 6 goals
in 11 games) but was bailed out in that Arnesen had
already got Jol to the Club in 2004. In a similar situation to this one in
2007, Levy sacked a consistent league manager for another manager who
struggled with the lingo in the bizarre Ramos who left Spurs with the
infamous 2 points from 8 games less than a year later. Confidence cannot be
high that this sort of decision making is going to bring Spurs a better
replacement. Of the
current front runners, Moyes is a Scottish Curbishley, who has played drab football and not even got
a League Cup final out of 10+ years with Everton. Martinez has presided of
huge numbers of defeats at Wigan and seems to have
no credentials whatsoever on his CV, Benitez is a crap snide, AVB was poor at
Chelsea, Pardew a lucky Curbishley
and when you get to Steve Bruce its time to call
the Samaritans instead. Perhaps Capello or Deschamps may have
something to offer – but are they definitely better than Redknapp on Spurs budget over the course of 38 game season? In the unlikely
event Spurs get Mourinho/Guardiola
or one of those lads, fair play but Spurs won’t as they can’t, as Spurs are
not the biggest club in the world as some fans fail to remember when calibrating
their expectations. I’ve been
guilty of it on here, but the cult of manager is getting out of hand. They
get too much praise when things go right and too much crap when they go
wrong. Sorting Ramos shambles into a winning formula shows where a manager
can have an impact but Redknapp has a massive team of coaches at Spurs (more
compensations which wont go on transfers) and
pretty much makes the players feel good, claps his hands at 255pm and says
good luck lads as they go out and deals with the press after. It was the
players who fell apart and also by the same token the players who put
together the #WWWWWWDWWWWW sequence. Aside
from Ramos weird spell – Spurs results have gone pretty much like this for
the last 8 years. Under Jol, Spurs win a lot of games at home against all the
crap and quite a few away but rarely beat the elite sides and get circa
60-65pts. Under Redknapp, Spurs maintained the wins against the crap but
added a few more wins against the elite and edge up the points from
62-70points http://www.topspurs.com/thfc-league-history.htm In 2007 I
was skeptical that someone could build on Jol’s
good work and take Spurs higher and after the Ramos experiment, Redknapp did
deliver. Now in 2012 – can Spurs get a manager (and a beefed up the squad) to
take Redknapp’s 70 points and turn them into 75, 80 or even the 85 points
required for the title. On Spurs budget, that seems
very unlikely but we live in hope. Looking the other way, it would take a
total clown to take Spurs back beyond the Jol threshold of 60 points given
the resources available. Whoever
Spurs get, lets hope they
are a genius who can take Spurs higher (or keep things at current levels) as
no matter what everyone’s thoughts on Redknapp, Levy, the players etc – the
most important thing is that Spurs do well. With a
raised bar: 68 points or less and 5th or worse is failure.
Something Spurs have achieved twice in 20 EPL seasons, both under Redknapp. Good luck
& here’s the challenge ahead
And when
defining the fine line between success and failure – here it is. Bill
Nicholson and Harry Redknapp after 144 League games using 3 pts for a win.
One is a Tottenham Legend who won the double in the period shown with Spurs
greatest team & the other one sacked and hated by half the fans
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Disclaimer: Please note the words on this page are the opinion
of the topspurs columnist and are just that,
opinions, not facts and are nothing to do with Tottenham Hotspur Football
club PLC. Just a supporter having his say nothing
more nothing less. Any commentary on betting is meant for discussion purposes
only and does not constitute any form of advice or recommendation. |