25^th April 2007 – Chris Biggs furthers the case against Martin Jol In response to Midnightjester’s article on Jester's article which attempted to provide a defence of Jol’s performance as manager and was in turn, written in response to my article The case against Martin Jol. Transfers One of the first issues Midnightjester raises is that of transfers in which he points out that Jol only has a net spend of £4m This though is distorted by the sale of Carrick. Furthermore, the net amount spent is not wholly representative of the finances at a club’s disposal. For instance, if Sheffield United spent £6m on players and recouped £2m would you really argue that they had a similar purchasing power to a club that can afford to spend £10.9m on one player? Instead of ‘Jol has done more with less than any other manager’ it should have read ‘Jol has done more with more than any other manager’ Comparison with other managers Midnighthester says that at this point only Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger are better quality coaches/managers than Jol. This seemingly ignores the fact that Mourinho won the European Cup with Porto, a club of similar standing to Spurs; Coppell has guided Reading to the top ten of the premiership whilst barely spending anything and Allardyce has made Bolton a regular top eight club despite their lack of spending and any decent players. Based on the resources available to them all have done a better job than Jol. In relation to the other recent Spurs managers, Jol’s point per game record is a clear improvement but one must bear in mind the level being compared to: Graham was a dinosaur Hoddle thought it wise to pack his team with over 30s and had Pleat scheming behind his back. Pleat and Hughton were a joke. You are comparing to mediocrity. Tactics Midnightjester also says that Jol has recently stopped withdrawing the attacking end of our team early and has worked that the best form of defence is attack. This ignores the fact that we were 3-1 up at Chelsea and sat back, instead of killing them off (Admittedly when you are playing the Champions on their home turf one can see the thinking behind ‘what we have, we hold’ but Spurs simply don’t have the players to perform this way).	. .
Another example comes from the West Ham game where we came back from 2-0 down to draw level only to sit back again and let them regain the initiative. Finally, there were the damning events of Saturday where after taking control of the game, we deservedly took the lead only to sit back and let Arsenal destroy us. We only had one shot in the whole of the second half and Jol’s response? To take off our most dangerous midfielder. This was not the first time they have overrun us this season and yet Jol has failed to find a way to stop this. Hardly the actions of a tactical genius. What the team lacks Midnightjester says that the only thing the team lacks is a co-ordinated defence and the belief that they can win against the best. He appears though to have missed the following A central midfield pairing that can be both the instigator of attacks and protect the back four Two decent left sided players Width in midfield At present we are overly reliant on Berbatov or Keane doing something magical. We need a settled style of play. The future I dearly hope that the future is lilywhite but we play in a country which is dominated by the big four clubs; in which there are several clubs outside the big four with wealthy benefactors; and in which money (and so the champions league) is all important. The gap between the successful and the rest is widening with every year and so every year we fail to bridge the gap it becomes that much harder. I simply do not think that Jol or, for that matter, the current board of directors, are capable of getting us into the top echelon. If that is where we want to be, then we need a new manager. COYS, Chris
Columnist Profile – Chris Biggs Coming soon

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14^th April 2007 – Chris Biggs makes the Case Against Martin Jol

Having crashed out of the UEFA Cup in a disappointing fashion and with a UEFA Cup place for next season heavily dependant on Chelsea and Man Utd winning their respective semi-finals on the weekend, I feel now is an apt time to examine Martin Jol’s record and to question whether he should be given more time and more money.

There are three key areas that I will discuss: transfer dealings, results in key matches and our overall improvement (or otherwise) since he took over.

Transfer Dealings

There is some confusion over how much say Martin Jol has on transfer dealings, with Damien Commoli’s role as Director of Football debateable. However based on the official information available we are led to believe that it is Jol who has the final say and hence it is he who takes responsibilities for our transfer policy. There have been a number of success:

Dimitar Berbatov – worth £10.9m of anyone’s money. In a word: Class

Aaron Lennon – Whilst his performances this season have not always matched the level he reached last season he remains a highly dangerous player with enormous potential if he can stay the right side of the white stuff (be it powder or the touchline)

Tom Huddlestone – Another with enormous potential who given the right coaching can be a very influential player for Spurs over the next few seasons

Andy Reid – The fact we were actually able to get a fee for Reid from Charlton remains one of the steals of the century.

Rasiak – At least we were able to sell him.

The list of failures is, sadly, significantly longer:

Freddie Kanoute – Without a doubt he should never have been sold. His control as illustrated on Thursday night is exceptional and his all round gameplay and ability to play well with both Keane and Defoe have been sorely missed. The decision to hold a grudge against him because he played for Mali in the African Nations Cup was one of sheer folly.

Pedro Mendes – A player of undoubted ability who made our midfield tick. The decision to play Carrick ahead of him was constantly debated by Spurs fans and it is clear for all to see that our central midfield lacks a player capable of taking the ball off the defenders and starting attacks.

Michael Carrick – Having decided to build his team around Carrick, Jol should have kept him regardless of the money offered. No one in the top four in England would have sold such a key player without having a player of at least equal ability waiting to take his place. The huge fee we got doesn’t mean shit once the players have crossed the white line.

A decent left back – Lee and Assou-Ekotto have at times looked like they might solve this age-old problem position for Spurs but neither has done enough to convince that they are a long-term solution. The failure to remedy this has left our whole team looking unbalanced.

A proper left midfielder – Oh, what we wouldn’t give for a left footed player capable of maintaining width. Malbranque is clearly not the answer and persistent rumours linking us with Downing serve only to highlight how desperate we have become.

Mido – Effective in his first full season until he learnt he wouldn’t be re-signing, he went missing when we needed him most and yet sign him we eventually did in August 2006 for around £5m. A player with his temperament is not suited to being a back up striker as shown most vividly in the quarter-final at Stamford Bridge – he barely broke into a jog.

Numerous Central Midfielders – Jenas, Zokora, Ghaly, Murphy, Tainio etc, etc. These players have shown only glimpses of the talent that persuaded Jol to part with more than £20m.

Steed Malbranque – He is not a left winger, he’s not a right winger and we have far too many central midfielders already.

Calum Davenport – Why was Davenport sold after finally getting a run in the team and replaced with an older Portugese defender who was cup tied in Europe? Particularly strange given the Club’s much vaunted emphasis on signing English players

Reto Zeigler – Looked highly promising in Jol’s first season and was even able to play left midfield effectively the decision to send him out on loan since is a particularly ridiculous one.

Wayne Routledge – If he’s not good enough, sell him otherwise we should have kept him. We need more than one wide player

Rasiak – I need say no more…

Our squad is full of quality players: Berbatov, Keane, Defoe, Lennon, King, Dawson, et al but too many transfer deals have left us with an unbalanced squad overloaded with central midfielders and lacking wide players. Given the money Jol has spent and the fact he has been here 2 and a half years we should be better off.

Results in Key Games

This season we have progressed in each of the Cup competitions until we have played a side of any quality: Arsen*l in the Carling Cup; Chelsea in the FA Cup and Sevilla in the UEFA Cup.