Comolli and Ramos..

[tRiKS]

Comolli's grasp of Spannish has absolutely nothing to do with it. You say Levy isn't that dumb, but he appoionted Santinni when Arnesen wanted Jol. Also watch Seville play and the types of players at the core of that squad and compare them to the players Comolli has brought to the club and the players he brought to St Ettienne. They are very different group of players. Has there ever been an example of a Director of Football and a head coach from different football cultures working together successfully? Surely if Comolli really had a free reign to choose, he'd go for a coach that he knows likes to work with the exact type of players he recruits, has winning experience (league title's, not cups), has taken smaller clubs into the CL and has a proven track record of improving the defence. Claude Puel and Eli Baup both fit the bill perfectly. But their names mean nothing and neither would appeal to Levy even 10% as much as Juande Ramos. Ramos has one of the best reputations in Europe and by recruiting him it really sends out a message.

I'm not saying Comolli was against the recruitment of Ramos, but that he wouldn't have been his ideal choice. Reputation and image would mean nothing to Comolli when choosing his man, but it would mean a lot to Levy, as he has shown in the past. I'd imagine a few names were spoken about and whilst Comolli supported the recruitment of Ramos, there would have been other names on the table that would have appealed to him more and seemed more suitable, but weren't the type of names the board were looking for.

Whenever a new coach comes into a Prem club, the media tell us all about him and what great things he's done. Santini was creditted with starting the whole Lyon revival, Jol was twice Dutch coach of the year etc and Ramos is a winner who plays attacking football and gets the best out of players. But on closer inspection he isn't particuarly suited to the job. Just very simple things have been largelly ignored, such as the type of players Ramos likes to use, or the fact that our key problem is conceding goals and in 5 of his last 6 clubs the deffensive record has got worse under him. The media wont look at these sort of things, but an intelligent guy like Comolli would be very aware of them. So whilst Ramos has many plus points, he also will have areas that are of a concern to Comolli, when there were coaches available that would have ticked all the boxes form his point of view, but not Enics.

i didn't base my view on Commoli speaking Spainish i only noted that commoli was speaking spanish added to my already formed theory. The fact he spoke spainsh leads me to personally think he was heavily involved in the negotiations.

No just because he's french and worked at st Etienne i don't think it is reason enough to wash over the concept that Ramos was a commolis choice at all. i'm english but wouldn't choose an englishman. Commoli also worked at the goons.. and i suspect if he had the power to get Wenger he would have. But wanting a fastansy girl doesn't mean you don't love and fancy the pants off your girlfriend.

Santini. I think it was set up from the start and I think although underhand and sneaky Levy was party to setting up a win/win situation for Jol to take over. The cynic in me even suspects Santini knew what was going on £££££ Either way Santini was brough in and the Spurs fans that didn't have a real clue of world football and the coaches (i.e Jol) were appeased becasue of the "reptutaion". In short levy got what he wanted and pleased in no small measure both the smart and the stupid among us.
I don’t much like his ethics but on the whole I rate his noodle, So no i don't think Levy is stupid enough to get in a coach the current DOF does not want. And would go even further an reiterate my view that Ramos can be classed as "commolis man".

The technicalities of Ramos' defensive records is for another day but i will say on all those occasions the defenses were paricually good.. infact in the case of seville they were good to the detriment of scoring goals. He demeonatrrated he can add balance to that team. I see no reason why he can't aply the oppsoite theory and provide balance to Spurs.

 

[eddiebailey]

I suspect the once Levy and Kemsley had decided Ramos was the man, Comolli would simply have jumped on board the bandwagon. He strikes me as man with a lively sense of self-interest. The fault-lines in the relationship between Jol and the Board were already apparent, and he seems to have exploited those in order to strengthen his own position; importantly in terms of playing targets he sough to please the Chairman rather than the manager. With Ramos in post he has a much tricker task on his hands, as although he may nominally be the boss, a simple comparison of wage packets will demonstrate where the real power lies. So long as the Board maintain their enthusiasm for Ramos Comolli is going to have to keep him happy. If Ramos and the Board are pursuing different agendas he is going to have his work cut out.

 

[joey55]

i didn't base my view on Commoli speaking Spainish i only noted that commoli was speaking spanish added to my already formed theory. The fact he spoke spainsh leads me to personally think he was heavily involved in the negotiations.

No just because he's french and worked at st Etienne i don't think it is reason enough to wash over the concept that Ramos was a commolis choice at all. i'm english but wouldn't choose an englishman. Commoli also worked at the goons.. and i suspect if he had the power to get Wenger he would have. But wanting a fastansy girl doesn't mean you don't love and fancy the pants off your girlfriend.

Santini. I think it was set up from the start and I think although underhand and sneaky Levy was party to setting up a win/win situation for Jol to take over. The cynic in me even suspects Santini knew what was going on £££££ Either way Santini was brough in and the Spurs fans that didn't have a real clue of world football and the coaches (i.e Jol) were appeased becasue of the "reptutaion". In short levy got what he wanted and pleased in no small measure both the smart and the stupid among us.
I don’t much like his ethics but on the whole I rate his noodle, So no i don't think Levy is stupid enough to get in a coach the current DOF does not want. And would go even further an reiterate my view that Ramos can be classed as "commolis man".

The technicalities of Ramos' defensive records is for another day but i will say on all those occasions the defenses were paricually good.. infact in the case of seville they were good to the detriment of scoring goals. He demeonatrrated he can add balance to that team. I see no reason why he can't aply the oppsoite theory and provide balance to Spurs.

I'm not saying they can't work together or that Comolli wouldn't have endorsed the recruitment of Ramos, but that to call him "Comolli's man" is somehting I'd be cautious of doing. Would Comolli approve of the appointment , i'd say yes. But was he the guy he'd go for if given the chance to recruite who he wanted (which is what I'd class a "comollis' man")? I'd be very suprised if this was the case. As I said before, I suspect there were a few names on the table, but the board knew who they wanted. If I was Daniel Levy I know who I'd want, particuarly if I was looking more to an exit strategy than a long term committment with the club.

 

[tRiKS]

I'm not saying they can't work together or that Comolli wouldn't have endorsed the recruitment of Ramos, but that to call him "Comolli's man" is somehting I'd be cautious of doing. Would Comolli approve of the appointment , i'd say yes. But was he the guy he'd go for if given the chance to recruite who he wanted (which is what I'd class a "comollis' man")? I'd be very suprised if this was the case. As I said before, I suspect there were a few names on the table, but the board knew who they wanted. If I was Daniel Levy I know who I'd want, particuarly if I was looking more to an exit strategy than a long term committment with the club.

ok so basically we're quibbling over the grama. i meant endorsed by, liked, respected, ideallogically in tune with, not Jol... etc as defining Ramos as Commilis man.

ok So from now on when we talk about this please read "Commolis man" in my language to mean "endorsed by but in an ideal world probably not his unlitmate fanatasy manager" in your language. then we can debate the more nitty gritty issues.

 

[Kurtzen]

A fable

Once upon a time there was a Shark. A big shark. Lord of the oceans he swam. All was good in his realm, a bountiful sea, new waters to acquire, no tax.

Despite this wealth one issue haunted him. Fate had delivered to him a son. Small of stature, without the thick skin of his father, and without teeth.

As his son slowly grew Lord Shark was afraid that without his vigilance his son would likely become a meal for a lesser predator. The ocean was not a place for little fish.

Drawn to shallow waters to protect his progeny from larger fish, he struck upon an idea. Within these waters existed tidal pools. Protected from the ravages of the sea, they were home for a softer animal. The lazy predators whose bloated self interest found amusement in the day to day ebb and flow of the pools. Creatures from whom which the youth and fearfulness of a little fish may be enough to give him a chance of survival.

With his agreement, little fish was to be set up in his own pool. Little fish was to choose, though his father said he would like to see the pool before any investment was made.

Once the pool was chosen, his father had one concern, the pool was home to older fish, predators on the verge of retirement. Some blind, some consumed by their own reflections, but all capable of leading a little fish into trouble, or worse.

By way of insurance, it was first suggested little fish visit other pools to find out how a good pool ran. When he returned, still determined to have his pool, his father had one more piece of advice. Find a friend, another little fish born of little pools who could assist in understanding those parts to which he had no understanding. Little Fish, though not entirely knowing what a friend was, agreed.

By chance he remembered that a little fish he had met on his travels had recently lost his pool. Born of shallow pools this little fish might be 'a friend'.

With some help, little fish found his fish. Though he did speak with an odd accent, he'd said 'we are the same. Both young, and look sharp in a suit". He certainly sounded like he knew about pools. Had he found a friend? All his father would say was that two insecure little fish working together was better than one. There was safety in numbers he felt.

As time passed Little Fish became more and more dependent on his friend. With him around he didn't have to worry, nor speak to anyone. The old fish had stopped bothering him, once his friend asked. He didn't know why but they were afraid of his friend.

Happy just to watch the small fry play, Little Fish felt safe in the knowledge that his friend knew best, he asked very little, always agreed, and they did look good in their suits. What he did he had no idea, nor felt any need to ask, he couldn't imagine a pool without his first friend.

One day his father visited, shocked at the lack of movement in the water his father asked "What has happened here? There's no life in the water. What have you done?". Little Fish was surprised. "I've done nothing", he said. "I leave all that to my friend".


What's life without an imaginary friend?

 

[sloth]

There’s bit of confusion between the role Commoli plays as viewed from the outside and the role he plays viewed from the inside.

We can debate for ages the various merits of DOFs, managers, head coaches and chairmen. And commentators like Samuels can make out that because there’s no public accountability he’s ‘accountable-free’, but the reality’s a little different.

I’m not publically accountable for the job I do, few are, in fact the public would be the worst people to judge my capabilities as most wouldn’t have a clue about what I do. Most of us can probably say the same. Commolli is accountable to Levy, the quality of his work will show via his peers, the board, ENIC PLC, his employees and the wider footballing business, other DoFs, scouts, agents, people working in football in the UK, Europe and around the world. How he does and how he’s doing will be pretty clear to Levy, while totally murky to us.

Because it’s football though and there’s this huge public element, because we as fans play such an important role and because we’re used to judging the quality of performance from the team and the coach we find it difficult to accept this.

As others have pointed out the DoF job description is varied and vague. This is only a problem for we the public though, it’s not a problem whatsoever for Spurs PLC, Spurs PLC will know very well how well he’s doing, his strengths, weaknesses and efficacy.

Into this vagueness then we paste our prejudices, we say Comolli brought so-and-so excellent player to the club, or so-and-so dud. He did this terrible thing or that amazing one. And we make judgements on his demeanour, how he looks in front of the camera and stuff like that (imagine were someone like Rooney to be judged in the same manner!).

Like the rest of you I’m not entirely sure of Commolli’s role, but I think the club’s done very well under Levy’s stewardship and DCs part of that. I hear nothing bad from the wider footballing world, it’s known Wenger thought highly of him, DL clearly does as well, the only doubts I hear come from a press stuck in the seventies and ex pros who like to think footballing knowledge is only about playing the game - pundits long on sound-bite but short on insight, banging their drum in the belief that if they do so long enough and loud enough it will make them right. The important people, the ones still working in the industry seem to have nothing bad to say.

In the absence of knowledge then I’ll go with the simple option and trust those with a track record of doing well by the club of being good at their jobs and who’ve taken us forwards, to know best. If they’re happy I’m happy, it’s as simple as that.

 

[tRiKS]

There’s bit of confusion between the role Commoli plays as viewed from the outside and the role he plays viewed from the inside.

We can debate for ages the various merits of DOFs, managers, head coaches and chairmen. And commentators like Samuels can make out that because there’s no public accountability he’s ‘accountable-free’, but the reality’s a little different.

I’m not publically accountable for the job I do, few are, in fact the public would be the worst people to judge my capabilities as most wouldn’t have a clue about what I do. Most of us can probably say the same. Commolli is accountable to Levy, the quality of his work will show via his peers, the board, ENIC PLC, his employees and the wider footballing business, other DoFs, scouts, agents, people working in football in the UK, Europe and around the world. How he does and how he’s doing will be pretty clear to Levy, while totally murky to us.

Because it’s football though and there’s this huge public element, because we as fans play such an important role and because we’re used to judging the quality of performance from the team and the coach we find it difficult to accept this.

As others have pointed out the DoF job description is varied and vague. This is only a problem for we the public though, it’s not a problem whatsoever for Spurs PLC, Spurs PLC will know very well how well he’s doing, his strengths, weaknesses and efficacy.

Into this vagueness then we paste our prejudices, we say Comolli brought so-and-so excellent player to the club, or so-and-so dud. He did this terrible thing or that amazing one. And we make judgements on his demeanour, how he looks in front of the camera and stuff like that (imagine were someone like Rooney to be judged in the same manner!).

Like the rest of you I’m not entirely sure of Commolli’s role, but I think the club’s done very well under Levy’s stewardship and DCs part of that. I hear nothing bad from the wider footballing world, it’s known Wenger thought highly of him, DL clearly does as well, the only doubts I hear come from a press stuck in the seventies and ex pros who like to think footballing knowledge is only about playing the game - pundits long on sound-bite but short on insight, banging their drum in the belief that if they do so long enough and loud enough it will make them right. The important people, the ones still working in the industry seem to have nothing bad to say.

In the absence of knowledge then I’ll go with the simple option and trust those with a track record of doing well by the club of being good at their jobs and who’ve taken us forwards, to know best. If they’re happy I’m happy, it’s as simple as that.

nicely put. deals with the unknowns and manipulations of commoli in his role specifically i think.
However, A lot of people are suspicious and critical of Commoli because they don't know enough about the role or don't understand what they know. It works for you to walk away from it and trust those he is accountable to but I think others need to get into the heart of the debate so the rest can put forward reponses to help them understand the DOF system, otherwise they'll never come to an informed decision.

 

[chrissivad]

He is the main man behind our 5th place finishes

Berbatov
Taarabt
Bale
Zokora
Bent
Malbranque
Chimbonda
Kaboul
Dervitte
Pekhart
Olsen
Rose
Parret
Murphy
I think thats most of the signings we have made under Comolli.

Berbatov, who knows the person behind that one. Someone on COYS says we first looked at him when we had FA.

Taarabt, Dervitte, Pekhart, Olsen, Rose and Parret are all one to look out for in a few years.

Then you have Bale who everyone knew about before we even went after him...so not the hardest of jobs finding him.

Chimbonda, came from the same league, along with Malbranque and Bent, so we would have seen plenty of these during the season. Attacking wise an improvment on Salty, but not at the back.

Kaboul, still young but could become good...

Then Zokora.... yeah

Not anything to realy shout about though is it? The youngsters could become good but why have we not improved on the CM or got a left winger. We had our team built around Carrick, and we have nevr had anyone in the center we can do the same with since.

 

[walworthyid]

Berbatov
Taarabt
Bale
Zokora
Bent
Malbranque
Chimbonda
Kaboul
Dervitte
Pekhart
Olsen
Rose
Parret
Murphy
I think thats most of the signings we have made under Comolli.

Berbatov, who knows the person behind that one. Someone on COYS says we first looked at him when we had FA.

Taarabt, Dervitte, Pekhart, Olsen, Rose and Parret are all one to look out for in a few years.

Then you have Bale who everyone knew about before we even went after him...so not the hardest of jobs finding him.

Chimbonda, came from the same league, along with Malbranque and Bent, so we would have seen plenty of these during the season. Attacking wise an improvment on Salty, but not at the back.

Kaboul, still young but could become good...

Then Zokora.... yeah

Not anything to realy shout about though is it? The youngsters could become good but why have we not improved on the CM or got a left winger. We had our team built around Carrick, and we have nevr had anyone in the center we can do the same with since.

I am not a Commolli fan either way (I don't like what he appears to have done in the whole Jol saga) but there are some problems with your argument.

Firstly, look at the players that Arnesen signed?

Davis
Pamarot
Mendes
Atouba
Mido
Edman
2 youngsters who's names I have forgotten
Defendi
Carrick
TT
Dawson
Reid
etc

Davis was constantly injured, Edman was a liability, as was Atouba, Defendi was useless, Mido was decent but injured and unfit, Reid was injured and unfit, Carrick wanted to leave, Mendes wanted to leave once Carrick was playing, Pamarot was injured.

So you could argue that Commolli has signed better players that are actually of more use to the club than those signed by Arnesen.

Secondly, it is one thing knowing the players that you want it is quite another getting them to sign for the club particularly when you have a strict wage structure.

 

[tRiKS]

Berbatov
Taarabt
Bale
Zokora
Bent
Malbranque
Chimbonda
Kaboul
Dervitte
Pekhart
Olsen
Rose
Parret
Murphy
I think thats most of the signings we have made under Comolli.

Berbatov, who knows the person behind that one. Someone on COYS says we first looked at him when we had FA.

Taarabt, Dervitte, Pekhart, Olsen, Rose and Parret are all one to look out for in a few years.

Then you have Bale who everyone knew about before we even went after him...so not the hardest of jobs finding him.

Chimbonda, came from the same league, along with Malbranque and Bent, so we would have seen plenty of these during the season. Attacking wise an improvment on Salty, but not at the back.

Kaboul, still young but could become good...

Then Zokora.... yeah

Not anything to realy shout about though is it? The youngsters could become good but why have we not improved on the CM or got a left winger. We had our team built around Carrick, and we have nevr had anyone in the center we can do the same with since.

No. but on the flip side not ones we can really get our teeth into and slate him either. certainly not compared to every other manager or DOF's record. Buying players who are obvious is also not a reason to slate. Is he supposed to get unobvious ones to simply justify his role in someones eyes? no of course not.

 

[chrissivad]

I am not a Commolli fan either way (I don't like what he appears to have done in the whole Jol saga) but there are some problems with your argument.

Firstly, look at the players that Arnesen signed?

Davis
Pamarot
Mendes
Atouba
Mido
Edman
2 youngsters who's names I have forgotten
Defendi
Carrick
TT
Dawson
Reid
etc

Davis was constantly injured, Edman was a liability, as was Atouba, Defendi was useless, Mido was decent but injured and unfit, Reid was injured and unfit, Carrick wanted to leave, Mendes wanted to leave once Carrick was playing, Pamarot was injured.

So you could argue that Commolli has signed better players that are actually of more use to the club than those signed by Arnesen.

Secondly, it is one thing knowing the players that you want it is quite another getting them to sign for the club particularly when you have a strict wage structure.

I never said i thought Arnesen did a good job or not, just that someone said we started to look at Berbatov when he was with us :up:

 

[JKSpurs]

DC was just one of Wengers many scouts and he managed to persuade DL that he is suitable for DOF job.

The Arsenal kids were listed in the paper the other week and by the side of the names was the scout who identifed them for wenger. only one of these was DC's "spot" and that was gael clichy, who is a good player but that was his only one I would of expected a suitable DOF would of had more to his c.v than that.

I wonder if Levy took up a reference from Wenger before appointing him or whether he just took his word for it when he told him he was wengers main man.

 

[DC_Boy]

I don't know who bought who, but our summer signings have turned out to be poor and effectively ruined any chance of getting 5th place.

MJ has paid the price, Commolli will surely be under massive pressure now.

 

[joey55]

DC was just one of Wengers many scouts and he managed to persuade DL that he is suitable for DOF job.

The Arsenal kids were listed in the paper the other week and by the side of the names was the scout who identifed them for wenger. only one of these was DC's "spot" and that was gael clichy, who is a good player but that was his only one I would of expected a suitable DOF would of had more to his c.v than that.

I wonder if Levy took up a reference from Wenger before appointing him or whether he just took his word for it when he told him he was wengers main man.

He was the Director of Football at St Ettienne before he came to us, though only for just over a year. It's often cited that he went to St Ettienne as Director of Football, but this isn't actually true. He originally went to St Ettienne to head up the youth academy and took over as Director of Football during the 2004/5 season, i'm not actually sure how long into the season that was. But his past suggests he is more of an expert with younger players than buying for 1st teams. But I'd imagine most Sporting Directors work within youth ranks before stepping up so that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I do get the impression that the board have taken into account his relative inexperience in the role and total lack of it at this level. I'm not sure that he wields the same level of influence as Pleat or Arnesen. I think Levy really saw the Dutch models of Ajax and PSV as very much what he wanted to reproduce here and therefore think Arnesen in particular had far greater influence on how things were done.

 

[Spursking]

What, precisely, did he contribute to our fifth place in 2005-2006? Murphy?

I don't think Murphy, Rasiak was Comolli's own signings. I think that was Jol's choices, and as I have said before, I do not think Comolli got the fully support from Jol on players. Jol had his own views, and pushed Comolli do do some deals that Comolli did not actually want, but Jol wanted.

They always said that they worked together professional, but I think Jol was difficult to work with when it comes to transfers, as he had too much opinions about players to buy, and Comolli did not get his fully influence on the transfers as he should have had.

Signings like Zokora, Kaboul, Taarabt, Prince-Boateng, Berbatov, Chimbonda is players I believe was under the influence of Comolli. All are quality signings and future prospects....

I know that Comolli is doing a good job for this Club, and I know that Tottenham build a quality team for the future because of him in charge of transfers. I just hope he gets more influence, and Ramos will make it easier for him than under Jol. I think Jol was difficult to work with in this case. (Jol is a top man, but he had his own opinions about things, I think - and he was not afraid to speak out about it).

 

[striebs]

I don't think Murphy, Rasiak was Comolli's own signings. I think that was Jol's choices, and as I have said before, I do not think Comolli got the fully support from Jol on players. Jol had his own views, and pushed Comolli do do some deals that Comolli did not actually want, but Jol wanted.

They always said that they worked together professional, but I think Jol was difficult to work with when it comes to transfers, as he had too much opinions about players to buy, and Comolli did not get his fully influence on the transfers as he should have had.

Signings like Zokora, Kaboul, Taarabt, Prince-Boateng, Berbatov, Chimbonda is players I believe was under the influence of Comolli. All are quality signings and future prospects....

I know that Comolli is doing a good job for this Club, and I know that Tottenham build a quality team for the future because of him in charge of transfers. I just hope he gets more influence, and Ramos will make it easier for him than under Jol. I think Jol was difficult to work with in this case. (Jol is a top man, but he had his own opinions about things, I think - and he was not afraid to speak out about it).

SpursKing ,

By Berbatov's account Jol's was the reason he joined .

Gareth Bale was hardly a secret like Fabregas at half a million and nobody is going to argue with Bale joining the club .

Taraabt , Kaboule and KPB are good players but surely even you would not claim they are the finished article ?

Isn't this the difference ? You and Commoli get players who will not peak for 5 years and Jol gets told he will be sacked if he doesn't get instant results ?

Is it surprising that Jol wanted experienced players ?

Do you not think we would be doing better if Spurs had signed Petrov , Elano and Distin which were the only 3 he specifically asked for ?

 

[joey55]

SpursKing ,

By Berbatov's account Jol's was the reason he joined .

Gareth Bale was hardly a secret like Fabregas at half a million and nobody is going to argue with Bale joining the club .

Taraabt , Kaboule and KPB are good players but surely even you would not claim they are the finished article ?

Isn't this the difference ? You and Commoli get players who will not peak for 5 years and Jol gets told he will be sacked if he doesn't get instant results ?

Is it surprising that Jol wanted experienced players ?

Do you not think we would be doing better if Spurs had signed Petrov , Elano and Distin which were the only 3 he specifically asked for ?

I'm not sure how true that is. I know Berbs said he'd spoken to Jol about Petrov and Jol himself mentioned Disitn, but I never heard anything about Elano. Also we can't be at all sure that he specifically only asked for those 3 players. I find Elano, in particular, very hard to believe. However, in general I fully support the general point you are making and wish more people would recognise how hard things were for Jol because of the types of players (in terms of experience, not quality) that have been signed since Comolli's been at the club. But, at the same time, I also wish people would also acknowledge that it is unlikely that Comolli, who is clearly smart guy, looked at our problems and thought youngsters were the answer. I suspect he was working within a transfer policy set for him, rather than by him. Comolli's past suggests he is very much more experienced with youth players, having worked as a youth coach at Monaco, scouted for Arsenal (who only seem to sign young players) and then heading St Ettiene's youth development. So it is likely the board recruited him because they wanted our focus to be on bringing in young players.

 

[SpurSince57]

I don't think Murphy, Rasiak was Comolli's own signings. I think that was Jol's choices, and as I have said before, I do not think Comolli got the fully support from Jol on players. Jol had his own views, and pushed Comolli do do some deals that Comolli did not actually want, but Jol wanted.

They always said that they worked together professional, but I think Jol was difficult to work with when it comes to transfers, as he had too much opinions about players to buy, and Comolli did not get his fully influence on the transfers as he should have had.

Signings like Zokora, Kaboul, Taarabt, Prince-Boateng, Berbatov, Chimbonda is players I believe was under the influence of Comolli. All are quality signings and future prospects....

I know that Comolli is doing a good job for this Club, and I know that Tottenham build a quality team for the future because of him in charge of transfers. I just hope he gets more influence, and Ramos will make it easier for him than under Jol. I think Jol was difficult to work with in this case. (Jol is a top man, but he had his own opinions about things, I think - and he was not afraid to speak out about it).

Your problem is, you don't think. You persist in making ludicrous claims that bear no relation to reality. Hardly surprising, given that you are a fantasist who lives in his own little dreamworld of delusion. Scoutingmanagement? Frankly, I doubt you could manage to run a fucking bath without assistance, let alone any form of scouting organisation that actually existed outside your own head.

How the hell could Rasiak have been Comolli's signing? Comolli hadn't even been appointed when we brought him in. The players who made the difference in 2005-2006 were the ones who'd survived from previous eras, and Jenas, Tainio, Davids, Lee and Stalteri, none of whom were anything to do with Comolli. Levy signed Jenas with Jol's approval after Eriksson had recommended him, and the others were brought in by Jol. Comolli's first two signings were Murphy and Ghaly, who had, respectively, little and nothing to do with our success.

You appear to know nothing about the club you purport to support. Stop insulting people's intelligence.

 

[sloth]

I'm not sure how true that is. I know Berbs said he'd spoken to Jol about Petrov and Jol himself mentioned Disitn, but I never heard anything about Elano. Also we can't be at all sure that he specifically only asked for those 3 players. I find Elano, in particular, very hard to believe. However, in general I fully support the general point you are making and wish more people would recognise how hard things were for Jol because of the types of players (in terms of experience, not quality) that have been signed since Comolli's been at the club. But, at the same time, I also wish people would also acknowledge that it is unlikely that Comolli, who is clearly smart guy, looked at our problems and thought youngsters were the answer. I suspect he was working within a transfer policy set for him, rather than by him. Comolli's past suggests he is very much more experienced with youth players, having worked as a youth coach at Monaco, scouted for Arsenal (who only seem to sign young players) and then heading St Ettiene's youth development. So it is likely the board recruited him because they wanted our focus to be on bringing in young players.

I completely agree with the above.

We disagree about a lot :razz: but you always argue rationally. Not only that you're not dogmatic, I have a huge amount of respect for people who say what they think even when it might appear to make their case weaker. In fact i think it makes you case stronger.

As an addendum I'd say that we need/needed a coach who could work within the restraints you highlight. But I also don't think it's a hard and fast rule, with Chimbonda a prime example. I do think it places a slant on on our targets however.

 

[bubble07]

basically comoli has all the power with no responsibility. Ramos says the positions needed to fill and comes up with the characterists of a player he wants but doesn't have the power to pick names.

Comolli then briefs his scouts from all over europe to look for players in those positions ramos wants and the characteristics ramos wants. Comolli then draws up a list of say 5 - 8 players in order of what he believes is the best option. If ramos agrees with comolis first choice then great they can try and sign him. If not then ramos can slightly alter the positions of the players on comolis list by one or two places. If no agreement is meet then problems begin

Thats what I make of it anyway