Comolli; the facts

[gaganelov]

David, you wrote" "...the club has made a substantial profit from its player dealings over the past 4 years..." and I believe everyone should agree. Have you counted the overall profit and most importantly - have you or has anybody else compare this profit to the profit we would have had if played a season or two in the CL?

 

[eddiebailey]

S
Of the 31 signings only 5 it seems to me are doubtful.(Gilberto,Boateng,Kaboul,Rocha,Murphy) and of these Kaboul's transfer was probably premature. You can add Taarabt and Zokora if you like, but Zokora has been our best player on several occasions and has useful flexibility. Taarabt is only 19, and Boateng 21 and should be given time before final judgements are made.

It would seem Ramos has already made his final judgement on Taarabt and Boateng, and Alnwick as well. All were excluded from not just the first team squad and first team training facilities, but more significantly the UEFA Cup squad, where they were left out in in favour of those Academy players who would not otherwise have qualified.

Ghaly, who has been banished to the same outer wilderness, is also unlikely to go down as Spurs legend. Nor is Assou-Ekotto come to that.

With those signed at the start of this season it is too soon to tell, though our league position is hardly an endorsement.

With youngsters such as Bostock and Parrett it is far too soon to tell. Remember how excited we all were by Leigh Mills?

 

[glenda]

berbatov was scouted before commolli arrived.

im not gonna waste my time talking about this crap anymore,but forreal this is the worst shape ive known spurs to be in since my first game in 1980.

so someone is to blame!!!!!

 

[wolff]

Thread closed. Cmon you Yids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[davidmatzdorf]

...have you or has anybody else compare this profit to the profit we would have had if played a season or two in the CL?

It's a good point. Your first. Makes a nice change from "Levy out". But you have a hidden assumption, which is that we would have qualified for the CL by now, had we retained Martin Jol as our manager. It's a flawed assumption, as we certainly would not have done so had we left MJ in charge last year, after the start we had.

OK, arguably, we would not have had that start if the whole managerial structure had not been destabilised by the public courtship of Ramos. But I do think people are rather free-and-easy about CL qualification. It's a monumental task, involving far more than just assembling individual players of quality.

My main contention is that Levy is not the devil incarnate. He's done a great deal of good for the club over the past 5-6 years and should take a good deal of the credit for the improvement in our level of aspiration, after the bleak, aimless years throughout the 90s.

But he either panicked or he got greedy or he got impatient or a combination of all of them. ENIC had a clear business strategy: get the club into the CL as soon as possible, use that as a lever to generate finance to build a new stadium and then, with CL status in one pocket and planning consent for the new stadium in the other, sell the club for a sensational profit.

Perhaps Levy smelled the credit crunch coming (which is more than Joe Lewis did, so I suspect not) and decided that we needed to gamble on CL qualification by 2009 or bust. Or perhaps he just let Ramos' reputation cloud his judgment. What is beyond doubt, even if we turn this around and finish in mid-table this season, is that the decision to overhaul the squad in less than one year was an act of hubris that has backfired pretty spectacularly.

Every one of them has to take his share of responsibility: Levy, Comolli, Ramos and Alexander.

 

[hellava_tough]

I suppose you've also got to put the whole thing in context - a list of players doesn't tell the whole story.

A lot of great players came in this transfer window, BUT we sold a very effective strike-force and didn't replace it. Now we're bottom of the league, lacking experience, creativity and goals.

The previous season, when Jol was sacked, saw youthful potential being signed that looked good on paper, but wasn't what the team at the time needed.

As for Comolli, well he has made some great signings in the past, but they haven't necessarily been the right signings at the right time.

Should he be sacked? There are too many factors behind the scenes that we don't know about, so my answer would be: :shrug:

 

[hellava_tough]

Perhaps we should also compare Comolli to other DoF around the world?

I don't know any especially well, although that guy at Sevilla seems to be held in high-regard.

Just a thought from an insomniac

 

[adwanhussein]

Good article .Many good posts there.DM is back to his best with a very penetrating and spot on analysis that answers the woes that has Spurs in dire straits.

 

[SouthLondonSpur]

..... and Alexander.

Sorry David, I must be missing something, or perhaps too much wine head syndrome?

Hleb?
O'Neil?
The Great?

 

[sxboy]

2007/08 Gilberto Hertha Berlin Jan-08 £1,900,000

2007/08 Kevin-Prince Boateng Hertha Berlin Jul-07 £5,200,000

2007/08 Younes Kaboul Auxerre Jul-07 £8,200,000

2007/08 Darren Bent Charlton Athletic Jun-07 £16,500,000

2006/07 Ricardo Rocha Benfica Jan-07 £3,500,000

2006/07 Benoit Assou-Ekotto RC Lens Jun-06 £3,500,000

I would get the sack if i made buying decisions like these in my trade.

Maybe i still just cant believe the price players go for these days.

 

[gaganelov]

David, I don't have any hidden assumption. I agree with you that we had a solid team a year ago. Not a great one, but a solid one. And we could have build on it if it was not destroyed. And I blame Levy for that.
Obviously Spurs is for sale and they want sound financial situation, not silverware before they sell. A real fight for a place on the top of EPL means risking money. And Levy and ENIC don't want to take risks now looking for the newrich (from Russia to Dubai to Thailand).
That may be good for them, but for me as a fan it is devastating.

 

[Coyboy]

David means John (?) Alexander, the club Secretary spotted in Spain 'courting' (and not in a gentlemanly eighteenth century aristocratic sense) Ramos. He is part of the group of four which decides transfer issues. His main input is legal and contractual I assume.

David good posts, glad you haven't fled this site.

Gaganleov are the L E V Y O U T letters on your keyboard worn through now?

 

[gaganelov]

Coyboy, I want Spurs to be the Champ. That is.

 

[Jimbobfury]

What people must remember is where DC was before he was at Bordeaux.....
We should never have employed him in the first place with his links to them!

 

[midoNdefoe]

What people must remember is where DC was before he was at Bordeaux.....
We should never have employed him in the first place with his links to them!

What a wasteman!!

What about Bentley, O'hara, or Ricketts. They have all had some involvement at the scum. So what.
Do you really think he is here to try and bring us down internally?!

What a pathetic thing to suggest!!:bang:

 

[Coyboy]

Yea I wouldn't want anyone previously associated with Arsenal. As long as Spurs are cleansed of any previous Arsenal allies, I don't care if they go bust and get relegated.

Some fans...

 

[BringBack_leGin]

2007/08 Gilberto Hertha Berlin Jan-08 £1,900,000

2007/08 Kevin-Prince Boateng Hertha Berlin Jul-07 £5,200,000

2007/08 Younes Kaboul Auxerre Jul-07 £8,200,000

2007/08 Darren Bent Charlton Athletic Jun-07 £16,500,000

2006/07 Ricardo Rocha Benfica Jan-07 £3,500,000

2006/07 Benoit Assou-Ekotto RC Lens Jun-06 £3,500,000

I would get the sack if i made buying decisions like these in my trade.

Maybe i still just cant believe the price players go for these days.

so you know as an absolute fact that Comolli was 100% responsible for every one of these signings?

Didn't think so.

And get your figures right, we only actually paid 2.5m for Prince, the other 2.5m was based on his success at the club.

Kaboul was 5m, with the rest based on success at the club.

So far for Bent we have paid about 12m, the rest is based on both his and the clubs success.

Rocha was under pressure to make a signing in January when options are thing because we needed a CB desperately.

Ekotto is actually pretty good, cost 2m, and is getting better all the time.

Kaboul, Ekotto, Boateng were bought with a long term view. The first of those was sold for a profit on what we had thus far paid, the latter has been a flop and seems not to be rated by the manager, and the middle is actually playing quite a bit and not doing that disastrously.

Bent we shouldn't have bought, it ultimately pushed Defoe out the door and he is poor. He did however score a lot of goals in the previous two seasons so his signing is as justifiable as signing Bentley on the basis of two seasons of assists.

Rocha has done little wrong in his limited appearances apart from one poor decision v Arsenal in that game. He wins most of his headers despite his lesser height, he passed as well as he needs to and he rarely gets beaten because he positions himself very well. It is beyond my why, when Dawson is playing so poorly and King's fitness is so unreliable, Rocha has been treated so shabbily. Not even a squad number.

Anyway, I already regret arguing points on all those players because that is to pander to your belief that Comolli is responsible for all of them, when in fact all we know is that the club is responsible for all of them.

Let me play your game.... say Comolli does decide who comes in.

Gomes, Hutton, Corluka, Woodgate, Bale, Bentley, Modric, Zokora, Steed, Pavlyuchenko, Berbatov....

that is a first 11 of players signed under Comolli. I'll be honest mate, I've seen worse

 

[cwhite02]

The reason I'm pi55ed with Comolli is due to our striker situation. Him and Levy are to blame for this. Grooming a man poo player, and only having two on our books and by the looks of them, there not to a high quality. Thats the fact, hence why were not scoring goals. I appreciate we need more from other areas but I don't feel Pav or Bent are currently good enough, I've seen Bent enough to believe he will never score the amount of goals he did at Charlton. Mainly as we play a different way and other teams play a different way against us to teams did against Charlton. Pav - Who knows, maybe he will turn out to be good enough but at the moment he looks a waste of 1.4 million, let alone ten times that......And for this reason, I blame Comolli/Levy but as Levy is not about to walk out of the door, Comolli should. By his own admission they missed out on a signing late on, which I'm sure could have done no worse than the strikers have done so far.

 

[Ryan]

Whether a player represents good value for money can only be based on his current form. On current form the 13 players (an unbelievable inflow of players in such a short period) on the whole do not look good value at all and therefore Comolli and Levy get the blame for bad signings.

However they can't be responsible for a players form so its not really always their fault - surely its up to the players themselves and the coaching staff to help get the best out of players.

 

[sxboy]

so you know as an absolute fact that Comolli was 100% responsible for every one of these signings?

No i don't however if it wasn't him, who is responsible for the signings?

Didn't think so. ?

And get your figures right, we only actually paid 2.5m for Prince, the other 2.5m was based on his success at the club.
Kaboul was 5m, with the rest based on success at the club.
So far for Bent we have paid about 12m, the rest is based on both his and the clubs success.
Rocha was under pressure to make a signing in January when options are thing because we needed a CB desperately.
Ekotto is actually pretty good, cost 2m, and is getting better all the time.
Kaboul, Ekotto, Boateng were bought with a long term view. The first of those was sold for a profit on what we had thus far paid, the latter has been a flop and seems not to be rated by the manager, and the middle is actually playing quite a bit and not doing that disastrously.

The figures i have quoted are from the original post, i don't have inside information on the cost and payment structure of every deal. You obviously do.
I presume from what you have written re Kaboul that Pompey have paid all up front and that is how we have made a profit.
I agree Ekotto i would say was not a bad buy at £2m but the price listed was for much more and i do not think he's worth that much, the same with Rocha. Although i agree that Rocha should be given a chance ahead of Dawson as we have him anyway.

Bent we shouldn't have bought, it ultimately pushed Defoe out the door and he is poor. He did however score a lot of goals in the previous two seasons so his signing is as justifiable as signing Bentley on the basis of two seasons of assists.

Agree, but that still dos'nt justify he's price or Bentleys.

Anyway, I already regret arguing points on all those players because that is to pander to your belief that Comolli is responsible for all of them, when in fact all we know is that the club is responsible for all of them.

Comolli is the D.O.F. you can blame the club as a whole, you can blame Levy for hiring him, but ultimately it is Comolli's job.
I wasnt asking for him to get the push i was commenting on the price of some of the player's, i could take the full list of player's and praise or pick hole's but i picked out the few that surprised me. In his job he will always take more blame for bad buy's than praise for good, as is in my job. Which is why i said i would get the sack for such dealing.

As for the good buy players you listed some are good players some are unproven only time will tell, how can you judge the unproven as good or bad buys ?