- Aug 23, 2004
- 15,035
- 126
Fact? What fact? Oh, your opinion. Well that's a great fact to bring up.
As valid as your facts. Oh wait... THERES THE POINT!
Fact? What fact? Oh, your opinion. Well that's a great fact to bring up.
As valid as your facts. Oh wait... THERES THE POINT!
It seems a few ITKs were spreading anti Jol propaganda once they heard that the board wanted to replace him. We had stories that Jol wanted to sell the best players, and that Jol was being a "backstabber" by talking to Newcastle.
Seems this propaganda was put in place to soften the blow when Jol was sacked. And, it worked. Many fans were saying it's time for Jol to go, and they thought it was his fault, rather than the fault of the board who systematically undermined him and gave him players he didn't require.
I see.
And you don't believe a word of it, right?
Because he would never have done anything like that, right?
I see...:bang::bang::bang:
Can I just ask, do you think he was an angel?
Important points with which I agree.
I would add the following qualification: from many comments over the years, Jol's favoured system appears to be a Dutch 4-3-3 with two wide attacking midfielders (aka wingers who track back), and a classic Number Ten playmaker (a Riquelme or van der Vaart). Jol never had the personnel to play this system, and seemed to muddle along with a bog standard English 4-4-2, with a box-to-box CM, and a LM who constantly had to cut inside due to lack of confidence in his left foot (only changed when left-back Bale showed he can play as a proper LM).
My point is that Ramos has come in, with a huge salary and in a very strong position (having been actively courted by Spurs), and I suspect pretty much demanded that the team will play to his formation. Unsurprisingly, many of the existing players are not best suited to Ramos football (for instance, The Hud's lack of mobility and aggression seem to rule him out as a Ramos CM).
And this is why the "player continuity" supposedly granted by a DoF is always going to be fictional. A new coach, in a strong position, will always demand that he has the players to play his system, and that will almost inevitably lead to mass turnover of players. Jol was in weak position when he took over from Santini - Arnensen wanted him, Levy wanted a bigger name but had messed up with Jacques and agreed to Arnensen's recommendation. But Jol never seemed to be in a position to say: this is my preferred system (Dutch 4-3-3), now get me the players to play it.
Ultimately, I think it's very healthy for the club that we now have a coach who will not have to put up with Comolli allegedly selling a key player (Carrick) and replacing him with an inferior version (Zokora) that the DoF rates but who is clearly incapable of fulfilling the role in the team that the original player filled.