Fair play to Commoli

[nickspurs]

DC is interviewd in this month's Hotspur. He makes an interesting comment about transfers. He says that Ramos not only supplies him with the qualities of the player he wants, but also a list of names.

When Martin Jol explained the process to me two years back, he said he only got to ask for someone for a particular position. This shows that Ramos is having a greater say in who comes in which can only be good based on DC's record.

Thanks for sharing that. Interesting to hear and confirms what I had thought that the roles on the committee have evolved since Jol. A healthy evolution in my mind. Let's take advantage of Ramos' knowledge and make sure his requirements are met, but at the same time, keeping checks and balances in place with a sensible buying policy and not wholesale squad changes every single manager.

 

[nickspurs]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bus-Conductor
I'm sorry matebut you haven't got a clue as to who decided what. If you think that Levy would be pushed around by Kelmsley (about to depart) or Donna Cullen or Daniel Comoli you are delusional.

It wasn't indicision that lead to Pleats brief fort holding. It was Levy taking the time to completely revoloutionise the whole structure of the club. We were an oil tanker that had been drifting rudderless with a rusty hull and outdated engine room. It could not repaired overnight.

SpurSince57:
Jesus Christ on a bicycle. Are you serious?

I think B-C's picture is about right personally. Given that we live in a capitalist society and football is a highly commercial activity these days, Levy made changes that reflected the needs of the club in this new environment. Alternatives would be to pray that we got a billionaire benefactor or that we unearthed the next Wenger. I'm not in favour of 'hope and pray' policies so think Levy's done the next best thing with the infrastructure. Bit off-piste but had to respond.

 

[SpurSince57]

Hoddle should have gone at the end of 2002-2003. By then, absolutely no-one but a handful of die-hards would have blamed Levy, because it was obvious that Hoddle had lost the plot long since. So what does our man of indecision do? He gives Hoddle another £13m-£14m to spend (most of it wasted), sees things go from bad to disastrous in the new season, and then sacks Hoddle after six games.

He thought he had Trapattoni lined up, but Signora Trapattoni decided she didn't fancy London and put her little stiletto heel down, with the result that we had to stagger through the rest of the season with Pleaty running the show, stagger being the operative word.

And now the revolution has come full circle, with the coach calling the shots again. It's obvious that Ramos has Levy over a barrel; he's effectively walked out on a club that hasn't delivered on its promises to him before, and anyone who thinks he wouldn't do it again is living in dreamland.

 

[AngerManagement]

Hoddle should have gone at the end of 2002-2003. By then, absolutely no-one but a handful of die-hards would have blamed Levy, because it was obvious that Hoddle had lost the plot long since. So what does our man of indecision do? He gives Hoddle another £13m-£14m to spend (most of it wasted), sees things go from bad to disastrous in the new season, and then sacks Hoddle after six games.

He thought he had Trapattoni lined up, but Signora Trapattoni decided she didn't fancy London and put her little stiletto heel down, with the result that we had to stagger through the rest of the season with Pleaty running the show, stagger being the operative word.

And now the revolution has come full circle, with the coach calling the shots again. It's obvious that Ramos has Levy over a barrel; he's effectively walked out on a club that hasn't delivered on its promises to him before, and anyone who thinks he wouldn't do it again is living in dreamland.

Interesting/good post

 

[yanno]

DC is interviewd in this month's Hotspur. He makes an interesting comment about transfers. He says that Ramos not only supplies him with the qualities of the player he wants, but also a list of names.

When Martin Jol explained the process to me two years back, he said he only got to ask for someone for a particular position. This shows that Ramos is having a greater say in who comes in which can only be good based on DC's record.

Thanks for sharing that, BOF. The following comments by Ramos on his relationship with his Sevilla DoF, Monchi, also throw some light on the nature of the relationship. It reveals that Ramos, not his DoF, personally targetted Kanoute for Sevilla.

-------------------------------

How does your relationship with sporting director Monchi work? What roles do you have when it comes to choosing players?
Ramos: "There's a clear consensus. I tell Monchi the player or type of player I want: fast, tall, left-footed, right- footed, good in the air…and, based on his work and expertise, he says to me: “Look, we have this guy, or this guy.” Between us, we identify the player, or players, who can fit that. But it's not always like that. For example, Freddie Kanoute was a player no one here really knew and I recommended him because I had seen him for Tottenham and West Ham."

Would you like the model to be more like in England, with you controlling the signings? In Spain, at other clubs, the sporting director-coach model has caused lots of problems.
Ramos: "The thing is, the coach doesn't really have time to do both jobs. What you need is trust and professionalism."

http://www.worldsoccer.com/interviews/sevilla_coach_juande_ramos_interview_107105.html

 

[SpurSince57]

And from the Beloved Leader himself, in the Hate-Mail:

Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy has spoken about the new-found belief in the camp and described Juande Ramos as being “obsessed with winning”.
The Spaniard took charge at White Hart Lane in October and helped Spurs end their nine-year trophy drought with the Carling Cup and with that guaranteed another UEFA Cup campaign.
The north-London club also recovered from the disastrous early season period under Martin Jol in the Premiership and are looking to enter top half of the table with six games left.
Ramos is expected to make sweeping changes in the summer as he aims to make the side challenge the big four, and Levy said in the Daily Mail: "If you believe you can be successful, you've got more chance than if you don't.
"It's very important to have a leader who really believes he can deliver success - because that filters through. We did not anticipate winning a cup so early. But Juande is highly intelligent, a real motivator - and it's all about the team, not him. I didn't realise the extent to which he's obsessed with winning."
On the transfer policy, he said: "It's not about how much you spend on players - it's how you spend it.
"Arsenal are the best example of being incredibly skilful in acquiring younger players or doing certain transfers that have not cost a lot of money.
"Over the years, they've spent considerably less money than us on a net basis - but look at the success they've had."
"Sometimes in transfers you have to take opportunities when they present themselves. It was never a case, as some people are suggesting, of spending the money on a striker without being able to bring in anyone else," he continued.
"One of the reasons we decided to bring him [Darren Bent] in was that we believed one of our other strikers [Jermain Defoe] may be going. Okay, it didn't happen at the time. But we took the view we wanted a target man - and there are not that many.
"We knew were paying a full price but we were competing with a lot of other clubs and took a long-term view."

 

[TheBigMatch]

I agree largely with this, Commoli has mostly brought in players who with have paid equal to or above market value for and or players who have not made the grade as of yet.

There is a distinct lack of diamond in the rough signings thus far, Arsenal have been the best example of this in recent years going back as far as pulling Viera from Milans reserves to contempary swoops like Fabregas from Barcelonas B team.

I will say fair play to Commoli when he finds us a play who is an unknown quanity to the general footballing public for a comparitively low price and he/they turn out to be world beaters.

Saying fair play to him for bringing in players at 8m and above who are less then world class at this current time (Zokora, Kaboul, etc etc)

Agree.
Spurs have been relatively big spenders over the Premiership years but haven't bought as wisely as others. It's hard to see what great savings Commoli has made. Anybody can buy top or indeed regular players at top prices. We still do not have a top class goalkeeper, a solid back pairing (will King ever be back fulltime?), or a midfield captain/general.

 

[Stoof]

So what exactly are you saying? Comolli's role will change because Ramos has come in? I think we've seen that already. Jol was never in a position to say, 'These are the players I want. Sign them or I'm off.' Ramos is. The whole purpose of the system is to provide continuity in the event of a manager's dismissal. The DOF/SD signs the players, the coach coaches them. Simple. It was made pretty clear that the squad as it stood at the start of the season was supposed to be ready to challenge for a top four spot. Yet right from the opening of the window last summer just about everyone on SC was saying, 'We need a commanding new CM, we need an experienced CB' etc, etc. If us lot could see that, how come we didn't sign them? I don't know, you don't know, no-one outside the inner circle at the club no-one knows. But it became pretty obvious we had missed out, because at the first opportunity we spent an almost unprecedented amount of money for a January transfer window on defenders, and only failed to sign a CM because the target was a total tit. This after Levy publicly claimed that we wouldn't be making any major signings. Sorry, your argument simply doesn't hold water in the face of crashingly obvious facts. Of course Levy will keep the pretence of a system going in order to save face. He will do anything to distance himself from failure, the ****. FFS, he wasn't quick enough to sack Hoddle—Hoddle should have gone at the end of the 2002-2003 season. Nobody was worshipping Hoddle too much by then. As far as everyone understood, Ramos was brought in to succeed where Jol failed—to turn the top-four potential squad Comolli had assembled into a top-four potential squad. But it hasn't happened, has it? Ramos has found out what Jol did—the squad isn't good enough. At the start of this season it was barely any stronger than it was two years ago. So now we're almost certainly going to see a massive spend over the summer to move on in the way we should have done two years ago, not to mention last summer.

And I don't think anyone could summarise it better.

This bold line is critically true. It's almost like Levy needed a second opinion because didn't believe Jol when he said they weren't good enough. Ramos has come in and said the same thing, it appears, and we'll see the wholesale changes that have been prophesied.

 

[Yid-ol]

And I don't think anyone could summarise it better.

This bold line is critically true. It's almost like Levy needed a second opinion because didn't believe Jol when he said they weren't good enough. Ramos has come in and said the same thing, it appears, and we'll see the wholesale changes that have been prophesied.

but hopefully this time he lets Ramos decide who or where we need players, and not just agree to sign anyone even if the manager doesnt know about them or wont even play them!

 

[sloth]

I think Comolli will be kept on for the time being as it would be a major loss of face for Levy and imply that he fucked up by employing him in the first place—and Levy does not like to hold up his hand for failures. And really, it would underline the point that the DOF/Sporting Director system hasn't worked. It seems pretty certain that we're going to have a major clear-out this summer and be spending big—on a squad that was allegedly good enough to challenge strongly for a CL place in August.

Whatever somersaults of logic some will claim to the contrary, it seems highly probable that our January spendfest was prompted by Ramos, and that he had Levy over a barrel. He clearly wants to build his kind of team, and wants to out players who aren't good enough or don't fit in with his vision, which aren't necessarily the same thing. And in fact Jol attempted the same thing in the interregnum between Arnesen and Comolli.

That simply knocks away the foundation of the argument for a DOF system, the notion that it provides continuity when a manager/coach is replaced because all he has to bother his head with is training and tactics. But Comolli will stay on so that Levy can pretend it's been a success (although hardly anyone still believes that) and to provide a convenient hate-figure for us lot.

Much of the good and insightful comments on this site come from you SS, but in this post you’ve revealed your absolute worst side.

I don’t think it’s just what you say but the down-right devious and disingenuous way you go about saying it. There are plenty of ignorant posters, or just plain dumb ones and those I’m prepared to let go or ignore, but when it comes from someone bright and thoughtful I get really riled.

I think Comolli will be kept on for the time being as it would be a major loss of face for Levy and imply that he fucked up by employing him in the first place—and Levy does not like to hold up his hand for failures.

Wtf. Where to even start?? So Comolli’s a fuck up is he? How’d you figure that? Leave alone his successes, what about the gold-fish style period you want to use to judge him (I’m sure Commolli and Levy’s strategy is set over seasons and part of that is not to squander long-term gain for short-term advantage ala us under Hoddle or Man City, Newcastle, Leeds and host of others down through the years)? weren't you arguing somewhere else something different anyway? Ah, but unless Commolli's a fuck up you can't make blithe procession to your pet-Levy grudge. But lest I distract (this after all is opinion I suppose; ill-founded opinion but there’s nothing wrong with that) let’s have a look at the meat of your post.

And really, it would underline the point that the DOF/Sporting Director system hasn't worked. It seems pretty certain that we're going to have a major clear-out this summer and be spending big—on a squad that was allegedly good enough to challenge strongly for a CL place in August.

BC answered this point well. Your judgement that the DoF hasn’t worked is as lazy as any two-bit hack’s working for the tabloids. It flies completely in the face of all evidence. And our squad was good enough to challenge for fourth, unfortunately it was also poor enough to slump to mid-table. You seem to be labouring under the misapprehension that a reasonable expectation of what can happen should later be judged in the light of what did happen (here’s an example: Man Utd could reasonably have expected not to have had Man City do the double over them. That Man City did do the double over them says nothing about those original expectations. Nor does it say anything about the relative quality of the two sides.).

Whatever somersaults of logic some will claim to the contrary, it seems highly probable that our January spendfest was prompted by Ramos, and that he had Levy over a barrel.

Now this really winds me up. You make a wild assertion with no evidence whatsoever and then think that by disguising it with that “somersaults of logic” bollocks, you somehow validate it. Come of it! How about this: No matter what somersaults of logic some claim to the contrary, it seems highly probable that there are indeed fairies at the bottom of the garden and it is they who have taken the gnome hostage and are now holding him over a barrel.” What a load of crap!!

That simply knocks away the foundation of the argument for a DOF system, the notion that it provides continuity when a manager/coach is replaced because all he has to bother his head with is training and tactics. But Comolli will stay on so that Levy can pretend it's been a success (although hardly anyone still believes that) and to provide a convenient hate-figure for us lot.

And finally this bit, it certainly knocks on the head the theory that a DoF makes all decisions and the coach is just some helpless trainer of first-team players with no say in transfers. In fact it seems to confirm the theory that transfer strategy is set by a management team within which the coach has a say and can argue his case. Which, funnily enough, is what Levy and co have said from day one.

 

[JKSpurs]

I think the worst that can be said of DC is that he has overspent on players of questionable quality, but all it takes is a couplr of those players to become legends and all that will be forgotten. I certainly still have very high hopes for Kaboul (althouhg 8Million now looks loads to much ) Also BAE I think could still turn out to be a good buy.

Anyway the best thing you could say about Dc was that he was reportedly heavily involved in bringing in Juande Ramos!

Still think he blagged his way into the job after being a scout at Arsenal. I have no problem with that I've done the same to get jobs and then been very good at that job.

 

[paulspursman]

he done better than i thought i will give him that

 

[SpurSince57]

Much of the good and insightful comments on this site come from you SS, but in this post you’ve revealed your absolute worst side.

I don’t think it’s just what you say but the down-right devious and disingenuous way you go about saying it. There are plenty of ignorant posters, or just plain dumb ones and those I’m prepared to let go or ignore, but when it comes from someone bright and thoughtful I get really riled.

Wtf. Where to even start?? So Comolli’s a fuck up is he? How’d you figure that? Leave alone his successes, what about the gold-fish style period you want to use to judge him (I’m sure Commolli and Levy’s strategy is set over seasons and part of that is not to squander long-term gain for short-term advantage ala us under Hoddle or Man City, Newcastle, Leeds and host of others down through the years)? weren't you arguing somewhere else something different anyway? Ah, but unless Commolli's a fuck up you can't make blithe procession to your pet-Levy grudge. But lest I distract (this after all is opinion I suppose; ill-founded opinion but there’s nothing wrong with that) let’s have a look at the meat of your post.

If you read any previous post of mine on Comolli, you'll see I've consistently defended him—or, if you prefer, refused to condemn him—for the very simple reason that I, like everyone else, don't know the full facts.

BC answered this point well. Your judgement that the DoF hasn’t worked is as lazy as any two-bit hack’s working for the tabloids. It flies completely in the face of all evidence. And our squad was good enough to challenge for fourth, unfortunately it was also poor enough to slump to mid-table. You seem to be labouring under the misapprehension that a reasonable expectation of what can happen should later be judged in the light of what did happen (here’s an example: Man Utd could reasonably have expected not to have had Man City do the double over them. That Man City did do the double over them says nothing about those original expectations. Nor does it say anything about the relative quality of the two sides.).

It does? The evidence is that we spent £23m in January bolstering the defence and nearly spent £10m on an experienced midfielder. It seems likely that we'd have signed Jarque, too, if he hadn't go injured. There was also a rumour, possibly entirely unfounded, that we tried to sign Amelia but ran out of time. That's a potential spend of getting on for £50m—in January.

Now, granted that our decision not to invest in an experienced CB in the summer may have been influenced by poor medical advice on King, but those are the positions everyone on SC was saying we should fill. So why weren't they filled in the summer?

Yes, if we are able to put out our best eleven players we are able to take on anyone with a good chance of success. The last two seasons have shown that. But they've also shown that if we are missing two or three key players we start to look strictly mid-table. We don't have the strength in depth. Why was this not addressed in the summer? Why sign Boateng, for example, when the world and his wife knows that what we were crying out for was a top-class experienced midfielder?

And now it looks as if there will be a major clear-out in the summer, and more players brought in. The probability is that the squad which turns out next August will bear very little resemblance to the one we currently have—the squad that was declared good enough to mount a serious challenge to the top four barely six months ago.

Now this really winds me up. You make a wild assertion with no evidence whatsoever and then think that by disguising it with that “somersaults of logic” bollocks, you somehow validate it. Come of it! How about this: No matter what somersaults of logic some claim to the contrary, it seems highly probable that there are indeed fairies at the bottom of the garden and it is they who have taken the gnome hostage and are now holding him over a barrel.” What a load of crap!!

The 'somersault of logic' is the pretence that the abovementioned January spending spree was nothing to do with Ramos. Does anyone seriously believe that? Or that Ramos does not have far more say in transfer matters that Jol ever did? Levy's reputation rests on Ramos being a success—do you think Ramos would not walk if he felt the club were backtracking on promises made when we persuaded him to come? Because he's done that before, at Espanyol.

And finally this bit, it certainly knocks on the head the theory that a DoF makes all decisions and the coach is just some helpless trainer of first-team players with no say in transfers. In fact it seems to confirm the theory that transfer strategy is set by a management team within which the coach has a say and can argue his case. Which, funnily enough, is what Levy and co have said from day one.

When was it ever said that the DoF makes all the decisions? We know the theory of how decisions were made. What we don't know is precisely how much clout within that system Jol had—although he's dropped enough hints to suggest it wasn't nearly as much as he'd have liked. He also told BOF, personally, that he was merely given a list of names for positions he wanted filled—do you doubt BOF's word on this? And from what Comolli himself has said, things appear to be marching to a very different tune now. There is a very significant change in Comolli's role.

The DoF system is, again, supposed to ensure continuity, so that a new manager/coach does not come in and make wholesale changes. Well, excuse me for using the evidence of my eyes, but wholesale changes are precisely what appears to be on the menu now. So what price that continuity? How well has the original concept of the DoF system worked?

Not very, would appear to be the answer.

 

[sloth]

It does? The evidence is that we spent £23m in January bolstering the defence and nearly spent £10m on an experienced midfielder. It seems likely that we'd have signed Jarque, too, if he hadn't go injured. There was also a rumour, possibly entirely unfounded, that we tried to sign Amelia but ran out of time. That's a potential spend of getting on for £50m—in January.

Now, granted that our decision not to invest in an experienced CB in the summer may have been influenced by poor medical advice on King, but those are the positions everyone on SC was saying we should fill. So why weren't they filled in the summer?

Yes, if we are able to put out our best eleven players we are able to take on anyone with a good chance of success. The last two seasons have shown that. But they've also shown that if we are missing two or three key players we start to look strictly mid-table. We don't have the strength in depth. Why was this not addressed in the summer? Why sign Boateng, for example, when the world and his wife knows that what we were crying out for was a top-class experienced midfielder?

And now it looks as if there will be a major clear-out in the summer, and more players brought in. The probability is that the squad which turns out next August will bear very little resemblance to the one we currently have—the squad that was declared good enough to mount a serious challenge to the top four barely six months ago.

The 'somersault of logic' is the pretence that the abovementioned January spending spree was nothing to do with Ramos. Does anyone seriously believe that? Or that Ramos does not have far more say in transfer matters that Jol ever did? Levy's reputation rests on Ramos being a success—do you think Ramos would not walk if he felt the club were backtracking on promises made when we persuaded him to come? Because he's done that before, at Espanyol.

When was it ever said that the DoF makes all the decisions? We know the theory of how decisions were made. What we don't know is precisely how much clout within that system Jol had—although he's dropped enough hints to suggest it wasn't nearly as much as he'd have liked. He also told BOF, personally, that he was merely given a list of names for positions he wanted filled—do you doubt BOF's word on this? And from what Comolli himself has said, things appear to be marching to a very different tune now. There is a very significant change in Comolli's role.

The DoF system is, again, supposed to ensure continuity, so that a new manager/coach does not come in and make wholesale changes. Well, excuse me for using the evidence of my eyes, but wholesale changes are precisely what appears to be on the menu now. So what price that continuity? How well has the original concept of the DoF system worked?

Not very, would appear to be the answer.

Well anyway, on reflection I apologise for going a bit over the top. I stand by my more general point that the DoF seems to have worked very well for us and that the DoF structure is not one where the DoF has complete control. I'll also point out that Jol said somewhere that his brothers Dick and Cock were on the payroll which implies to me that Jol had a say in targets more than just the list theory. I do think he suffered from a lack of faith in his judgement, but I'm not sure that wasn't warranted. I certainly don't think he earned a white card, nor do I think Ramos has, but I think his arguments (for good reason) probably carry more wait than Jol's did.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Much of the good and insightful comments on this site come from you SS, but in this post you’ve revealed your absolute worst side.

I don’t think it’s just what you say but the down-right devious and disingenuous way you go about saying it. There are plenty of ignorant posters, or just plain dumb ones and those I’m prepared to let go or ignore, but when it comes from someone bright and thoughtful I get really riled.

Wtf. Where to even start?? So Comolli’s a fuck up is he? How’d you figure that? Leave alone his successes, what about the gold-fish style period you want to use to judge him (I’m sure Commolli and Levy’s strategy is set over seasons and part of that is not to squander long-term gain for short-term advantage ala us under Hoddle or Man City, Newcastle, Leeds and host of others down through the years)? weren't you arguing somewhere else something different anyway? Ah, but unless Commolli's a fuck up you can't make blithe procession to your pet-Levy grudge. But lest I distract (this after all is opinion I suppose; ill-founded opinion but there’s nothing wrong with that) let’s have a look at the meat of your post.

If you read any previous post of mine on Comolli, you'll see I've consistently defended him—or, if you prefer, refused to condemn him—for the very simple reason that I, like everyone else, don't know the full facts.

BC answered this point well. Your judgement that the DoF hasn’t worked is as lazy as any two-bit hack’s working for the tabloids. It flies completely in the face of all evidence. And our squad was good enough to challenge for fourth, unfortunately it was also poor enough to slump to mid-table. You seem to be labouring under the misapprehension that a reasonable expectation of what can happen should later be judged in the light of what did happen (here’s an example: Man Utd could reasonably have expected not to have had Man City do the double over them. That Man City did do the double over them says nothing about those original expectations. Nor does it say anything about the relative quality of the two sides.).

It does? The evidence is that we spent £23m in January bolstering the defence and nearly spent £10m on an experienced midfielder. It seems likely that we'd have signed Jarque, too, if he hadn't go injured. There was also a rumour, possibly entirely unfounded, that we tried to sign Amelia but ran out of time. That's a potential spend of getting on for £50m—in January.

Now, granted that our decision not to invest in an experienced CB in the summer may have been influenced by poor medical advice on King, but those are the positions everyone on SC was saying we should fill. So why weren't they filled in the summer?

Yes, if we are able to put out our best eleven players we are able to take on anyone with a good chance of success. The last two seasons have shown that. But they've also shown that if we are missing two or three key players we start to look strictly mid-table. We don't have the strength in depth. Why was this not addressed in the summer? Why sign Boateng, for example, when the world and his wife knows that what we were crying out for was a top-class experienced midfielder?

And now it looks as if there will be a major clear-out in the summer, and more players brought in. The probability is that the squad which turns out next August will bear very little resemblance to the one we currently have—the squad that was declared good enough to mount a serious challenge to the top four barely six months ago.

Now this really winds me up. You make a wild assertion with no evidence whatsoever and then think that by disguising it with that “somersaults of logic” bollocks, you somehow validate it. Come of it! How about this: No matter what somersaults of logic some claim to the contrary, it seems highly probable that there are indeed fairies at the bottom of the garden and it is they who have taken the gnome hostage and are now holding him over a barrel.” What a load of crap!!

The 'somersault of logic' is the pretence that the abovementioned January spending spree was nothing to do with Ramos. Does anyone seriously believe that? Or that Ramos does not have far more say in transfer matters that Jol ever did? Levy's reputation rests on Ramos being a success—do you think Ramos would not walk if he felt the club were backtracking on promises made when we persuaded him to come? Because he's done that before, at Espanyol.

And finally this bit, it certainly knocks on the head the theory that a DoF makes all decisions and the coach is just some helpless trainer of first-team players with no say in transfers. In fact it seems to confirm the theory that transfer strategy is set by a management team within which the coach has a say and can argue his case. Which, funnily enough, is what Levy and co have said from day one.

When was it ever said that the DoF makes all the decisions? We know the theory of how decisions were made. What we don't know is precisely how much clout within that system Jol had—although he's dropped enough hints to suggest it wasn't nearly as much as he'd have liked. He also told BOF, personally, that he was merely given a list of names for positions he wanted filled—do you doubt BOF's word on this? And from what Comolli himself has said, things appear to be marching to a very different tune now. There is a very significant change in Comolli's role.

The DoF system is, again, supposed to ensure continuity, so that a new manager/coach does not come in and make wholesale changes. Well, excuse me for using the evidence of my eyes, but wholesale changes are precisely what appears to be on the menu now. So what price that continuity? How well has the original concept of the DoF system worked?

Not very, would appear to be the answer.

We spent nearly double our January outlay in the previous summer when Jol was still here. What does your 23m January spend prove. Fuck all except that it took Ramos 5 minutes what it took Jol 2 seasons to realise what needed improving. Had Jol done this he would almost certainly still be in a job. We have been continually upping our spend in tandem with our improved financial fortunes. And we all heard Jol catagorically state that he believed we had a squad to challenge the top4. More than once. Which is why Comoli was tasked to go and find players to add squad depth not immediately strengthen areas of weakness.

And I said in my post that with different personalities the dynamics of the decision making may alter. This is inevitable. But to say that somewhere in there is evidence that the system isn't working when all the evidence is clearly there to prove otherwise (continual improvement in team achievement, performance and financial success) is showing a complete lack of ability to see past your own grudge against Comoli for his "alledged" part in the downfall of your beloved Jol and recognise the truth.

As for what Jol told BOF. I have no reason to doubt BOF but I have plenty to doubt what comes out of Jol's mouth. He was a populist who was always ready with a quip for his adoring faithful. what he may whisper in the ear of one of his doughy eyed disciples isn't necessarily the exact gospal.

I even said in my post that apart from the whole procurement of first team issue there is far more to the DOF's role than just this one facet. There's even a Ramos quote somewhere in here saying how a manager can no longer cope with fullfilling all roles.

Sometimes SS you seem to have your head stuck in 1957. Big fat tubby strikers, jumpers for goalposts etc.

 

[eddiebailey]

We spent nearly double our January outlay in the previous summer when Jol was still here. What does your 23m January spend prove. Fuck all except that it took Ramos 5 minutes what it took Jol 2 seasons to realise what needed improving. Had Jol done this he would almost certainly still be in a job. We have been continually upping our spend in tandem with our improved financial fortunes. And we all heard Jol catagorically state that he believed we had a squad to challenge the top4. More than once. Which is why Comoli was tasked to go and find players to add squad depth not immediately strengthen areas of weakness.

Your ability to rewrite history would do credit to Pravda. Jol loyally tows the party line then when it all goes wrong he becomes the scapegoat...

Perhaps you thinking of the "confession" Jol was obliged to sign in order to keep his job? The very fact that he was forced to make a public statement saying that we had a squad capable of challenging for the top four (and that our League position was the fault of the coaching staff) is the clearest possible indication that this is not what he had been saying in private.

 

[SpurSince57]

:rofl: Oh, didn't we just? On players who have made an almost negligible positive impact. Although it has to be said, Bent is just one goal short of equalling St. Fredi's all-time EPL goalscoring record.

Christ almighty. We tend to expect a big outlay in the summer. Not in January.

The possibility that Jol may have identified what Ramos did clearly hasn't entered your head. This doesn't surprise me in the slightest.

Do try and keep in touch with reality.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

:rofl: Oh, didn't we just? On players who have made an almost negligible positive impact. Although it has to be said, Bent is just one goal short of equalling St. Fredi's all-time EPL goalscoring record.

Christ almighty. We tend to expect a big outlay in the summer. Not in January.

The possibility that Jol may have identified what Ramos did clearly hasn't entered your head. This doesn't surprise me in the slightest.

Do try and keep in touch with reality.

You mean the reality that Mido was better than Kanoute. That Jol would one day have dropped Robinson. That under Jol we would have taken Arsenal to the cleaners and outplayed chelsea at wembley. Or the reality that we were better off before the introduction of a DOF ?

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Your ability to rewrite history would do credit to Pravda. Jol loyally tows the party line then when it all goes wrong he becomes the scapegoat...

Perhaps you thinking of the "confession" Jol was obliged to sign in order to keep his job? The very fact that he was forced to make a public statement saying that we had a squad capable of challenging for the top four (and that our League position was the fault of the coaching staff) is the clearest possible indication that this is not what he had been saying in private.

So he's either a bullshitter, a spineless **** or he believed we had a squad to "challenge" the top4.

Which one do you think ? honest question.

 

[clint]

So he's either a bullshitter, a spineless **** or he believed we had a squad to "challenge" the top4.

Which one do you think ? honest question.

tut,tut..tut.