"If we would have won today we would have been alright!"

[sloth]

Apparently it's not the goals it's when you concede them.

We were unlucky to play Newcastle without Viduka.

Bale was the crucial missing ingredient, but the problem is players who haven't played in the premiership.

It's not a mental thing it's structural and that's down to the players who looked nervous and maybe it's to do with their mentality.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/t/tottenham_hotspur/7057465.stm

 

[sloth]

Jol's not tactically the greatest. He's not the sharpest tool in the box and he's not a Wenger or Mourniho in that he's not really a student of the game. He certainly hasn't surrounded himself with the coaches and backroom staff that a top Premiership club deserves.

He's a good bloke, he's honest and he's strong. If there's one thing he's about though it's mentality and self-belief. This is what he must instil in the players. That's ultimately what he has to be judged on. I'll forgive anyone for their weaknesses just so long as they're good in their strengths. Jol needs to create that sort of cussed mentality which means a team wins even when it's playing badly. The story of this season is a team which loses when it's playing badly and worse, doesn't even win when it's playing well.

 

[Northernspurs]

Quite balanced response Sloth.... but you have to say, he's not managing to his strenghths is he?

 

[Stoof]

But we had that mentality. We've even shown it in glimpses this season. I don't know how it's dissipated in such a short space of time.

You're right about the mental attitude - 100%. That's where games are lost and won. Which is why I think going to a place like Newcastle, where our success is limited, our players know that and have already beaten themselves.

They're young men, they're not matured emotionally or mentally - and it shows. :-(