FromTheLane
New Member
- Jul 3, 2008
- 214
- 0
Since the sacking of Jol,Commolli has been cast by the majority of Spurs fans in the role of pantomime villain,with many toeing the line strongly advocated in the media,that Commolli was largely responsible for the downfall of great man due to his manipulative undermining of Jol in the transfer market,leaving the manager's position untenable and the squad unbalanced,before wielding the axe when inevitably the results did not match expections at the start of this season.
I too have been in this boat for a long time,and have been particularly critical in thought,conversation and indeed in writing of Commolli's apparent ineptitude with regards player transfers,with poor business such as Zokora and Boateng for Carrick,the Darren Bent purchase and the lack of left winger being cited as examples of the poor job that he is doing.
But recent developments have made me reconsider;my change of tack is derived essentially from 3 observations,two of which centre around Commolli's work and one on the nature of the transfer market and its increasing complexity.
the first of these is basic: since the arrival of Ramos we have bought extremely well,both with continued investment in quality youth(Bostock,Gunter) and players of the required quality at first team level,in Hutton,Gomes,Modric,Dos Santos etc.Most have dismissed these signings as being Ramos driven(and therefore not to Commolli's credit),but there is a common denominator here;all such players have remarked wholeheartedly on the role of Ramos in attracting them to Spurs ahead of the many other suitors pursuing their signatures,how they respected him and liked his vision for the club etc.
This summer has alerted me to the complexity of the transfer market and how difficult it is in the modern climate to sign players.Our protracted pursuit of Capel has thus far,despite our best efforts,been largely fruitless,while I would not be surprised if the same were true of Arshavin and severaly others who we are rumoured to be attempting to sign.Similarly,the sagas of Adebayor,Ronaldo,Bentley,Villa,Berbatov,Keane and Ronaldinho and,in microcosm Kaboul,Chimbonda and Wright Phillips etc:there are so many variables and determinants in deals nowadays that money,status and good intentions may still not be enough to bring a player to a club.
My point is that there is often an inherent and irrational assumption amongst both Spurs and general football fans that,because our/their club has not signed a given player or been reported to have been trying to do so,the chairman/manager/sporting director are directly culpable and stupid/unfit for the job as so clearly they have failed to see something (such as 'we need a defensive midfielder') that is so blatantly obvious to us,the powerless,yet desperately loyal(and therefore worthy) fans have.But countless examples have shown that not to be the case;Keegan tried to sign Modric and Woodgate this year but was unable to do so due to factorsout of his control.And yet should his reign at Newcastle come to a tragic end due to lack of creativity in midfield and leadership/quality at the back(a not improbable eventuality),then no doubt the Geordie army will bemoan lack of foresight in(seemingly)failing to recognise/address the problem.But this is clearly ridiculous as it is not his/Newcastle's fault that the signings could not be made.
It is now that we must examine Commolli's logic/ability to judge a player.Since his appointment as Sporting Director,we have signed some excellent players,some who have done the business and others who have painfully failed to do so.The likes of Kaboul,Zokora,Boateng,Rose,Taarabt,Pekhart,Dervitte,Ekotto and Ghaly were/are all very good players before they came to Spurs,but equally have all failed to make a positive impact on our first team in the way that they were supposeed to upon their arrivals.So is their 'failure' as condemnation of Commolli's ability to spot a player or merely a reflection of the conditions at the club (manager situation etc) which conspired to prevent them from being able to maximise their potential?
My feeling is that Commolli is a good judge of a player,as Daniel Levy is a very very shrewd man,and one who i doubt would continue to employ an incompetant to such an important position.It is here that Ramos comes in;i reckon that it is Ramos who has proven to be the catalyst to turn Commolli's good intention and judging ability into action.Whereas before,we could not attract players such as Modric and Dos Santos due to Spurs not being a big enough 'pull' with Jol at the helm,Ramos' reputation goes before him/the club now,allowing us to compete at the very top of the market for such players.The shift can be illustrated by the fact that last year we were desperate to sign Nani,but were beaten to it by the bigger lure of Man Utd;and yet this year,with a similar player in Dos Santos we pulled it off despite the interest of such a club.
While it is very difficult to know what goes on behind the scenes,and how much of positive/negative influence Commolli has on Tottenham Hotspur,I think it is time that we reconsider how we perceive his role,and whether it is actually as corrosive as we often believe ourselves it to be.
Or conversely,is it Ramos solely behind our recent upsurge in the transfer market,and is Commolli the same old villain we often love to hate?
I too have been in this boat for a long time,and have been particularly critical in thought,conversation and indeed in writing of Commolli's apparent ineptitude with regards player transfers,with poor business such as Zokora and Boateng for Carrick,the Darren Bent purchase and the lack of left winger being cited as examples of the poor job that he is doing.
But recent developments have made me reconsider;my change of tack is derived essentially from 3 observations,two of which centre around Commolli's work and one on the nature of the transfer market and its increasing complexity.
the first of these is basic: since the arrival of Ramos we have bought extremely well,both with continued investment in quality youth(Bostock,Gunter) and players of the required quality at first team level,in Hutton,Gomes,Modric,Dos Santos etc.Most have dismissed these signings as being Ramos driven(and therefore not to Commolli's credit),but there is a common denominator here;all such players have remarked wholeheartedly on the role of Ramos in attracting them to Spurs ahead of the many other suitors pursuing their signatures,how they respected him and liked his vision for the club etc.
This summer has alerted me to the complexity of the transfer market and how difficult it is in the modern climate to sign players.Our protracted pursuit of Capel has thus far,despite our best efforts,been largely fruitless,while I would not be surprised if the same were true of Arshavin and severaly others who we are rumoured to be attempting to sign.Similarly,the sagas of Adebayor,Ronaldo,Bentley,Villa,Berbatov,Keane and Ronaldinho and,in microcosm Kaboul,Chimbonda and Wright Phillips etc:there are so many variables and determinants in deals nowadays that money,status and good intentions may still not be enough to bring a player to a club.
My point is that there is often an inherent and irrational assumption amongst both Spurs and general football fans that,because our/their club has not signed a given player or been reported to have been trying to do so,the chairman/manager/sporting director are directly culpable and stupid/unfit for the job as so clearly they have failed to see something (such as 'we need a defensive midfielder') that is so blatantly obvious to us,the powerless,yet desperately loyal(and therefore worthy) fans have.But countless examples have shown that not to be the case;Keegan tried to sign Modric and Woodgate this year but was unable to do so due to factorsout of his control.And yet should his reign at Newcastle come to a tragic end due to lack of creativity in midfield and leadership/quality at the back(a not improbable eventuality),then no doubt the Geordie army will bemoan lack of foresight in(seemingly)failing to recognise/address the problem.But this is clearly ridiculous as it is not his/Newcastle's fault that the signings could not be made.
It is now that we must examine Commolli's logic/ability to judge a player.Since his appointment as Sporting Director,we have signed some excellent players,some who have done the business and others who have painfully failed to do so.The likes of Kaboul,Zokora,Boateng,Rose,Taarabt,Pekhart,Dervitte,Ekotto and Ghaly were/are all very good players before they came to Spurs,but equally have all failed to make a positive impact on our first team in the way that they were supposeed to upon their arrivals.So is their 'failure' as condemnation of Commolli's ability to spot a player or merely a reflection of the conditions at the club (manager situation etc) which conspired to prevent them from being able to maximise their potential?
My feeling is that Commolli is a good judge of a player,as Daniel Levy is a very very shrewd man,and one who i doubt would continue to employ an incompetant to such an important position.It is here that Ramos comes in;i reckon that it is Ramos who has proven to be the catalyst to turn Commolli's good intention and judging ability into action.Whereas before,we could not attract players such as Modric and Dos Santos due to Spurs not being a big enough 'pull' with Jol at the helm,Ramos' reputation goes before him/the club now,allowing us to compete at the very top of the market for such players.The shift can be illustrated by the fact that last year we were desperate to sign Nani,but were beaten to it by the bigger lure of Man Utd;and yet this year,with a similar player in Dos Santos we pulled it off despite the interest of such a club.
While it is very difficult to know what goes on behind the scenes,and how much of positive/negative influence Commolli has on Tottenham Hotspur,I think it is time that we reconsider how we perceive his role,and whether it is actually as corrosive as we often believe ourselves it to be.
Or conversely,is it Ramos solely behind our recent upsurge in the transfer market,and is Commolli the same old villain we often love to hate?
