NeverRed
Active Member
- Mar 24, 2005
- 711
- 895
I was rudely awoken by a Gooner this morning who took great pride in being the first to tell me Spurs had sacked Juande and brought in Redknapp. They are so smug these days and rightly so, I mean we would be too if the shoe was on the other foot. How beautiful it must look to the opposition. To me as a Spur though, I have no concise opinion on this, which is either in favour or against the move.
What is done is done, but I had always wished Jol had of been given the stability I thought he had earnt the right to, and in benefit of hindsight (from now) it appears that would have been the better, cheaper move. Disagree with the initial lack of form last season or not, Jol was Spurs through and through, a fantastic character, someone who took the time and effort to understand Tottenham Hotspur and the traditions there of, and ultimately he was as British a manager as a foreign one could be. I was annoyed at the calls for his head, feeling myself that on past performances he had earnt our loyalty and the benefit of full support when the going got tough.
Still, when he went, I could see the reasoning behind it being that it had been done with a then impressive Ramos tied up as a replacement. When I read about the respect Seville players had for him (organising a silent protest over the toughness of training and how hard he worked them by training with tape over their mouths, a gesture to also acknowledge their respect to not speak out due to his achievements with them and their great success together), this seemed to be a guy who would take no rubbish, show mental toughness, demand discipline and performance, and command respect. Actions and recent form/success made him sound akin to the self proclaimed special one in stature, confidence in his methods, and admirable attitude of "my way or the high way".
So with Jol gone, he seemed like a good enough reason to me as to why. Honestly since then, a Carling Cup victory and noticeable improvement in fitness aside, I saw no evidence of any of this at all, I saw no real backbone from him to stand up, speak out and have it his way... hell, make it his way. Instead I see a record that quite frankly stank to high heaven, and I feel great disappointment. I think Juande can go back to Spain being pretty ashamed of his performance. It pains me too because admittedly I caught the bug that believed he would be the 'one'.
I believe firmly in stability with the right person in charge, strongly enough to the point that I did not wish to see a change, I felt stability deserved a chance and Juande would come good. Now if I'm really honest with myself I can't see how it would have ever changed under him, it never looked like it really could. With each week that went on, the player/management/club PR talk of unity, showing the right attitude and working hard, got stronger and stronger while we got weaker and weaker. Last few matches I couldn't see how we could be able to win again without a drastic change in approach from Ramos. I guess ultimately he didn't produce such a change, so we as a club had to.
Comolli going too shows me a good sign that the club can swallow its pride and admit when something is not working. Yes we have had some decent players in, yes we have had some poor ones too (always apparently well signed at the time - without benefit of hindsight of course, and sadly also sometimes against a manager's wishes). Like some fans Comolli obviously didn't truly appreciate the success Jol had, and staked his own reputation on the line for his replacement. Fair enough to some extent, but then there was a great failing to negotiate satisfactory replacement for our loss of striking power, and most unforgivably never addressing our ultimate weakness (the first thing highlighted by Harry incidentally) - the fact we are lightweight in our core. Whether scapegoat to some degree or not, Comolli to me, did no longer deserved his role.
A DOF could work in this country, but that DOF would have to only work to sign players for a first team under a first team manager's instruction. It would be their own freedom to scout and sign youth players, their responsibility to organise loans for these youths, their responsibility to do the early work on transfer enquires and taking part in negotiations, to try to sell unwanted players and work on other matters such as feeder club partnerships. First team affairs must be dictated by the first team manger - otherwise we severely limit our choice of new managers and run the risk of undermining and alienating existing managers. Recent history proves this the case. The DOF 'experiment' at Spurs could have worked, it could have been a stable successful system, but only if we did it right to suit our game, and our managers.
Now to Harry: I would have scoffed at this last year once Jol went, so why any better now? Perhaps cause Juande was a much greater failure and we are in a worse position then when BMJ left. It is somewhat refreshing that we go back to the roots of the British game, wheeling and dealing managers, a sense of sunday park (in a good way!) with teams etched into the back of fag packets and proper screams of support and criticism from the dug out that our nation's managers appear to do so well. It is good also that we adjust our structure to suit the authority of a first team manager. Plus, finally thank god there is no need for a translator (Sorry Gus! I personally got a little tired of your after game talks, and don't think you even believed some of the things you were saying towards the end!)
Harry has impressed me with West Ham's playing staff (although they went down!), impresses me with his down to earth nature, with his real talk, and by the fact his Portsmouth team has been relatively solid (although they get the occasional whooping including a few already this season!). Will he be around for long? I doubt it but I'll see. Will he be the man to take us to Champions League football? I doubt it even harder but I'll see.
Am I ever going to have a manager a Spurs that can have full backing and stability to see out their plans? I don't even need to answer this one! Maybe it is the nature of the game, maybe it is the nature of us Spurs fans and our expectations, maybe there is only ever a select few managers that can command such support and we can't attract them yet. For stability you need the right people for the right jobs. Ultimately it is all performance related, stability is earned, in which case Juande didn't earn it, and Jol is the the only one who has come relatively close in many a year for me. So good luck you old hangdog, I wish you all the success in the world, now is your chance you have been waiting for to prove yourself with a 'top' club, and I hope you earn your keep for many a year to come.
What is done is done, but I had always wished Jol had of been given the stability I thought he had earnt the right to, and in benefit of hindsight (from now) it appears that would have been the better, cheaper move. Disagree with the initial lack of form last season or not, Jol was Spurs through and through, a fantastic character, someone who took the time and effort to understand Tottenham Hotspur and the traditions there of, and ultimately he was as British a manager as a foreign one could be. I was annoyed at the calls for his head, feeling myself that on past performances he had earnt our loyalty and the benefit of full support when the going got tough.
Still, when he went, I could see the reasoning behind it being that it had been done with a then impressive Ramos tied up as a replacement. When I read about the respect Seville players had for him (organising a silent protest over the toughness of training and how hard he worked them by training with tape over their mouths, a gesture to also acknowledge their respect to not speak out due to his achievements with them and their great success together), this seemed to be a guy who would take no rubbish, show mental toughness, demand discipline and performance, and command respect. Actions and recent form/success made him sound akin to the self proclaimed special one in stature, confidence in his methods, and admirable attitude of "my way or the high way".
So with Jol gone, he seemed like a good enough reason to me as to why. Honestly since then, a Carling Cup victory and noticeable improvement in fitness aside, I saw no evidence of any of this at all, I saw no real backbone from him to stand up, speak out and have it his way... hell, make it his way. Instead I see a record that quite frankly stank to high heaven, and I feel great disappointment. I think Juande can go back to Spain being pretty ashamed of his performance. It pains me too because admittedly I caught the bug that believed he would be the 'one'.
I believe firmly in stability with the right person in charge, strongly enough to the point that I did not wish to see a change, I felt stability deserved a chance and Juande would come good. Now if I'm really honest with myself I can't see how it would have ever changed under him, it never looked like it really could. With each week that went on, the player/management/club PR talk of unity, showing the right attitude and working hard, got stronger and stronger while we got weaker and weaker. Last few matches I couldn't see how we could be able to win again without a drastic change in approach from Ramos. I guess ultimately he didn't produce such a change, so we as a club had to.
Comolli going too shows me a good sign that the club can swallow its pride and admit when something is not working. Yes we have had some decent players in, yes we have had some poor ones too (always apparently well signed at the time - without benefit of hindsight of course, and sadly also sometimes against a manager's wishes). Like some fans Comolli obviously didn't truly appreciate the success Jol had, and staked his own reputation on the line for his replacement. Fair enough to some extent, but then there was a great failing to negotiate satisfactory replacement for our loss of striking power, and most unforgivably never addressing our ultimate weakness (the first thing highlighted by Harry incidentally) - the fact we are lightweight in our core. Whether scapegoat to some degree or not, Comolli to me, did no longer deserved his role.
A DOF could work in this country, but that DOF would have to only work to sign players for a first team under a first team manager's instruction. It would be their own freedom to scout and sign youth players, their responsibility to organise loans for these youths, their responsibility to do the early work on transfer enquires and taking part in negotiations, to try to sell unwanted players and work on other matters such as feeder club partnerships. First team affairs must be dictated by the first team manger - otherwise we severely limit our choice of new managers and run the risk of undermining and alienating existing managers. Recent history proves this the case. The DOF 'experiment' at Spurs could have worked, it could have been a stable successful system, but only if we did it right to suit our game, and our managers.
Now to Harry: I would have scoffed at this last year once Jol went, so why any better now? Perhaps cause Juande was a much greater failure and we are in a worse position then when BMJ left. It is somewhat refreshing that we go back to the roots of the British game, wheeling and dealing managers, a sense of sunday park (in a good way!) with teams etched into the back of fag packets and proper screams of support and criticism from the dug out that our nation's managers appear to do so well. It is good also that we adjust our structure to suit the authority of a first team manager. Plus, finally thank god there is no need for a translator (Sorry Gus! I personally got a little tired of your after game talks, and don't think you even believed some of the things you were saying towards the end!)
Harry has impressed me with West Ham's playing staff (although they went down!), impresses me with his down to earth nature, with his real talk, and by the fact his Portsmouth team has been relatively solid (although they get the occasional whooping including a few already this season!). Will he be around for long? I doubt it but I'll see. Will he be the man to take us to Champions League football? I doubt it even harder but I'll see.
Am I ever going to have a manager a Spurs that can have full backing and stability to see out their plans? I don't even need to answer this one! Maybe it is the nature of the game, maybe it is the nature of us Spurs fans and our expectations, maybe there is only ever a select few managers that can command such support and we can't attract them yet. For stability you need the right people for the right jobs. Ultimately it is all performance related, stability is earned, in which case Juande didn't earn it, and Jol is the the only one who has come relatively close in many a year for me. So good luck you old hangdog, I wish you all the success in the world, now is your chance you have been waiting for to prove yourself with a 'top' club, and I hope you earn your keep for many a year to come.
