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Tottenham Rollercoaster Rumbles On

Rob

The Boss
Admin
Jun 8, 2003
28,014
65,116
Let’s start off by being up front. I don’t like rollercoasters. The dreadful anticipation as you slowly rise higher and higher, knowing that at any minute you’re going to plunge to uncertain death. The feeling in the pit of your stomach as you realise you have no control over what’s about to happen and it’s in the hands of a greater power (God, Isaac Newton, Daniel Levy) whether you come out of it in one piece or not.

It just so happens that I’ve been away this week on holiday and while my girlfriend and her baby sister were happy riding the giant mechanical green monster at Legoland, I watched content from the sidelines as they went round and round, up and down. Having successfully avoided the rollercoaster, I wandered around a miniature London carefully pieced together by precisely placed Lego bricks looking at the famous landmarks that a few days early we’d been down amongst. Being able to see the big picture in such a way often helps to put things into context and by running this site and reading all the different opinions from our members I like to think that we’re able to see what the consensus of Tottenham fans is.

So how do Spurs fans feel right now? Football is able to produce a complicated mixture of anger, frustration, hope, disappointment and joy and it’s often Spurs fans in particular that keenly feel all of these emotions and more, sometimes during a single match. With regards to our current plight, we all know that something is wrong but as of last week I’m certain that the consensus was that at all costs we needed to avoid our previous mistakes and we needed to give Ramos time to right the ship and press on. During these arguments, Ferguson’s first few seasons at Manchester United are often referenced and it seems there is a point there which we would finally listen to. Yes, everything is going wrong but another drastic change in stewardship is not what we need and if we simply stick by the manager, we’d come through it.


Being on holiday and out of touch with the general feeling on here I wonder has it changed so much in just a week? I can’t help but wonder are we yet again making a terrible mistake. Redknapp is a decent manager but not a great one but maybe that’s what we need right now. He’s on the same level as Curbishley, Keegan and Big Sam. Solid managers who’ll do a job and depending on the team , hopefully keep you up or maybe push for Europe but who’s not going to be the revolution that we now need.

Oh what a revolution it was. After successive 5th place finishes from Martin Jol we made a vital mistake. We needed someone to build upon his outstanding success, to take us that little bit further than Jol had been able to. Instead, we got a “revolution” which was the last thing we needed and despite a superb win in the Carling Cup that we’ll remember for years, our poor league form both last season and this meant that we’d taken a huge step backwards. I’d go so far as to say that if Jol had had the likes of Hutton, Bale and Woodgate to sure up his defence then he’d have gone on to be an even bigger success at Spurs.

Unfortunately Jol is in the past and now so is Ramos and we really do need a revolution to turn things around. It may well be that a “man-manager” like Redknapp will finally be capable of getting the best out of Jenas (or else ship him out as soon as possible). He’ll be able to play to the strengths of players like Bent which Ramos has certainly not been doing by isolating him so much.

Whether Redknapp is the man or not remains to be seen and he’s certainly in for a baptism of fire with a game against Arsenal coming up shortly, which with current form we’d expect to be annihilated in. Redknapp needs to be given time before we judge him and ultimately his success will determine the legacy of Daniel Levy but right now it’s not looking great for the man who undoubtedly loves the club but who’s also let his inexperience of football show through one time too many.

One of the main problems for Levy, and one which may end up being his downfall goes back to even before he became chairman and rests with a certain sky-box selling reality TV star. It’s been widely reported that due to the treatment Sugar received towards the end of his reign, primarily from the likes of the Tottenham Action Group (TAG) and the various threats directed at him, the main bit of parting advice Sugar bestowed upon Levy was to stick a human shield between himself and the fans. A respected “football man” who could talk to the fans in their own language and who was respected enough to appease them where possible and who could take the flak if it came to it. In stepped Frank Arnesen, coming with the reputation of discovering Ronaldo, it seemed that both Levy and the fans had someone to act on their behalf. This all made sense to the analytical Levy and it could all have been so very different had Chelski’s roubles not been too much of a temptation to turn down.

Whether appointing a Sporting Director was a mistake or not is something that will long be debated but what was undoubtedly a mistake was trying to reboot the system with Damien Comolli. Bringing someone in over Jol’s head that had no relationship with him was always going to lead to tension and this ultimately led to Comolli going looking for his own man and finally securing Ramos in very questionable circumstances.

Once the system had been calmed and despite the nature in which it was done, it finally looked like we had a management structure all on the same page but unfortunately that didn’t last long. Rumours of tension resurfaced when targets weren’t being agreed upon and really came to a head this summer when Comolli failed to secure Arshavin, despite Ramos only agreeing for Berbatov’s departure due to having assurances that it was all agreed with the Russian. Did Comolli drop the ball and was this really the cause of our terrible form? The Spurs’ spin doctors certainly seemed to be gearing up for this and we’d heard from our sources several weeks ago that it had been agreed to sack Comolli and it was just a matter of time until he was gone.

Since then, poor performances and awful results have led to not only Comolli getting the boot but Ramos and Poyet following him out of the door. While Ramos will undoubtedly head back to Spain where he’ll be a success again and Poyet is likely to become the new Newcastle manager, it leaves us in a very dangerous situation. How will the players respond to the change in management, not only Ramos but Poyet who a lot of the players were close to? In particular the foreign players who all talked about how they were persuaded to join due to the prospect of working with a successful manager like Ramos? What about the players we’ve got on pre-contracts for January, mainly due to Ramos’ reputation. What will they make of Bent ‘Arry?

The lack of any other successful club utilising the DoF position is often mentioned but what is often overlooked is that both Ferguson and Wenger are effectively DoFs in their own right. They have large scouting networks and handle a lot of the contract negotiations, far more so then the "traditional" English manager. Redknapp himself also blurs the lines between a DoF and a manager (himself being a DoF at Portsmouth before eventually taking over in the dugout) and maybe that's what we need to ensure that both the manager and DoF finally agree, give both jobs to just one man and let him get on with it. As always with Tottenham, we’re going to need to hold on tight as it’s going to be one hell of as ride.
 

Arnoldtoo

The thinking ape's ape
May 18, 2006
35,336
54,970
A lot of food for long-term thought.

I really don't see Harry as being the man to oversee us breaking into the top 4, but right now we'd all settle for breaking into the top 17.

Let's get some points on the board before January, then get a couple of players in and head for mid-table safety. Then we and the Club can breathe a sigh of relief and start thinking about the next steps.
 

bones82

Member
Dec 7, 2003
106
1
I went to Thorpe Park yesterday, but they didn't have a roller coaster than can compare to Tottenham Hotspur, and a new twist I didn't expect in Redknapp, maybe it is more of a soap opera.

He's coming home,
he's coming home, he's coming
Defoe is coming home
He's coming home,
he's coming home, he's coming
Defoe is coming home
He's coming home,
he's coming home, he's coming
Defoe is coming home
He's coming home,
he's coming home, he's coming
Defoe is coming home

--------Gomez
Hutton King Woodgate Bale
Bentley Modric Diarra Capel
---Pavlyuchenko Defoe
 

PT

North Stand behind Pat's goal.
Admin
May 21, 2004
25,468
2,408
Let the dust settle.
 

al_pacino

woo
Feb 2, 2005
4,569
4,105
A good read, the only thing I can't agree with is the final paragraph.

The lack of any other successful club utilising the DoF position is often mentioned but what is often overlooked is that both Ferguson and Wenger are effectively DoFs in their own right. They have large scouting networks and handle a lot of the contract negotiations, far more so then the "traditional" English manager. Redknapp himself also blurs the lines between a DoF and a manager (himself being a DoF at Portsmouth before eventually taking over in the dugout) and maybe that's what we need to ensure that both the manager and DoF finally agree, give both jobs to just one man and let him get on with it. As always with Tottenham, we’re going to need to hold on tight as it’s going to be one hell of as ride.

In England maybe but Real Madrid, Barcelona, and even Ramos in Seville had success with a DoF and I see no reason with the right personnel why it can't work over here.
 

CosmicHotspur

Better a wag than a WAG
Aug 14, 2006
51,069
22,383
It's an emotional ride for sure and that downward slide has been scary.

We do need stability and if anyone can provide it, 'Arry can (if he's allowed to by the Board, whose record in their dealings thus far has not been anything to be proud of).

There will be more changes in January, of that we can be sure but, hopefully, all for the good. The return of Defoe would be welcomed but if I could choose one player for us to reclaim it would be Malbranque right now.
 

azlankicap

Member
Dec 7, 2005
349
0
We can always look at it in different ways. Of course it would've been better if the club backed and stayed with ramos. however it is a good time as well. At least ol' arry will have time to get to know the team, mould it into a system he feels will work and identify what is needed come January.
COYS!


very unlikely but i'm making a silent prayer - bring back defoe!
 

vietnam1973

Member
Jun 23, 2006
649
21
dont forget people we have had a DoF for about 10 years, pleat was in that role when we got george graham, i dont think it works, im glad we now have a traditional manager to oversee all of what a manager should do
 

Paxtonite

Active Member
Nov 28, 2004
1,956
32
Good post.

I have always maintained that the loss of Arnesen was greater than we realised. His relationship with Jol would definitely have flourished in my opinion and for a DoF position to work he has to be in tune with the first team coach.

Sadly both Jol and Ramos were undermined with poor transfer activity and regrettably we have seent the consequences of this yet again and we are now staring down the barrel of yet another transitional period.

The only constant through all of this turmoil in recent years has been the presence of Levy and there will have to come a time when he is judged but as ENIC's man this would seem unlikely.

Whether Redknapp is the man or nottime will tell. All he has to do is save us from relegation and put some belief and a structure back in the club.

I wish him luck.
 

billnick

Well-Known Member
Jul 29, 2003
1,246
341
A good read, Rob.

Especially the points about the Director of Football. Wasn't Harry in fact originally appointed at Portsmouth in that role (his first tenure), and not as manager?
 

JimmyG2

SC Supporter
Dec 7, 2006
15,014
20,779
Not sure I get this.If you give the DOF job to the manager you havn't got a DOF you've got an old fashioned manager with a chief scout.
Was Levy ahead of his time? Was it a case of right system,wrong manager?
 
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