Bizarro World
Friday, October 26, 2007 at 8:38AM The timeline, so distorted and confusing. But then nothing is simplistic with Spurs.
At around 5pm Ladbrokes stopped taking bets on Ramos being the next manager, apparently most of the money coming from Fleet Street. The game kicked off without this making the headlines, but the story managed to leak out during the game. Perfect timing. Initially we were led to believe Jol tendered his resignation. Cue ‘how can he quit then manage the team for the evening?’ questions. As the game progressed, he remained glued to his seat. Looking sad, despondent and generally a beaten man. That went hand in hand with the Spurs performance. No shape no dominance. 1-2 score-line, only our second ever home defeat in Europe.
The 'rumours' continued. Ramos in with Poyet as his number two. Next week? In the summer? No one knows yet. But if we have to wait until the sun is back in the London sky, then welcome to the hellmouth.
An hour or so after the final whistle Spurs release a statement telling us that they asked Jol and Hughton to ‘step down’ after the game. Curious as it looked like this might have been agreed earlier on in the day. Especially reading Jol’s body language during the match. All in all, exactly the kind of inept (there’s that word again) handling we have come to detest from Levy and his board of directors. What a mess.
No hair, we don't careHowever, I’m not going to start slating him or Kemsley. Not yet. I prefer to just say, thank you. Thank you to the first manager in an age that the fans loved and adored. Thank you for two 5th place finishes. Thank you for the hope and pride you gave the home faithful. Thank you for the progression.
Yes, it turned to shit in the end, and fuck knows how you even managed to stay on considering the bastards stabbed you in the back months ago – but you did and you will not be forgotten.
Thank you Martin Jol. And all the best for the future.
You took Spurs as far as you could. Lets hope that this is not as far as the club can actually go. Because if Ramos fails then we've hit a bottleneck.....which means we may as well let go of the dream and support West Ham.
Reader Comments (8)
Voice of the people, spooky..
Sad to see it end like this. Never looked like it would do so until the season kicked off. Hate to say it but I think we over-achieved. Everything was not as bright as it would seem.
It's not that we overachieved. We played well and we were hard to beat over two seasons and everyone else (the chasing pack) were not as consistent. Something WAS wrong behind the scenes and it finally broke out into the open world at the start of this season. Before that you would not have guessed any different.
Good luck Martin. Best since Keith.
Let's be honest, dry those eyes first. Jol was not as good as we would have wished him to be. The man made the same mistakes too often deeming his tactical know-how average. And playing the long ball (hoofed by Robbo) is not exactly the 'Tottenham Way'. Yes he got us up several levels. Yes he was better than the previous bunch of no-hope managers. But he took us as far as he possibly could.
Ramos will give Spurs something different and something stronger. If he joins, which its looking likely he will then sit back and enjoy the ride back to 5th. Maybe not this season but next year Spurs will be pushing for it once again.
Levy effigy please Spooky.
Here, here, Spooky.
Well said that man. Was a fucking disgrace to be sitting in the ground getting texts from mates watching it on the box telling me our manager had resigned/been sacked while we were in the middle of a game. He did a good job overall and was treated like shit when he didn't get us off to a flyer this season. All very shabby.
Maybe I'm imagining it - or maybe it's the alcohol I've had tonight - but a few months ago weren't you calling for Jol's head? If I'm wrong - and it's entirely possible - please let me know.