Famous last words
Saturday, December 31, 2011 at 12:22PM Perspective, reminded by regular reader IanG who looked back on the DML archive and found the following two gems.
"Since beating Portsmouth in March, we have gained 9 points from a possible 45 (0.6 per game)"
More wonderfully depressing stats can be found in this blog posted back in 2008.
There's more.
Taken from the blog 'The circus is already in town' (2008) which looked at the death of the DoF system and the arrival of Harry Redknapp.
And in comes the media whore that is Harry Redknapp. A manager with little integrity. Sorry 'arry, but it's true. His Pompey/Soton merry-go round will tell you all you need to know. Levy claims that he's had conversations with Harry in the past, suggesting that 'he almost got here' before. Shudder.
Yeah, he saved Pompey from almost certain relegation. But couldn't save Soton and also relegated West Ham. What exactly is so great about his CV? Have we now lowered our ambitions? Have we accepted a place alongside the likes of Blackburn and co?
Well firstly, scrap ambitions and comparisons, because that's what has got us into this mess in the first place - believing the hype.
We are now behind the likes of Villa and City. As they develop and progress, our work has to begin again. Maybe not quite from ground zero, but we are limping at the minute. Although in modern day football 5th - 8th spot tends to shift about every season so all we need to do is regain a bit of pride and form. And no matter the progression you make (that goes for Villa and City at the minute) - you still need to depend on one of the Top 4 having an off season if you. Which is rare. And even if it does happen, you might find hotel food conspire against you. So we are not that far behind if you go on recent Prem records.
The simple fact of the matter is - at present - we are bottom. The players were not playing for Ramos. Levy had to do something drastic. Sacking Ramos and co was the first part. Appointing Redknapp was the second. Because for the moment, the only thing that's important is remaining in the Prem.
This part makes me smile:
So, is Harry an interim manager for the club? I hope so. Am I know being a hypocrite for suggesting we are too big for Harry? Call me that if you want. What I'm saying is, Harry isn't a great manager and has limits which will become apparent in a couple of seasons. But this all serves a purpose. A recovery period, washing off any remaining residue of the DoF era.
It's the consequence, not of Comolli but of Levy. The buck does stop with him, and this I feel is the final sorry chapter of mis-management. He's admitted it hasn't worked, so he has gained a final encore. And this is it. Harry will take us so far, and then Levy (if he's still around) will no doubt appoint someone knew. Maybe a promotion for whoever his number two is? We'll see how it all pans out. No point dwelling on this at the minute. If Levy suggests that Harry is the one to reclaim GLORY - then Daniel will be leaving us in the very close future.
If (there's that magic word again) Harry performs a miracle and is still knocking around with us in 4 years time then Levy will be deemed a genius and I'll have to eat a hat (preferably made of bagel).
In the mean time, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt (that's Harry). And do what any fan would do: Support the team with all my heart......and cry uncontrollably when it goes tits up. Again.
I'd like that hat slightly toasted with jam. Willing to share.
Three points away to Swansea will work as the appetiser.
Reader Comments (19)
I remember writing a very long email to the Spurs Show at his appointment, with much the same sentiment.
Thankfully now they charge for back episodes I won't get called out on it...
Well you could have sawpped the xmas pud for the hat.Humble pie will do nicely for now sir now about them three points.To dare is to do.All i want for xmas sorry the new year is a new centre half( vertonghen )and a striker( huigain )spelling sorry but you get the idea.With these two added and a few moved out we would have a real shot of catching the manchester mafia.Manure have a new striker i think they call him berbatov and he is knocking them in to easy.We could do with a little extra help for the second half of the season and these two would do just fine.Now where is that visa card.
I'm hoping that all that has proceeded Xmas was the appetiser and now we can get to the main course. No looking back, no sentiment and no prisoners. COYS!
Nice one Spooky. Nothing beats a bit of self-deprecation - it's great for the soul. Still far and away the best Spurs blog, despite a knee sometimes jerking worse than dear old Ledley's. Keep up the great work!
I remember telling my uncle at one point two seasons ago that we should sack 'Arry soon as. That he wouldn't have what it takes to keep carrying us forward. Now I don't actually want him to leave, I can't think of a manager to replace him should he take the roll as national team manager. Anyway I am eating a sandwich made up of my words and an old hat. I wish us all ah 'appy new year!
Ace !!! Mind you there must be comfort in knowing that there were a similar "silent' thinkers out there.... thought marmite would help with the cinnamon bagel (bitter/sweet) !!!!
Gotta him his due - who'd of thought we start the new year in 3rd place..... only in my dreams - hang on I'm fully awake... we're still 3rd - well done to Harry and his team .... COYMS!!!
Happy New Year to one and all Spurs people!!!!!
So very disappointed with the last 20 minutes of that game what a shame.
Good. Today's point is in the pocket. But unfortunately, this is the only positive thing from this game.
Few observations:
1. Bale can “roam freely” only when he has energy. Today he was flat in the middle, invincible at flanks, and left BAE to alone cope with Dyer and their RB. I’m afraid he is turning into another Defoe when it comes to sharing the ball.
2. Another goal scored from Kyle’s side. All his fucking running was for nothing; not a single usable cross all game.
3. ‘Arry bring back speedster JJ. Livermore is fucking useless. No passing game, no positioning, no tackling, and running wise even Niko is a Sir Coe for him.
4. I guess, too much eggnog is the reason for heavy legs of almost everyone.
Swansea got a New Year’s gift, but it seemed they deserved it.
To be honest, I didn’t expect we’ll get any points today, so…… Santa, have a drink on me :)
Swansea were fantastic. We were lucky to have gotten a goal and a point. We look exhausted. Maybe it was the rain and the crap conditions. Still thought the team battled hard. Point won IMHO. Would have been a mugging if we got 3 from that.
Survived it today. Wasn't a great display, looked jaded and lacked shape more so after the subs.
I'll leave the rest of it for the blog (probably not until tomorrow evening).
Positives though - looks like everyone is beatable and everyone can drop points so its up to us to stay ahead. Need to work out how to rest/rotate and NOT lose anything from our style.
I would have been happy with all 3 points regardlress of whether it was a mugging or not - dont give a damn how we get the points. Today was a tough game with Swansea having buckets of energy and movment but we coped until Parker went off and the whole balance went again!! I thought Bale made some surging runs that were not spotted, his running of the ball is awsome!!
Todays game - for me Adebayor is simply not good enough - his first touch near goal is terrtible - is there a young Klinsman out there somewhere. we also need a goalkeeper!
Livermore should be shot for that foul which put us under more pressure. Its the 2nd time he has done that pulling back move. I'd sit him out of the next game and see whether he does it again - actually he should go - he brings nothing to th team!
Agree BAE was expopsed today. We were stretched in the last 20 minutes and i thought we should have kept pocession alot more and taken the sting out of the game.
Still, a very hard game and we got a point!
incredibly happy with our form since since the 3rd game of the season, jan will be the defining month for us, could put ourselves in a great position with regards to top 3 position. i'd have snapped the hands of anyone who said that we'd finish 3rd this season, and still would.
Hotspurs - the problem with finding a striker is that City have priced most clubs out of the market. Anyone from La Liga or elsewhere is a risk and not sure Levy will spend £20M in Jan on one considering we didn't in the summer. Adebayor, for his faults, has added another dimension to our play when pushing forwards. If it wasn't for him we'd have struggled. He scores and he assists and more importantly, he knows how to move on the pitch with intelligence. It's a shame he lets himself down, but tbh, today the team lacked shape and lacked that extra bit of oomph.
It's no major disaster. Harry made tactical mistakes, but just think we lacked the legs in the end. Shame we didn't luck out, but it happens.
After subbing Scotty and Raffa our game went missing. Neither Defoe nor (especially!) Livermore brought anything to the pitch. I don't know what the plan was and what Harry was expecting, but whatever it was it didn't materialized. Jake is a joke and a fucking waste. So far haven’t seen his good game.
Agree wholeheartedly with Spooky’s call for better rotation, because our crucial players should not be ran to the ground. Parker looked spent a few games before Swansea, and today he was just tired and empty and even walked gingerly. Consequently, he picked up a knee injury, which may sideline him for quite a while. I do remember him sitting out for long spells for the same reason while at WH, and that frightens me as thick schedule is coming around. I wander what is keeping Huds out for so long?
Spooky, agreed but I still say we need a striker now plus a goalkeeper and probably a centre half for next season.
I can't ask for more this season, but I try and look at the bigger picture. The only way we are going to acheive financial sucess that will allow us to compete is a top 4 position- that and a bigger ground. Its a very difficult business to manage at the moment because we are striving against a number of issues - top 4, the ground, Harry to England and Modric - its an impossible job and Levy must be congratulated. He must have a plan B for Harry going - if he goes, i cant beleive that he is simply waiting for the end of the season to resolve this - what is plan B??
But today, you saw how much they battled and this is so encouraging. Its the first time for a long time that ive seen such consistency from Spurs. We are not wobbling, dont panic, look pretty solid and dont have this rush of blood to the head. Its a great effort and if we can produce the same form going into the 2nd half of the season, we are looking good!!
Happy New Year to all and COYS........................................
Strange how little attention Parker gets. He is our most important player, not Modric or even Bale. His form was crucial to that exceptional run we are (have been?) in. Never mind the two points lost, I hope he plays again soon.
Last 20 mins was hell to watch. I think Sandro will do a job in midfield if Parker needs to be rested. We need to give Pienaar a run out, he's not on the bench for nothing. BAE needs a rest too, so we might as well blood young Rose in that position as I think he has what it takes. Ade is a much more useless player than I gave him credit for. Not a very bad player, just not great player, especially at killing the ball, or sheilding it and his confidence in front of goal and getting caught offside, well, 'not much better than Crouchie really'.
I sincerely wish all you Spurs fans the Happiest New Year Ever, and may you see all your wishes fulfilled.
Wasn't there a story recently about Livermore complaining about his lack of playing time? On yesterday's evidence, he can fuck right off.