Reports of our death have been greatly exaggerated
Sunday, August 26, 2012 at 12:17PM Spurs 1 WBA 1
I guess our season doesn’t kick start until after the summer transfer window closes. Points dropped again, not too dissimilar to last season (one point better placed, are you counting?) with key signings yet to be finalised. The most definitive knee-jerk has been the gentle nod of disapproval at our lack of decisive business before the opening game away to Newcastle. Then again, had Harry Redknapp not ballsed up the last ten games or so we’d have found things a tad more comfortable in perhaps ushering in new blood during the summer months as opposed to what we appear to be doing now. Working hard to sign someone, anyone before it shuts up till the new year.
At the end of last season I cited we would need to get things sorted asap. We did in parts. New coach, couple of new signings. Negotiations for another signing that dragged on (Adebayor) and an outgoing one that bored us to near death (Modric). The essence of the knee-jerk is to proclaim we’ve started with a stutter because we’ve not targeted and signed more than what we’ve got and therefore it’s costing us.
Sure. Okay, I’d agree with that. But new players in might have still produced the same outcome. It’s hardly a criminal act of neglect. It’s not anywhere near as important or costly as some seem to believe it is. For a start, we were in a rut at the back end of last season. Our form wasn’t convincing at all. Neither was our transfer strategy that came before it. That much maligned lack of communication and agreement between the coach and chairman. So is the expectation truly one that would have seen our coach begin with a complete squad with points bestowed on us for certainty? Had we achieved all transfers, and still dropped points, another angle of complaint would still be mounted and humped ragged by the angry mob. Its perception, its conjecture it’s whatever you make it to be. Despair if you’re a commentator that wants to over dramatise events. Disastrous if you’re a supporter of a nervous disposition distracted and concerned by what others think of your team. Is football now an imprisonment with every single day chalked on the wall? I guess it's whatever you make it. It's your team, you can support them to any degree of fanaticism as you so wish.
My perception? It’s a new era not error and if you’re counting points already then its best you take a sabbatical and return when things have settled down. I’m fascinated by some of the insight and how paradoxical it all is. If he (Villas-Boas) doesn’t change a thing we'll still have a reminisce of what Redknapp left behind, a side capable of so much but faltering when it matters most. If he does makes changes then he’s tampering too quickly, making the same mistake twice. Players that are being pushed out are suddenly vital to the squad when reality nods and shrugs without care. It’s still only two competitive games. What happened at Chelsea is completely of no relevance to us. There has to be a period of transition, be it one that shouldn’t impact us substantially enough to scrap any ambitions for a top four challenge. That reminisce, good and bad, is still with us and will be slowly and surely pushed aside and replaced with something more accomplished but still complementary of what it's replaced.
We played well at Newcastle, struck the woodwork, shaped up with backbone and grace. Lost the point thanks to a clumsy moment of madness, an error that sits solitary with the players that gave the penalty away.
At home to WBA we caught a further glimpse of that transition. The same little annoyances that plagued performances last season welcomed themselves ominously back into the fold, although perhaps for one final encore. Initially, it didn’t look like they’d gatecrash the stage. When they did, no standing ovation was forthcoming. Not for our star performers that forgot their lines in the rousing climax.
We started off so well. Good early tempo, pace when working the ball towards the penalty area. It was lively. Early possession was dominated by Lilywhite. Tasty one touch football, it flowed and the flankers were effective with movement and involvement. There was even creativity from the middle. But alas, no cutting edge. No ruthlessness. Just rusty and rueful.
Lennon, Bale, van der Vaart, Vertonghen...we looked good. But not great where it mattered most. Now you can blame it on bad luck or lack of composure or perhaps the fact that Leandro/Remy or Adebayor (who we’ve actually signed) wasn’t in the starting line up. Much like someone can blame the lack of transfer activity to the dropping of points, I can lay claim that the fact individuals got themselves into goal scoring opportunities and failed to capitalise as the reason we were not home and dry at half time. I know, amazing punditry there. You can really talk yourself into rationalising anything by either making excuses or suggestion an alternative which in your head would have been more productive. But it’s still men kicking a ball about. On this occasion, not that well in and around the opposition goal.
Same old Spurs? In parts, sure, it’s practically the same old players. Players that will take time to adjust to new instructions. Our coach has been employed to fix up the mistakes we were guilty of last time out. I can’t see that happening over night. Can you see it happening in just two games? The fact he’s inherited a solid team, is it unforgivable if he wanted to slowly slowly mould it into his vision, one that isn’t anchored down with comparisons to you know who, who can do no wrong? Time and patience. Neither equate to sacrificing to the extent of wallowing in self-pity trapped in mid-table. I’m not fragile. Hope you’re not. Some of those problems that need fixing obviously are. That's what the training pitch is for. And unlike pre-season, that's what the early few games are for also thanks to the importance and pressure of the league as opposed to friendly games out in the USA.
At half time, we created without creating clear cut chances (in terms of testing their keeper) but did get ourselves in positions of promise. Work-rate was impressive. Defence coped well. But no genuine genius, no Luka Modric to pull the strings and conduct proceedings. Scratch of the head perhaps with selection? Sandro and Livermore in the middle, could we have afforded Sigurdsson in the mix along side Rafa? The fact remains, we had ten efforts to WBA’s one and over 60% possession. A loaded gun with a trigger that wasn't working and the lack of fortitude to pistol whip our opponent on the back of the head.
If half time itself belonged to Ledley King. The second half belonged to the visitors.
Defoe worked hard but his lack of intelligent movement, his insistence to always shoot and physicality was once more telling. Telling Adebayor to warm up. We had our first shot on target and saved just after the fifty minute mark. Kept pressing but still lacked that extra aggression to browse West Brom. Rafa went off, Adebayor (hasn’t had a pre-season in terms of match practice) came on. WBA, unconvincing for most of the game made a substitution with Lukaku who terrorised our back-line, if anything to add some extra weight for Sunday’s match reports in the tabloids. Did you know Villas-Boas didn’t take much notice of him at Chelsea? Not sure that has been shared enough in recent days.
They began to test us. The game opened up. No grip in midfield, a loss of control with the pace of the game. There was no stamp of authority from anyone in our side, no leadership. He was sat in the stands watching on. Friedel was called into action once or twice before Assou-Ekotto scored with a deflected effort from around twenty-five yards out. I’ll take that. I took it, punched the air with delight. For all our endeavour, a slice of luck might just allow for a steadier platform to consolidate all three points with another goal.
As if.
The footballing Gods mock us once more.
We seemed to invite WBA to attack. Tactics, formation...as witnessed in the opening forty-five, only account for a percentage of the success on the pitch. If you don’t have the quality in the right area(s) then stutter you will. In the second half, the stutter saw our shape wash away. Even though we crafted some chances, the equaliser was fairly dreadful. That fabled final ten minutes of pressure the opposing side always enjoy was evident again. Another reoccurring historical quirk that will need to be ironed out. Bossing the closing minutes has to be imperative at home. Friedel’s lack of assertiveness, the foul/non-foul involving Vertonghen, the almost slow-mo movement and lack of urgency. And yet at 1-0 we’d have probably said ‘good work, job done, hard day at office, need new players’. The exact same thing applies with the draw. Season won't be defined by these two games.
Frustrated? Yes. Disappointed. Yes. We seemed to counter attack but clearly if you don’t have that one true playmaker to dictate the ball and its movement you’ll struggle to own the midfield and create from deeper positions with better effect. What Villas-Boas does here, if we intend to replace Luka Modric, remains to be seen and we’ll know within the week how the team will set itself up for the season. Then the real work then begins and our style of play will be allowed to settle and evolve.
I can’t talk for you, everything I write is my own opinion, my own perception and therapy. Do I have an agenda? Probably. It’s one that involves wanting Spurs to swagger. Wanting the very best. Add to that, I do attempt to remain balanced in discussion. I think we have, for quite a while now, been a very good side. We've suffered dips, but rarely are we calamitous in comparison to the dead end sides of the 90's and early 00's. We've lacked an edge to our game and the appointment of a new coach allows us to refresh, reboot. Pre-season will get players up to scratch with fitness. The first few games are the ones that can set foundations for the future. There’s still no damning evidence of anything other than us starting a little slowly. We've shown glimpses already of some positive play. The distractions off the pitch, the uncertainty, will continue to deflect up to the end of the month. It's the nature of the game and it's petulance to stamp feet and demand to have something yesterday when it won't, can't happen until some time later.
If you want to blame the chairman for that, surely you should blame yourself. If he’s going after the very best targets then he retains consistency in our ambitions to compete with the very best - something we all want. If that means not settling for second best at the cost of having to sign said players after the season starts, so be it. Fact is, we have no power or control over the transfer activity. Just hope, hope that Villas-Boas is content with our business once September begins. He’ll only be able to build if he has all the bricks. And a cement mixer. The one we've currently got is in transit to Madrid.
We’re going to rationalise either way it's how we cope with results. Whether you’re criticising or just sitting back and waiting to see how it all pans out. Depends whether you think we’re meant to be managed as a continuation of what has come before or that there’s acceptance that change means exactly that, with some bumps along the way. I’ve not changed my outlook, it’s the same as it was before we played Newcastle and after we played Newcastle. I won't be told what to think by pundits and hacks. Equally so, I refuse to sit in a corner and rock back and forth foaming at the mouth. I had confidence after the opening two games last season and in the end was let down by the coach. This season will be defined by the run we go on and how we handle defeat after prolonged success and pick ourselves up and pick up form again and how we handle the run-in. It's the games you win to build on the wins that came before it which define you.
The media, idiotic fans that boo Jenas, Redknapp sympathisers...your expectations are skewered. Each to your own. Whatever makes you happy.
Reader Comments (87)
I agree Spooky, Redknapp was always about himself before a football club. I also agree he should be criticised for his failings. The problem is that after all the years of soul crushing disappointment and waking up on a Monday morning to face smug gooners winding us up, Redknapp gave us something on the pitch that looked like our dream. Redknapp gave us moments of football we haven't seen for a long time. This is why people are partisan about him. If we just drop the word Redknap and talk about the football moments of glory over the past three years then we understand why some fans have small Harry statues in their back bedrooms and light candles to his memory.
Redknapp didn't build THFC but he did build hope in the hearts of fans. Great times but they are gone now and Harry is gone, rightly so. He just wasn't good enough to wake us from our dreams and bring us the reality of success.
Yeah..I want us to be skint like Leeds and Portsmouth....he'll yeah levy..why didn't we compete for fourteen million fletcher or last year Henderson at twenty two million...it's not too late to pay ten million for Jordan Rhodes....c'mon levy do your job!....am not reading the web till we win a game perhaps then people will get their brains back and stop kicking their pit bulls....
There appears to be a lot of dissension in the ranks today Spooky, admittedly we have not made the best start but it's far from the worst. I think it's a bit premature for the 'boo-boys'. and the anti -Levy brigade to start shouting from the rooftops, Man Citeh drew with the scousers earlier and gooners also drew their game. This is football guys and we need to overcome this fickle mentality and back the club unconditionally. We deserved at least a point last week at Newcastle and the result yesterday was unfortunate, WBA scored in the 91st minute so I think it best that we keep things in perspective. IMHO!!
Fcuking hell Spook you just don't get it? This ain't about Redknapp, it's about Levy. I honestly beleived that Levy's finest hour was sacking Martin Jol midway through a game, via text. This is far better than that isn't it, and I, for the moment, am only referreing to the lack of signings, not to the appointment of AVB who, it would seem, is being mugged off by Levy.
If by the 1st there is no Top Hat and consequently no rabbit, leading to the implosion of VB and the squad then Levy must be hounded out of the club.
Ps. My expectations aren't skewered, I expect to finish in the top 4. Do you?
Did you expect to finish top 4 last season because I seem to remember most of us believed it would be extremely difficult to compete up there. Hasn't changed for this season. Compete, yes? But we'll have to be better than last time out.
Not sure how Levy is mugging off Villas-Boas. Is this based on assumptions that Levy wont bid a £ over what he believes to me the valuation of a targeted player?
Fuck it, I hate doing this but fuck it I will. I know about some bids made for players. You know it takes two to tango right? The same way we've dicked Madrid for as much money as possible, the same thing applies to us when we go after players. I don't quite grasp this anti-Levy thing in terms of how he's managing the club. Sure, I know it's about the shareholders in the end, but to make them happy we need to be performing on the pitch. But it's quite obvious the money isn't there to be utter whores in the transfer market. So negotiations will hardly be easy.
Levy has fucked up a few times, no argument from me. If we end up with nothing in a weeks time, then we'll talk again about it.
Levy is to blame and no one else for the situation last year and this year.
Why do some fans think to purchase a too class player is going to bankrupt us? it's isn't, we have the money, we need to concentrate the cash on on or teo signings of pure top class quality not spread it on average to good players who will not take us to a higher level. Is sigurdsson really going to make a difference? Not really, he is ok bit he will not lift us to where we need to be.
The stories of possible signings in the press are just that , as we all know and as we all have witnessed with levy over the past yrars the result on Friday will be this, lots of high expectations faced with reality of Levy missing out offering too
Little and ending up with anjet disappointment.
Patience? Not anymore.
If I'm proved wrong on Friday ill come back here and apologise to Daniel and i won't say a word about him for the rest of the season, but I doubt that'll happen.
Prepare for the usual anti climax on Friday gents, 6th place here we come!
LOL at already writing off Sigurdsson. Keep the faith.
Levy is to blame and no one else for the situation last year and this year.
Why do some fans think to purchase a too class player is going to bankrupt us? it's isn't, we have the money, we need to concentrate the cash on on or teo signings of pure top class quality not spread it on average to good players who will not take us to a higher level. Is sigurdsson really going to make a difference? Not really, he is ok bit he will not lift us to where we need to be.
The stories of possible signings in the press are just that , as we all know and as we all have witnessed with levy over the past yrars the result on Friday will be this, lots of high expectations faced with reality of Levy missing out offering too
Little and ending up with anjet disappointment.
Patience? Not anymore.
If I'm proved wrong on Friday ill come back here and apologise to Daniel and i won't say a word about him for the rest of the season, but I doubt that'll happen.
Prepare for the usual anti climax on Friday gents, 6th place here we come!
Had we won on Saturday most of you wouldn't be on here complaining.
Some fans need to have a bit of a reality injection. We're not going to win the league, and even a cup will be tricky at the moment. We have a small stadium, we're not owned by someone who's going to dump 10s or 100s of millions into the club. The best players will want to play for the top teams, and/or the teams that can pay much higher wages than us.
That might change in the future with FFP and a nice big new stadium, but for now we should be happy with seeing good quality football as per our tradition with young players and a coach who's here for the long term. I have no idea if AVB is going to be that coach, but I'm willing to wait and see - and support (without qualification) the team while I'm waiting.
Spooky, with you all the way.
I am content with what i am seeing from Spurs, Patience is the word.
6th? I'll take it gladly and proudly as long as we play some beautiful football and start building something.
TTID
Levy's 'fucked-up a few times' - well, there's a ILWT loyalist (aka Spooky) actually facing reality for once. He's 'fucked-up' virtually every football decision since 2001, and his legendary financial skill consists of extracting astonishing amounts of money from long-suffering Spurs supporters year after year. ENIC puts nothing into the club, ticket prices are among the highest in the Premier League, and the ticket price to trophies won ratio must make them in real terms the worst value in the UK, if not the whole football world. There were probably passengers on the Titanic who had faith in Captain Smith until the icy water closed over them, but they've got nothing on the blind delusion of the ILWT brigade.
ENIC put nothing into the club because they're an investment company that want to maximise their profits. Building a new stadium will do that but get this, that will also help us, the luckless fans, in the long run. He fucked up with Stratford because he values certain things above the emotive ones - but then we did have plenty of fans that supported his OS bid at the time, so I guess some fans are pretty much as cut throat as he is - which this comments section is proving with each new post.
He's made mistakes for sure. I think most chairman do, some more than others. He's backed a fair few managers too, and we've spunked a fair few quid. But if you look at the progress we've made having had to bide our time during the Sky Sports era, we haven't done too badly have we? Considering we've attracted a fair few glory hunters that seem to enjoy jeering our chairman at the final whistle. Same fans I guess that stayed away from a few games last season - but yeah, we've got a waiting list so I must be wrong with that one.
14th richest club in world football, I guess if we spent more money on players with a 36k capacity we'll be maybe 18th richest but with masses of debt and no new training ground (which must double up as a theme park to steal away more of our cash from our wallets).
2 fucking draws and people want to start slatting him when not too long ago people were doing the opposite. When the sun shines people smile, when it doesn't they go around smacking people on the back of the head with their umbrella.
I've been one of Levy's biggest critics down the years. I'm hardly guilty of blind delusion. I do however give people the benefit of the doubt and allow for patience in each new chapter we write. This new chapter isn't even a page old.
Part of me actually wants us to drop into mid-table, sack the manager, return to mediocrity so that half of you can fuck off and do one.
This is meant to be about the long term, about being able to sustain what we have now, because without it some of our so called supporters will wonder off to pastures new.
;) <-- safety wink
AVB Out!!eleven! etc...
He's not a football manager or a coach. He's an opposition scout. No man management skills. Way out of his element at THFC. Looking to close a game out, he brings on Jenas. No one who has watched Spurs over the last 5 years would have JJ anywhere near the squad. Would any Spurs fans have made that decision? No.
AVB is Tom Ripley to Mourinho's Dickie Greenleaf. He's merely playing the part of being a football manager. The sooner Levy realises this the better. Levy has had made some terrible choices of manager. Bad judgement calls. And we lucked out with Jol and Redknapp.
Santini, Ramos, AVB. The Three Stooges. A terrifying triptych.
Moyes, Laudrup or even Jol could have built upon Redknapp's legacy. But we're now stuck with a guy who never even played the game. Mourinho didn't either, but he's a genius. AVB is completely out of his depth. Decent scout, terrible manager.
If we win The Double, then I'll admit to jumping to the wrong conclusion.
Modric out, Dembele in.
Great blog, Spooky.
haha
Tomorrow is another day.
Peace out.
You don't get the anti-levy-thing?
Spook, I just want to raise one-wafer-thin-point and I'm offline till D Day (Daniels Day).
"Mr Levy. With each season I pray that God will reach down and touch your soul, but it seems your pact with the devil is as strong as ever. All we want is ice cream in a cone with a flake. Instead, you shower us with crusty bread. Fact is, Mr Levy, is that you don’t care what the people want.
You wrote this Spook in 2005!
But take note of the final 15 minutes of today’s game. Yes, that wasn’t fickle football fans leaving early. And it wasn’t fickle football fans booing the team and having to listen to chants of ‘Your support is f**king shit’ being thrown back in their faces. They were people who, like me, are sick of you injecting smack into our veins. You have turned us into crackwhores. We know its bad for us, but yet we still come back for more. Knowing that it won’t end well. But we crave that next fix. And like the greedy dealer, you get rich off our misery. And when we die, there’s 20,000 other mugs waiting inline.
Any bells? .....Fcuk Levy, this is a fcuking reoccurring nightmare. D Day.
Did you really write this? "If you want to blame the chairman for that, surely you should blame yourself. If he’s going after the very best targets then he retains consistency in our ambitions to compete with the very best - something we all want. If that means not settling for second best at the cost of having to sign said players after the season starts, so be it. Fact is, we have no power or control over the transfer activity."
We should really blame ourselves for Levy's niggardliness. Really? And no control over transfer activity? What about a check book? Joe Lewis' check book, to be precise, the one backed by a £3.5 billion fortune?
Spooky, read this, you wrote it in 2009. It's scary, especially the part about Jenas. TTFN
Rome wasn't built in a day. But then again Rome wasn't built with plasticine. It seems that’s the main building block used by our centurions as they attempt to fathom the foundations for a brave new empire. Our putty like team of very small creatures is becoming stop-motion when it should be morphing and leaving all the goobledygook behind. It's the cause of missed heart beats. Are you as nervous as I am? You should be.
The last thing we want is for us to lose our grip on this very precious chance we've been given. You know exactly what I'm talking about. This season, nobody wants to do consistency. But at some point, someone, possibly more than one club will hit form. And if we're left behind then we'll be face palming well into the summer months at another lost opportunity. We don’t have to be great, we just have to be good. A little better than good will do just fine.
New stadium? Grand. Lovely. But that’s years away. And we've still got to get planning permission for it. And I can't be staring at photos of the proposed structure for the next half a decade whilst others travel around Europe visiting already built and populated stadia in the Champions League. Applause for all the sterling work off the pitch, with the business side of the club. I'm not naïve, I know that in this day and age the finances have to be strong in order for us to be able to spend £15M a pop on the latest player of the moment. Everything is primed and in place. It always has been. But that cutting edge in both decision making on a managerial level and on a chairman level has been left wanting. Leaving us with no cutting edge where it matters most - on the pitch.
You say, in a round-about-way that there is no money to spend on players. Meaning to sign someone we need to sell someone. Harry then comes out and suggests that all the proposed outgoing players according to the press are not actually going anywhere. And in the midst of all this we are meant to be signing Sandro. That's the Brazilian defensive midfielder, not Harry's better half. Classic word play there.
Obviously, what is said publicly is never a true reflection of what is going on behind the scenes, and that should be the case. No need to be in the know until the press conference. How we get there does not matter, as long as we do. As long as the conclusion is identical to the one the majority are hoping for. And in this case, the majority want to see certain players gone and brand spanking new ones arrive. You might believe that consistency regarding players is the way forward, but if some players are not capable of that, then consistency will never be forthcoming.
Recent results have highlighted that the team under Harry requires a bit of tweaking. By tweaking I mean gutting and by a bit I mean the same amount Jack the Ripper ripped out of his victims.
Harry has a monumental job in attempting to reshape a culture of comfort that exists deep in the psychosis of the club, no matter the players, staff or coach. The same niggling reoccurring issue of mental strength arises. Perhaps it’s our transfer policy and the ilk of players we traditionally bring here that are of a certain criteria that is only good enough for a mid-table to a rare 5th place position. Any player with true hunger for genuine success, looks elsewhere and we become a stepping stone for those who truly believe they can achieve more. Rather than those who don’t quite grasp the moment and remain content, chasing shadows on the field of play and women in bars.
Carrick moves on striding forwards with confidence. Jenas stays, picking his nose and chasing butterflies.
As a collective we constraint the entity that is Tottenham, eleven players, lacking a sustained balance to shift up a gear to the next level. From one generation to the next. It has to end. And doing it slowly slowly leaves no potential for a conveyor belt of club shop dvd releases. Score-draws are so yesterdays news darling. We want more. Much more. And we want it now.
It's time to throw more money at the problem at hand. It's the only way to fix it. No time for patience. No time to wait for the players to learn from their mistakes and grow together. They have taken us as far as they can. Harry (when he arrived) rid the club of the cloud of depression, got the players working as a unit, got us strong and capable away from home and lifted belief. But these blips we are experiencing are ones that are becoming detrimental to our immediate ambitions. It's because some of the players are punching above their weight and failing to land any shots.
The responsibility is split between yourself, the coach and the players. But one cannot move to resolve it unless the other two aid its attempt.
The blips need removing. Show Harry the money. Let Harry make the changes to the team and that will allow the team to turn from plasticine into something more quantifiable. Like Lego. You can build cool stuff with Lego. Like the Millennium Falcon. Plasticine doesn't do hyperdrive. And let's face it, Han Solo or Lando Calrissian sitting on top of a ball of clay in the midst of the Galactic Civil War is never going to be a cool or productive sight to behold. And remaining on this literal space kick...
Robbie Keane is playing football out of phase, like that episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation where Geordi La Forge's quantum state is out of sync with normal matter, leaving him invisible to all around him. Unable to influence anything or anyone around him. If I remember correctly, it was thanks to a transporter accident. Something that is quite possibly the reason behind Robbie's demise since his road trip north went south. He can't even be arsed to wave his hands around and shout anymore. That's the damage Rafa inflicted on this once crowd favourite. The player that made Berbatov look great.
Crouch isn't scoring the goals - proving that tall players are only good for hoofing the ball up to their head, and as he's useless with his head, he doesn't really do enough with his feet to warrant a place alongside Defoe. Honestly, that thing he does with his feet. You know, the controlling of the ball? Don't shout it out but I swear I've seen normally sized players do the same. Ssh.
And as for Defoe, over-rated. Scores five against Wigan then misses a penalty against Everton and does nothing against Wolves. That's all the evidence I need. He's due another loan spell.
Pavlyuchenko? I can't actually remember the last time I saw him play. Does he still wonder the aisles in the Tescos over in Waltham Abbey looking to pick up cheap dvd players with the aid of his interpreter? Can you perhaps email Comolli and ask him to forward the youtube link that he based his decision to sign him on? Perhaps we can sue the Frenchman for industrial sabotage.
The midfield requires more weight. And I'm not talking about feeding Huddlestone extra cheeseburgers. There is no leader, no one to scream and shout at the players. It's a fundamental basic ingredient. And it's missing. Talking of which, your poster boy Jenas is still knocking around. Doing what exactly remains a mystery. But there he is. There. Just standing, watching, as the world passes him by. Young English player with bonus sell-on value. So when the fuck do you ever plan on selling him then? HIS VALUE IS DECREASING WITH EACH SUNSET MATE.
And as for Hutton. Allow me to make a suggestion here based on what I know from experience. He was signed from Rangers. That's it. No more questions your honour, no more questions. Players that look good up in Scotland will probably be passable at a Championship side down south. I guess if the club spends £8M on Dean Richards, then £8M on Alan Hutton is a given. You know, cause we don't want to appear to be racialists.
Gio. Mexican. Likes to party. Doesn’t like to train. Played for Barcelona. He's going to be a mega star. He just needs time. More time. And protection. Just like Adel out on loan to QPR. Both world beaters. You just wait and see. Just wait. They can dribble, the lads. Get 'em playing for us. Recall Adel. Play Gio. I'm telling you, it's…okay, this one, it's going nowhere fast.
Even the good ones are struggling. Take Wilson Palacios who has gone from beast to Gruffalo. He has lost the tenacity and discipline to own the space between defence and the oppositions midfield. Like a key lost behind the sofa, he's busy looking for it in the kitchen. Its behind the sofa! The sofa, Wilson, the sofa! He just needs to refocus. Thankfully, that might happen with the aid of a little Croatian by the name of Luka. Small enough to fit his skinny arms and reach out for the missing key. But we cannot place all hope on his petite shoulders.
The back four changes it's line-up more times than Danielle Lloyd changes…ah, nah, I'm not going to go there. Way too easy. I'll be the first not to.
And don't even dare get me started on David Bentley. You know Dave, right? He's the one making mischief with the star jumping and the skip shooting. You can't miss him. He's wearing a wolf costume. And as punishment, Harry sends him to bed without his supper. And in his room a mysterious wild forest and sea grows out of his imagination and he sets sail to the Land of the Beck Things. These are smouldering good looking sexy creatures that Dave conquers by staring into their beautiful green eyes without blinking once and is made the King of all Beck Things. And he dances around with them in a not so but quite possibly metrosexual way and has much fun and then finds himself lonely and homesick so he returns to find that although his supper was left waiting for him, it was now gone. Yep. No hot supper. No, it wasn't Tommy. Not this time. It was patience. Patience ate his supper, his last supper. And as far as I'm concerned he can go back to his imagination land with his showboats and row z free-kicks if it means selling him to any mug willing to take him off our hands.
The problems we have, they are obvious ones. Do not allow complacency to ruin it. Remove the dead parts. Replace them. And then work with the improved group to further improve their state of mind. Your job is to make sure that Harry has the support to birth consistency before we lose our way completely.
All this is quite possibly in hand already. So I guess this just serves as a reminder of what I'm expecting. Because you know, us fans know exactly how a football club and team should be run more than anyone. Take note and get back to me at the end of January.
Regards,
Spooky
Ouch!
Pace Spooky and Tom.
Roll on boys. Next week all will be better. Modric gone. Hudds transfer will fall-through like Daws. Leandro signs at the last minute. And someone invents a cure for Herpes...Please, God!!!!!!!!!!!
ha, ha, ha, great write up, spooky.... I mean the one from 2009. Do not particularly remember reading it at the time (because there was a ton of good ones besides this one), but agree with everything you said there. We all changed, including our opinions, but it appears that JJ has never changed; he's still picking his nose and chases butterflies, lol
Quoting/re-posting letters? I hope, after all these years, you understand what all the letters have been representative of.
WE FINISH 4TH 5TH 4TH AND SACK OUR MANAGER.BE CAREFUL AVB.DONT FINISH HIGHER THAN 6TH OR YOUR OUT THE DOOR.COYS.
Did you really write this? "If you want to blame the chairman for that, surely you should blame yourself. If he’s going after the very best targets then he retains consistency in our ambitions to compete with the very best - something we all want. If that means not settling for second best at the cost of having to sign said players after the season starts, so be it. Fact is, we have no power or control over the transfer activity."
We should really blame ourselves for Levy's niggardliness. Really? And no control over transfer activity? What about a check book? Joe Lewis' check book, to be precise, the one backed by a £3.5 billion fortune?
Aug 26, 2012 at 11:43 PM | Jake Thr
Jake, the point is, people want top class players to sign. Majority of supporters want us to compete for CL football so we sit back and then watch people bitch and complain that we're not being realistic with our targets (when compared to those very same ambitions we actually are).
I'm not saying we haven't botched up with our scouting system but hey, we got rid of the DoF which is something we all cried for and got after it imploded in everyone's face. We always want more than we get.
Looks like Daws not going anywhere . See my previous post . COYS
Since this still seems to have some life in it, I'll chip in again - I'm old enough to remember when we were the undisputed kings of London football, and I'm talking about the 1980s, not the 1960s. Arsenal had sunk back to mid-table obscurity under Terry Neil, and Chelsea were becoming a fixture of the old 2nd Division, so how did we blow it so comprehensively? Simple - a succession of incompetent chairmen/owners, who swung from the delusional Irving Scholar, via the small-time money-grubbing mentality of Alan Sugar, to the hard-nosed soulless ENIC, with Levy as master of ceremonies. One masterful appointment by Arsenal completely transformed their fortunes, while we've been completely devoid of direction for nigh on 20 years, and Daniel Levy is clearly a big part of the problem, not the solution. I don't know how Spurs can regain their old status (certainly without an Abramovitch-style sugar daddy), but this pathetic 'In Levy We Trust' turns my stomach - grow-up, for God's sake!
It's clear my thoughts are not alone on Mr Levy. For crimes against Spurs we find you Guilty!
Let's start a campaign to get rid of him. Email me if any of you are interested. The hardest step is the first, but then we will get momentum. Set up a petition and start getting the message out there. We want answer to where the money has gone?
I love the assertion that it may take one or two seasons to see the benefits of change that we all desire.
It is the same argument that Snake Oil salesmen used in the old West...take this elixir now and in two weeks you will be cured, by which time I will be off somewhere distant with your money.
Every supporter has known that we have needed a top-class striker for the last 3 years. Everyone knew that Modric was leaving this year. Even for an outsider like AVB this must have been apparent and he must surely have given Levy his replacement targets.
Spooky, the fact that AVB still does not have his squad settled for the season doesn't just mean that we have gifted 4 points to clubs that we should beat, it also means that we will have to mould the squad during live action which in turn risks losing many more points before, hopefully, the new super-Spurs emerges.
It remains to be seen who, if anyone, Levy has up his sleeve, but if it is the likes of Willian and Leandro I for one will not have great expectations. The jury is also still out on Sigurdsson who has so far failed to make any impression (at least on me) and Vertonghen looked a bit frail against WBA. good on the ball but easily knocked off it.
I am not going to criticise AVB. Nothing is his fault as of yet (well maybe Jenas and Livermore in MF) but he can only use what he has to work with and within that remit the team shows periods of coherence without looking dangerous.
We moved a hundred years ago, your club was clamouring and begging to move east last year. Booing your own in the second game of the season. Breaking your wage structure for Ade. Fucking off some of the players that actually like Spurs. Tut tut. Mind the fucking Gap scum
LOL at losing your captain every single season you broken little tramp. Remind me again about the boos every time your team loses form, bin bags and cry babies. LOL. Brilliant indeed.
In answer to your question Spook, disillusion?!
Just to clarilfy mate. That was cold water I threw last night, not punches, so put the sock back on your foot, and move away from the pool table you mad cunt! I'm beginning to think you've succumb to Stockholm syndrome....
Ps. Can't wait to get a butchers at this historical document (we are still PLC aren't we?) or do you think it may be kept under lock and key, protected by free running Alsatians?
love and kisses x
Real Madrid has 1 pt after two games - fans do not boo, they wait and give the manager time. Why? He has shown his worth in the League (won the League last year) and the fans trust him.
Liverpool: 1pt after two games - fans do not boo, they wait and give the manager time. Why? He has shown his worth in the League (albeit with another team) and the fans have a least some little reason to trust him.
Spurs: 1pt after two games - YOU say fans should wait and give the manager time. Why? WHY? He may well succeed in the end but give one (1) reason why fans should have faith in this manager.
That's what we need at this time. A reason to believe. And I believe that we have NONE. That's why some knees are jerking out of control. Do you understand, spooky? He may succeed with this second chance but just realize that you have no justification when you tell people to sit tight and hope and wait. What has he done to justify this hope? I HOPE he succeeds but I have little to go on. There is no manna raining down in this desert to keep people walking on in faith behind this new Moses.
I have One. He's our manager, getting behind him will exhonerate us from any blame if he ends up blowin his toes off!
I`m not dissenting at this early stage............but I don`t see too much in the `he needs time` argument. Either I`ve spent a few months on Mars or our opposition on Saturday consisted of a new manager in charge of an average side playing away at a club that finished fourth last season. Stunning result for Mr Clarke, with no `time` needed. We can`t have it both ways.
The mockery for me was the pre season tour of the US. Playing the minimal number of games mainly against clubs from a non-footballing nation was a complete waste of time. We should have remained in Europe and at least have given AVB the opportunity to properly sus out his squad.
8 points behind Chelsea already. More points dropped when we should have won easily again. Game should have been dead after 20 minutes. Then when we do get the lead, we bring Jenas on for Defoe? I see what you mean about not changing things quickly as Harry would have done the same thing. Also what was the point of bring on Ade who obviously is short of match practice / unfit. If he has faith in Kane then he should have come on. Then inviting the pressure on we turn into a total farce at the back. West Brom would have won easily if they hadn't sat back for so long and wait to attacj us until the last 15 minutes. I was optimistic but I am starting to believe we have seen this all before and after being given an easier than normal start to the season I can maybe see us just making the top 10. Even after getting the Judas cash we are still pussy footing about in the transfer market. Clubs that mean business buy new players before preseason so that they have the chance to settle into the team before it starts. Another Norwich defeat this weekend is on the horizon as any team would love to play us at the moment. We may have one more point than at this stage last year (repeat of when I came here we had 2 points out of 8 games........) but the teams we have played we took 10 points off last season so the real match up is we got 4 points in the matching fixtures. Maybe we can rectify that this weekend but most of the fans I was with on Saturday are resigned to another loss. Anyone want some tickets............
Please do not sell Lennon...doing so might lead your club to become a serious one.
No.
Please let him stay. While we are at it. Ditto for Defoe.