Gust of wind

Playing catch-up with some of last weeks headlines.

With the media-shy Levy getting in as many soundbites and quotes as humanly possible, and Ramos quietly accepting the £1.7M pay-off we were treated to a slice of Poyet-pie. Remember him? Meant to be one of the promising young coaches in the country. Nonsense Gus looked the part up until he had to do every post-match interview with a glum look on his face telling us Bent and Pav can't play together, along with how unacceptable one defeat after another (and another) was.

He's come out all guns blazing, pointing his finger in the direction of Mr Chairman. Subject material? Berbatov of course.

With Levy telling us his side of the story the week before, Poyet manages to echo what most people truly believe. That Levy completely mis-managed the whole sorry saga from start to finish.

£6M 'more' made on the transfer for waiting until the final rather than sell him the end of May. And his comment about 'How much is six points worth?' is something most of us have pointed out (in the sense that starting the season lacking strength up front meant that over the course of the season we could lose £6M or more by finishing in a low position).

Poyet also slates the players for being flash, citing one 20 year old Spurs 'star' for spending a bit of money on a Ferrari and then drops the bombshell that although it was a 'great job' at Spurs, he wasn't involved as much as he wanted to be.

Ok. Firstly, Berba. Regardless of the shambles our summer transfer melee was, why is it that Harry Redknapp took all of 3 seconds to get the team working as a unit? Bent is scoring goals. Modric has found his way around the Premiership and we are winning games, home and away.

Same players Gus. No different to what you and Ramos had. Why was Bentley and Modric marginalised into playing unconventional roles in the team, out of their positions? And if you were not involved as much as you wanted to be, then what exactly was your involvement? Glorified interpreter? Ramos really was lost over here, wasn't he?

And shock horror, all footballers are twats. Buying a Ferrari, paying for hookers, getting a hair transplant then shaving it off, losing thousands on cards.....they are boys who can afford bigger toys than the average boy. Don't be jealous.

Sorry it didn't work out. And tbh, no hard feelings. Good luck, and if you are still wondering about the Newcastle job my advice would be - don't be a mug.

tabloid round-up

Headlines from today's rags.

Tottenham are set to fire sporting director Damien Comolli, who has angered manager Juande Ramos with his transfer dealings. (The Sun)

Well, if you think back to the Ramos appointment Levy did say that Comolli wanted him at the club as he is the perfect 'coach' to work in a DoF structure thus allowing Levy a bullet-proof patsy if things don't go well. Sacking him would help appease all the disgruntlment, although people are stupid. Fact is, if Comolli is a failure who has been allowed to spend so much money, should the person who appointed him not be made accountable?

Probablity Factor: 8/10

But Ramos has been given a personal assurance by Spurs chairman Daniel Levy that he will be given time to turn the club around. (Daily Mirror)

Ramos was told not to worry about his future by Levy immediately after Spurs' defeat by Hull City on Sunday. (Daily Star)

Dear God, not the dreaded 'vote of confidence'? Wondering how much of this is just speculation. Nobody knows, unless Levy is directly quoted as confirming he said this. Can't imagine the chairman rushing down to the dressing rooms to tell the coach not to fret.

Probability Factor: 3/10

There is boardroom unrest at Tottenham about the role Levy has played in the club's worst start to the season since 1912 after he gave the green light to Dimitar Berbatov's £30m deadline-day move to Manchester United. (Daily Mail)

This is just shit journalism.

Tottenham's first-team coach Gus Poyet is the man most likely to replace Ramos if the Spaniard does leave White Hart Lane. (Daily Mirror)

Really? Anything to do with him being the current number 2 at Spurs? Honestly, the deduction skills of the Daily Mirror astonish me. I was half expecting Spurs to invite Mitchell Thomas to take over as care-taker. Gutted.

Probabilty Factor: 11/10

Spurs' £15m winger David Bentley is furious with Ramos because he feels his manager's rotation policy is the reason he has been left out of Fabio Capello's latest England squad. (Daily Express)

More lazy journalism. Bentley should be furious with himself and his own form, being the reason he is not in the England squad. Yeah, I know, Ramos has played him out of position - not ideal, but regardless he hasn't shown anything to warrant a first team place in his natural right-wing position.

Ramos and Poyet, two peas in a pod

I had a conversation with a fellow Spurs fan a week before the season kicked off. He said it was IMPERATIVE we won at Boro. I agreed. Confidence wise, to win opening day, away from home, and collect 3 points would see us start on a positive. Confidence wise we would have continued on a high. But the reality was it went to shit, and got worse.

Playing one up front is OK when you play Chelsea away, but at Pompey, it's almost felt like Ramos was telling the board, "Here you go....here's the team you have built for me".

Its a mess. Which would mean the DoF isn't working the way it's meant to, because Levy stated Comolli wanted Ramos, because they could 'work' together on transfer targets.

The final 15 mins or so of the game at Portsmouth saw Ramos and Poyet sitting down, with the look of disillusion. If you wanted to be a conspiracy theorist about it, you could argue Poyet's insistent repeated post-match 'complaint' of Pav and Bent being the same type of player, thus they can't play together being a subtle hint at how unhappy management are.

Reading between the lines is all you can do until something gives.

BBC 5 Live on the scene.....

BBC Five Live have a reporter up at the Spurs Lodge who apparently has just spoken to Poyet.

This is what Ramos right-hand man had to say:

Woodgate

'I would love to sign Woodgate, hes a magnificent player, I hope we can sort something out'

Chimbonda

'Chimbonda played one of his best ever games for the club on Tuesday......we'll see'

Berbatov

'I guarantee he will be at the club when we go to Wembley...that is unless Abramovich gives us a 100 million for him'

Bit of beeb whorage for you right there.

Whorage

The ITK's are claiming Ramos and Poyet in by next Wednesday. We already know Allen and Inglethorpe are taking charge of Sundays clash against Blackburn. Rovers, I think, are still unbeaten in the Prem. Can't see anything other than an away win. Bar some miracle.

Bizarro World

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 care

However, 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.