Poster boy redeems himself?

I didn't catch the half-time Sky Sports pundit panel the other night, but did see the same footage (of Bentley falling over 3 times) before they showed the other angle where it proved he was actually fouled.

"It wasn't a foul"

Since then, I've watched the footage where Jamie asks 3 times for the production team to show it, with Richard Keyes scoffing and suggesting he was 'clutching at straws'. Until of course, the other angle proves Bentley was tripped.

Seems having his dad as the manager of the much maligned Tottenham (violin plays) has sent Jamie a little insane. How dare he question Sky and their bias in favour of their Top Four©.

May the madness continue.

Now Bentley is at it

Interviewed by the highbrow ZOO magazine (you can read the extract on Sky Sports) David Bentley has been stating the bloody obvious. It's another slice of sound-bite heaven.

"Throughout this hard start to Tottenham's season, it's the fans who have suffered most"

Insightful. Is it the constant booing and depression at WHL? Or maybe the humiliation of two points and bottom of the table? While most fans struggle to get together the £700 or so to buy a season ticket, you earn £30K+ for hitting the first man with every corner. It's the type of irony that gently crawls up your back and then bites you in the neck, sucking the very life out of you.

"They are the ones who pay good money, they are the ones who have the right to be frustrated and they are the ones we are trying to make proud"

Not trying hard enough. Stop trying to appease us with awareness of perspective. We know we have the right, but I see no proud-making attempts on the pitch. Just chaos.

"A lot of people have an opinion on us at the moment, but it's the fans who really matter"

Again with a shout-out to the fans. Yeah, we are the ones that matter. Thanks for pointing that out, but how about changing peoples opinion by producing the good on the pitch? At least then I can be spared reading yet another Spurs players 'We know we've been shit, we're gonna try our bestest, its gonna be alright' interview.

"Our next league game is at Stoke and playing away might feel a little easier for some of our team right now. At home, you feel the tension on the pitch and there are those who might prefer away games, where there's less expectation"

Honestly, what kind of sodding excuse is this? Is David placing the blame on fan-pressure? A few times this season we have attempted to get the boys going with one or two emotional sing-a-longs, to no avail. A team that believes its better than it is (and if you listen to King, Woodgate, Dawson and Bent you'd think we were almost potential world-beaters) shouldn't be choking or freezing on their home patch. And as for 'less expectation' away, this is probably the reason why our away record over the years has been so pathetic. Where is the confidence? Ok, sure, it's not sitting amongst us at the minute, but to suggest that Spurs have less expectation in away games is quite possibly the most backwards thing I've heard in recent weeks. I know what David is trying to say, but regardless, it's stupid.

"There will always be stick from the fans, but if you're not performing, what do you expect? Does it affect some of the lads? You'll have to ask them"

So in other words, yes it does affect them. What a bunch of pussies.

"From one win, we can rebuild our season. It hasn't happened for some reason but we have faith in our ability - we have to - and believe we'll get out of trouble. It's about attitude and when we get out of this dip, we will be stronger for it."

I'm wondering what the likes of Ramos, Poyet, Bent, King and Bentley churn out if we lose to Stoke on Sunday? Because they are fast running out of soundbites. One win will probably kick-start the season, but that win has to come on Sunday and if it fails to come in the next 3-4 games, then go into hiding for a couple of seasons.

Dead Man Walking

Dead Man Walking - Guest Blog by 'The East Stander'

On Sky’s Sunday Supplement, various journalists (and I use that word loosely) debated the current state of Tottenham Hotspur. You can watch the video here:

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11096_2665571,00.html .

It’s Damien Comolli you idiots, not Daniel. And Martin Jol wasn’t brought to the club originally as a Director of Football either. Superb researching on display by England’s finest reporters. I’m not going to dispute any longer that Jol’s position at the club is on thin ice. Even though the journos from the above link were making assumptions based on rumours, the fact that people are discussing any of this means that it’s in the heads of Levy and Jol and pressure is then created from a situation where it might not have existed in the first place.

Jol gave his speech last season and gave credit to Levy. After the opening two defeats, people claiming to know people at the club began to spread rumours. Jol’s job was no longer safe. He and Levy did not see eye to eye. Comolli and Jol do not get on. Jol has not approved of several signings made (i.e. Zokora, Bent). Suddenly, it’s being suggested that the past two years have been achieved through a divided management team that do not get on.

Bookies stopped taking bets on Jol being sacked.

This (prior to the Derby game) appeared on a Spurs forum:

Right dont shoot the messenger but I’m just passing on what I’ve been told this morning by my friend...
He is helping out a lad today whose dad is very good mates with Chris Hughton...
He has said Jol and him are gone after the Derby game whatever happens..
Jol has said to the players he wants a win against derby, a wave goodbye to the crowd before being forced out, he wants to leave with his head held high...
It fits in with what is being said...
Id be gutted if he goes as I love him as a character and a personality, but I’ve been having doubts for a while now whether he has what it takes it get us challenging for the next level...
And was echoed across other forums that suggested that Jol was a dead man walking.

Of course, Spurs won 4-0. And the people who suggested Jol was gone backtracked, saying that Levy had not been able to draft in a replacement and that apparently he will get rid of the manager once we ‘the fans’ turn against him. The Favourite being Ramos of Seville who was apparently spotted with chief executive John Alexander and director Paul Kemsley. The Sunday Mirror had pictures (too low quality to print). Ramos denied the stories, but people would simply suggest ‘where there’s smoke there’s fire’.

There’s been no official word from Spurs. Of course any official word would probably constitute a ‘vote of confidence’ so they can’t win on that front.

But even though I would want to dismiss all stories as mis-truths, Jol appears to be fighting his corner:

“I always think of David Moyes and Everton,” Martin Jol, the Tottenham Hotspur manager, said. “He had a very good year, then the next year was horrendous, but nobody said anything. And now they have a good team and are challenging for the top six. So I just think, leave me be.”

“The board has never personally told me I have to break into the top four,” Jol said, “and betting on me to get the sack, I don’t think so – but you never know. I thought there were whispers last year, but there are whispers at every club. I’m the same as maybe seven people in every ten – I can’t take f***ing criticism.

“As a manager, you want time to build a team. Look at Arsenal and Liverpool, how many of my players would get in for them? If it is six or seven, then we must be fourth. If it is one or two, then we are overachieving. In 25 years, no Tottenham manager has had the number of points we have won over two seasons. None of them.”

Unless he is fighting the media rather than Levy with his words.

On another Spurs forum, a member was asked to post the following – which is apparently from a Spurs board member. Not exactly official club policy to go through a message board rather than the official club site:

As I know you are always in the chatroom, can I provide you with the current position please.

Re Ramos, Klinsmann etc - We are not negotiating with any managers about the replacement of Martin Jol at this time. We are an ambitious club and it is a realistic ambition that we should look to CL qualification, so anything that looks like we may not make it is bound to lead to speculation and we fully expect that. No manager's future is decided on one or two games and it is insulting to suggest that this board would do that.

Re Martin and Damien - they have a good working relationship - the football management board works - no player comes into this club that Martin doesnt agree to - it would be ludicrous to suggest that money would be spent on players Martin did not favour and whom he would not then play, Damien has brought talent to the club with Martin's approval - and we would not have players like Berbatov and Bale without him to mention but two (there are obviously many more).

Re left position - always difficult as evidenced by the fact that the majority of prem teams (Liverpool a notable exception) play a right footer on the left. We have Lennon, Malbranque (who played a blinder on the left yesterday) Bale and Keane. So we have many options and yet we will still look as depth is a key factor of the squad.

Please let me know if any rumours running amok that I have not answered here - will be happy to! best regards,

Too confusing, isn’t it? No real way of knowing whether Mido’s dig at Tottenham’s ‘politics’ is true or just a bitter parting word at the fact that he was shifted out of the club having dropped to 5th in the pecking order.

And are forums really this powerful tool of mass hysteria where a few words posted suddenly appear in the next days edition of The Sun or Mirror?

Is Levy to blame for failing to buck a trend and behave in the manner that has become synonymous with the past - bad management. Why do we have to persistently rock the boat? Or is modern day football to blame, breeding impatience in the terraces and on the board.

Maybe its not all rumours. Maybe there is truth in it. Maybe I'm blinded by the fact that Jol has achieved great success compared to the past set of managers who have failed miserably - but I fail to see that he might not be capable of taking us further.

I said that I no longer dispute the fact that Jol's days maybe numbered. And as you can tell from this article I am unable to settle down into one school of thought on this.

If Jol wasn't in trouble he is now. And its more to do with the hype surrounding it than the actual logical process that should be considered (i.e. give Jol the time he needs).

Maybe sacking him isn't too bad an idea if Ramos replaces him. But I just can't find myself liking that idea at this moment. That must make me pro-Jol and anti-Levy. Spooky will be pleased with that. Though he's anti-everything at the best of times.

TES