Slipperduke
The Camden Cad
As Daniel Levy sits and stares at the league table during this interminable international break, I wonder how long it will be before he concludes that, with the benefit of hindsight, finishing fifth every year wasn't actually all that bad.
Tottenham Hotspur are in crisis. Even though it's difficult to believe that they could somehow finish up with less points than the likes of Fulham, Stoke and Newcastle, you can't quite rule out relegation. This is a side that could only score once in total against Hull, Wigan and Sunderland at home, so nothing is certain. Nottingham Forest were 'too good to go down' in 1993, as were Manchester City, West Ham and Leeds United in later years. A brutal fight for survival is not quite what their supporters had in mind this year, and they're searching for a scapegoat.
The natural candidate for that position is always the manager but, despite a number of rather obvious failings, Juande Ramos' job is safe for the moment. His proven record of success in Spain helps, but not nearly as much as the knowledge that it will take nearly SG$50m to pay him off if the axe falls. The Spaniard's kaleidoscope-style tactics, with every turn a different combination of flair players and formation, are failing him, but the Tottenham fans' faith is holding steady. With less than a year in the job, it seems a little harsh to blame him for a cancer that has long since spread beyond the team-sheet.
The ridiculous, self-defeating lunacy of the so-called 'continental management structure' is the real enemy at White Hart Lane. The idea that spreading power through the club and then splitting it between dominant, conflicting personalities will somehow lead to a greater ideological cohesion is as batty as Sarah Palin's alleged views on evolution. Director of Football Damien Comolli has recruited players that haven't even been given squad numbers by Ramos, wasting wages and filling the training ground with grumpy, rebellious footballers. Yes, it is too much to expect one man to run an entire football club in the old fashioned way, but surely it makes more sense to allow the manager to choose his own staff and delegate to his own requirements?
While Comolli's position is in serious doubt, the man who should certainly be clearing his desk is the man directly above him. The man who has presided over this long period of instability, inconsistence and incompetence. Levy is the one who must be held accountable.
He messed around with the transfer of Dimitar Berbatov, he allowed Comolli's influence to grow to dangerous levels but, most critically of all, he brutally sacked the only manager to have taken Tottenham within touching distance of the top four since Terry Venables. Martin Jol was one bout of food poisioning away from the Champions League, yet an injury ravaged start to last season, which was still a better start than this season, cost him his job in the cruellest of circumstances.
Levy should reflect on the wisdom of slipping off to Spain under cloak and dagger to recruit Ramos. He should ask himself why he removed Jol so ruthlessly and he must question the way course of action. It's not Ramos that should be leaving. It's him.
Tottenham Hotspur are in crisis. Even though it's difficult to believe that they could somehow finish up with less points than the likes of Fulham, Stoke and Newcastle, you can't quite rule out relegation. This is a side that could only score once in total against Hull, Wigan and Sunderland at home, so nothing is certain. Nottingham Forest were 'too good to go down' in 1993, as were Manchester City, West Ham and Leeds United in later years. A brutal fight for survival is not quite what their supporters had in mind this year, and they're searching for a scapegoat.
The natural candidate for that position is always the manager but, despite a number of rather obvious failings, Juande Ramos' job is safe for the moment. His proven record of success in Spain helps, but not nearly as much as the knowledge that it will take nearly SG$50m to pay him off if the axe falls. The Spaniard's kaleidoscope-style tactics, with every turn a different combination of flair players and formation, are failing him, but the Tottenham fans' faith is holding steady. With less than a year in the job, it seems a little harsh to blame him for a cancer that has long since spread beyond the team-sheet.
The ridiculous, self-defeating lunacy of the so-called 'continental management structure' is the real enemy at White Hart Lane. The idea that spreading power through the club and then splitting it between dominant, conflicting personalities will somehow lead to a greater ideological cohesion is as batty as Sarah Palin's alleged views on evolution. Director of Football Damien Comolli has recruited players that haven't even been given squad numbers by Ramos, wasting wages and filling the training ground with grumpy, rebellious footballers. Yes, it is too much to expect one man to run an entire football club in the old fashioned way, but surely it makes more sense to allow the manager to choose his own staff and delegate to his own requirements?
While Comolli's position is in serious doubt, the man who should certainly be clearing his desk is the man directly above him. The man who has presided over this long period of instability, inconsistence and incompetence. Levy is the one who must be held accountable.
He messed around with the transfer of Dimitar Berbatov, he allowed Comolli's influence to grow to dangerous levels but, most critically of all, he brutally sacked the only manager to have taken Tottenham within touching distance of the top four since Terry Venables. Martin Jol was one bout of food poisioning away from the Champions League, yet an injury ravaged start to last season, which was still a better start than this season, cost him his job in the cruellest of circumstances.
Levy should reflect on the wisdom of slipping off to Spain under cloak and dagger to recruit Ramos. He should ask himself why he removed Jol so ruthlessly and he must question the way course of action. It's not Ramos that should be leaving. It's him.
