Comments on: Juande Ramos, Ramon Monchi, Martin Jol and Damien Comolli – a synthesis

By: Stuart

Stuart — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 02:20:58 +0000

I seem to recall a promise made at Spurs to “sign a world-class manager”. We waited and waited and then eventually got Jaques Santini after he was outed by France having failed to motivate a good side in a major tournament. We couldn’t really get one then and we’ve had to do some pretty nasty stuff to get one now. Santini’s conract was a joke and it was clear that their was no longterm hope of him staying at the club and it was just done to save the borads blushes and to restore confidence in share prices.

I think when we do things like that, we show ourselves to be smalltime jokers at Spurs. I said it in another post tonight, but I think this guy (Ramos) will be off to a bigger club soon enough and we’ll be back where we were and may find we’ve turned an already unpopular and hard-to-do job into a real poisoned chalice.

Those who run Spurs might as well put pots and pans on their heads and have headbutting matches like in that very funny scene from the Simpsons. We’re such a joke it’s not funny (does that make sense?). God Knows.

By: Hugo Steckelmacher

Hugo Steckelmacher — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 20:32:01 +0000

For the record, I am NOT saying that Ramos will be a failure, far from it. I’d just like people to put his achievements at Sevilla in perspective, and to point out that no matter what glossy exterior is shown on the 125 anniversary DVD, the situation at Spurs may well be at breaking point.

By: Hartfelt

Hartfelt — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 19:32:47 +0000

At last, a reasoned article on Ramos rather than annointing him the lastest messiah. Well done that man for pointing out one of the key reasons of Ramos’ success at Sevilla (who were lucky in both legs to get past Spurs in the UEFA).

Unless the midfield, defence and left-side are properly attended to, I think Ramos will have no more success than Jol.Still back-to-back fifths would be great! Zokora needs to go, (it pains me to say it but I’m not convinced by the progress of Hudd either), we’ve got Bale but we need a proper LW for him to link up with from the back, and the defence, well say no more. No Ledley. No defence. It can’t carry on like that. Personally I think Robbo can be salvaged by the right coach. He hasn’t suddenly lost all the talent that made him so essential for the last two seasons.

I also wouldn’t paper over Ramos’ poor English, even with Gus Poyet in place. Not great for establishing rapports with players.

By: bob

bob — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 17:34:18 +0000

Good comment from JimB.

daniel’s signing analysis also good, but i would add Assou Ekotto to the jury’s out list because of injuries disrupting his development. Also don’t forget we got almost all our money back on Murphy, and we were chasing him well before Comolli came to the club. So all in all, whoever is responsible it’s not a bad record.

As to the treatment of MJ, yes it was poor, but no worse than Aresenal’s treatment of Bruce Rioch who wasn’t told he was only hired while they waited for Wenger and then dropped like a stone; snd not as bad as Chelsea who actually hired Mourinho’s replacement before they fired him! This is football today, all carried out in the media spotlight

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 16:29:32 +0000

Jim B – The reason everyone started saying that Bent was Comolli’s choice rather than Jol’s was that a series of in-depth accounts of life inside Tottenham, published in The Guardian and elsewhere, reported that as a fact. It’s possible that they were wrong, but as they were clearly based on calculated leaks from within the competing Tottenham camps, it’s not quite fair to say that “the story has changed” for no reason. In the summer, we got the happy public face of the Spurs PR department; in the fall, we got insider accounts from employees in the middle of fighting for their jobs. Believe whichever you like. Neither is completely trustworthy, but in my opinion the latter has more of a ring of truth.

Hugo – Thanks for the excellent post. I’m really glad to see someone else drawing attention to the role of Monchi at Sevilla!

By: JimB

JimB — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 15:58:50 +0000

“Numerous signings were forced on the Dutchman (Darren Bent is known to have been Commoli’s choice) whilst his few demands (another centre back, the signing of Elano) were ignored outright by the technical staff.”

Amazing! I love it that so many people, both in the media and on blogs like this, know for a fact exactly what has gone on behind the scenes at Spurs.

The reality, of course, is that you are talking out of your arses. You haven’t got the first idea about what really happened. You don’t know for a fact that Bent was Comolli’s choice at all. You are simply saying it because it suits your argument to do so. The truth is that all the reports in the summer suggested that it was Jol who really wanted Bent. Now that it’s all gone wrong, the story has changed. Go figure!

Frankly, it is a nonsense to suggest that any senior player was imposed upon Jol, against his will, or that all his requests were specifically ignored. Levy is not in the business of sabotaging his own interests.

By: daniel

daniel — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 15:26:37 +0000

If Commoli makes the signings then lets look at his record at spurs:

Good Signings:
Berbatov, Bale, Chimbonda, Tarrabt, Rose,

Bad Signings:
Assou-Ekotto, Zokora, Rocha, Murphy

Jury is Out:
Bent, Kaboul, Malbranque, Prince Boateng, Alnwick.

So I Guess its a bit of a mixed bag, but one thing is for sure he has to take some of the blame for the soft center of the spurs midfield….

By: SpiralArchitect

SpiralArchitect — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 15:12:57 +0000

I was just waiting for this kind of article to come from a Spurs fan. Well written & a balanced viewpoint that tries to separate the wheat from the chaff (truth from the crap…get it? ; yeah alright, dumb joke).

Maybe the exodus of managers this season has been due to the weight of too much expectation. Mourinho left under the weight of Abramovich’s expectations, Jol left because of the Tottenham Board’s expectations & Sammy Lee left because the Bolton players expected him to be like another (Big) Sam.

Contrast this with managers like SAF & Wenger who went through similar criticisms in their careers but received patience & forbearance from fans & owners alike. People forget that the first 3 years of SAF’s reign were absolute crap &, despite winning the Double in his first full season Wenger went through 4 lean seasons until he had another success.

My point is, what will it take for Tottenham, as a club, to rise out of this level of mediocrity & see past the crap & hype to make the right decisions? Keith Burkinshaw once said “there used to be a football club here”. Maybe that statment still rings true after 20 years.

By: There's always next season

There's always next season — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 15:08:01 +0000

“Commoli the chameleon is supposed to be a difficult man to get on with, is always present to celebrate good news, but is rarely available to take responsibility for his actions — yet it is conspicuously clear that many of the Frenchman’s top-name signings have quite simply not made the cut.”

The Board have put their money in.

BMJ put his heart & soul in.

The fans have put their faith and support in.

Commoli put the knife in. He adds nothing, and takes plenty away.

By: Blaugrana

Blaugrana — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:57:00 +0000

Ramos will fail