Tottenham’s Tony Soprano’s 2nd Season: Success or Failure?
After the disappointment of the UEFA Cup exit to Sevilla, I was baffled at some fans’ calls for our very own “Tony Soprano’s” head, and whilst Martin Jol is the last person I would like to see leave Spurs, failure to qualify for Europe this year would be more than just – according to Aaron Lennon – “a slight step back”; it would be a disaster.
This year Jol has apparently been shown up for a lack of tactical nous, a defence who leaks goals and a weak push to break into the top 4, but are these criticisms justified? In my opinion no, and I will explain why…
Tactical Inability
Never more evident than in the return leg at home to Sevilla, where after being 2-0 down in ten minutes, Jol failed to make a substitution, let alone bring on another striker until the hour mark, or so some people think.
What could our Tony have done? Made sweeping changes to a side who conceded 1) a freak own goal - not down to poor tactics but a lack of concentration 2) a second due to a defensive lapse in the aftermath of the first goal?
No. Jol instead had the confidence to trust his players who had had a perfect record (barring the 1st leg Sevilla loss) of eight wins out of eight in this year’s UEFA Cup, and to produce some of the positive, flowing football he knew they were capable of.
Unfortunately it was not to be, as Dimitar Berbatov’s shot may have hit the post and gone in on another night, and somebody (anybody!) but Dawson could have been on the end of that volley.
At least Jol did not throw on Mido for us to launch long balls to, as that really would have shown tactical incapacity.
I feel that rather than being incapable, Jol chose to test his players’ mental strength and fighting power. Rather than considering our UEFA Cup episode a failure, the team should accept it as an experience they can build on and learn from next season.
Defensive Weakness
This year in the Premiership Spurs have been deemed the most ‘watchable’ team due to our high scoring games, but while 104 goals have gone in during our 35 league fixtures, we have conceded 52 of them, having a worse goals against record than Sheffield United!
One must take into account what Jol himself described as a “defensive crisis”, where at worst, five first choice defenders were unavailable in the second leg of the Sevilla game; probably the most important game of our year.
It is no wonder that a team who has had 20 different combinations of back four during the year, and have been without our captain and rock Ledley King for a large part of it have conceded so many goals.
With him back and fully fit next year, as well as investment in a top-quality left-back, and a Hail Mary for fewer injuries, we will have to tighten up defensively if we are to be on a par with the top teams.
‘Failure’ to break Top 4
Jol ‘falling short’ in this department has been flagged by some fans, but I would tell them to get a reality check. What chance did we have of breaking into the Top 4? Realistically?
Firstly, and what many fail to take into account, is the increase in games from last year, and the effect it has on the squad.
By February 10th this year, with just over 3 months of the season left to go and two cups to play for as well as a solid league position to chase, we had already played 40 games, the same number of games we played during the whole of last season.
This huge games hike has led to forced rotation as well as a number of injuries as we have played three games a week virtually all season, as opposed to last year’s one, due to third round exits from the Carling Cup and FA Cup.
Some may argue that if Spurs are a top side and wish to break into the top 4, they should be able to handle all of these problems, as say, Arsenal have in the last two seasons.
However were Spurs a top-6 side, let alone a top-4 side before Jol arrived? The aspiration to emulate former glory days was there, but the players were always found wanting. Jol has instilled a professionalism that has allowed them to apply themselves over the last two years.
Though there is the occasional lapse, this is to be expected of a young side who is learning every game. For those who are unsatisfied, they need only be reminded of the days of David Pleat (cringe) and Timothee Atouba (double cringe) to see how much Jol’s positive attacking style and calm, rational approach has transformed a team who until last year, were the only Premiership side never to finish in the top or bottom 6, always settling for mid-table mediocrity.
If Spurs qualify for Europe this season, be it even in 7th place due to Manchester United and Chelsea’s FA Cup date, some may say they are lucky, but after coming to terms with the difficulties faced this season, I would say we are due a rub of the green.
Though the threat of finishing outside the top 7 is looming and will perhaps define Jol’s season a failure, it is in our own hands to finish 7th, 6th or even 5th, and now we are concentrating solely on the league, I would not put it past Jol to pull this one out of the hat.
The 2008 Soccerlens Awards: Vote For Your Favourite Football Sites Here
Very measured article, and more importantly spot on…it’d be a disaster to see Jol leave after such good work in 2 seasons. Hopefully rash decision making by the board/management are a thing of the past and we can look forward to improving year on year…be it performances on the pitch or league position.
Too many fans are worried about what other clubs are doing and expect us to achieve the same, when they (eg Arsenal) have had alot longer to achieve what they set out to.
COYS
I whole-heartedly agree with your article. It is about time the nay-sayers stopped screaming for their constant change. I for one think although Jol has been wrong in delaying some substitutions or even made some odd choices in this regard, there is no one better at the club or around it to know exactly what is required at those moment of a game.
Jol has proven himself to be the best league and European Manager this club has had since before Venables. If he wins a cup he will be on a par with Venables in that regard. I for one have never been so proud to be a Spurs fan. Not because this is the greatest side since 1980 when I began supporting them, but because after years or mediocrity we are visibly improving and doing so the right way on a stable base with a young exciting team and a youngish manager who may yet take us all the way. This team is the first to make my father (an avid fan since before the double winning side) take notice and believe in the side again. COYS and ‘I love Martin Jol, Martin Jol loves me’
Nice to see some positive spin for the end of the season. COYS!!
Zed, you could definitely get a job as Tony Blair’s spin doctor…I guess your take on Joseph Stalin is that he was a kindly old man who loved nothing better than smoking a pipe and helping his people to live a long and fulfilling life.
Tactical Inability is not confined to one game against Seville….there was the Arsenal League Cup fiasco, the Chelsea FA Cup fiasco and several other instances where, far from playing free-flowing, attractive football we were totally inept with no cohesion between defence and attack. If you want an example just look at the second half against Arsenal both times at the Lane and the first half against Seviie. How many goals have our mid-field players contributed from in and around the box….hardly any because they never get there to support the attack.
Defensive Weakness……yes Ledley King missing has made a difference but…..Chimbonda was a full-bloodied attacking full-back when he came and now looks lost in defensive terms and hardly ever supports the attack. Dawson, much as I like him, still hasn’t learned how to mark at set-pieces and corners, and we have no left-back worthy of the name, although Lee did improve before he was injured. Question is, what does Jol do on the training pitch to get the defence operating as a unit….whatever it is it doesn’t work.
Failure to break into the Top 4…..here the questions come down to player acquisitions/releases, tactics and coaching. The “He didn’t want to play for us so we had to sell him” school of thought over Michael Carrick’s departure is, in my opinion, rubbish and shows how weak Jol is and how greedy the Chairman is. Carrick had 2 years to run on his contract and wants to play for England, so tell him he stays and if he doesn’t produce he plays in the reserves…we are no worse off and ManU do not benefit from gaining a great player who manages to keep their Top 4 position assured…without him they would have been extremely vulnerable, thus opening-up an opportunity for us. Also, look at the absolutley average players he brought in…Malbranque, Tainio, Ghaly, Assou-Ekotto, Lee, Mido, Murphy, Staltieri plus the deployment of Zokora as a holding mid-field player a la Carrick, which he clearly isn’t, and the suppression of Chimbonda.
Given the players available a good manager would have mounted a much more consistent challenge for Top 4, but I do not think Jol has the ability to judge players abilities or to organise them into a serious footballing side.
As Jol is obviously not going anywhere at the moment, I would suggest that this transfer window is one key part of our future in finding palyers with the necessary character and skill to take charge of the mid-field area and bring cohesion to our game. The other key factor will be for Jol to admit his shortcomings and appoint a tactics coach who can help the players realize their potential.
Sorry to say, I do not anticipate either of these things happening and we will have more of the same next season, which is what Jol is quoted as saying will represent success. Well in my book to say that your aim is to ensure a Top 6 finish every year reveal much about the aspirations of Jol and the Board and is not good enough for our club. The aim has to be to win the Premiership, and if we fail, to fail gloriously not in the meek and mediocre way we are failing today.
Good Article. Those calling for his head have got too used to Change for Change sake. We should focus on getting behind the manager and the squad and building further over the next 3 seasons; tactically I think Big Martin has improved and with a team like ours with 20 mins to go attack is the best form of defense - let them worry about what we are going to do and ease the pressure on our defense. The defense, however, needs depth and maturity because I fear we cannot rely on Ledley (or for that matter Dawson) featuring in every game.
You gotto keep the faith in Jol. He is actually the first manager in years who has probably managed to stay at the helm for more than two seasons.
Look at Man Utd, they kept the faith in fergie (despite not winning anything for 4 years) and look what he brought them…
In this media saturated world people are always quick to dismiss managers quickly if they aren’t having the best of seasons.
I agree wholeheartedly, We continue to progress. One point i think was missed was how many other clubs in the UFEA cup will qulaify again? not many in the more competitive leagues and the fact that we dispite our many critics are there again.
i for one am in full support of Jol and not the Idiots who want instant sucess just becuase it can be done on Football Manager
MARTIN JOL OUT - ROY KEANE IN ?
I get mad watching the Spurs team “taking a break” letting the other team come back in the game and get easy goals. I blame Martin Jol for this, he must be more tough to the players. I am starting to doubt his ability, both in getting more STEEL into the team and as a tactician. I am beginning to think the time has come to get ROY KEANE as the man to bring our beloved Spurs back to the GLORY DAYS !
SpursThailand, http://www.pattayapeople.com
Zeddy my boy - you already know that I disagree with what you have to say, but your article is still convincing. My only arguments are the following:
Firstly, just to refute something mentioned by ‘paralosciegos’, I do not believe Chimbonda has foundered. At Christmas he was named by Sky and BBC on their teams of the year, and I feel that when deployed at right back he has been very sound.
As for tactical inability - my own opinion is that there is only so far we will be able to go with such tactical howlers being committed. I never advocated bringing on Mido, I felt Defoe should have come on far earlier, and we ought to have attacked a haphazard Sevilla defense at pace. However, what you see as faith in his players, I call Jol’s stubbornness. Whilst he can probably guarantee us UEFA cup football for the next couple of seasons, I feel that there is only so far he can take us - to evince an example of these limitations, one must only look at the exits to Arsenal, Chelsea and Sevilla.
I won’t say we have to get rid of Jol, though I definitely felt we had to earlier this season. The facts are: 1. a top-four spot was our aim, and we WILL NOT make it, meaning we FAILED to reach our goal. If we fail again, be SURE that our best players (Berbatov, Lennon, perhaps even Ledley)will leave. (Not only did we not make it, we knew a long way before the end that we would miss out). At this stage we might not even qualify for the UEFA cup, though our hopes must be high. 2. We have leaked goals, especially from set pieces. This reeks of poor defensive organisation, our injuries notwithstanding. Worse than Sheffield U??? Damn!. 3. Despite various transfer windows having passed, we have failed to sign a genuine left-sided midfielder and regularly take the field with 11 right-footed players, leaving us seriously unbalanced.
4. Besides getting a narrow win at WHL over Chelsea, we have AGAIN failed to beat any of the top four sides, and were in fact HAMMERED by the likes of Liverpool, Man U and (sob) Arsenal.
5. In the cups we surrendered good leads against Arsenal and Chelsea. In other games, too, we have lacked the ability to hold onto a lead.
6. MJ signed Rocha as cover for the injured Ledley King. He hasn’t cut it.
If MJ gets another season, as seems likely, it has to be his last chance. A lot of money has been spent for very little return.
I also detest the way MJ seems to want to manage the expectations of supporters, with his smooth soundbytes and bullshit. Yes, he’s probably a nice guy but that’s not what we need. Give me an obnoxious oaf like Roy Keane any day, or even an Arsene Wenger, who has proven that he is Jol’s superior in every way.
On the plus side, I have SOMETIMES genuinely enjoyed watching the way we play this season, specially when we’re going forward.
A few fair points, but really get rid of Jol!?..why does this debate persist. I’d like to know how many of these people who seem so keen to knock Jol and his tactics have spent time watching (and I mean attending games home and away)Spurs in the last 10/15 years. For the record the current team and manager are the best we’ve had for a very long time. I’m pretty confident we’ll take 5th and a good if ultimately dissapointing cup season means we’ve made progress on last year. We’ve learnt some lessons from last season and we’ll certainly learn some important ones from this season. Of course one or two players will always dissapoint and MJ is gonna get it wrong occassionally, Manyou seemed pretty tacticly inpet last night, don’t think United fans are gonna start calling for a new manager, they trust and have faith in their man. It’s clear the players enjoy playing under Jol and the vast majority of supporters love having him as our manager. If we’re sitting here this time next season and we haven’t made a serious attempt at the top 4 and a cup final then maybe we can have the debate…We’re going places and I want more than anything for Martin Jol to be the man leading us.
Wait a minute. There is a lot of people here saying that top 4 finish was our aim…………..who said that? It wasn’t MJ or Dan Levy. When Jol took over he was told first season had to be a top ten finish, it was (9th). The next season he was told to qualify for Europe through the league, he did, but the problem is he did it too well. We now think that because we finshed 5th that we should hit 4th to represent improvement. That’s tosh. We need to cement our footing in the top 6 so that we can build a solid foundation to attempt to break the top 4. The gulf between the top 4 and the rest is huge. You have to consider size of stadium, squad, bank balance etc. These things take time. Martin JOl has done a grand job in building our beloved football club a solid foundation for a promising future. Some great youngsters dotted about with bags of potential.
Get off his back and let the man do his job.
COYS!!!
tactics
I seem to remember jol tactically outclassing Jose twice this season. We won won of those (at home) and drew the other 3-3 (away).
In fact most examples of tactical problems given on here were actually symptoms of something else. our side does not yet believe in itself as a top club.
so when beating top sides we still think its because they played badly rather than we played well - and we still expect they will probably come back.
and since thats just as true of the fans as the players - i don’t think Jol is to blame.
it will take time and experience to turn that mentality round - and thats the big challenge for jol next year.
A top four finish was NOT our aim this year after coming within a few plates of lasagne last year??????? Then we need to take a long, hard look at our ambitions!!! I believe Arsenal were easier to overhaul this year, but we didn’t come close. I’ll support Spurs FOREVER, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was disappointed with this season. And I would like some straight talk from the manager, not the nonsense he sometimes spouts.
Good article. We have changed manager too frequently in the past and found that change is not for the better. Even if we were to change, who would we get? Roy Keane? he is going no where until Ferguson leaves Man U. The only better managers in the Premiership are with the top 4 teams. Anyone else is unproven or perhaps a good prospect - like Gerry Francis.
Paralosciegos
Exactly what makes you so sure you have the faintest idea what you are talking about? It amazes me that armchair critics can be so conceited as to presume they know better than a vast team of full-time professionals, headed by an experienced coach who tactically is clearly a deep, critical thinker - far deeper, I might add, than yourself.
Your views on the season’s turning points are frankly embarrassing:
“Chelsea FA Cup fiasco” - did you not watch these games? We were a hair’s breadth away from winning the Bridge tie 4-1 and even at 3-3 Defoe rattled the bar! The Chavs have not lost there for three years. In the return we were stung by two extremely improbable goals.
“Arsenal League Cup fiasco” - We were without Berbatov in the first leg and and both Berbatov and Lennon in the second leg. In the first leg, we let a lead slip but even at 2-2 we pushed on and Defoe was one on one with Almunia, chipped him, and he got a scrambled hand to it. At the Scumirates, we ran out of legs in extra time after matching the Arsenal blow for blow in 90 minutes.
These are hardly “fiascos”!
Your comments regarding Carrick are ridiculous; the player felt no loyalty to the Club and insisted on a move. £19m pounds thank you very much, and good riddens to him. He is now at a massive club, I hope he has a massively good time.
How this makes Jol “weak” and Levy “greedy”, I don’t know. Which other significant players have we sold in their time in charge?
Your blanket labelling of a host of our recently recruited developing players as average leads me to ask you to provide an alternative list of potential recruits? Don’t tell me - you want Kaka, Ronaldinho, Gerrard and Gattuso to replace our “average” contingent”! Genius! Well why didn’t Jol and Levy think of that?
You then say “As Jol is obviously not going anywhere at the moment…”
Excuse me? Where did Jol begin? In 14th place 2 seasons ago. Where has he been since? 9th, 5th and probably 5th again this season with extended runs in all cup competitions, including our first foray into Europe for 7 years! How can this be not going places? So I’ll say it again, just one more time, do you have the faintest idea what you are talking about?
A few thoughts.
Arsenal easier to overhaul? One more win will make their total the highest for a 4th placed team since before 2002/3 (the earliest I could find league tables easily). Even a draw will equal the previous best. So we ‘failed’ to break the top four in the hardest season to do so for a while.
The problems caused by the UEFA cup seem to be underestimated by some. The fact that it’s on a Thursday seems to be a real disadvantage in the Premier League compared to that faced by the Champions League teams. Again, looking at the last 5 seasons, only 2 sides playing in the UEFA cup have managed to achieve it again the following season. We are set (touching wood & crossing fingers) to be the 3rd.
Our ‘poor’ league form isn’t really going to be so different from last season. We’re likely to be 3-6 points off last year’s total. Yes, we’d all like to have improved on that and got 4th spot, but I’d say that two quarter finals, a semi-final and 60 odd points is an improvement on two cup exits at the first hurdle and 65 points.
The improvement does need to continue, though. We can never settle for where we are now, the aim always has to be to take another step forward. So here’s to conceding a few less goals next season, losing a few less of those games we should have won and maybe beating the top sides a few more times. We can’t control what other people do, but doing those things will put us in a better position in all 4 competitions.
Paralosciegos, you humour me.
I would suggest the Arsenal and Chelsea losses are a lot to do with mentality. Arsenal because we have been in their shadow for so long as the 2nd team of North London, and Chelsea because we hadn’t beaten them at the Bridge for 17 years.
I don’t care what anyone says, but these things play on footballers’ minds. They are human after all, and their performances do get affected. This is the next challenge for Jol, to get the players’ heads straight against teams with whom we are made to believe we cannot defeat. Beating the big teams consistently is not something which just happens overnight. I don’t see what your point is about midfielders and goals, as scoring has not been our problem, whereas our defence has.
Chimbonda has had to play at centre back and left back due to injuries, but otherwise has been one of Jol’s best signings. He still attacks down the right as well as any right back in the Premiership. Dawson in many ways has been a saving grace for us this year; if he was not there to make vital blocks and interceptions, we may have conceded many more. He will improve with time, but without him this year we really would have been screwed. In response to your training pitch question, what you’re asking is not easily done when the players are constantly changing.
One of the most important keys to success is a harmonious dressing room, and if there is disunity then you’re inviting trouble. We are not big enough that we can unequivocally hold onto someone if they want to go to Man United, deal with this fact. We got a good deal for Carrick and at least he had enough respect for the club not to be a big baby about our reluctance to sell him, please see Ashley Cole’s departure from Arsenal and tell me what you prefer.
Malbranque is better than average and has done well on the left, Tainio is an unsung hero who never gets the praise he deserves. Ghaly, Murphy and Stalteri are squad players, so don’t expect them to be amazing, and Mido did well last season, but is clearly a confidence player who is lacking and has been in Berbatov’s shadow the entire year.
I think you should look at the players who were unavailable before slating Jol’s credentials as a manager. Plus, to expect 4th place is naive, very naive. Where have you been the last few years? How about you compare our team and the results from the pre-Jol years, come back to me and tell me that progress hasn’t been made.
The structural changes to the club that have taken place - having a Head Coach and a Director of Football have worked well for us, and rather than having another change, lets give it a chance.
A top 6 finish is, sorry to say this mate, the best we can hope for right now. In the next few years is when we can try and break into the top 4, once we’ve established ourselves. You have to learn to crawl before you walk, but evidently you must be some sort of genetic mutation who bypassed these banalities that us humans have to deal with.
And aim to win the premiership? I am not going to even say anything on this one apart from, Paralosciegos means ‘for the blind’ in Spanish, maybe you should change it to ‘I am blind’.
I see Spurs finishing 5th, and after ’such a bad season’ that’s pretty dam good.
So had we not conceded so many goals [read more games won] we would no doubt be in the top 4.
I see a top 4 finish next season, for sure!
As a Manchester United fan I think you got this statement completely wrong:
This year in the Premiership Spurs have been deemed the most ‘watchable’ team due to our high scoring games
Also, I agree with Hugo that Jol won’t take Spurs into the top four. Having said that, Spurs are getting to the top four in the next year with or without a new manager. Too much work still left to do.
Jol has been OK.
The only glaringly obvious point that hasn’t been mentioned is the complete lack of left sided (and footed) players in the 1st team squad… (Lee is SO right footed, which is why he nearly always cuts inside and loses the ball in attack)
It has been so clear since 04/05 that we need a natural left back and natural left mid…
The balance is all wrong, I mean look at poor Chimbo in the Sevilla game. He just really couldn’t do it, I mean Ziegler would have probably been better with Chimbo on the right, but the only left footed player on our books was loaned out!!
I mean come on he’s no world beater but at least he’s got a left peg!
Bring on the likes of Gareth Bale/ Leighton Baines and Pedersen/Petrov to step up another level.
One huge mistake Martin…
COYS
A 30% improvement in defence(just 17 less goals conceeded) would have given us 4th spot and probably two cup finals.
This defensive improvement will only happen next season with a regular unchanged back 4, and a genuine holding midfielder.
Need to be injury free for the first to happen, and need to find the second in the Italian, German or Spanish leagues - all the ones we need in England will not move to us or they are long since retired!
Great article. It is very true that some Spurs fans have unrealistic expectations….three seasons ago we ended up 14th and the club was full of deadwood, aging players and a losing mentality. This season, despite being very well placed to get 5th or 6th and after three very good cup runs some people still aren’t happy. Short memories! Yes we want silverware & top 4, but Rome wasn’t built in a day. Clear improvement has been made over the last 3 seasons.
We have been unlucky with injury, & I am not surprised that we are leaking a few goals with a knackered Dawson (played all but 1 game) alongside a returning King. I am encouraged by our links with quality cover in this department. Chimbonda has played right across the back 4, as has Rocha, we have had to be quite creative at the back in recent months!
With a settled team complimented with a few new players, especially a lefty or 2 to balance the team, and players like Berba & Zakora playing in their second season & hopefully getting better & better, I for one am confident that next season will be a cracker. I am even more confident that we will comfortably qualify for Europe this season, and in 5th place. COYS!
Paralosciegos
I think it is evident from the way Man utd & Chelsea have suffered recently that chasing 4 competitions takes its toll on a team, even those at the very highest end of the league. This season Spurs have challenged very well in 3 cups, including Europe (YES!! EUROPE, we qualified for the first time in 10 years and for the first time in +15 years through our league position. Don’t forget this fact as you seem to be taking it for granted). The mass of fixtures has clearly had an impact on our league form and it is no coincidence that when we have had no mid week games, our form had improved as we have been able to do work on the training pitch.
We have a young and inexperienced team in the main. You cannot expect a team or a club that has not competed in Europe for years & years to walk in and cope with the pressure, especially when you have to play with a make shift defence. Vs Seville we were just “rabbits in the headlights” and folded in the first half but showed real character in the second half to come back…….that ain’t spin, that is taking the positives from a very difficult game agaist the team place 2nd in the Spanish league.
Note how Europe-hardened Man Utd froze on the big occassion the other night & Sir Alex’s comments about how players like ROnaldo know they did not play well but are young & will learn from the expereince of the occasion and playing against a very experienced Milan team. So, Man Utd and Player of the Season Ronaldo have things to learn BUT you expect Spurs to be challenging for the EPL and winning Cups after years & years of stangnation. We are still building a team & squad and the improvement since the departure of Pleat & then Santini is evident for all to see.
Sorry to harp on about Man Utd but they are a good comparison. They had been in the wilderness for years before Sir Alex came in. He got some stick in the early years and nearly got the chop but has obviuosly come good. It didn’t happen in 2 season or even 3 or 4 but he came good.
You should cease being so negative, take the positives. Answer this question to begin with……..when was the last time you watched a Spurs team with so much quality and doing so well??? We can do better but the fact that the answer to that question is probably, NOT IN THE LAST 15 YEARS, should demonstrate that we have had to make a lot of changes and improvements and have come a long way in 2 seasons. I see this season as a progresion from last season as we (the players & the manager) now have European experience, will learn from it and take it in to next season when we can hopefully improve on all front.
Sorry to disappoint you but we will not be challenging for the league next season. In fact Liverpool & Arse*** would be either!
All Jol’s supporters say something like “he is better than the last eight managers” or “we were 14th and now we’re 9th”. We’ll never get back up where we belong when the benchmark is mediocrity. One of the most upsetting things I have read this past season was a comment by Michael Carrick that, during his time at Spurs, losing or drawing was sometimes acceptable, but it NEVER is at Man U. Why do we expect, and accept, less?
Sure, we’ve had a transition, but how much longer is that excuse acceptable? We know we have to get a couple of defenders and left-sided/footed players, so are we to have another transition while they fit in? I want to repeat someone else’s question: “Whatever happened to the much-vaunted Martin Jol Winning Mentality?”