Vote of no confidence for Tottenham and Newcastle
This season has already had its fair share of talking points and as a neutral, watching Newcastle and Tottenham struggling so badly is one of the most surprising developments so far.
One thing the sides have in common is that both sets of players are so completely lacking in confidence. Newcastle started the season well and someone witnessing their battling draw at Old Trafford on the first day of the new campaign would not believe they were watching the same players crumbling against Hull, West Ham and Blackburn, and most significantly perhaps, against Spurs in the League Cup.
These players are professional athletes getting paid an awful lot of money and yet, a lack of confidence due to managerial turbulence has completely sabotaged their performances. Michael Owen admitted after the Blackburn defeat: “Once confidence goes it’s hard to get out of that rut. We need some confidence – it is lower than a snake’s belly at the moment.”
If confidence is the only thing standing between Newcastle going down without a struggle and staying in the Premier League, then Kevin Keegan must be rushed back and would be worth every penny of the wages paid to him. Never mind the structure of the club, who’s handling the transfers — Keegan is a proven motivator and has a track record of instilling confidence in players. It’s a shame the players aren’t capable of motivating themselves and that there’s no outstanding leader in the dressing room to shake the team out of their apathy.
Similarly, Spurs seem to have no leader on the pitch and a manager who can barely speak English. They played at Portsmouth last weekend, against a team which had shipped 10 goals in their last two matches, and played one up front. Any confidence gained from their cup win at St James’ Park seemed to evaporate as soon as Pompey’s first goal went in. Roman Pavlyuchenko was unable to add to his solitary goal and was substituted, doing his confidence no good, and so the pattern continues.
The Carling Cup win over Newcastle should have been a turning point for Spurs in terms of a lift to their confidence. However, with both teams so lacking in self-belief and seemingly no end in sight, we might see them meeting in the Championship next season.
Written by Louise Moran, a sports journalist who blogs about football on Betfair.com
Topics: Carling Cup, English Premier League, Newcastle United, Tottenham
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There is absolutely no chance of Spurs playing in the Championship next year. I am willing to bet my house on that one!
October 2nd, 2008 @ 16:43Agree with Wandile. Though I would like to see the Spurs plumit after United stole Berba from them, I don’t see it really happening. Teams would pick their players apart next summer in transfers if they went down, and Spurs would end up staying down awhile like Charlton if it really happened.
October 2nd, 2008 @ 19:08Still to early to tell just how bad both teams will be, but I predict a bottom half finish, for Tottenham at least. Bringing in Ramos was a terrible decision, but even inserting a non-English speaking manager was far from their most significant blunder of the past offseason. A non-Champions League contention team was made significant worse than even before by shipping out the squad’s reservoir of attacking talent, and failing to replace Berbatov and Keane with legitimate and proven attacking talent was the first sign that this year’s league result would not exceed that of recent seasons. For Newcastle, I can’t say with any certainty where they’ll finish – there’s enough talent on the squad to contend for a UEFA Cup slot, but they’re young and lack leadership. If they get their act together, I can certainly see them finishing 6th or higher in league.
October 2nd, 2008 @ 22:47newcastle 6th or higher??????????
October 3rd, 2008 @ 12:22r u smokin crack mate? spurs are better equiped to get themselves out of the current situation,i can only c it getting worse for newcastle.