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Topspurs Editorial after QPR
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25-04-2012 11:59am#122nd April 2012 - QPR & the state we are in
You gotta laugh, or else … and at least they have Bale on the left in this picture, where Redknapp plays him before he moves inside.
Another game and another disappointment from Spurs who season has now totally imploded. Spurs still have four games to go, all very winnable games with the squad available but its clear that players have lost the focus which has sustained a good run over the last four years. Its probable that the talk of the manager going to the England job has been key factor in this switch off, which if true is very f*cking lame. Its becoming very sad end to what has been a generational high of Spurs consistency at the top end of the table.
The two key questions are when is a loss of form and unrecoverable slump & given the resources available at the club, is there anyone out there likely to do any better?
Even if Redknapp does not get offered the England job, there must be serious doubts over whether he will continue next season. Spurs have been here before. In 2003 when Hoddle’s ship was past the point of no return after Spurs lost seven of the last eleven games – the Middlesboro 1-5 defeat was the point when a dip in form became terminal. For the best reasons, Levy gave Hoddle the summer but he was gone in six games.
A similar thing happened to Ramos after the league cup final in 2008. It was nt just that Spurs only won 3 of the last 12 games, it was the manner of the performances which showed what little forward momentum he’d generated, had gone into reverse. He lasted the famous 8 games which yielded 2 points which saw Redknapp arrive. Add in Francis weak end to the 97/8 season, Gross a year later and its clear that it’s a pattern that the fans have seen plenty of times before.
The lesson is that if Redknapp is to go, whether to England or pushed, it should be early and with plenty of time for a high class replacement. If he stays, it must be with a renewed agenda – any dressing room c*nts got rid of – and must be given time. Repeating the mistakes of an early season sacking would be excruciating.
There are plenty of Spurs managers so bad that they don’t make the following graph which has isolated some key Spurs managers over the recent-ish past
The Hoddle ‘worm’ never really reached the heights, dogged as it was by an awful director of football and a novicey ENIC, and was on the decline for a while before his regrettable departure.
At the other end ,the dear old Cabbie took Spurs to the giddy heights of a fantastic league challenge in 84/5 before things fell away with weak home form – the 1-5 loss to Watford still rates as the worst afternoon for me at Spurs. After mixed second season, things were again on the upgrade before he was replaced by Pleat at the end of the 85/6 season.
The parity between Jol and Francis – the purple lines – is remarkable. The difference occurred near the end when Jol’s career was rescued by a make or break 4-0 win in the Cup at Fulham which saw an end of year rally in 2007 while Francis just drifted away as he talked to his feet
Clear water above all of them is Redknapp who has maintained a level of consistency at a high level for the longest period not seen at Spurs since Bill Nicholson. There is the formation of a dip at the end of the profile and perhaps like all the others its doomed from here but then again, as Jol proved it is possible to come again if given time but events look like meaning that will not occur. Stick or twist?
While Redknapp might be on the way out, it would be nice to think there was some appreciation for what he has achieved but this seems to be too much for the humourless modern fan in their unremitting search for perfection without mitigation of circumstances. A few weeks ago we were laughing at Arsenal fans wanting rid of Wenger “thanks but time to go” message which seemed monumental ingratitude … and yet a few weeks on and Spurs are screaming for the end of Redknapp, but without the good grace to recognise the achievements which have been considerable during the “f**k off” message.
Spurs already cannot be caught by Liverpool and if win one more game, it will guarantee a 6th place finish at worst. This will mean Spurs will have achieved top 6 finishes for three consecutive seasons for the first time since 1962-65. And just to repeat that – no Spurs side has manage to string three top six finishes together in fifty years, nearly half the history of the club. That is what the club is – moments of brilliance mired by incompetence and inconsistency.
Redknapp has been a victim of raised expectations. The Spurs marketing sells Spurs as a premium product and a few good years near the top of the league and the great run in the CL have led people to get ahead of themselves. That is the exception, not the norm
In 2006, Spurs qualified from the league position for the UEFA Cup for the first time via a league position since the 80s and a year later Jol was almost in tears at one of his end of season speeches when getting Spurs in the UEFA for consecutive seasons. Spurs went 15 seasons without being in the top or bottom six … and now, judging by the social media, 6th/UEFA is not just not good enough, but a disaster that needs to see the manager sacked! Get real
Where is the historical precedent to say that Spurs have ever been much better than this in terms of League consistency?
And if Spurs pay the 6th-10th highest wages, that is their par position, and any rise above this level is exceptional (and equally any dip, unacceptable). 4th-5th-6th may not get any medals and may be of little interest to fans but in the new football environment, achieving one of these positions is the achievement in the modern age – dare I say it more difficult and more important than either of the domestic cups. Whether even this low key achievement can be sustained in the future with or without Redknapp is another matter.
Of course I want Spurs to do better & when they have enjoyed and celebrated it on here knowing it was nt guaranteed forever – but equally I am realistic about the challenges facing the club both on and off the pitch. I think I’d be more concerned if they were going broke trying to chase down the elite or courting some dodgy billionaire to buy Spurs passage to the top. At least what Spurs have is bought and paid for and from honest graft. That said, if some wally wanted to invest in Spurs like they had in Man City, who would nt want to see the world elite at Spurs? Until that day …
ENIC have not been perfect as owners but have gradually got most things right, eventually. Any club outside that now 5 club elite has a mountain to climb in the modern game. That is not right or wrong, it just is
Once upon a time, Spurs were able to pay a record fee for Jimmy Greaves and steal Gazza from under the noses of Man U …. But not anymore. Spurs missed the boat at the start of the EPL era, partly through the mess Scholar left the club in and partly down to Sugar’s dire performance as Spurs chairman. The 10 years of ENIC era have seem Spurs regain some strength – and Spurs sit above most clubs in the country (and most in the world in terms of resources) but cannot compete with the vast and unsustainable wealth available at Manchester City and Chelsea and do not have the commercial base of Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal
Fans often too eager to request change for change sake but equally, change is not something to be afraid of. Perhaps anyone could have made Spurs work after the removal of the director of football in 2008 and even if Redknapp was doing well, if a world class manager like Mourinho wanted a return to the EPL, there should be no sentiment in installing him at Spurs (and doing everything to support him financially).
But outside that probably unlikely event, who is likely to take over for Spurs?
Moyes has been at Everton for a long time and while he did get them in the CL one year against the odds, he has hidden behind his financial constraints and not sought or been offered a better opportunity to win something which remains a worry. Is he clearly better than Redknapp?
Chris Hughton is a great Spurs man who has added value at craphouses like Newcastle and Birmingham after helping to resurrect Spurs in the Jol era. I’d welcome him at Spurs but not sure the fans would have the required patience if things did not go perfectly from the start. Poyet is another young manager with Spurs connections but again he is still not enough of a ‘name’ to instill confidence in the restless masses.
Just had a look at the latest odds Next Spurs manager odds and astonished to see Brendan Rogers the favourite. **** my old boots! At least Steve Bruce only quoted by one firm, Curbs put on there for comic reasons and McLeish not on there. Jorge Jesus sounds a good name but not sure ENIC going to go down that road after the oddities of Ramos. I’m still sad enough to want to give Hoddle another go but know that is utter stupidity
After all those names – Mourhinho apart, is there anyone on there very likely to make Spurs better with the current resources?
It is ironic given that the making of Redknapp was recovering 2 late goals to get a 4-4 at Arsenal in 2008, that his downfall has been precipitated by giving away a 2-0 lead at the same venue against the same opposition a few weeks ago. It seems crazy given that Spurs at one stage had an away record of 6-2-1 that the two goals at Arsenal are the only away goals scored in the last six away games. Redknapp is now sitting on a run of 6 points from 9 games and perhaps he will bow out with a record of 2 points in 8 games which would be the irony of ironies! Just what has happened to his magnificently consistent Spurs team of Oct08-Jan12?
This graph only talks about the past. It is not a reason to suggest Redknapp should continue but is also a reminder that many have also tried and done a lot worse under a range of different circumstances.
Be careful what you wish for…
The best thing that could happen for Spurs is a win against Blackburn, and then a win in the next game and then the one after that and the one after that. Fans will probably know a mate or two, or may even be that person themselves that want Spurs to keep losing so that Redknapp goes, but that is such a negative energy.
Following Spurs is the journey, good and bad and worth treating “those two impostors” just the same & perhaps Redknapp will ‘keep his head when all around are losing theirs and blaming it on him’
And anyway, you may as well look on the bright side as there is f*ck all you can do about what happens at the club so you may as well make the best of it. UP THE SPURS!!!!4
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