The Official Spurs thread

[RedCityKid]

Ok as we are no longer in the UEFA cup I think its about time we replaced the Spurs UEFA cup thread with the official Spurs thread. I have a lot of thoughts about the situation at Spurs at the moment and feel like unloading them. So here goes

Martin Jol is he up to it! I was gonna post this point a few weeks ago but didn't as it would have been viewed as reactionary(sp) after we got knocked out of the cups. But my feelings are still the same. I don't believe he has got the tactical knowledge to compete with the top managers. Lets take the Sevilla game for example 2-0 down after ten minutes and Chimbonda looks blatantly uncomfortable at left back. We have nothing to lose here. Simple solution for me is go three at the back Chimbonda right Dawson centre and King left this would enable us to push Tainio into midfield also ..his natural position. However instead he decides not to change anything until the sixtieth minute and we were lucky not to be four down at half time. The two goals that we got were more down to fortune in my book than any change in tactics. Also there have been at least four occasions this season were he has substitued a striker for a midfielder or a defender it has backfired more often than not. The main reason however for me questioning Jols ability is the way we defend set pieces. Dunphy has said the first thing he looks at when judging a manager is how his team defends set pieces. It is one of the most fundamental aspects of football and one which coaches of all levels spend hours working upon. I accept we were missing Ledley King but missing one defender albeit a key one does not justify the way we have defended. There is something fundamentaly wrong in our coaching setup.
Jol is one of the most likeable guys around and he done well last season but i am not confident that he can bring us any further.

Of the players we have right now I believe that only Chimbonda, King, Zokora Lennon and Berbatov are of the quality that is required. I have to give an honourable shout for Dawson and Lee though. Dawson will improve especially if he gets to play alongside ledley more often hes young and needs to play alongside someone more experienced. Lee has pleasantly surprised me this season he has put in good performances at left back especially in the second half of the season and I would have no problems with him continuing in the left back role.

Then there is the rest Robinson has been really poor this season and has conceded lots of soft goals. He seems to have no presence and has been a good part of the reason we are performing so badly at set pieces. Robbie Keane has linked up with Berba well and has a good goal return but he has also been very wasteful. Defoes head is stuck to the ground and he doesn't see whats going on around him..for this reason Berba doesn't seem to like playing with him. Malbranque was a bad buy imo and doesn't ad much to the team he lacks pace and is a little limited. Tainio ries hard and does a good job for the team but his first touch is shocking and might just be a little out of his depth. Anyway thats about it for now what do the rest of the spurs fans on the site think of the current situation

 

[afeencalleddan]

I'd agree with most of that. While I respect Jol for raising the profile of the club and bringing in higher calibre players than the club has seen for some time, he does seem to be very flawed.

His tactics and decision making are well off the mark at times. I believe he is solely responsible for throwing away the lead at Stamford Bridge in the FA cup. His substitutions were a joke that day. He brought on two known dodge-pots (Mido and Gardner) and invited Chelsea to go on the attack.

I can't stand his love affair with Jenas. The guy has pace and can score a few but while some would say that he was a saviour yesterday I would argue that his constant surrendering of possession was a major contributory factor in Arsenal having the lead in the first place.

Another thing I was disappointed with this season was the bust up with Davids. I thought Spurs could have got another decent season out of the admittedly temperamental Dutchman with some proper man-management.

RCK, I'm not sure Zokora should be in your list of reliable players just yet. I think it'll come in time but I don't think he's quite found his premiership legs yet. He has made a few mistakes and isn't quite totally up to the pace of it yet. He has undoubted ability but hasn't quite stepped up to the mark in terms of real presence. I do feel for him though having to play alongside that gowl!!

I'm surprised that you didn't mention Huddlestone. I think he'd fall into the same "hopefully will improve" catagory as Dawson. His natural footballing talents are a thing of beauty but the physical side of his game is well below par. I read a quote of his which worried me. He said that he's afraid to go into a lot of challenges because of his physical stature. He fears that refs would deem a lot of his challenges as fouls because of his ample frame. That's a total cop out and not something you'd want to hear from any pro.

Malbranque has been well below what I would have expected. He'll have to buck up a bit next season or he should be sold.

 

[jimmy magee]

There is something fundamentaly wrong in our coaching setup.
Jol is one of the most likeable guys around and he done well last season but i am not confident that he can bring us any further.

Chris Hughton??

Shur didn't Jol come out publicly and say just this.
That he is happy with fifth and that it is impossible to advance further.
I'd be freaking if i was a Spurs fan!!

 

[STEVIEG]

Don't think Jol has it to take them much further myself-gotta agree with RedCityKid

 

[RedCityKid]

I'd agree with most of that. While I respect Jol for raising the profile of the club and bringing in higher calibre players than the club has seen for some time, he does seem to be very flawed.

His tactics and decision making are well off the mark at times. I believe he is solely responsible for throwing away the lead at Stamford Bridge in the FA cup. His substitutions were a joke that day. He brought on two known dodge-pots (Mido and Gardner) and invited Chelsea to go on the attack.

I can't stand his love affair with Jenas. The guy has pace and can score a few but while some would say that he was a saviour yesterday I would argue that his constant surrendering of possession was a major contributory factor in Arsenal having the lead in the first place.

Another thing I was disappointed with this season was the bust up with Davids. I thought Spurs could have got another decent season out of the admittedly temperamental Dutchman with some proper man-management.

RCK, I'm not sure Zokora should be in your list of reliable players just yet. I think it'll come in time but I don't think he's quite found his premiership legs yet. He has made a few mistakes and isn't quite totally up to the pace of it yet. He has undoubted ability but hasn't quite stepped up to the mark in terms of real presence. I do feel for him though having to play alongside that gowl!!

I'm surprised that you didn't mention Huddlestone. I think he'd fall into the same "hopefully will improve" catagory as Dawson. His natural footballing talents are a thing of beauty but the physical side of his game is well below par. I read a quote of his which worried me. He said that he's afraid to go into a lot of challenges because of his physical stature. He fears that refs would deem a lot of his challenges as fouls because of his ample frame. That's a total cop out and not something you'd want to hear from any pro.

Malbranque has been well below what I would have expected. He'll have to buck up a bit next season or he should be sold.

Good point on Huddlestone Dan..superb ability and will undoubtedly be top player, it's just been so long since Jol gave him a start I forgot about him. Seriously like Tainio and Jenas start before this guy week in week out WTF

 

[legend76]

There Is something fundamentally wrong with the coaching set-up.

Chris Hughton has been on the coaching staff since 1993, he seems to have a job for life, he's survived numberious regime changes. In his time at Spurs Hughton has served under ten different managers, who include;Ray Clemence & Doug Livermore, Ossie Ardiles, Gerry Francis, Christian Gross, George Graham, Glenn Hoddle, David Pleat, Jacques Santini and now Martin Jol. During this time he has also served as caretaker manager on two separate occasions

since he's promotion to the first team squad in 2001 Hughton's primary role was supposedly as a defensive coach, yet of the managers listed above only Francis and Graham had sides who knew how to defend, and Hughton wasn't working directly with either of them.

I do LIKE Martin Jol, I think he is very honest in his comments, and isn't afraid to say where and when mistakes have been made, but i'm beginning to question his ability to fix these repetitive errors.

Spurs are shocking at defending Set-pieces, and this should be basic stuff. No 'great' manager would send out a side so inept at the back under dead ball positions

In addition, i'd agree with the comments made about his choice of subsitutions, at times i've been blaffled by the changes he made or hasn't made.

In Martin's defence however, he isn't completly to blame for the Chelski slip up, Berbatov was injured and had to be replaced, we completly lost our shape after that

 

[STEVIEG]

Dawson signs a 5 year contract good move

 

[RedCityKid]

Dawson signs a 5 year contract good move

He's been great for us this season. We'd have been fcuked without him. He does make mistakes and is a little naive at times but thats to be expected. Hope he got a nice pay rise.

 

[west cork rebel]

that half arsed blackburn kit is it celebrate 125 years, will be the fourth kit.

 

[Superior]

Spurs should offload Berbatov before it's too late.