There is now no doubt that Martin Jol’s days at Tottenham are numbered. Where the board might have released a statement backing their manager instead they released a statement on their website that piles even more pressure on the popular Dutchman. This was no vote of confidence or even a “dreaded” vote of confidence; it was a statement of intent by the club, an ultimatum to Jol and if you read between the lines, exactly what every Spurs fan should want to hear.
Strange you might say given the enormous support Jol enjoys amongst non-board dwelling Spurs fans but the situation becomes clearer when you ask the question, why does Levy not want Jol?
After all, Jol is the most successful Tottenham manager of recent times (in league placings), his team plays attacking, entertaining football and the squad is bursting at the seams with young talent.
The reason why Jol is now a lame-duck manager – in charge of a team that will no doubt press the case for its manager’s removal when the instability and uncertainty at the club takes it usual toll on the playing staff – is not because Levy is a businessman sticking his nose into something he doesn’t understand. He is no Vladimir Romanov style megalomaniac. He has in fact proved himself to be the most adept and intelligent chairman in the league (certainly now that David Dein has temporarily departed), after all it is one thing to keep the likes of Manchester United or Liverpool at the top or turning a Champions League team into a league winner with billionaire backing but quite another to take an under performing, high-expectation giant and break into the Champions League cartel. Yet that is what Daniel Levy is trying to do. I for one am still betting that he succeeds.
The clue to why Jol is deemed not good enough however is that getting into the Champions League is…
wait for it… not enough.
Expectation
Tottenham have underachieved for years. Let us not forget that they were the first team to win the league and FA cup double in modern times. The first British club to win a European cup and winners of 24 major trophies. Levy does not just want Tottenham to “break into the top four” or even just be regular competitors in the Champions League – he (and director Paul Kemsley) want Tottenham to compete for every competition, every season.
Frankly, that is the only way Tottenham are going to achieve anything. Every year, Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea occupy the top four places and every year they contest the semi finals and final of the cup competitions. You have to wonder how this happens with such regularity given Liverpool and Arsenal in the past few seasons have not even come close to contesting the league. The answer is expectation. Every year they expect and demand from the players and management that the club be competing. A draw away to Bolton is not a good result. Going to Old Trafford with anything other than a win in mind is not enough. In the modern Premier League, if you want to win anything, you have to expect to win everything;
Achievement is dictated by expectation
Martin Jol has gone to great pains to point out that he has guided Tottenham to an unprecedented two straight fifth place finishes. He is right, it is an good achievement and one he is rightly proud of. But being happy with that will not move Tottenham on to where their board want to go. More importantly, revelling in being the best of the rest and merely hoping will not galvanise the players into being one of the top four teams. Tottenham need be unsatisfied with fifth and expect to compete with Manchester United and Chelsea even if they are not good enough.
So where Jol sees two fifth places, Levy sees one failure on the final match of the season followed by falling further behind the next season. In this context, even getting closer to fourth place would not be enough.
Competition
The mettle of a manager is demonstrated in two aspects; management of the players and tactical decision making. It is expressed in their performances against their rivals.
Against the likes of Wigan Athletic or Derby County, you can make tactical mistakes and rely on your players to win the you game. Or you can overcome poor player performances with good tactics or player psychology and still win. Against the best teams, you simply have to get both right and Jol’s record against the best teams is by any yardstick, terrible; one win.
For a team capable of playing such devastating attacking football to have beaten one of the four only once suggests that there is little wrong with the players but that it is the tactics and psychology which are going awry.
Add to this Tottenham’s record in big matches;
Final match of the 2005/6 season needing to beat West Ham to qualify for the Champions League ahead of Arsenal; lost 2-1.
2006/7 Carling Cup semi final against Arsenal, 2-0 up after 20 minutes, lost 5-3 on aggregate.
2006/7 FA Cup quarter final against Chelsea, 3-1 up after 35 minutes, lost 2-1 after a replay.
2006/7 UEFA Cup semi final against Sevilla, lost 4-3.
Indeed every time Tottenham have played a match of consequence against a team they would hope to challenge, they have lost. Even worse, they have invariably put themselves in a position to win the match with their devastating attack and repeatedly contrived to squander their chance.
Is Jol good enough to tactically out-think Wenger, Ferguson, Mourinho or Benitez?
Does he have the unquestioning self-belief that he can create an all-conquering team?
Will he demand nothing less than over-achievement and competing in every major competition?
The answer appears to be, no.
The question is then; what would it take for Jol to keep his job past this season?
Finishing in the top four is the obvious answer. Winning a cup – any cup – would not be enough and I would contend that winning nothing and finishing fourth would also be insufficient (though an impressive achievement all the same) because the teams that talk of breaking into the top four do so with the unwritten understanding that to do so they require one of the four to under perform; something that has happened in recent seasons. This is not enough for Levy – he does not want a fourth place finish by default, he wants it by being one of the four best teams.
I said several months ago that the wisest course of action for Tottenham would be to forget every competition outside of the Premiership. Concentrate on those 38 games and nothing else. Do that I said, and Tottenham would occupy the top three all season long.
Finishing third would probably be enough to keep Jol at Tottenham but he would also have to prove his managerial ability by winning at least three of his ties against Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea (while losing none at home).
Then the board’s opinion of his abilities may be altered and he could start to convince them that he is a man cut from the same cloth as Benitez and Mourinho and that his expectations match those of the board and in the inner voice of each supporter.
Until that happens, Levy’s gaze will not shift from the next up and coming European wundermanager, Juande Ramos.
Spurs fans will smart at the treatment of a such a popular and affable man as Jol but football is about achievement. They may severely question Levy’s ability and worry that Tottenham are becoming a Real Madrid style managerial carousel, but they should not.
Levy has proven himself to be a man of consummate skill and vision; his actions should not be doubted just yet. It is simply that his expectations are greater than any of us realised.
That is a very good thing.
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
well written piece; i only wish other Spurs fans had the brains to understand this point. How can we be anything but mediocre given the fans low expectations let alone the managers. Jol is a loser and will always be. Get him out now.
“Levy has proven himself to be a man of consummate skill and vision; his actions should not be doubted just yet. It is simply that his expectations are greater than any of us realised.”
This piece is complete garbage IMHO. Levy has proved himself to be supremely incompetent in attempting to realise his totally unrelaitic expectations.
Expectation is fine as long as it’s realistic. Unfortunately it’s not realistic to expect Spurs to finish in the top 4 this season. We all hope for it but it’s not likely to happen whoever is the manager. Spurs are not a top 4 side and are not likely to be in the immediate future unless any of the current top 4 fall away dramatically.
I really though the way we were progressing under MJ was just about right. European football for the second year running, good FA and Carling cup runs last season and 5th in the Premiership for 2 years running. This year was always going to be more difficult with major clubs such as Newcastle, West Ham and Man City spending big, and Everton consolidating. So top 6 was never guaranteed this season even with MJ being left alone to get on with things. Now that he’s been undermined I think we’ll be lucky to finish in the top half of the table, whether MJ or a caretaker manger is in charge at the end of the season.
I’ve spent years taking my kids to WHL and being embarrassed by some of the performances and most of the results. Now we’re all embarassed by the pathetic behaviour of the board and club.
In the words of Rodney Marsh (always a bit anti-Spurs but much of it justified) – “Be careful what you wish for”
Excellent article and I 100% agree with you.
People say that Jol is the man behind our success but I think Levy has made the biggest difference to our club.
A football club is also a business and every business, on the back of heavy investment, would expect better returns. Why should Levy expect less?
Also, when did football become about playing for 4th place? Every team should be playing to win it not for the ‘best of the rest’.
Cheers ‘74, good to see someone with such a clear perspective on the game.
I have an article on Levy but it is taking a long time to write, suffice to say it is fairly clear he has done a spectacular job so far.
“Also, when did football become about playing for 4th place? Every team should be playing to win it not for the ‘best of the rest’.”
I think in American they would say, “WORD!”. I have another article about hope in football and the CL cartel killing it, and what you say is the crux of the matter; every team should hope to challenge for the title yet only four do while the rest seem to accept their fate. That is very wrong…
I totally agree with this piece. Very well written and good points. Spurs fans should show abit of respect and loyalty to the chairman and not to Jol. He has very low expectations which most of the supporters clearly share. We will be staying out of the top 4 for the forseeable future – or until he has gone..
I second that – good article. Spurs have got four points from a possible 32 in each season against the ‘Big Four’ under Jol with just one win (paddy Mendes goal notwithstanding) – compare with what the likes of Bolton, Blackburn, Everton (hell, even Newcastle and Middlesborough) can do. While spurs have been ‘best of the rest’ over the past two seasons, the first was through some very dodgy odd-goal wins (and then we threw it away anyway – not only on the last day but by not finishing off Arsenal at Highbury), and last year we snuck into 5th at the very end. The defeats to Sunderland and Everton signal a lack of progression, and there is a real chance of going backwards this season, as our margin of superiority over ‘the rest’ was wafer-thin last year and the likes of Newcastle and Man City are making a strong push into the top 8 (while Bolton go in reverse). I agree with the point about taking more points off the big four at home: it would relieve us of the need to double at least two of the teams in the ’second quarter’ of the table. In addition to the league defeats, Jol has lost in cups to Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea (and don’t remind me of the Leicester and Grimsby games in 05-06…)
Having said that, the mitigating factors are: injuries, lack of a real alternative (no 35-game caretakers please) manager and the fact that fourth place is not that far away.
So where from here? Jol is a dead man walking, the Director of Football role resembles an overpromoted chief scout with too much influence and the current patent lack of confidence is next-worst to having Hughton take on the caretaker role (better would be a ringing endorsement to settle the squad OR a clean exit and an accomplished manager in)
Ramos is telling anyone who will listen what Spurs were offering and the Board have apparently leaked severance terms. Oh, and there’s the small matter of a game at Old Trafford- I give up
All good points. I think the two fifth place finishes were misleading – Jol likes to paint the picture that they represent proof that Spurs are the fifth best team and will finish no lower (like the top four are the four best and will finish no lower) whereas there was significant luck involved in each finish. Either way, there is no real improvement in results (the attacking play has improved immensely though) or intent.
Injuries are always a problem of course and Spurs have suffered more from the loss of Ledley King than any other player, but if you lack in defence you have to trust your attack. 2-0 against Arsenal, 3-1 against Chelsea and instead of trying to obliterate the opposition, the players sit back thinking they have done enough to win the game. Without King (and possibly even with) that simply is not the case. Time and again last season Spurs played some great football only to ease off and let the opposition back into it (best example being at home to Newcastle). This is both a mental block and a tactical problem and something that really needs to be addressed.
Personally, I am a fan on Comolli and the structure at the club and as nice as Jol is, he almost certainly wasn’t the preferred choice at the time he took over (remember, he made a passionate speech to the board begging for the job). Now that we have such a good squad, twice finished 5th and are well-known and respected in Europe it is the IDEAL time to attract the best, available coach around…
I simply can’t add to this article. It sums the whole situation, and how I feel about the whole situation, perfectly. If more deluded Spurs fans read this article rather than singing songs about the fat man maybe they’d begin to understand.
Didn’t Arnesen bring Jol in, but the Board wanted a ‘Name’ (and got Santini)? The DoF role CAN work if both individuals are on the same page, but politically it can get messy if not. I think that under Jol and with the squad as it is we could end up anywhere between fourth and tenth this season (with the likelihood of ending up in the middle – i.e. 7th/8th). However, the middle half of the premiership is going to be very tight as ever, and a few last minute goals and dodgy decisions can move you up or down three-four places
Nice article. And a lot more legible than most. You put forward some very valid points there.
But it is worth pointing out that for everything the club requires to move into a top four spot – we have improved to acheive those goals.
For example; we do not have the clout of Abramovich and Mourinho, yet even if Levy was to splash Romanesque piles of cash he would still find it difficult to find a manager at this stage to come to what is currently (by way of recent seasons finishes) a 5th place chasing team. Yet in Jol we find a man who is improving year on year – and on that basis deserves all the support he can get this season. Only if he fails should we find ourselves in this situation – NOT THREE GAMES INTO OUR DEFINING SEASON!!
While I respect Levy’s acumen over the last few years – I cannot condone this current state of affairs. It is deplorable. Not to mention detrimental to all involved in Tottenham Hotspurs.
I could go on, but I think i have made clear my opinion.
Since there are arguements for your side and mine – it is now up to Spurs to show us what they can do. Only time will tell.
Well ASE I can’t really counter your arguments… three games in is a terrible time to undermine the manager and the fear is that it writes off the entire season (even if we got Ramos now it would still leave this season as a ‘building’ season).
What he should have done was to sack Jol and get Ramos in during the summer, much in the same way that West Ham should have sacked Alan Curbishley (and got Sven) regardless of their previous achievements.
It may be harsh and yes, Jol is improving (though not appreciably last season outside the quality of the football) but there is quite clearly a big question mark over his abilities. Levy wants someone now, with no question mark rather than wait to be proven right about Jol.
I am absolutely shocket at the treatment Martin Jol has received from the board and Daniel Levy in particular.
Spurs have a history of sacking managers before they have been given time and money to produce the kind of footballing team that each likes to play.
Don’t come out with all the chat about Jol’s £40mn spending spree. Firstly, before this summer, we had made a huge amount from transfer dealings in the past 2 or 3 years. Secondly, the club should be spending more than receiving rather than the other way around. To do the opposite suggests a lack of intentions anyway – why was Carrick’s money not spent immediately and more importantly, on a quality replacement?!?
Finally, and most significantly, Jol is not the one choosing purchases – he desperately wants a left-sided player, but the board/Comolli won’t buy the person he wants. Why did we not get Petrov? Why have we not signed Taylor or Pedersen yet???
Question the board and Comolli before you dismiss Jol!
Well regarding a left sided player, Comolli would say that we are waiting to get the right player in. Taylor has not left Portsmouth for a reason and would cost little less than 10m. Petrov is injury prone and we already have enough of those. Pedersen is good, but expensive and perhaps not THAT good.
Instead we have the 17 year old Danny Rose, Gareth Bale and several players who can platoon the position.
I would even contend that given we scored over 100 goals last year that we can live without a left sided midfielder as long as the player can play the position defensively.
As for Jol, yes he has been treated badly but being nice to a manager doesn’t necessarily bring you success – ask Steven Gibson at Middlesbrough.
Neither does changing you manager ever few seasons. However Levy is a far more ambitions chairman than we have given him credit for. He wants to give the time and money to a man who he knows can succeed at the highest level… Ramos has proven it by winning the UEFA cup twice and gregularly beating Real Madrid and Barca in la Liga.
It’s sad for Jol but sympathy won’t make us a more successful team.
Ramos is also the man who, when his team was top of La Liga with about 6-8 games left, decided to rest his best players. His team then went on to register two 0-0 draws in consecutive league games against poor opposition, effectively throwing the title to either Barca of Madrid.
I appreciate his successes, but he caused his team to bottle the biggest prize on offer – its no good ebating the best teams only to finish below them because you don’t beat the poor teams.
Also, re the left side, Taylor will be no more than £6mn and yes, I agree pedersen and downing etc are overpriced, thats not an excuse considering the amounts spent on bent, zokora, jenas etc.
And having to start malbranque and trying to challenge for top 4, do not correspond with each other!
Yes I’m not sure why Ramos did that. It could be that he thought winning the UEFA cup and CL qualification were enough for a tiring squad rather than missing out on everything, I really don’t know.
What I do know is that he plays with two very fast wingers in front of two fast, attacking fullbacks and plays an all-out, relentless attack (boy do I like the sound of that). Add that to our team already and as you say, only the left wing is missing. However neither MGP nor Taylor are particular quick and given the quality of the football we played last season the defensive midfield position was/is far more important than left wing.
It would be nice for balance but don’t underestimate just how good out attack was last year – it was in defence (and attitude) where we underachieved and all that is left to improve now is the attitude (and fitness).
Extremely well written article, but…..This is the best team we have had since 87, this is the best manager we have had since KB. It has taken us 3 years to get this far, have we forgotten how bad things were under Santini?? So here’s a great idea, lets sack the manager, have another transition season and IF the new guy is as good we’ll be exactly where we are now in 3 years time. Do people not forget how long it took Ferguson to sort the mess out at United. As for Levy’s statement regarding heavy investment, it’s not as if we are the only club that has spent money and that we have gained a march on our rivals by doing so, look what Liverpool, Utd, Man City, Newcastle et all have laid out. You have to invest merely to stand still. Levy’s record has been good to now, backing the acquisition of so much young & English talent & its a shame to toss it all away. Jol is history now & lets be honest who is going to come & work for this club after the way they have treated Jol. Pathetic!
The Chief Executive has to take responsibility for hiring the right people. If Levy is a good CEO, hown come he has hired apprently hired three duds – Hoddle, Santini, and now, it seems, Jol. And haven’t those changes been managed well. George Graham sacked immediately before a semi final. Hoddle given funds and sacked a few weeks into the season – making that year a write off. Santini come and gone before you could say nil-nil, another season written off. And now Jol at the very least undermined just a few days into the season.
Ponder this. It took both Bill Nicholson and Keith Burkenshaw several seasons to build their winning sides. Can you imagine that Levy would have waited and not sacked them? His record says not.
Spurs have been unable to attract the really top talent. Therefore they have adopted the right strategy of buying developing talent. That requires patience. Without that, the strategy will not work.
Patience is important though in the modern game perhaps overrated. It is certainly required as you say to build the team (which is more Comolli’s role than it is Jol’s) but it didn’t take Mourinho long to win the Premiership. We may not have spent as much money as he has done but it was his team’s mentality that won them the league.
As for the managers under Levy’s stewardship, Graham was thoroughly unpopular and the football was terrible. He got rid of him to give the new manager time and a full off-season. Hoddle was given every change and was an appointment out of sentiment rather than real footballing knowledge. It was popular with the fans but Hoddle’s team simply wasn’t improving. Santini left of his own, bizarre accord and as I suggested in an earlier comment, Jol pleaded for the job and suggests that he was not the ideal choice.
Now that we have finished fifth twice and have built a superb squad, now (or rather closed season) is the perfect time to attract the best coach available. If we have a poor season (as our start may have suggested to the more alarmist element) we may lose Berbatov and finishing mid table will make us look that much less appealing to a top class coach.
Don’t fool yourself cwoff. Mourinho didn’t take long to win the title, as most of their players had been there for 2 years already under Ranieri. And whilst to a ceryain extent their mentality won them it, they had the requisite quality too. Consider Liverpool, who clearly have a winning mentality (as shown by CL success), but they lack the quality with the exception of a few players. No-one in our team is as good as Lampard (was) Makelele (was), Essien, Terry, or as creative as Joe Cole, Robben. [Note how I named 3 CM players there who would all stroll into our team!
Also Hoddle was given scrimps. If you rmemeber right he had about £15mn with which to buy either a couple of decent youngish players or dfo what he did, which was to gamble on older players getting us into Europe to get some more cash for the following season. And he still got us playing good football until the final few weeks of the season.
The key point is we don’t quite have a superb squad at the moment. Aside from the injuries (King is so vital to us!), there is not enough quailty in midfield – I would suggest any midfielder from any of the top 4 would make it into our team and how many of ours would get into any of theirs?
‘Hoddle was was an appointment out of sentiment rather than real footballing knowledge. Santini left of his own, bizarre accord and as I suggested in an earlier comment, Jol pleaded for the job and suggests that he was not the ideal choice.’ Gives me no confidence in the man who appointed them.
Patience: It took Ferguson six seasons to build a winning team. Wenger is taking several seasons to rebuild his team. Yes, Mourihno took no time at all, but he inherited a strong squad and had unlimited resources. He has installed a winning mentality, but that’s not enough – if it were, Wimbledon would have won the league.
As it stands, Jol has a points per game ratio second only to Bill Nicholson. Finding someone who could be guaranteed to do that would be a challenge. If the Board believed it could and should be done, the time to do it was in May, not August.
Your article was a defence of Levy. Sorry, but nothing I have read gives me any confidence in him
I guess it’s Levy who writes this article. It seems Levy is talking to me when i’m reading through the article. who else can read his mind? remember the long article Levy wrote to the Football Association after the food poinsoning? excellent!!
Uhh, rofl!
I’ve been called lots of things in my life. Until just now however, Daniel Levy was not one them (at least not to my face, anyway)
Jackrabbit,
Two words spring to mind when I read your response:
Nail. Head.
When people query Jol’s ability, or who is more responsible for our recent improvement accolades – Jol or Levy, I fear they are missing the point of this debacle.
The point is not the blame game, the point is how we have conducted our private business.
The cloak and dagger approach for Ramos was ill-advised. However, the timing of such a move was little short of Machiavellian – effectively undermining the confidence of not only the manager but the entire team. You cannot deny the very real and terrifying possibility that we may have essentially gambled away an entire season, after spending a rising £40M on it.
But, for the board to wait until Ramos himself backtracked on his initial denial before issuing any kind of support for Jol, or refuting the allegations is unspeakably backward and, you’d have to say, shows immature business nous.
I, for one, am extremely disappointed – and, I’m not afraid to say it, I’m a little bit ashamed to be a Spurs supporter today.