Beyond Belief - The Final Chapter

Devastated. Totally devastated. That’s the only words I can think of to describe last night's game and the subsequent events at White Hart Lane.
The whole saga unfolding on television like some kind of soap opera. You almost expected all the characters to turn up in a pub later, like an episode of Emmerdale or Coronation street, and there, an altercation would occur in classic soap style.

Firstly, the game itself, or rather Spurs performance, was pretty dismal. It didn't start that way. Jermaine Defoe, newly returned to the side, put Spurs ahead and you felt that the previous Monday’s dire display at Newcastle would be forgotten.
I'm a Spurs supporter though, I should know better. I should know things are never quite that simple, or maybe I'd just like to believe they could be.
Within two minutes or less Getafe had equalized, and here we go again. Another set piece, another piece of poor defending.

What came next though surpassed all of that. Returning from an advert break, on live television it was announced that two newspapers had reported that Martin Jol had accepted a compensation package and that Juande Ramos would be taking over as manager.
This is in the middle of a UEFA cup match! More though was to follow as the whole saga unraveled itself in front of a TV audience.

During the second half, it was announced by the commentator that the club had indeed confirmed that before the game Martin Jol had tended his resignation and it had been accepted. It had also been agreed that he would take charge of this game, which would ultimately be his last game in charge.

After a while, this must have filtered through to the supporters in the stadium who loudly proclaimed their support for Martin Jol even when Spurs conceded a second.
At the end though, the result in itself was academic. The off the pitch shenanigans took centre stage.
How the Spurs board could have allowed this to happen is beyond belief. This has been raging for months but for it to all conclude in last night is disgraceful.

Martin Jol has brought so much to White Hart Lane and meant so much too all Spurs supporters. I for one, would like to extend a big thank you for all he has done for Spurs, he brought a pride and a belief back.
To Chris Hughton as well, a loyalty to the club that will be hard to surpass.
I wish them both the best in their future employment.

So what of the future? Well the main story is that Ramos may well be appointed soon with Gus Poyet as his assistant.
But as has been seen in the last few months, with this Spurs board anything is possible, nothing is beyond belief.

Total Double Dutch

Being the devoted and passionate Spurs supporter I am, my start to the new season wasn't exactly great with two dire performances against Sunderland and Everton. But Saturday’s result against Derby restored all the hopes and ambitions of a new season.

Well, that is until the mounting speculation of Martin Jol’s job security at White Hart Lane.
Unrest at Spurs is nothing new, take it from me. But just when it started to look like it was all coming together, like a recurring dream controversy and unrest returned.

On the face of it the possible sacking of Martin Jol seems the most ridiculous footballing decision since the game began.
Jol, has transformed Spurs into a team that has twice finished fifth in the league, competed convincing in all cup competitions and brought pride, hope and ambition back to White Hart Lane.
The best manager that the club has had since Keith Burkinshaw, Martin looked well on his way to becoming a spurs legend.

I, was absolutely amazed to see all this speculation about him leaving Spurs, putting most of it down to newspapers who couldn't’t resist having a pop at Spurs, a ‘they’ve never liked us, and now we look like contenders to sit at the top table of the premiership they will try anything to bring us down’ attitude.
But as the days pass and more and more stories emerge it’s starting to get difficult to ignore.

Maybe it’s more political than tactical. Its no secret that Martin Jol and sporting director Damien Comolli don’t always see eye to eye. The sale of Michael Carrick was certainly not sanctioned by Jol and Darren Bent’s recent arrival looked more of a Comolli signing than a Jol one.
But even if this is the case, why give Jol 40 million to spend, if there was doubt whether he would be there at the end of the season?

It all looks like a complete and utter mess. With reports flying around of meetings in Spain with Juande Ramos which were denied by the Board, but then were followed by further speculation.
Newspaper reports of player unrest and allegation of favourites, as well as Jol wanting to sell Berbatov and him demanding crisis talks with Daniel Levy.

But the biggest mess of all would be Jol leaving in the first place. Firstly, to change a manager so early in the season would be nothing short of a total disaster. Any new manager would need time to settle in, and with games coming thick and fast and expectation high, a new manager would not have that.
But secondly and most important of all, Martin Jol leaving could be the greatest mistake that Daniel Levy could make. Jol is loved by the supporters, songs showing total support for him ring around the stadium at every home game. His departure would cause much disillusion amongst the spurs faithful.

His devotion to the club and belief has been part of what has got us this far, any change now could cause untold damage.

Legacy of a Swede

Its back! This weekend saw the start of the new premiership season. The hopes, dreams and ambitions returning. Although at the end of the first 90 minutes of your team’s first game, you may have wished it had been delayed for another week. I know I did. Being a Spurs supporter I saw my team lose the very first game of the premiership season, away to Sunderland. But I shouldn’t be too despondent its very early days yet.

The surprise of the weekend though, coincided with the return to English football of a figure that has caused debate, anger and at times, complete confusion during his involvement with the English game. I speak of course of Sven Goran Eriksson, the new manager of Manchester City.

A dubious takeover at Maine Road has brought the Swede back to England, this time in domestic football. However, his first game in charge this weekend saw his new charges win convincingly at West Ham.
A good start in his new job, But should we really be that surprised?

Eriksson’s record at domestic level is one to be admired. He won the Swedish cup in his first season as manager at IFK Gothenburg and then went on to complete a treble in 1982, of the Swedish league, cup and UEFA cup.
He has won league titles in Portugal and Italy as well as winning the European Cup Winners Cup with Lazio in 1999.

With England he qualified for every major tournament. Even if on arrival there England’s performances left a lot to be desired, England always reached the later stages of the competition, Sven’s teams never found themselves on the plane home after the end of the qualifying groups. Unlike it has to be said the teams of other England Managers.

So Manchester City supporters have a lot to be thankful for at having him in charge. Although as I said it is early days yet, and it may all go horribly wrong. Or maybe, just maybe, Sven Goran Eriksson will show English football just what they let go at international level in that eternal search for the great ‘English’ England manager.

The FA: (Not) Laying Down The Law

The whole sorry mess that has surrounded the Carlos Tevez has once again shown just how badly managed and organized the Football Association really is.


The FA should have questioned the legality of the player when he first arrived at the West Ham. His registration as a premiership player by the FA was just the start of what has become a lengthy and totally nonsensical saga.

Even when the FA had the chance to make some amends for this later during last season, they once again managed to make a complete hash of instilling discipline in the game by electing not to deduct West Ham points or suspending the player.

Subsequently Tevez helped West Ham Stay in the premiership at the expensive of teams who had conducted their affairs legally and above board.

When Sheffield United challenged this decision, themselves losing their premiership place in part die to this, they were treated with an almost 'sour grapes' approach by both the FA and later the appeal committee.


It has now taken the actions of Tevez's agent, Kia Joorabchian to bring the full fiasco out in the open with a high court hearing set for August.

But is it really any surprise to the majority of football supporters in this country that the FA once again took the easy route, and effectively bottled out of making a proper ruling body decision.


It’s not the first time this has happened. When Sven Goran Ericksson was the subject of the News of the World 'Fake Sheikh' story not once did the FA leap to his defensive. This would have been a perfect opportunity to show the football journalists of this country that they don’t have some special dispensation in the game. They could and should have charged the News of the world with entrapment of one its employees. But they did absolutely nothing.


Sven’s comments at the time about corruption amongst managers in the premiership should have forced an immediate enquiry by the FA, but this had to wait until the BBC’s Panorama programme of managers receiving bungs was aired. Even then when the report was finally published it said very little.

It has now taken raids at various football clubs by the police to pursue any further action.


Isn’t it about time that the ruling body of English Football actually carried some clout and stood for something? instead of just sticking up for the richest chairmen in the game.

The Return of Brave, Brave Sir David

Two matches, two good performances for England. The first, a showpiece friendly at the new Wembley stadium against Brazil. The second, a must win Euro 2008 qualifier against Estonia. The performances in both games restoring confidence in the current England set-up. But is it really any wonder? When it coincides with the recall of a player who can inspire the rest of the team, an old England hero, David Beckham.

Since Beckham’s announcement at last summer’s world cup that he was to step down as England captain, and him subsequently being dropped from the team, England have struggled to even attempt to fill the gap that he has left. I’m not just talking about his ability, although against Estonia on Wednesday 6th June at times he gave a masterclass in passing and crossing the ball, it's what he also brings to the team, confidence and the will to win.

He must now at least, stand amongst some of the greats of English international football past and present, in his proudness to wear the England shirt. Beckham is without doubt clearly honoured to represent his country and gives his all for the cause.

He has, let’s be honest here, pulled England out of the fire on a few occasions. There’s obviously the free kick against Greece which everyone remembers, but somewhat more recently the two free kicks against Paraguay and Ecuador both salvaged a win in games where England had failed to put in a convincing performance. Beckham has almost grown up in the public eye with England, from France 1998 when he was sent off, to the way he dealt with that and became a better player, returning to almost get his own back with his penalty against Argentina in Japan 2002.

Still though, Beckham has his detractors, listening to radio five live’s 6-0-6 phone in programme after the game against Estonia there was almost an even split between those who felt Beckham’s return to international duty was a welcome thing, and those who didn't.
In my opinion Steve McClaren never should have dropped him in the first place. I can see all the arguments for building a new younger England team but when as with the case of Beckham there is no evident replacement for what he can bring to the team, then dropping him just left an enormous gap which subsequent performances clearly showed.

It is often said that a good player plays well but a great player inspires other players to play well, so maybe it's not so much what Beckham does on the pitch that’s so important but what he can inspire others to do.

If his return results, in once again saving England’s qualifying chances, then maybe finally his contribution to the national team will be acknowledged to the full.