Beef Bagel

Not black times down Bill Nicholson way but certainly grey and at the charcoal end at that. It’s not so much an embarrassment on the all too obvious U-turn that was made after it was obvious that Ramos was not available as the vulnerability we feel as a club who have been on the up. The one to pity here is MJ; a man who has been good to us and one that the club has well and truly stabbed in the back and then said, “Er…can we have our knife back please?” and promptly stabbed him again.

The statement our of WHL yesterday was an ugly piece of PR and as transparent as a particularly see-through jellyfish - one that hasn’t eaten for weeks I should imagine. There were too parts that bothered The Bagel. Firstly:

“We have made a massive investment in the squad and as a result we have the best squad of players this Club has had for over 20 years and they are equally hungry for success and silverware. For that we need our management and coaching standards to be of the highest quality such that players can fulfil their potential and we can compete with the best. We have discussed all of these expectations with Martin and he has confirmed to me today that he feels he is equipped with a squad and a determination to take on that challenge.”

Martin feels his equipped with the right squad, does he? So does that mean no more new players? No left winger? No central midfielder? Hmmm. The truly awful part though is the statement from Jol himself which reads more like a confession under duress than affirmation of his goals:

“We had a full and frank conversation and I fully understand the ambitions of the Club – they are the same as those of the supporters. He has put a lot of hard work into this Club and with the squad of players we have assembled, it is realistic that we should look to challenge for a top four position and I have assured him and the Board that that is what I shall aim for.”

Notice, “that is what I shall aim for” like he hadn’t been all along. It comes off like a tired and hopeless promise of a task that he knows he cannot complete. You couldn’t blame the man if he was already resigned that his job is lost, be it now or in a year’s time. He’s been forced to put his own head on the block with this oath to the club, which will make him look like the bad guy should we fail to qualify for the Champions League and wearily he seems to have assumed the position. Just when the guillotine will come down is another matter.

Defeats to both Man U and arsenal could do it, some bad luck in the cups or the board could wait until the summer when they can assure a new head honcho, one of the calibre they feel can take the club forward. That remains to be seen but at least for Martin salvation could lie back in the bosom of his motherland, where it has been reported that the Dutch FA have been in contact a could be ready to catch their favourite son should he fall from grace and offer him the job as coach of the national team after Van Basten’s contract runs out in 2008.

As for us the fans, all we can do is show our support from our beloved big man in the usual way from here to the end of the season and who knows if he feels that love as much as we do you never know what wonders he and his players could work.

“By the way, I charged the whole holiday to Mr.Underhill’s bagel. Want the number?”

The Bagel.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 22nd, 2007 at 11:03 am and is filed under Bagel News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.