Can we play them every week?
“Martin Jol, Martin Jol, Martin, Martin Jol,
He’s got no hair and we don’t care Martin, Martin Jol,” I tell the Lady Bagel is we lie in late on Saturday morning.
I’ve just taught her her first Tottenham song and I’m hoping she’s going to need it. I’m not sure how much singing she’s going to be doing especially without me there with her and so I switch back from the White Hart ditties and stick to the main plot.
“Right, we’ve had a terrible start. We want to finish in the top four but we’ve already lost our first two games and more to the point, we’ve been playing shit. Now, for the last few years, the team finishing in fourth hasn’t lost any more than 8 games, so in theory there’s only 6 more we can lose and we’ve yet to play the eight fixtures against the current Big Four. Are you with me?”
She nods.
“Derby are the team most likely to finish bottom of the league so in theory the should be the easiest game of the season, so if we don’t win it, there’ll be big trouble.” I’m slightly glad I’m not going to be there as the meaning of my own words echo about my head. I’m imagining a tense encounter; an up for it Championship club, a deflated, misfiring Spurs and 1-0 grinding out that I don’t think I could bear to face.
“I wish you were coming with me,” says LB, a touch nervous before her first football game since she was 12.
“Me too,”…I think. “What game did you see when you were 12?”
“I went to watch Cardiff play.”
“You’ll be fine.”
I didn’t realise I’d double booked myself for today’s match and a friend’s stag but if I’m foolish enough not to have tattooed the fixture list to my mind by now then I get everything I deserve. I spent the last two days trying to worm my way out of the go-karting I’ve already committed to but with numbers running low and costs high they need everyone they can get and it’s starting to remind me of the Tottenham squad.
I’m describing the route to the ground, to my turnstile, to my gangway, to my seat in every detail; how to get there and back, how to tell which match voucher it is, who to day hello to and what to expect. I’m living the build up myself in my very own description. This virtual journey to my seat gets my heart pumping and my blood coursing in a very real game. I’m starting to get jealous of my own girlfriend and there’s a very slight tug of war as I don’t let go of my season ticket quite as easily as I should.
I’m talking her into the Lane on my way to the stag.
“I’m at the Spurs shop. I’m just turning right down Park Lane,” she says as I can hear the crowds in the back ground and the shouts of ‘Yid Army’ spring up. Damn it, I hate missing football.
“Mind the horse shit,” I say picturing the scene clear as day on this grey and miserable afternoon that would be so brightened by the Lilywhite Tottenham shirts, the cream and green burger vans, the blue girders of the stadium and the fluorescent yellow of the policemen and stewards.
“I’ve made it to your seat,” she says in little moment of triumph. 2.55pm. Nice timing and I hear the music from the new Star Wars films introduce the Tottenham montage to the Jumbotrons and the players to the field.
“They’re coming out I say,” but she’s already said the last words I’m to hear. I know what’s going on. She doesn’t need to tell me. The crowd are on their feet applauding. The Derby fans are trying to sing their way through and the players in white are lined up some stretching some limbering, shaking out their legs, jumping up and down, each in his own way to prepare for this must win clash. I end the call and hope.
More to follow. The highlights for now…
The Bagel.
August 20th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
And you miss the performance you were all hoping for….maybe you should stay away for the next few games mate, LB clearly brings the team luck. To be honest, I think you could’ve dressed LB up to resemble yourself (hopefully the beard wouldn’t be too easy to emulate) and sent her go-karting with the lads….
So, Jol’s back in favour again? Think you have got a good man in charge there.
August 20th, 2007 at 5:45 pm
Hey, video clips as well now! The Bagel seems to be making faster progress than our beloved team/club? Give him the job, when we are ready to pull the next one in…perhaps time will do it. We’ve had all the usual suspects in the last 20 (40?) years. Genghis Khan couldn’t get this club to the Premiership summit, or could he?
August 21st, 2007 at 9:47 am
Hmm.
I think I now actually believe Martin Jol is going to get sacked.
For wanting to sell Berbatov after a row during the Sunderland game, apparently.
Its a funny old game.
August 21st, 2007 at 10:20 am
If Martin goes then it will be a real shame. He does not deserve such shoddy treatment from the board.
You only have to look back at the previous 15 seasons to see how far Martin has improved our team. He has taken our club foward consistently.
It took us a long time to get a manager that we actually liked and believed in, that had Spurs in his heart. At times Jol has looked tactically naive in certain games but what manager hasn’t from time to time.
The pressure on a new manager to get us into the top 4 or to win something will be immense. If a new manager fails then Levy and co will have a lot to answer for.
Whatever happend to stability?
August 21st, 2007 at 10:28 am
It was a good game! The boys played like they wanted to win, and Steeeeed deserved the two goals considering how he’s put his heart into the first two games.
Still, Derby is no Man U - and it’s gonna be a tough weekend for us, in spite of the Rooneylessness and Ronaldolessness. I’m still a bit doubtful about MJ and his tactics… but I’ll trust the judgment of Levy and company on that.
August 21st, 2007 at 10:40 am
I agree with you Hornchurch Yid. It will be a shame, and I’m certainly not calling for him to be sacked. And I will continue to shout his name at games etc.
But I also think - who knows whats going on behind the scenes?
You live and die by your decisions in football. So if this happens, I will reserve judgment on the board and wait to see how things pan out.
I don’t want Martin Jol to go, I like the guy and however anyone dresses it up he’s been our best manager in a long long time. But I also won’t be chucking my season ticket on the pitch. The time to really criticise the board is if they sack Jol and then get someone in who doesn’t seem to be an improvement.
If they sack him, its a big big decision. And weirdly timed. But time will tell if its wrong or right.
August 21st, 2007 at 10:58 am
What can a new manager bring to our team and our prospects that Martin cannot?
Does the rest of our season get written off to allow for the adjustment to a new regime?
If a new manager actually brings us success this year then I’m sure all this pondering will be soon forgotten.
Whatever happened to blaming the players when they play shit.
August 21st, 2007 at 11:23 am
I’m not disagreeing with you. The timing would be weird.
But if the board actually think “Jol can’t get us top 4″ I guess the answer is that so long as the new guy can get us into UEFA, thats no more of a write off than keeping Jol as far as the board is concerned.
I’m not saying I agree with them. But when Chelski sacked Ranieri, there was uproar. I’m just pointing out that if they really believe they have something up their sleeve (like this Ramos guy) then you could argue this is ambition rather than hara-kiri.
I have no idea whether that ambition would pay off. But just as I like Jol, I also like the board, and I’m not prepared to instantly say “the board have lost it” after they have been as big a part as Jol in getting us to in a position of strength relative to where we have been in years gone by.
Anyway. Lets see what happens. He’s still our manager! The silence from WHL is deafening though.
August 21st, 2007 at 11:24 am
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August 21st, 2007 at 11:46 am
well, unless Ramos is a done deal then Levy and co may have well and truly fucked up.
They should categorically deny it and back BMJ or they should make the managerial change now.
To fail to do either will be a disaster for us and impossible for Martin and the players to perform.
Gawd help us!
August 21st, 2007 at 11:51 am
I agree with you - I am definitively NOT saying that sacking Jol is definitely the right thing to do!
August 21st, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Hello oog, I’m not suggesting that you are.
My stream of questions are not aimed at you in particular. Just thinking aloud.
My neck is starting to ache with the amount of head shaking I’m doing.
Chees mate. Keep the faith!
August 21st, 2007 at 12:07 pm
Berbatov’s agent has come out and denied a rift - good.
No backing from the board - my guess is that MJ’s lawyers are meeting with Tottenham’s lawyers as we type. I can’t see what else could be happening because the media hype is too much for a (listed)club to ignore for this long unless its actually true.
August 21st, 2007 at 12:18 pm
I can see it now. We have a tortuous week of speculation and finally Spurs sack BMJ.
They then call a press conf to unveil the new manager that the board have been chasing to replace Martin. Fanfare and flashlights and out steps “twitchy” Redknapp.
What a coup!
Anyway, it’s all ideal preparation to face the champions at Old Trafford on Sunday.
August 21st, 2007 at 5:17 pm
It would seem strange that 1 week into the season, this should become an issue, what happened to the £40m belief that the board had in MJ 2 weeks ago ?
As I speculated earlier, this seems to be a reminder to MJ that he is expected to perform, if they were seriously thinking about replacement, it should have happened pre-season. If it is a knee jerk reaction, then the board are to blame for making the financial commitment without qualifying whether the right person was in charge.
I would have to disagree with Hornchurch Yid that MJ had the club in his heart, he has stated that football is just a payday to him, and after 5 years he’ll leave football and look elsewhere for paymasters.
Also would beg to differ that he has consistantly sent the club forward each year. Last year, you had less points that the previous season, and the gap to 4th had increased. Besides staying in the cups longer - not difficult as you were knocked out of the first round of everything the previous year, there is no improvement at all.
Perhaps you could explain how he has taken your “club foward consistently” ?
August 22nd, 2007 at 12:28 am
Actually I and the rest of the footballing world would agree that staying in all three cups until the quarter finals and still maintaining league position was move forward from the previous year.
Many teams have not been able to cope with fighting the fight on so many fronts at once. Most sides just drift in and out of the UEFA spots and even the the Top Four concede the Carling Cup to second string sides to lighten the load. It’s even happening with the FA Cup as we saw last season.
We played 19 more games last season than the one before. That’s an increase of nearly 50% and most certainly a step to the good
The Bagel.
August 22nd, 2007 at 9:28 am
Fair point Bagel,
But the board are not talking about cups, they and the rest of the footballing world are talking about getting into the CL.
That means improvement in the league, which, as I stated, is not happening.
People have mentioned comparisons with the chelsea situation, and getting mourinho in to replace ranieri, I think this situation more closely resembles the vialli sacking.
Vialli took over from gullit, made some waves, got some results, the fans loved him, but then, after an indifferent start to the season, was replaced.
Sound familiar ?
At the time there were unhappy players rumblings ?
Again, sound familiar ?
August 22nd, 2007 at 3:01 pm
to Oi Oi
Thanks to Bagel for explaining how our side has improved during Jol’s reign.
In response to whether Jol has “Spurs in his heart” I would say this.
He is a dignified, decent individual who appears to care very much about the fortunes of our football club. He is not arrogant or self serving. He treats opponents with respect. He does not get involved in childish histrionics on the touch line. He is always willing to speak to the media and always attempts to give a fair assessment of a match. Not some blind, biased version of events that nobody else recognises.
Now, all of this on its own is not enough to win matches and just like many other managers he has his flaws. But at least we have a manager who we want to get behind, who we are happy to have at the helm and whose name we will gladly sing, win or lose.
I grant you that in Wenger you have a very talented and successful manager. But he is also one of the biggest cunts in the game who is often a complete embarrassment to your football club. Don’t tell me that he doesn’t make you cringe from time to time?
I suppose a few more seasons withouth winning anything and you might not be able to stomach the prick for much longer. Just a thought.
August 22nd, 2007 at 7:40 pm
Interesting comments Hornchurch.
Gotta disagree though.
Though Wenger may at times be a tad cringe worthy, on the whole I entirely support his views on affairs.
As for whether I would turn on him - never.
He has showed us real football - can’t go back to the george graham days now - perhaps the worst insult we can give your lot is that we play the real football that the spuds were famous for.
He is responsible for the infrastructure and taking the club to a new level, and his building process has allowed us to compete and build a new stadium / training facilities, with a team that (hopefully) will deliver.
Though you may hate us with a passion, and detest any win we achieve, at least you can admire (most of) the football.
As for the biggest c*nt in the game - he can’t be that till robbie savage retires - we all know that !
August 23rd, 2007 at 1:07 am
Surely you cringe when you hear him read out the lottery numbers, oi oi?
August 23rd, 2007 at 12:16 pm
oog, I see you’re experimenting with laconic satire.
perhaps a little more wit and less obsurity might help.
just a suggestion.
August 23rd, 2007 at 12:29 pm
On the contrary oi oi. My point was simply that Wenger, at every Arsenal game, comes on the big screen and in a very very wooden and highly amusing manner, reads out the Arsenal lottery numbers.
Perhaps you don’t make it to enough games to have realised what I was talking about?
August 23rd, 2007 at 1:44 pm
Ah, I see what you mean now, I thought you were refering to my previous lottery comment.
Did think it was a bit odd, even for you.