Beef Bagel

On the one hand I look forward to the international breaks as just that, breaks. I’ve got no problem whatsoever with being in four competitions at once but last season it made nearly 60 games and that’s a lot of time spent up and down to the Lane as well as on writing match reports and let’s not even start on how much the whole adventure cost. So, it’s good back to sit back for a couple of weeks every now and then and take a little breather.

On the other hand, my journeys about the capital are that much duller as the papers are filled with boredom about John Terry’s face mask, Wayne Rooney’s form and whether or not it’s acceptable or not to boo Frank Lamplard. These are not conundrums that require much thought. Rooney’s good even when he’s not, it’s always acceptable to boo Lamplard and Terry’s got an ugly mug regardless of his current beauty treatment. Come to think of it, why bother worrying about his face structure? Just let it cave in. There may actually be an improvement or at least he’ll be able to get a better grip on the ball, even if it is with his soft palate.

I never thought I’d hear myself say this but thank God for the rugby. I’ve never been one for the egg chasing but at least there’s a story. I found it very hard to actually get excited when I watched the game on Saturday. Having paid no attention to the sport since 2003 and while we were losing to South Africa, it seems rather tawdry to jump onto the band wagon now but then, I suppose it’s no different to being a Chelsea fan, ignoring the obvious disparity in IQ.

Thankfully, my blushes have been saved by a significant development in our own story. Uncle Jurgen may be coming back. Yes, it seems that old reliable source that began ‘A friend of Jurgen Klinsmann said…’ was not in fact as trustworthy as the papers led us to believe when he made sweeping comments about Spurs not being a big enough club for the ex-German national manager. The mystery source was in fact more likely Arsene Wenger in lederhosen, holding a couple of bratwurst and a sporting an ill-fitting wig, seeing as the Jurgs has now been officially linked with the job at the Lane.

It seems that our hero from days of old will only consider taking the reigns under two conditions:

1) That the club is not sold during his first three years as manager

2) That he has total control over his technical staff, training methods and preparations and at a guess, the transfer policy as well.

The 43-year-old legend said:

“You want to work with the right people at the right place for the right purpose. As manager, you will get fired sooner or later so you should be in charge of everyone involved with football: the players, coaches, staff. You are on a lost track already if the president chooses the players or you don’t have that power. If you are not given all the tools, don’t do it.”

Sensible stuff.

God knows how good he’d actually be as a manager and I imagine God would be pretty baffled himself as to how Comolli would get on with all this. Jurgy Bear did well with DC United and very well with the German team but the American league and national sides are a rather different kettle of slippery ones, eh Sven?

Funnily enough, it’s not the transfer policy or change of manager itself that interests me so much as a different set of technical staff and training methods; skills coach, Ricardo Moniz excluded. I, and my dry cleaning service, look forward to a day when The Bagel can watch Tottenham defend a set piece without soiling his trousers. I don’t really want to see MJ go but at least if he does, that Klinsmann smile would soften the blow.

It’s pretty well known by now that MJ got neither the ready made defensive midfielder nor left winger he wanted over the summer and how we have suffered. Interesting to see that £3.5m Comolli purchase, Ricardo Rocha, is now tipped for a move back to Benfica this summer. Yes, he’s not really up to it but it’s rather odd timing now that we actually need him as a squad player during this long Ledleyless season. Maybe it was his request. Probably some complaint about the weather and the kick off times.

The latest explanation on the Ledley front after the ridiculous chlamydia rumours is that he’s arthritic. Arthritis is incurable but treatable, thus why:

a) he hasn’t given up,

b) we haven’t given up on him, and

c) why he’s taking such a bloody long time to recover.

Of course he’ll never play more than a few games in a row if this is the case and spend every footballing moment in relative agony but then he is Tottenham through and through. I’d give this story 2 out of 5 for believability.

Enough for now. More news later when I’ve got a minute but you should be grateful for what you can get in these lean Euro-qualifier times. At least it’s football and a solid Tottenham fix.

F.A.Bagel.

The Bagel.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 15th, 2007 at 4:22 pm 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.