Baby if you’ve got to go away
I don’t think
I can take the pain
Won’t you stay another day
Oh, don’t leave me alone like this
Don’t say it’s the final kiss
Won’t you stay another day

Tottenham may be a little more N17 than E17 when it comes to London postcodes but when it comes to the departure of Michael Carrick to Manchester United, I’m sure Martin Jol’s feelings can be best encapsulated by Walthamstow’s finest songsmiths.

Jol has made it clear in his pre-match interview before Spurs visit to Old Trafford and their first meeting with their former midfield star that if it had been solely his decision that Carrick never would have left White Hart Lane. It was plain to see from the moment Jol took over from Jacques Santini that he was going to base his plans around Carrick’s brand of midfield play, that deep lying, ball playing playmaker role that suited him so well and allowed Spurs to make their agonising run to 4th spot which ultimately ended in the Lasagne-Gate tragedy.

Jol has made it clear though that the move was fully down to the ambitions of Michael Carrick and that, in an age of player threats and petulance in the face of big money moves (see Cashley Cole and William Gallas), Carrick was perfectly straight and honest with Spurs and told them that while he loved being at the club he felt this was an offer he couldn’t turn down. I raged aginst the player at the time for running out on us but in the cold light of days later, even I have to admit that it was possibly a once in a lifetime opportunity for the player and, whether Surs fans like to admit it or not, a step up into that top bracket of club football that the Champion’s League has created.

There is no doubt in my mind that the two poor results this season have been exacerbated by losing Carrick and until some of the current squad step up to the plate and find a way of replacing him we could struggle even more. It’s the ultimate irony that while Spurs cry out for a classy, ball playing midfielder, the one we sold to accomodate Carrick is getting knocked unconscious by a vicious thug in Manchester while he plays for his new club Portsmouth. Pedro Mendes would have been the perfect midfield replacement alongside Didier Zokora but in Spurs haste to reclaim some of his fee we’ve let him slip through the net. Such is football and such is life, I wonder how many regrets Michael Carrick will have about his move come the end of the season?

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 9th, 2006 at 9:37 am and is filed under Tottenham Hotspur. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.