So Martin Jol says that despite missing out by a whisker last season on a top four Premiership place and then adding some ?20m+ of talent to his squad over the summer he doesn’t believe that Spurs will be able to break into the top four of the Premiership for another two years?

Talk about a warcry, it sounds more and more like Mr Smooth and Sophisticated in front of the media is suddenly getting a bit of fear about the expectations he’s created at White Hart Lane and with our worst Premiership start likely to continue against pacesetters Portsmouth, Jol is getting the excuses in early for a return to the midtable finish that is potentially on the cards.

I can understand a coach being realistic about his side’s chances but to downplay our ambitions and give the players, most of whom need a kick up the arse at the best of times, an excuse to play for 6th/7th/8th for another two years is inexcusable. We need a confident, ambitious coach who will stop at nothing to achieve the club’s aims of regaining our place back at the top table and I won’t hear any rubbish excuses for why we can’t for two more years when we spend a fortune on new players and have one of the most complete squads (barring a few exceptions) in a decade.

Jol has seen his brief rise to prominence herald the dawn of a new era of hope amongst Spurs fans and I think it’s spooked him that he might have done too much, too soon and the burden of expectation will be what finishes him off. Personally I’ve nothing against him, he’s good value in interviews and seems to say the right things but I judge a coach or manager on his actions and directions on the pitch and I’ve seen a decreasing amount of confidence regarding his abilities to really get the best out of the players he has.

If even his motivational tactics have now sunk so low as to give his players two years off from really competing then I’m afraid Mr. Jol will be a lucky boy to still be wearing a Spurs polo shirt in the dugout when those “glory” days of fourth place are due to come around. Hoddle was derided for his five year plan but at least that was five years to be able to compete for the title (pre-Abramovich), Jol is asking for four years in charge to do what he almost had in his grasp in 18 months.

I’m sorry Martin but that’s not good enough. A workmanlike Everton side cracked the code in the not too distant past, what makes you think that another two years is going to be enough to realise that taking points off the current top four is the key to taking their league positions? It’s not rocket science but for Spurs it’s like trying to split the atom with a chisel and a wooden mallet.

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 30th, 2006 at 12:10 pm and is filed under Tottenham Hotspur. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.