Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems For Jol: Who Comes Next?
September 2nd, 2007 by Alan HylandsI went back through the SOTG archives before starting to write this and realised it took me until the 23rd of September last year to reach a similar conclusion that Jol was unable to take us that extra step to the next plateau of Champion’s League qualification / FA Cup winners. Regardless of whether I get accused of being knee jerk this season or not (I’ve been saying the same thing for over a year so I deny completely the knee jerk accusations), even the most ardent Jol lovers will have recognised the look on the big man’s face after Kamara scored to equalise for Fulham yesterday. It wasn’t just the loss of an extra two points to add to our meagre haul this season, it was resignation to the fact that even the much fabled vote of confidence from above won’t be enough to make Martin Jol see Christmas in the Spurs hotseat.
Whether you believe that’s the proper way to act or not, I don’t think the board have any other choice than to have a quiet word in Martin’s shell-like and agree a quiet resignation with the necessary payoff to keep his mouth shut and move on to the next taker for the hardest job in football. Liverpool did it with Benitez in for Houllier and won the European Cup, Chelsea did it with Mourinho in for Ranieri and won back-to-back league titles. Sometimes it’s necessary and I’m unapologetic in saying that Spurs have reached that juncture. The one problem that arises then is who comes next?
THE EURO HOTSHOTS: Two UEFA Cups and a Copa Del Rey coupled with the building of an attractive footbaling side at Sevilla mean that Juande Ramos was the perfect first port of call when the board went prospecting last week. He may have been around the block but he’s learnt his lessons and moved a club probably similar in domestic stature to Spurs in Spain into the stratosphere of European football. Big thumbs up from me. Another name thrown into the mix is PSV Eindhoven coach Ronald Koeman. He’s another successful coach having won three Dutch Eredivisie titles with Ajax and PSV and if Jol’s expolits with RKC Waalwijk are to be herladed then surely Koeman is the next logical step up?
THE FANTASY LEAGUE: Three names leap out here simply because they are three of the most successful club and international managers in the history of the game, namely Guus Hiddink, Marcello Lippi and Fabio Capello. I’ll end the dreaming right now and write off all three of them for the simple fact that they are A-list and Spurs are just about B-list at the moment. We need a coach to take us up to the next level of competition and dreaming of pulling one of these three won’t help anyone. Save your money betting on the holy trinity in other words.
THE DOMESTIC CONTENDERS: Martin O’Neill has shown himself to be a small time operator even with a big budget at Aston Villa, content to take average players and try and mould them into a better performing whole which isn’t the Spurs way. Sam Allardyce might enjoy the transfer activity at Spurs for dubious reasons but his style of long ball football employed over time at Bolton wouldn’t entice me into getting him either. The Spurs board may be tempted to bring in their good pal Harry Redknapp and while Harry probably is the best of a bad English bunch there is just too much baggage around him, his sullied reputation, his workshy son’s time at the club and his lack of domestic success. Other than that I’ve only heard Mark Hughes being mentioned and while he’s well regarded as being one of the contenders for Manchester United manager in waiting, he did do quite well with the Wales squad and has his Blackburn team playing in his own image, scrapping for every ball and making the most of their limited talents. Is he a step up from jolly Jol though? I’m not so sure.
THE OUTSIDERS: Let’s bring in the usual list of “others” who might be interested - Kenny Dalglish has been out of the game for too long, Graeme Souness’ early success with Rangers may have brought him twenty years of managerial work but I think the Newcastle job may have finally erased his reputation, Peter Taylor is a Spurs man but hardly up to the task at the top table given his time at Leicester City and Steve Coppell looks content with a small club fighting against the odds at Reading. Realistically who else is there?
Those with a good memory will know who my personal choice would be, I make no apologies for hankering back to dreams of days gone past when the white knight rode back into White Hart Lane to deliver us from the tyranny of Gooner George’s reign. He may have no man-management skills, he may still be better on the training pitch than most of our midfielders are on the pitch (which is a damning indictment on the current over paid, underworked staff) and the press may hate him but I still dream of the second coming, more out of hope than expectation. Some modern fans have forgotten what Tottenham Hotspur really stands for so take the time to look up a few quotes from Bill Nic and Danny Blanchflower and settle back with a video on YouTube of the last real Spurs legend, the man who could still come back and take us to the promised land. Come home Glenn, still the King of White Hart Lane.
September 2nd, 2007 at 2:25 pm
rubbish
September 2nd, 2007 at 2:43 pm
Hoddle back at the Lane? You must be mad! Hoddle’s lack of man management skills and his persistance to play a ridiculous 3-5-2 system which never worked in the EPL are just a few of the reasons why would never become Tottenham’s manager again. Our board would never even consider someone like Hoddle, and why on earth you think he would be considered is beyond me.
Juande Ramos is also another ridculous “contender”. The guy hardly speaks any English, so how on earth our board and some so called fans like yourself, can even consider him as our next manager is also beyond me.
If Jol does go, which I am afraid looks more and more likely as we continue to struggle into this season, then the only people I would like to see come to Spurs would be Klinsmann or Koeman.
September 2nd, 2007 at 2:51 pm
Are you taking the piss? I would rather stick with Jol than bringing Hoddle back,what you forgot to mention is with Hoddle in fighting never ends and his personality is his biggest problem.
Capello himself said he would take Spurs job if offered.
Capello or Koeman will do nicely.
September 2nd, 2007 at 3:16 pm
I thought i was alone in the hankering after the second coming of Goddle, yes its a little twisted but i love the guy. 7 games into that season was all he got, shocker.
The best spurs player of all time.
Probably only me and you in the world who agree!
Footballwise, he did pretty well for england too as i seem to remember…
September 2nd, 2007 at 4:23 pm
Is that the Glenn Hoddle who was in charge during the humiliating 4 0 stuffing in the cup against Southampton? The same Hoddle who made WHL the resting home for past its like Redknapp, Poyet, Ziege and Sheringham? The 5 -1 humping at the Riverside followed by the 4 - 0 destruction at home against Blackburn? The Worthington Cup defeat at Burnley? The same Hoddle who managed us to THREE 4-0 defeats in a row??
I’m assuming you were there for some of these games, I know I was. The board showed their naivety by leaving him in charge during the close season, then dumping him without a replacement then and now you’d like to see the same thing happen with Jol, our most successful manager in terms of league position since the start of the premiership after 5 games.
I’m as frustrated as everyone about our results, and maybe Jol isnt the man to take us higher then fifth, but then you blow your argument by mentioning dross like Peter Taylor (5 million for Ade Akinbyie) and yesterdaymen like Dalglish and Souness for Christ sake. Not even as a joke should any of these men be mentioned as candidates.
The question of availabilty is also important. Just because our board are so bereft of any class that they’d have no problems dumping a manager during the season, it doesnt mean a decent replacement would break his contract to join us. And most of the out-of-work managers about are out of work for a reason.
Finally, if the last few years have taught us anything its that the hire then fire approach we’ve taken during the last 15 years or so got us nowhere. If we can’t get in a high class replacement in now we have to wait until the seasons over, another year of a caretaker manager is just not an option.
September 2nd, 2007 at 4:43 pm
Hoddle!? You idiot! Talk about go backwards! Hoddle cocked it up and lost the dressing room within two seasons! Do you want to go back to that?
Think before you write…
September 2nd, 2007 at 7:27 pm
I really really hope that was a joke! How on earth can you really wish hoddle back on spurs, as great a player as he was, he just isnt up to managing us. We havent truly had a great manager since terry venables, only much as i hate it did george graham look like reviving us and now again much as i hate it jol has done a fantastic job but is sorely lacking in his tactical decision making, shame that as you say he will be gone soon!
To be honest i dont know which manager would bring us out of this slump to be sure, but maybe a man with grahams defensive knowhow, hoddles way of attracting big name players (aka chelsea) and jols motivation at keeping the squad as massive and over employed at several positions as it is yet players dont want to leave, (example defoe) then if this person is out there please come and help the mighty yids cause i feel we have let ourselves down and are in need of some direction and soon before we lose out what we have achieved for the last 2-3 years altogether.
September 2nd, 2007 at 7:39 pm
Forget Glenn. Hes bloody awful. He’d sign a bunch of 30 year olds. As for Martin Jol, hes a good manager. I’m a Jol lover.
But I’d hate to see him leave WHL and if they want someone to replace him with. Theres someone 100% times better than Glenn Hoddle and thats Jurgen Klinsmann, the real genius.
September 2nd, 2007 at 8:58 pm
Hoddle may be a legend at the lane but it was Levy who sacked him, hes hardly going to go back to him. It would be a right publicity disaster on top of what has already happened. WE should not sack Jol unless we are struggling at christmas time. Its been 5 games, its just form not an indication of where we are going to finish. He’s built this side and he has earned the right to guide it. The world wasnt made in 7 days and neither will a great spurs side be created in 3 years. Jol took over when we were 14th and we were 5th twice in a row there after. Its typical knee-jerk reactions. And although you said the same thing a year ago, you went silent quickly after. Hes done more for this club then any other man in the premiership era. Lets be patient, in Jol we trust.
September 3rd, 2007 at 4:32 am
GLENN HODDLE UR HAVING A BUBBLE MATE!!!
September 3rd, 2007 at 5:50 am
Tottenham must decide now rather than later. Is this coaching team capable of bringing about attractive but winning football? Results of the first four games prove that the coaching team, starting with the manager, must go.
Players show lack of belief, lack of teamwork, and lack of application. Sure there may be players who may have to be dealt with, but on the whole these are the failures of management.
The board may have handled matters badly and handled public relations embarrassingly worse, but the board has been right. If Tottenham is to be other than the best of the worst, the coaching team, not just the manager, must be changed.
September 3rd, 2007 at 9:00 am
You’re having a laugh!! Hoddle is a rubbish coach who done more harm than good for us. The biggest problem with us is that we change our manager every 3 years or so. Where has it got us? Nowhere. If we are to change, Hughes isnt a bad choice. Would he, or anyone else, want to come to a club with the board we’ve got? Give it to Clive Allen or keep Jol. Not Hoddle