The Spurs Thread

[TF/S4DK]

He'd sit it rather than go to a club that doesnt suit his social life.

[Gundam]

We should shot him now for 12 mil.No way should Levy let him leave for nothing. Jol ain't going to make him start. Jol is going to keep starting Dimi and Keano.Keano = Captain for like 1 year till king is back can't be subbed.Bent comes on for someone like TanioDefoe comes on for BerbaBerba starst getting pissed off.Thats how its going to be.

[Gundam]

If Taarabt doesn't play against UtdJol better comes up with some excuses. Only give him a bly if we are winning and trying to keep a lead.

[Black]

Jol bruised by boardroom blundersSpurs' botched handling of the Michael Carrick sale typifies the turmoil at White Hart Lane, reports Kevin MitchellSunday August 26, 2007The ObserverWhen Martin Jol looks out on the Old Trafford pitch this afternoon, his gaze might linger on one opposition player in particular. If Jol had not been forced, against his better judgment, to sell Michael Carrick to Manchester United last year, Tottenham would in all likelihood not be in such turmoil and the manager's authority would be intact instead of in tatters.The Carrick saga, more than any of the many others that have blighted Jol's time at Spurs, defines what is wrong with the club. Lining up for Tottenham in his place will probably be Didier Zokora, a player Jol had forced on him and who has hardly been an unqualified success at White Hart Lane. This is not the team the Dutchman could and should have had at his disposal.It is now emerging that there have been several other transfer blunders. But it is not just past follies that haunt Jol and Tottenham. As well as speculation about the manager's future there are rumours - denied, of course - that star striker Dimitar Berbatov is still being courted by United. Clandestine meetings with likely candidates for Jol's job have also lent an air of intrigue to the sorry affair.So Tottenham go into today's match burdened by much more than the prospect of trying to beat a Manchester United team yet to be roused to full pitch. The players and Jol have to put behind them one of the worst weeks in the long and sometimes glorious history of the club, a week in which the unpalatable truth of in-fighting from board level to the pitch has finally been exposed, a farce that has undermined the manager, unsettled the players and angered the supporters.Insiders have told The Observer that the root cause of the chaos at White Hart Lane is meddling in selection and the buying and selling of players by the chairman Daniel Levy and his influential sidekick Paul Kemsley, who does not rate Jol. They have as allies Damien Commoli, the sporting director, and, curiously, Donna Cullen, the communications director. Plenty of directors, not much direction.Harried by this powerful quartet, and obviously concerned about leaked stories of either Fabio Capello or Juande Ramos replacing him, Jol has remained dignified and diplomatic. 'We've never seen a week like it,' a club source said. 'But he's bearing up amazingly well.'Jol and his captain, Robbie Keane, had to brave a blizzard of awkward questions during the scheduled media day at the club's training ground in Chigwell on Friday, and Cullen will be trawling the interpretation of their quotes with a critical eye this morning.Cullen has her supporters at board level but I was told, 'She overlooks every word written or said about Spurs. She oversees the manager's programme notes and puts her red pen through much of what he says. When it comes to football and publicity, she just doesn't get it.'There will not be much cause for angst in Keane's utterances. He squirmed nervously as he batted back repeated inquiries about dressing-room morale with standard cliches. The sanguine Jol looked and sounded like a man on borrowed time.Joe Lewis, the sixteenth richest man in Britain according to the lists, oversees his investment in Tottenham from the comfort of his mansion in Lyford Cay in the Bahamas, and he will have been disturbed that the simmering tension at Spurs has been handled so ham-fistedly. It is understood that Lewis and Levy (who is effectively auditioning for a bigger role in Lewis's Enic empire while he is in charge of Tottenham) want to sell the club. To attract the top price they need a bigger stadium, with at least a 50,000 capacity, and Champions League football.'Their aim is simple,' another White Hart Lane source said. 'It's to raise the club's value in order to make a massive killing by selling the club. They think they can put at least another £50million on Spurs' value before selling. Jol doesn't know who to trust, so he doesn't trust any of them.'Kemsley, the vice-chairman, has been tasked with acquiring a state-of-the-art training complex, but a refurbished ground - and, probably, a new manager - is the more immediate project.On the face of it, the future should be bright. There is a waiting list of 10,000 for season tickets and a local fan-base of at least 100,000, so the potential is significant. But space is tight at White Hart Lane and Tottenham would have to buy up property around the ground and turn the pitch 90 degrees. They expect to make an announcement before December.Kemsley is an interesting character. He is a self-made property millionaire, a genuine Spurs fan and close friend of Harry Redknapp, with whom he once owned a racehorse. It is believed that moves to replace Jol were inspired by Kemsley, who has made his misgivings about the manager known to Levy many times. The two of them can make board decisions for the football club, independently of the plc, from which Kemsley resigned last year to give him a free rein on the football side.Underpinning their football decisions is Commoli. He was a scout for Arsenal in France, but not as influential in uncovering players for Arsenal as Spurs made out when he joined. He was briefly director of football at St Etienne before joining Spurs when Frank Arnesen left for Chelsea, but he never had the authority or knowledge of the Dane. Jol does not rate Commoli or his signings - among them Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Ricardo Rocha and, most controversially, Zokora.It was Commoli who told Levy that the club could dispense with Carrick because he believed Zokora was a better player. Carrick was happy at Spurs in April 2006, when he went to talk to Levy about a new contract, with two years left on his existing one and his World Cup inclusion imminent. He had been Tottenham's best player and was central to Jol's plans.How negotiations unfolded, then collapsed, provides a fascinating insight into the running of the club. Carrick was on £25,000 a week and started talks by asking for £40,000, expecting to negotiate. He was laughed out of the room and told to re-sign on Spurs' terms, or be sold.Carrick, who wanted to stay, felt unwanted. He then discovered Sir Alex Ferguson was interested in him. At that season's Premier League annual meeting, David Gill of Manchester United put in a £10million bid and Levy dismissed it. The club denied at the time there had been an approach and have always insisted that Carrick was sold because he wanted to leave. He did, in the end - but only because he was so disenchanted at the way he had been treated. Before he went, Levy made a lame and late increased offer of £50,000 a week. It was a prize piece of botched dealing.Meanwhile, Levy had negotiated a new contract with Jol, who was unaware of the Carrick situation. The manager was livid when he found out he had committed himself to the club and simultaneously lost his main midfielder to such a formidable rival. When he was lumbered with Commoli's choice of replacement, Zokora, he was even less impressed.Aggravation worsened as the season progressed. Kemsley was not happy with Jol's tactics; Jol was growing weary of the interference. There was great discomfort at board level when Chelsea won at White Hart Lane in an FA Cup quarter-final replay. Only a second successive fifth place in the league temporarily soothed Jol's detractors.But it all bubbled up in the summer, when Jol and Levy had a major row over signings. Jol, who has been desperate for a left-winger for two years, had earlier been thwarted when Levy intervened in the almost-completed purchase of Stewart Downing, and insisted Spurs pay in instalments. The deal fell through. Jol was further frustrated when he sought to buy the player he considered an important piece in his jigsaw: Berbatov's compatriot and friend, Martin Petrov, from Atletico Madrid. Levy and Kemsley apparently have a phobia about older players and considered the 28-year-old Petrov past it.There have been several other points of disagreement between Jol and Levy, who fancies himself as something of a hot-shot at the negotiating table.Jol wants a left back but has been continually thwarted in his efforts and has often had to play the right-footed Paul Stalteri out of position. There are other gaps he is keen to address but has not been able to. Aaron Lennon, for instance, while dazzling in bursts, does not fit the Jol profile of a hard-working professional; nor does Jermain Defoe, whose scoring record away from home (three last season) is not impressive. As a replacement for Carrick, Tottenham might have signed the Cameroon international Geremi, from Chelsea, but instead he went to Newcastle and is already their captain.Several agents told The Observer that Levy was difficult to do business with. 'He doesn't really understand the rules of engagement or football itself,' one said. 'He has an over-inflated view of himself as a negotiator because he once sold three players to Portsmouth for £7m and thought he was a genius in the transfer market.'If there is any doubt that Jol is the innocent party in this ongoing mess it is not shared by influential and respected voices in football - including his rivals Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson. Wenger, who has enjoyed virtually unfettered control for more than a decade at Arsenal, accused Tottenham of impatience last week. Ferguson expanded on that theme to The Observer'The difference between Martin Jol and me is that I've been here 20 years,' he said. 'When I first came to this club I faced all that expectation too, because we hadn't won the league in umpteen years. Martin is new at the club and Spurs haven't won the league for 45 years, so that's quite a lot of expectation, and you are not surprised at the criticism. You are only surprised at the way it all started.'I was pleased to see Daniel Levy come out in support of him because [Jol] is a decent guy. His work in Holland was outstanding, and he did a good job for Tottenham last year. Knee-jerk reactions don't necessarily come from the board, the press play a part too, but still you wonder where these things start.'In modern football you get in some of these directors' rooms and boardrooms and you see four or five directors and about 35 hangers-on. And they've all got a voice. That's often where the seed is sown. When I first came to United they had something they called the second board. They used to meet every Monday afternoon in the Grill Room at Old Trafford, assess results, get the axe out for Alex Ferguson, that type of thing. That's the kind of rubbish you had even 20 years ago. I think a lot of clubs have a similar problem - it sort of comes with the corporate hospitality packages nowadays - and perhaps Tottenham suffer from it more than most.'Jol is the most popular manager at White Hart Lane since Keith Burkenshaw, more popular even than Glenn Hoddle and Osvaldo Ardiles, neither of whom could translate their status as great Spurs players to management. Yet Jol has had to endure an attritional and unsubtle campaign against his authority at the very time when he might be able to make a breakthrough in restoring the fortunes of what was once a great club.'It's unbelievable that he's under pressure,' said Carrick, a Jol supporter, ahead of today's game. 'Absolutely unbelievable.'

Wow Any wasteman from arsenal ,club sounds f*cked commin like west ham

[Black]

too many of these stories all sounding the same

[Rsonist]

Commolli has done well for us.But thinking now, some of the signings have been very suspect.

[TF/S4DK]

If Commolli got Berbatov, then all the rest is irrelevant, including Didier, lol.I dont believe most of the Carrick thing.

[Gundam]

SPURS have amazingly offered a grovelling apology to under-fire manager Martin Jol. Vice-chairman Paul Kemsley â the man at the centre of the secret meeting with Sevilla coach Juande Ramos â has said âsorry' to Jol and the Tottenham fans. Kemsley accepts his ill-advised trip to Spain has plunged White Hart Lane into crisis and left Jol's job in jeopardy. But today, as Spurs face Manchester United at Old Trafford, Kemsley broke his silence. In an exclusive News of the World interview, Kemsley also dismissed speculation he wants to buy Spurs with best friend and Newcastle supremo Mike Ashley. Kemsley said: "I am sorry about last weekend's escapade and for the damage and upset it has caused to both Martin Jol, the club and the supporters. The truth is that we never offered Martin's job to Juande Ramos no matter what anybody thinks. "I went to Seville for two reasons. Firstly to talk with Sevilla about the way they run their club and to discuss their model for success because that's what I want for Tottenham-success. "I have been a season ticket holder at Spurs since I was seven and there are not many people who can say that. "You must believe I want what's best for the club and I think you should always talk to other people, especially successful people, to see how they have achieved so much. "I must admit the second reason I was there was as a contingency against Martin leaving. "I know Martin is hugely ambitious, he is always telling me that, and I know he is a coveted manager. There are a lot of teams out there who would love him in charge of their club. "I liken it to being married to a beautiful woman â it's wonderful to have a beautiful wife but it can make you insecure and worried that you might lose her. "That's how I feel about Martin. I think he is great but I'm worried he could leave. So you must have a contingency plan. "It's like having a life vest under your seat on an aeroplane. You hope you don't have to use it but you are safe in the knowledge that it's there in case of an emergency. "I am not trying to force Martin out. I am 100 per cent behind him and I know Daniel Levy is 100 per cent behind him, too. The events of the last week might not have given that impression and I regret that. "But I could not allow this situation to continue to undermine the club. Let's stop all this talk of crisis and let's use this as a rallying call to everyone who loves Spurs. "This is my call to arms to everyone who loves the club-let's all pull together to try and achieve what we all want â the very best. Let's give Martin our full backing." Kemsley, speaking from his yacht in the south of France, then scotched all talk that he wants to topple chairman Levy and assume control of the club himself. And he laughed off reports that he has teamed up with multi-millionaire chum Ashley to try to seize control at White Hart Lane. Kemsley added: "I am a great admirer of Daniel and what he has done for this club. The report that I'm teaming up with Mike to take charge is just nonsense. "Yes, Mike is my best friend and has been from the time we worked together in a sports shop as teenagers. But he's not a Tottenham fan and I know he is totally committed to Newcastle. "Me? I always have been a Spurs fan so I would love it if we could stuff Newcastle 4-0 when we play them and, friends or not, I would laugh straight in Mike's face."

[Black]

Jol on a tightropeEven if Spurs win at Old Trafford today, it seems that Martin Jol will be sacrificed as Daniel Levy prepares to sell upDuncan CastlesâIâm the one that has instilled part of the philosophy we are trying to build here, and that is obviously that we want to have a squad that is capable of challenging for regular European competition, but one that has also got inherent valueâ â Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy, February 2007.âI am an ambitious chairman, we are an ambitious club and we want Champions League football at White Hart Lane. We, the board, owe it to the club and the supporters to constantly assess our position and performance and to ensure that we have the ability to operate and compete at that level.â â Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy, August 21, 2007.Vaulting ambition is not a trait Daniel Levy can be accused of lacking. Upgrading targets from habitual tilt at the Uefa Cup to guaranteed seat at the Champions League high table in the space of six months, shoving the most successful manager he has employed under the guillotine after two league defeats, sending his helmsmen to Spain to seduce La Ligaâs most desired coach. Levy wants it all and suddenly he seems to want it now. Jol attempted to make a virtue out of his chairmanâs sudden impatience last week â âIâm at a club where there is big expectation, so if you think positive, itâs a big compliment.â But he and Levy know that had Sevilla coach Juande Ramos accepted the âdizzyingâ offer made to him nine days ago, the Spaniard would be in charge of Spurs at Old Trafford this afternoon, not the Dutchman. Both are also aware of the unspoken subtext to Levyâs revised demands; demands that appear to have more to do with financial gain than achievement.As a wise-cracking Jol won more hearts and minds with his press conference take on a week in which he had received almost daily votes of confidence from the board even as club officials briefed against him, Tottenham quietly announced to the stock exchange that Levyâs company had bought more than £67m worth of shares in the club. ENIC, the investment vehicle that he co-owns with his billionaire uncle Joe Lewis, now holds more than 82% of the fully diluted capital of Tottenham.According to sources at Tottenham and in the City, ENICâs decision to acquire former chairman Sir Alan Sugarâs residual stake in the club is not intended as a long-term investment. Towards the end of last season talks were held with an American consortium about a potential takeover of the club. Although that approach did not result in a formal offer, ENIC remains eager to profit on its ownership of Tottenham and would sell its holding for an appropriate price. Both club and owners are being advised by Seymour Pierce, City financiers who specialise in Premier League takeovers and who, through Keith Harris, the former chairman of the Football League, brokered the purchase of Manchester City by Thaksin Shinawatra.After accounting for its complex structure of ordinary and preference shares, Tottenhamâs current stock market value is £212m. Last season the word was that ENIC would settle for a 50% mark-up on that figure, but the £470m buyout of Liverpool and the battle for Arsenal have widened their eyes. The asking price for Spurs now stands nearer to £450m.Two factors are important to ENICâs exit strategy. The first is to replace White Hart Laneâs relatively limited capacity of 36,000 with something approaching the 60,000-seat corporate-entertainment haven that Arsenal erected at Ashburton Grove, and the club is pursuing plans to rebuild on the current site or move elsewhere in London. The second factor is an awareness that few things add more value to a football club than the Champions League, coupled with the belief that Arsenalâs recent troubles offer an opportunity to play in it.Levy is now demanding Champions League qualification this season. To achieve his ambitions, he has spent in the transfer market like never before. England reserve Darren Bent was bought from Charlton Athletic for £16.5m, teenage defender Gareth Bale from Southampton for a fee that could rise to £10m. From abroad came French defender Younes Kaboul for £8m and German midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng at £5.8m. In response, the takeover Spurs were touted for was that of Arsenal as one of the Premier Leagueâs big four.Yet behind the eye-catching acquisitions was a club at odds with itself. For all that the four newcomers were described as Jol signings, the Dutchman requested none of them. At Levyâs instigation, Tottenham do not allow their managers the control over purchases that Sir Alex Ferguson or Arsène Wenger have at Manchester United and Arsenal. Instead, the club employs Damien Comolli as sporting director, charged with scouting and sourcing new players in the positions the manager requests before Levy steps in to negotiate financial terms. Explaining the system in the club magazine this year, Comolli was clear about who governed the process. âObviously we [the scouting department] come up with all the names and I tell Martin this is the reason why we think this player is No 1, No 2, No 3 and so on. Of course Martin has a vital say in all of this and he might say he prefers one player to another, so we can swap around, but basically weâre always working on a team of players who currently play for other clubs.âNote the terminology. âVital sayâ. The phrase is a world apart from âfinal sayâ, which is what Ferguson and Wenger enjoy. Power without responsibility is said to be the nirvana state of leadership that men in authority crave. At White Hart Lane, Jol appears to have responsibility without power. And if a âvital sayâ is what Jol had over transfers this summer, then Comolli must have a strange definition of the term. The manager asked for reinforcement in two areas as a priority, requesting a quality left- winger and a midfielder capable of shutting games down when his team went ahead â a George Boateng or a Claude Makelele.Jol has been urging his club to make two such signings for at least 18 months. Tipped off by favoured forward Dimitar Berbatov, he asked the club to sign Martin Petrov, only to see the Bulgaria winger join Manchester City because Comolli and Levy deemed his wages and £4.7m transfer fee too high for a 28-year-old. Instead of a canny midfield enforcer, Jol was provided with a different Boateng, not a George but a young Kevin-Prince, an attack-minded player who failed even to make a depleted Germany squad on Wednesday.Also on Jolâs wish-list was a flinty left-back ready to step straight into a porous defence and a fourth-choice striker to replace the disgruntled and frequently injured Mido. For all his talent, the 18-year-old Bale hardly qualifies as the former, while £16.5m is not the price tag you want to have chafing the neck of a back-up forward.If Comolli and Levy can be argued to have improved the squad rather than the first team, it is a reflection of a transfer policy more motivated by economics than on-field efficiency. Levyâs trust in the sporting director system is driven by a distrust of managers. Jol admires Levyâs acumen and says the deal his chairman struck to bring Aaron Lennon from Leeds United for just £1m was âthe best business ever in this country over the last 30 yearsâ, but he has been left with a squad of players for the future that is expected to achieve success right now.Spursâ strategy seems all well and good when the target is a top-seven finish, your competitors are Everton, Bolton and Newcastle United, and you have a manager like Jol who can deliver back-to-back fifth-place finishes with youngsters, Tottenhamâs best sequence in 24 years.The word from the training ground is that Jol and Comolli no longer exchange anything but angry ones. Unless Jol can perform more coaching alchemy, Levy will be exchanging managers

How can Jol have little say he bringin players in

[Black]

Jol said him self that gettin 18m for carrick was good because his contract was running down and he wanted to move on to bigger things himself....

Jol would have to say that

[Gundam]

Views on Bale?Looks the real deal.

[Rsonist]

Bale was fantastic.Always knew Jol would play him at left mid, once we get Dawson back, and even better King we are fully sorted.Our 2nd rate team dominated the champions at home, its signs.The performance is what mattered today.And we got that.

[Guest I.B.Blackman]

i have to say well dun 4 tottyman u keep gettin dem suspect referee blys

[Rsonist]

i have to say well dun 4 tottyman u keep gettin dem suspect referee blys

Its a disgrace.Just seen on SSN.Over the course of the prem, 38 pens have been awarded at Old Trafford.30 for Man Utd.8 against.SMH

[FamilyTree]

the more im hearing about commoli the less im liking....i dont think they shud restrict martin jol to not havin final say in transfer market

[Zdot]

Martin Jol is the best Spurs manager 4 time and people r talking bout getting rid of him, its madness.Bale played good against united, didnt know he was so fast

[Gundam]

^New spurs fan?

[Rsonist]

Another soldier to battle the Nazi propoganda in here.

[Aquaman]

berbatov boyed off ur wage structure lolhes gettin a big head "its a small rise" "i am here for now"

[Rsonist]

He deserves to be on £100k.So what.

[TF/S4DK]

Is that how much he on?!

[FamilyTree]

jenas signs new deal till 2012source: everywhere

[Zdot]

Ye u know BIG UP TOTTENHAM ALL DAYTBH Berbatov has been swag this season, he started 2 play better against united but he seems 2 be lacking effort. I think coz he got linked wiv United 4 40 mill he thinks he's 2 good. Bale, Taraabt, Boateng r gona be merkers this season tho. Anyone know wen Boateng's gona play?

[FamilyTree]

i heard boateng could feature vs fulham at the weekend still