4th Place, no worries!

The Spurs board have, in recent weeks, been behaving with the same careful thought as a crack whore and the forward planning of a death-row inmate. Had Levy timed his attempted coup just a little better, after the Fulham game, there would have been few bleats in the wilderness supporting the Dutchman but I, after some time to lick my wounds, would have been one of them.

The problem of a four-game management replacement is awful timing: it shows weakness in planning and faith in your own structures and personnel. If BMJ was to be replaced the intelligent, not to say courageous, time to do it would have been out of season after the man had, for the second time, secured us the top5 finish we deserved. Give a new manager time to bed the team down, introduce new training and establish his tactics. Put your own arse on the line, Levy, you coward.

I have no idea, if I am honest, whether Ramos is a better manager than BMJ. Spain is a different kettle of Europeans to the English game. Watching European footie I would say the Dutch game is a little closer in style and substance to the EPL so a Jol would probably have needed a shorter adaptive period than a Juan.

Jol has, ultimately, results on his side with two 5th place finishes. I am also, for the most part, enjoying the (mostly positive) football we play- not including Sunderland and the last 15 minutes against the hapless Fulham. Unlike BMJ I am a man who thinks attack is the best form of defence- keep the opponents stretched and nervy, don’t defend in your own penalty area and always look for another goal but I am not being paid a million pounds to manager an EPL team so perhaps Martin knows his stuff and I should get off my high horse, saddle sores and all.

The top 4 look more vulnerable than ever. Manchester United and Arsenal lack depth. Chelsea look shaky at the back even with Terry and Benitez at Liverpool has yet to prove to be anything special within the English game. United lose to City, Chelsea to Villa. Neither are special teams, neither are managed by a special manager. This year everything is up for grabs and we have what looks like a “Best of the Rest” manager in a run of rotten luck under all the wrong kinds of pressure.

If we don’t make top4 we will never know if Martin Jol could have done it with a little help from his friends and the fault should be laid at the feet of the board. If we make top5 I, for one, will still be happy. Stability is smart. Football is long-term, not short-term and this year we should be targeting a piece of silverware- preferably in Europe, to get the players into a “we can win, we have class” mentality.

Nonetheless, I still see us finishing in the top4 under Jol this season. Robbie Keane is the key, more so than Berbatov, largely because of his fight and drive. And if Defoe wants to start he could add to his case by, say, getting a shot on target sometime soon. Bale looks like something special and our left wing solution- no wonder we paid 10 million for him. Spurs could do worse than also pushing Ekotto (le sulk part 2) into a more forward position with his pace. With returning defenders we have some clean sheets due us once they settle down to play properly with each other.

There is a positive to the rough start. At the gun we were part of a “top5.” We were a team to beat. Opponents were more fired up, more aggressive and more prepared than they would have been for other teams. Now we are “also-rans,” “in turmoil” and generally discounted as low in morale and unable to perform. Spurs are a team that bottles under pressure (still, unfortunately) and having the pressure off the players can only be a good thing.

The prediction: Our second half to the season will be better than the first half with our new stars settled, just like last year. Look to us finishing around 3 positions higher than we are on January 1st: 3rd or 4th.

A final word: there are better managers than Martin Jol. Until Tottenham has one hook, line and sinker it makes no sense to unsettle matters.