Martin Lol

Linked with Kanoute and Alves today for............ ...... £60m the pair :lol: I just love the paper talk, Chelsea wouldn't pay the necessary fee for Alves but Spurs will?? More likelihood of me flying to the moon than Spurs signing Alves imo! I don't think Kanoute won't happen either, bringing in players 30 or over doesn't fit in with Levy's buying strategy unless they arrive on Bosmans or nominal fees. As the Sevilla president not surprisingly has got the arsehole with Ramos/Spurs I don't think Spurs will signing any Sevilla player unless we match the buyout clause. The only one that might happen is Christian Poulsen who has got a reputed clause of £7m, but how true that is I have no idea. My opinion of Levy pretty well mirrors yours! Don't like him. I've spoken to him a couple of times when I've accompanied my sister-in-law to the formal Spurs Xmas bash, he's a true Spurs fan wanting the best for the club but he will sell the club without hesitation if he gets the right bid. The good thing is he won't sell to just anybody, they will have to take the club forward when they buy it. There are persistent rumours about a couple of American consortiums, an English one, a Far Eastern billionaire, a Russian oligarch, I still think it's a case of when, not if. In the NY Times today Steve Nash says he's flying over to discuss 'business opportunities'. He's a lifelong Spurs fan, been to WHL on numerous occasions and was linked with one of the American consortiums, Robert Kraft I think but I can't remember tbh. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/28/sports/playmagazine/28nash.html?_r=1&ei=5090&en=ba065e371462f6f2&ex=1351051200&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin Levy's bad side stood out during the Jol saga, whatever Jol had done right or wrong, Jol didn't deserve the treatment he got. Hoddle got it before him with the sack in a text, Graham went on a trumped up charge, Levy may be a successful businessman but he doesn't strike me as being a pleasant human being.

Personally I don't think Allardyce will sell Owen but I don't think whether SA wants to keep Owen has little to do with getting him to sign up for a new contract. The length of the remaining contract directly affects Owen's transfer value so it would make sense to get the contract extended no matter what the long term intentions are. IIRC, Spurs agreed new contracts ahead of transfer windows with Calum Davenport, Sean Davis and Simon Davies only for all of them to be sold once the window opened.

Avram Grant is a long-time and close personal friend of Ambramovich apparently. Mates stick together and regardless of the nationality involved, or more specifically the racial demographic at play, a professional judgment - ie. Mourinho's sacking & Grant's appointment - as a footballing based decision could very well be compromised by a non-footballing based factor as mentioned above. IMO there's no room in football for sentimentality or allegience based decision making, both in the boardroom and matters relating to the playing side. Sad if true, but you could very well be correct re: any cloak & dagger dealings pertaining to Mourinho's demise. Mourinho's departure in part was imho self-inflicted. If after winning a couple of Premierships the owner says he wants more flair and style in the play, Mourinho can't be surprised when he's sacked if he carries on as he had done for the past 2 years. Winning 2 premierships shouldn't be discounted but if Abramovich says he wants attacking play, he'll keep making changes until he gets what he wants. Abramovich possibly going to his mate Grant saying "Should I get better attacking play from this squad?" and getting the answer "Of course mate, I could easily produce more exciting play" wouldn't have helped Mourinho's cause either!

Seen quite a bit of him watching the England u16's/u17's. Got a lot of natural ability but unfortunately, whenever I've seen him, he's always trying to take on the ridiculous shot or go past the 4th defender having gone past the first 3. Hopefully he will grow out of that, probably needs to go to a bigger club where he can mix it with better quality players. I'd put forward Dean Parrett and Danny Rose out of the Spurs Academy. Both 15 and got a lot of talent and Parrett is maturing rapidly. Even though he would still only be 16,it wouldn't surprise me at all if Parrett went on loan next season for extra experience. Rose is 17. Maybe it was Rose that was maturing rapidly!!

Not bollocks. I was told Jol met Shepherd, apparently agreed the basis of a deal and on the strength of that, FFS asked for formal permission to speak to MJ. Levy had already got wind of the meeting and refused permission and gave Jol an improved contract to keep him happy. FFS then moved on with Allardyce. The only difference between FFS/MJ and Spurs board/JR was that Spurs were stupid enough to hold the meeting in a swish hotel regularly checked out by the paperazzi. This makes no sense. Why the f*** would Jol leave Spurs for us? (at the time) I don't believe for a second Jol's job was in jeopardy at the time we appointed Allardyce. At that time MJ's job was not in jeopardy. As he was relatively lowly paid, presumably FFS was happy to pay more wages (MJ I believe was on a little over £1m pa). Permission to speak to Newcastle was refused and MJ got a payrise taking him up to £2m pa. Ironically, it was that pay hike which prompted 2 board members to question were we getting value for money, was £2m pa a bit rich for someone who, tactically, wasn't one of the Premiership's elite. Alright, that makes more sense. Cheers. I still think Freddy wanted Allardyce more, though. You may well be right. At least one person I know reckons that Levy was tipped off about the approach by someone close to Jol with a view to securing a payrise and a bit more power.

If Ashley is anything like his best mate, I would guess he has this season to show that the promised land is on the horizon.

The Valencia president wasn't impressed, he's sacked Quique Sanchez Flores! Valencia weren't doing badly either, 4th in La Liga.

Seen quite a bit of him watching the England u16's/u17's. Got a lot of natural ability but unfortunately, whenever I've seen him, he's always trying to take on the ridiculous shot or go past the 4th defender having gone past the first 3. Hopefully he will grow out of that, probably needs to go to a bigger club where he can mix it with better quality players. I'd put forward Dean Parrett and Danny Rose out of the Spurs Academy. Both 15 and got a lot of talent and Parrett is maturing rapidly. Even though he would still only be 16,it wouldn't surprise me at all if Parrett went on loan next season for extra experience.

It's Fabregas by the proverbial country mile............... sad to say but it's true.

Spot on! If the basic organisation of the club is right, why rip it up just because a particular manager has come to the end of his shelf life? With very very few exceptions, the one thing you can guarantee about a new manager coming in is that some time in the future he will be sacked.

I think that could only become a possibility if Berbatov was definitely on the way out. I could envisage Palop, Escude or Poulsen moving before Kanoute tbh.

Should be the other way round. If results go badly, ther coach gets sacked, not the DoF, the DoF is there to maintain continuity if/when the coach is sacked. Therefore, the DoF should appoint the coach looking at his coaching qualities and ensuring that he and the DoF are totally on the same wavelength. Jol was Arnesen's man and wasn't in tune with Comolli, Ramos is very much Comolli's. who is the DOF accountable to ? I suppose we will have to wait and see then, I would say the right method is the one that works, and I don't see Alex Ferguson, Wenger or Benitez for instance being anything other than the absolute number 1. We aren't going to see the likes of David Pleat running the rule and casting judgements over people like that, nor are you going to get Alex Ferguson as a DOF hovering over his successor. Not being funny like, but you either have that situation, or two blokes running the club in tandem. And if the club is doing s***, why do you want to continue stability ? The DoF is accountable to the Board, no-one else. He is the one responsible for the day to day running of the club in its entireity. It the team (not the club) is doing s*** it is the DoF's responsibility to recommend changes to turn things around. Whilst the DoF system is usual on the continent, it's a fact that it's a rarity in England though it could have been argued that David Dein did the bulk of the DoF job without the title and Wenger and Benitez would have worked under a DoF when they were in France and Spain. The will to make it work must be there otherwise it will never work satisfactorily. If its the club that is doing s*** then surely it is down to the chairman/board to put things right. David Pleat was never a true DoF, it was a title given to him by Alan Sugar when Sugar (who knew nothing about the football side) wanted someone to advise him on footballing aspects. Sugar didn't want meetings with a manager not knowing whether he should do something or not so Pleat came in to be the buffer and take away the direct contact. Pleat was responsible for buying nets for goals, authorising purchase of fertiliser for the pitches etc amongst other things and he wanted more direct contact. So he started dabbling in matters outside his area and the friction started. The truth is that if Hoddle had been the coach with Comolli as DoF instead of David Pleat, Hoddle may well have still been at Spurs now. Tactically, he was right up there, with transfers he was awful bordering on diabolical.

For me, the most important person for Spurs isn't Juande Ramos, it's Ledley King. If King doesn't come back fit, strong and healthy, and if he doesn't stay that way, then they are in trouble. If you're weak in defence, then the lack of confidence spreads throughout the team. From what everyone's saying, Ramos believes that attack is the best form of defence, but I don't think that's the medicine that Spurs need right now. The other reason why I've got doubts about Ramos being the right man is I think there are divisions within the squad. There were players that weren't giving their all, and some that were loyal to Jol. It'll be tough for someone whose English isn't very good to get to know everyone and assert himself. Presumably Poyet has been brought in to help out in that area, but he's not familiar with the players either. The way the papers are talking, you'd have thought that getting out of the drop zone was a formality, and Ramos's real task is building a Champions League side. Well, if he'd taken over four months ago, that might have been the case, but the situation's different now. King isn't going to be a regular starter in the future if he doesn't call it a day beforehand. The best I've heard is play one, sit one out, the worst play one, sit out 3. Whatever evolves, he'll start less than he misses. Ramos isn't stupid, he knows things will have to change and quickly. By all accounts the players had a culture shock at Spurs Lodge today. Those that played yesterday did 2 light training sessions, the others got a real workout. They all get the same tomorrow. Sevilla put a lot of hard work into their style and any Spurs fan will tell you that there is no way the current Spurs squad could play at that level of intensity. There's been no moans about the change in training, not that it would make any difference. Comolli is delighted, he wanted the players trained to have high energy levels as well as high technical ability. Jol put the emphasis the other way round.

Not bollocks. I was told Jol met Shepherd, apparently agreed the basis of a deal and on the strength of that, FFS asked for formal permission to speak to MJ. Levy had already got wind of the meeting and refused permission and gave Jol an improved contract to keep him happy. FFS then moved on with Allardyce. The only difference between FFS/MJ and Spurs board/JR was that Spurs were stupid enough to hold the meeting in a swish hotel regularly checked out by the paperazzi. This makes no sense. Why the f*** would Jol leave Spurs for us? (at the time) I don't believe for a second Jol's job was in jeopardy at the time we appointed Allardyce. At that time MJ's job was not in jeopardy. As he was relatively lowly paid, presumably FFS was happy to pay more wages (MJ I believe was on a little over £1m pa). Permission to speak to Newcastle was refused and MJ got a payrise taking him up to £2m pa. Ironically, it was that pay hike which prompted 2 board members to question were we getting value for money, was £2m pa a bit rich for someone who, tactically, wasn't one of the Premiership's elite.

Should be the other way round. If results go badly, ther coach gets sacked, not the DoF, the DoF is there to maintain continuity if/when the coach is sacked. Therefore, the DoF should appoint the coach looking at his coaching qualities and ensuring that he and the DoF are totally on the same wavelength. Jol was Arnesen's man and wasn't in tune with Comolli, Ramos is very much Comolli's.

Not bollocks. I was told Jol met Shepherd, apparently agreed the basis of a deal and on the strength of that, FFS asked for formal permission to speak to MJ. Levy had already got wind of the meeting and refused permission and gave Jol an improved contract to keep him happy. FFS then moved on with Allardyce. The only difference between FFS/MJ and Spurs board/JR was that Spurs were stupid enough to hold the meeting in a swish hotel regularly checked out by the paperazzi.

To give a neutral (at the time) assesssment of the role of a DoF, this is an extract of an interview with Juande Ramos in the February 2007 issue of World Soccer. WS: You're UEFA Cup holders, thrashed Barcelona to win the European Supercup, are top of the Spanish League and playing brilliantly. How have you managed it? JR: We've had such self-confidence and conviction since the UEFA Cup Final that we have been able to achieve really excellent results. We beat Barcelona clearly and went on an excellent run in the League. The team has total confidence in our system; there's a real conviction about everything we do. The key is convincing the players to be very ambitious. Sometimes you can lose games, but you have to keep going with it, keep striving to achieve more. WS: Can that confidence be broken by a couple of bad results? JR: I don't think so. We've had a few bad results and come back from them. I try to make the players see that you can win or lose, but that there's a path you have to stick to. You can lose the match, but you can't lose your identity. WS: Sevilla's success has been coming for a long time, hasn't it? This is a club that does things the right way at almost all levels. The youth system is productive, the signings policy has been successful… JR: You won't find us doing here what they do at other clubs, when after one bad season they dump 10 players and get 10 new ones or change the whole structure. Each season we perfect little things, we don't need a huge overhaul every summer. Last season, we got knocked out of the Spanish Cup but carried on in the same manner because we thought we were doing things right. We wouldn't have succeeded if we had thrown away all that good work. WS: Sevilla have been very successful in the transfer market. How is this achieved? JR: There are players we can't afford so we have to look for cheaper players who still give us good results. You're never going to get it 100 per cent right but there are ways of maximising your chances: you don't just look at the player on the pitch but everything about him. You can think someone's a good player and then discover that his private life is a mess. So, you watch him play and train, you speak to those close to him. WS: Is it easier to work without stars, with players who have won nothing? JR: The player who is not a star may be hungrier but the star guarantees you a certain number of victories because he can win games on his own. Sevilla don't have any stars but we win the games on the basis of humility and a level of physical exertion that is very, very high. Teams with stars make far less effort but can win the game with one moment. WS: How does your relationship with sporting director Monchi work? What roles do you have when it comes to choosing players? JR: There's a clear consensus. I tell Monchi the player or type of player I want: fast, tall, left-footed, right- footed, good in the air…and, based on his work and expertise, he says to me: “Look, we have this guy, or this guy.” Between us, we identify the player, or players, who can fit that. But it's not always like that. For example, Freddie Kanoute was a player no one here really knew and I recommended him because I had seen him for Tottenham and West Ham. WS: Would you like the model to be more like in England, with you controlling the signings? JR: In Spain, at other clubs, the sporting director-coach model has caused lots of problems. The thing is, the coach doesn't really have time to do both jobs. What you need is trust and professionalism. The relationship between Coach and DoF is exactly how Comolli wants it to work at Spurs, I do not see there being any major problems between JR and DC. Incidentally, Ramos, in his first training session today, has been disgusted with the fitness levels of the players and they've had a double training session today, the first time that's happened since Santini was in charge. May explain why Spurs always seemed to start off brightly then concede late goals. Also justifies Fergie's comment that he was disappointed with Carrick's fitness level and Bruce's bustup with Hossam Ghaly.

True, top quality. It may have been another defeat but there was a lot to give me some encouragement. The majority of the players upped their performances by a couple of notches, Hudd went backwards a couple by trying to impress the new man rather than doing the things we know he can do, but Blackburn's win was more down to their isolated good play and fortune rather than they being the better team throughout. For most of the game Spurs dominated and Friedel had one of those matches that he often does against us, Benni's deflected shot and Samba's class at the death. Tough defeat to take but I think there will be confidence in the knowledge that Blackburn are always a very difficult side to beat and, with luck, we could have been out of sight by halftime.

Just like Santini should have been though, no need to panic just yet Santini was forced out by Arnesen, as simple as that. No-one thought he would stay long and he didn't.

The name most commonly cropping up at the moment is Daniel Snyder, but my friends across the pond say he is the last person on earth we should be hoping will buy. At the present time, if I was offered the choice of the current billionaire owners buying Spurs, I would opt for Ashley as being the best option. Most of the others could bale out at any time and no-one would really be surprised.

Jol had serious limitations. Maybe Ramos has as well but at the present time they are not self-evident.

what did he bottle ? He was always threatening to quit over one thing or another, in the end the going got tough so he jumped ship, he's never had the guts to see out a rough patch in any job he's had. I was a big fan of Keegan when I was younger but the day he went on telly and gave it the "I'd love it" speech I felt embarrassed for the bloke and knew it was men against boys as far as him and Fergie was concerned. Word. During Spurs' days of God awful managers and coaches, I admired Keegan as an example of a manager in contact with the players but also with the fans, the chat on the steps of SJP when Andy Cole went springs to mind. But his 'I'd love it' speech made me cringe, you couldn't imagine Fergie or Wenger losing it like that. To be a top manager you always have to be in control and Keegan had let the pressure get to him for that interview.

We're not aiming for the top 4....yet Neither is Ramos though, he's taking over a team near the bottom of the league and will be looking to steady the ship this season. But the Spurs board are. If Ramos doesn't get them in the top 4 by the end of his 3rd season I can see them giving him the boot. The same can't be said for Allardyce... That must mean the Spurs board has more ambition than ours then. At the moment, yes. If Ashley has anything like the attitude of Kemsley, which I'm assured he has, I doubt whether you'd be thinking the Newcastle board is lacking ambition, let alone saying it. You can't get to his financial status from a start point of nothing without having remorseless ambition.

I'm not sure they had problems with him but if they did and I'll take your word for that then that would be the downside, then again how many managers express problems with the chairman after leaving? The fact is no system is guaranteed to work every time and people like Pleat and Keegan who don't really have a clue about youth development and scouting young players are the problems when they are given jobs because of who they are rather than what they can bring to the table. Martin Jol posted on here about having seen the best of both set ups with getting a good one like Comolli and someone who's clueless like Pleat. I wouldn't say Pleat is clueless, he just waffles on about a load of bollocks, and I bet was a right pain in the arse What you need is a scouting system with some good scouts and a good youth team coach/manager. Why should you need a DOF to organise this ? Comolli is apparently getting the blame for Spurs current position, and Jol wasn't happy with some of the players he was responsible for signing for Spurs. Now, I think that is a situation that I would not want at Newcastle, and any manager worth his salt would not tolerate it. Who does the youth coaches, scouts etc answer too? The manager of the first team? As I've said countless times both should be kept separate and the first team manager should concentrate on the first team and nothing else, why not have someone who runs the other side of the club who can devote all of his time to youth development, handling player contracts etc? I'm not sure how Comolli is getting the blame for Spurs place at the moment, you've said yourself that the first team manager is responsible for the first team in terms of results, all Comolli has done is look to replace an average manager in Jol with a far better one in Ramos , getting rumbled tapping him up is hardly ideal but if it benefits the club in the long run then who will care. If someone like MartinJol says this is wrong, fair enough, I read it but he is closer to it than me. Jol apparently conceded to allow Commolli a say or even choose the players to buy, Jol has told Levy that too many of the latest ones aren't good enough and he wasn't happy. Ref your comment above - I think it is deeply disturbing to have a person who buys the players deciding when to sack the manager he buys players for and who to replace him with, and call him a DOF. Who is he accountable to ? Will the directors fire him ? I think he should be the person to get the bullet, not Jol, if this is correct. Comolli recommends change to the Board and puts forward a list of potential replacements, he isnt the one replacing Jol with Ramos (if it happens). The DoF is responsible for the overall wellbeing of the Club in all areas, the Head Coach is responsible for all First Team matters. Jol advised what areas needed strengthening, Comolli recommended players to Jol but Jol had the right to veto anyone on the list, if Jol was adamant a player wouldn't be picked by him even if he was in the squad, there was little point in going ahead and signing him. Comolli also recommended areas that he thought should be strengthened. Ben Alnwick was signed as a compromise, Jol was adamant Robinson was his #1 keeper and plays when fit, Comolli wanted more competition for an area he saw as weak. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if Robinson is seen as the first casualty of the new regime. I'll take your word for it rather than a journo MJ. I wouldn't be happy having 2 people at loggerheads like this mind. And if I was the manager I wouldn't stand for anyone even attempting to stick their nose into my job, when its me who carries the can [as he has]. If people want to work in partnerships like this, they have to be happy with it, and to trust each other and want to work together, like Clough and Taylor did for instance, when Clough trusted Taylor impicitly. The point is though that Jol wasn't the manager, he was the Head Coach, exactly the same position that Ramos has now taken. Comolli very simply is their immediate boss. Seems like Chelsea did indeed try to hijack him but I'm not exactly certain why unless Grant was just a means of getting rid of Mourinho. Anyway, a few people are saying that's what happened, one is saying Comolli was with Ramos at the Dorchester at the time and Ramos put the call on loudspeaker! That's why in my posts here today I've been saying if he signs for Spurs etc.

I'm not sure they had problems with him but if they did and I'll take your word for that then that would be the downside, then again how many managers express problems with the chairman after leaving? The fact is no system is guaranteed to work every time and people like Pleat and Keegan who don't really have a clue about youth development and scouting young players are the problems when they are given jobs because of who they are rather than what they can bring to the table. Martin Jol posted on here about having seen the best of both set ups with getting a good one like Comolli and someone who's clueless like Pleat. I wouldn't say Pleat is clueless, he just waffles on about a load of bollocks, and I bet was a right pain in the arse What you need is a scouting system with some good scouts and a good youth team coach/manager. Why should you need a DOF to organise this ? Comolli is apparently getting the blame for Spurs current position, and Jol wasn't happy with some of the players he was responsible for signing for Spurs. Now, I think that is a situation that I would not want at Newcastle, and any manager worth his salt would not tolerate it. Who does the youth coaches, scouts etc answer too? The manager of the first team? As I've said countless times both should be kept separate and the first team manager should concentrate on the first team and nothing else, why not have someone who runs the other side of the club who can devote all of his time to youth development, handling player contracts etc? I'm not sure how Comolli is getting the blame for Spurs place at the moment, you've said yourself that the first team manager is responsible for the first team in terms of results, all Comolli has done is look to replace an average manager in Jol with a far better one in Ramos , getting rumbled tapping him up is hardly ideal but if it benefits the club in the long run then who will care. If someone like MartinJol says this is wrong, fair enough, I read it but he is closer to it than me. Jol apparently conceded to allow Commolli a say or even choose the players to buy, Jol has told Levy that too many of the latest ones aren't good enough and he wasn't happy. Ref your comment above - I think it is deeply disturbing to have a person who buys the players deciding when to sack the manager he buys players for and who to replace him with, and call him a DOF. Who is he accountable to ? Will the directors fire him ? I think he should be the person to get the bullet, not Jol, if this is correct. Comolli recommends change to the Board and puts forward a list of potential replacements, he isnt the one replacing Jol with Ramos (if it happens). The DoF is responsible for the overall wellbeing of the Club in all areas, the Head Coach is responsible for all First Team matters. Jol advised what areas needed strengthening, Comolli recommended players to Jol but Jol had the right to veto anyone on the list, if Jol was adamant a player wouldn't be picked by him even if he was in the squad, there was little point in going ahead and signing him. Comolli also recommended areas that he thought should be strengthened. Ben Alnwick was signed as a compromise, Jol was adamant Robinson was his #1 keeper and plays when fit, Comolli wanted more competition for an area he saw as weak. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if Robinson is seen as the first casualty of the new regime.