Anatomy of a Crisis

October 2, 2009October 2, 2009 / Alan / 14 Comments

First he loves us, then he’s leaving, now he’s back for good. That’s the story of Harry Redknapp’s love affair with Tottenham Hotspur. And the whole crisis came and went in 36 hours. Here’s how.

Yesterday a well-respected poster on a long established Spurs messageboard, who is not given to predictions let alone outrageous ITK, made a brief comment, stating that there was activity in the investigation of the transfer of Amdy Faye when Redknapp was manager of Portsmouth. Papers had gone to chambers (i.e. presumably to a barrister) and there were serious questions to answer. That was all, no further details were offered.

Accusations of illegal payments have been around for as long as football has been played. In 2006 Panorama’s undercover report alleged that several high profile figures in our professional game had been involved in accepting money during the course of transfer negotiations. Included were Redknapp and Kevin Bond. No prosecution has ever been brought on the basis of the evidence revealed either by the programme, the subsequent police investigations or the Operation Quest inquiry set up by the FA to look at the wider problem within the game. Neither has anyone successfully sued the BBC; Bond dropped his pending case in the summer.

However, David Conn reported in the Guardian on June 24th that the FA are keeping their powder dry until the results of an investigation into unpaid tax are available. In Conn’s words:

“That began as a City of London Police investigation the police consistently described as into football “corruption”, with dramatic dawn raids on the houses of Redknapp and the agent Willie McKay. Redknapp successfully sued the police for conducting the arrest unlawfully and the judge, Lord Justice Latham, described the case as follows.
“It was suspected that [Harry Redknapp] as manager of [Portsmouth], together with the managing director Peter Storrie, and the club’s then owner and chairman Milan Mandaric, may have conspired together to make disguised payments to a player, Amdy Faye, using the agent William McKay to receive payments offshore.”

Guardian June 24^th.

So if the case is re-surfacing, it’s interesting but hardly the stuff of front-pages. Certainly the club would have known about these issues when both Bond and Redknapp were appointed as it is old news.

Later yesterday the blogs and messageboards picked up the snippet and it flashed around the net. Also nothing out of the ordinary here.

From then on, the story shifts away from the courts and onto the net. The early morning passed as normal, with the usual rumours and previews of the match tomorrow, including this blog’s. At 11.12 there was a statement from William Hill. The odds on Redknapp being the next Premier League manager to lose his job had plummeted from 40/1 to just 5/1. “Rumours were sweeping the football world”, or so Hills claimed. Their spokesman admitted that it was probably “unsubstantiated gossip”.

This cyber crisis now had a life of its own. Whatever the bandwagon, everyone was jumping aboard, creating an unstoppable momentum. By 12.30, the odds had fallen to 2/1. A little later Paddypower had stopped taking bets. Several other sites picked up the story, still without any factual basis other than the bookies’ odds. The Mail was the first of the dailies at 12.20. By 14.24 the Metro’s headline is, “Has Redknapp left Spurs?” at half past his odds are down to evens.

Around the same time, good messageboard sources reported that there was no truth to these rumours and as I write (5pm), official denials have followed.

So what happened? The answer is almost certainly nothing. The implications of an unsubstantiated messageboard post (I’m sure it was a true account of the information to hand but at no time was this independently corroborated in any of the accounts that I have mentioned today) have spiralled out of control. It’s a crisis that has been entirely created by the internet rumour-mill. Reading the rumours on the net is great fun usually, if sometimes, when my mood is downcast, a little irritating. But we all know that it has to be treated with caution. Don’t we?

There is another less plausible but sinister explanation, that we have been the victims of a betting scam. All I understand about betting is that you give the bookie your money and never see it again. This scam, however, has been tried before this season, with bets on Benitez to leave Liverpool and Ribery to arrive. Basically the price is driven down in the short term so the perpetrators can achieve long term gains by ‘buying back’ when Harry stays.

The real issue is the case itself, and that has always been hanging around, like a sword of Damocles dangling above the future prosperity of our club. We had conveniently put this to one side as Harry has done such a fine job for us on the field, but the fact is, we employed two people, Redknapp and Bond, knowing that their past was at best murky. If the problems, the real problems that is, emerge from the shadows into the full glare of the spotlight, the whole club could be tainted.

Bolton v Spurs Preview. Nothing to Fear Except Fear Itself

October 2, 2009October 2, 2009 / Alan / 3 Comments

Tottenham Hotspur approach the away match against Bolton this Saturday knowing that we have an appalling record at the Reebok. However, let history count for nothing, at least in this instance, and ensure that we return with a victory.

Since they returned to the top division, Bolton have performed with a brusque physicality that in truth we have seldom coped with. Hard running plus brute force have been our undoing and we have been incapable of mounting a serious challenge. One abiding memory from the Allardyce era was thinking that Bolton have an extra one or two players on the pitch, a function partly of their dominance but also, tellingly, of our inability to resist.

Bolton regularly exposed perhaps the single biggest problem with our team over the last decade. No matter the personnel or managerial changes, we lacked spirit and caved in under pressure. Soft. Weak. Spineless. Leaderless.

This blog has threatened regular readers with massive over-use of the word ‘resilience’ this season and makes not the slightest apology for raising it once more. We need it because we haven’t got it, and without it, we won’t get anywhere. Now is the time to make real inroads into the problem by defeating one of our bogey sides, at least away from home. We have the form and certainly the players, so all that is left is the mental attitude to focus on the job at hand for 95 minutes, deal with the pressure and the inevitable periods when the home side will be on top, and push on to a win.

Lack of confidence in our own ability is the main, perhaps only, impediment to success. We have played some gorgeous football recently and are well set up to make that talent count. Even without Defoe, chances will come and surely there is little to fear in the post-Allardyce Bolton. Davies remains a difficult opponent and will both unsettle our central defenders and drift over to the left where Megson will believe he can out-muscle Benny and drift in from wide positions. Dawson may play alongside Bassong to deal with this threat, well though Hud performed last week. Fuller can come from deep and Cohen is scoring from midfield. However, the protection offered by their physical approach has dissipated and JJ and WP will able to compete in what promises to be a crowded midfield. We will strike swift and sure on the break, but may end up playing like a home team for long periods because Bolton will go for a defensive formation with 5 in midfield. They are down the bottom for a reason and even the home fans have little time for their manager. Remember the stick he received from the Bolton fans when they came to the Lane last year.

Last season’s match at the Reebok was notable for the debut of Wilson Palacios, the Man Who Saved Us All. Otherwise, it was all depressingly familiar. By January, the new-manager bounce of Harry’s arrival had well and truly worn off. A desultory first half performance looked to have been turned around as two goals from Darren Bent put us level. With four minutes left, we gave away first the ball and then, from the resultant corner, a soft headed goal. Those were the days, when at dead ball situations we may as well have stood to the side of pitch and noshed a burger, for all the good our defenders were.

Much has changed for the better since then but we still suffer from those two faults, namely giving the ball away too frequently and conceding unnecessary free kicks and corners, as I said in my report of last week’s Burnley game. Cut this out and we are well on the way. Our Saviour must stay on his feet and not dive in, or soon we will worship no longer.

I understand that Spurs have sold 4000 tickets for the game, testament once more to the phenomenal support for our club and passion aroused by even the merest glimpse of good football. It’s the same for Arsenal away, where the loyalty points total is way above that required for the corresponding fixture last season.

If You Know Your History – Spurs Players Score Four and I Was There (Mostly)

September 30, 2009February 9, 2010 / Alan / 29 Comments

One of the good things about not having a crowded fixture list this season is that when we win, there’s more time to bask in the warm nourishing glow of victory. It’s a great feeling, something which Spurs fans have frankly not been accustomed to over the years. The reservations expressed in my match report about tactical weaknesses somehow ebb away, at least until Matty Taylor bangs one in from 30 yards against the run of play on Saturday, and thoughts turn to past glories.

Meticulous post-match historical research (chatting in the car on the North Circular on the way home) came up with 3 other occasions within the forty year timespan of my support for our beloved Spurs when an individual Tottenham player has scored four: Martin Peters away to Manchester United, Colin Lee in the famous 9-0 versus Bristol Rovers and Jurgen Klinsmann away to Wimbledon. Ironically we forgot the one previous occasion when all three of us had been present, Berbatov’s four against Reading in a mad 6-4 win.

I was present for four of the games, Wimbledon away preventing my nap hand. One thing they all had in common was that they were not exceptional matches. It’s the feat of four that remains in the memory, not the quality of the performance or, particularly, of the goals themselves. Against Burnley we did well, exceptionally so in patches, but we’ve played better and lost.

I saw Peters score all four goals in a 4-1 win in 1972 from the enclosure at Old Trafford. Many clubs had a standing area running the length of the pitch, like the one in the old West Stand at White Hart Lane, the space now occupied by the West Stand Lower seats. In those days you could stand there in safety at away grounds, getting a bit of stick but nothing serious. Liverpool, Old Trafford, Derby, even Highbury and, to truly demonstrate how times have changed, Upton Park, where in the early 70s I and other clusters of Spurs fans openly celebrated a 2-1 victory and lived to tell the tale. Then as now I preferred the view from down the side but also it represented a refuge from the increasing violence in the home and away ends. I watched the hoolies get stuck in from a safe distance.

We were three up well before half time but the only goal I can recall is the fourth, a header at the Stretford end I think. Peters was famed for ‘ghosting in’, in fact a simple manoeuvre that we now expect as routine from midfielders, coming late into the box, and he rose unchallenged to score. I vividly remember the total silence; the ground was stunned. On MOTD you could hear a solitary person applauding. It was me, stood near the cameras.

The 9-0 against Bristol Rovers was another odd one. We expected to do well in what was then the Second Division but this stroll was so easy it was unreal. Basically, everything worked. Again I don’t recollect any stunning football to break Rovers down, merely a succession of crosses converted by Colin Lee on his debut, plus three from Ian Moores. Two men less likely to score seven between them have seldom appeared together in the same Tottenham team. Lee was a round shouldered un-athletic signing from Torquay, willing but often with the touch of a full back in front of goal. Which he duly became as his scoring powers waned. Centre-forward to left back, a remarkable change of position.

Moores meanwhile enjoyed his day, although even when he scored a rare hat-trick, (or as time went on, scoring was rare full stop), he found himself out of the limelight. A signing that epitomised the way our standards and expectations had fallen, Moores was a limited target man, memorable for his beard but sadly not his talent. Think Rasiak without the skill….

Coming up to date, Berbatov’s four came in a crazy game against Reading, lots of fun in the total absence of any competent defending from either side. One goal stands out. In a crowded box, the ball dropped vertically from a great height and Berba, back to the target, swivelled to volley home. A dream goal scored with the lazy insolence of the most skilful player at Spurs since Gazza.

I’ve left Klinsmann to last not just because it was the one that I did not see. The 97-98 table shows that we finished a modest 14th but that does not tell the full story of this desperate season under Christian Gross. We went into this tricky away game, the penultimate fixture, teetering precariously above the drop zone and Wimbledon were hard to beat. Well, in fact, just hard, and they approached this match like the school bully lurking outside a sweet shop for passing year 7s. Defeat and subsequent relegation was the terrifyingly real prospect.

I listened at home on the radio, pacing the floor and cheering every Spurs move. Winning 6-2 was a bonkers result, given our pathetic season. Watching MOTD, the players congratulated Klinsmann, strutting around full of themselves. Even Saib had a good game, that’s how odd it was. Jurgen returned late in the year to save us all and he took his chances in the manner of the true master he was, but I still slightly resent the cockiness of his teammates. You were awful that year, lads.

Spurs v Burnley. Five Goals. Again.

September 27, 2009 / Alan / 5 Comments

Flowing football from Tottenham Hotspur took Spurs to fourth place in the Premier League and provided great entertainment for the large crowd basking in the unexpected autumn sunshine.

Moving with style and purpose from the off, Spurs threatened to overwhelm Burnley in the first half. Once we figured out that their back four were playing a high line, the offsides stopped and we slotted the ball into the gaps in between and behind their lumbering defenders. Some of our moves were pure beauty, graceful passes, long and short, finding a succession of willing runners. Although it mattered little to the final outcome, I was furious with Defoe for missing that straightforward left footer with the target at his mercy, because that gorgeous move deserved a goal to be endlessly drooled over on MOTD and Sky.

Jermaine Jenas was at the heart of everything for the entire game. He drove us forward, always available then equally well attuned to the whereabouts of team mates. Short or long, yesterday afternoon it was all the same to him as our strikers fed hungrily upon a series of perfectly weighted passes. Even a performance as superb as this will not silence his doubters, however. No player provokes such extreme reactions on the blogs and messageboards, and in a sense this game epitomises the problem rather than settling the argument. If he is capable of playing this well, why doesn’t he do so every week? It’s the frustration born of this inconsistency that riles fans so, even those like me who like to see his name on the teamsheet. However well he does, he appears to have the stamina and talent to be better, it’s as if he’s inexplicably holding something back.

Our Star Man in Philosophical Pose. 'Why don't I always play this well?'

In my preview of the match, I stated that I like Burnley and that’s not altered after yesterday. It’s not just because of the generosity of their defence. They had an attacking outlook, always seeking to get men forward, although this admirable attitude is their undoing. Welcome to the Premier League, no wonder they are regularly slaughtered away from home. Open attacking football – whoever heard of such a thing? The very idea! I was surprised at how few fans had made the trip. It may not get any better than this, my northern friends, so enjoy it while you can.

The other thing I learned about Burney is that they are not very good. Other teams would certainly have made more of the gaps in our defensive formation. This is Spurs, so there is always a ‘but’ somewhere, so here it is. Winning 5-0 should not hide the fact that three old problems have returned, in evidence not only yesterday but over the last few games. First, we are giving the ball away far too often. Yesterday our opponents quickly learned that with a little patience, we would present them with possession soon enough. Palacios was particularly culpable and together with rash challenges and another needless booking, his form continues to be below the standard of last season .

Second, we do not close down at the edge of our own box. Remember a few seasons ago when we were the patsies on every Goal of the Month as long shots flew into the net. That was because we gave them time to line up the delivery and it’s fast becoming the norm right now. We must cut these problems out now.

Lastly, we let teams back into a match that previously we have controlled. We started the second half poorly, although one factor was down to a tactical change from our opponents, whose back four played deeper thus preventing the runs behind them and making JD and Keane play more with their backs to the goal. In the end we scored five, could have easily had eight or nine, but if Blake’s clever response to Cudicini’s dozing at that free kick at 2-0 had gone in instead of hitting the post, we would have been rocked back on our heels.

I remain fascinated with Harry’s team selections. Next month marks the anniversary of his first year at Spurs but he’s still trying to figure out what his players are capable of, both as individuals and in terms of the best blend. Dropping a guy who has scored a hat-trick in midweek was a brave decision (I was certain Crouch would start) but fully vindicated as Keane and Defoe were far too much for Burnley to handle. Not so long ago, the accepted wisdom dictated that they could not play together effectively. I think Harry has put that one to bed, thank you very much.

Neither did I believe for a moment that Huddlestone would play centre half, but he was our other star performer. At Derby he began in that position and it looks like he may have a future there. Another player who creates controversy amongst Spurs fans, to me his main fault is not slowness of foot but of mind. He does not anticipate well, certainly if the old adage that the first yard is in the head is true, then it has not yet occurred to him. Yet yesterday he was particularly strong coming out of the back four line to snuff out danger. Dare we hope this could be a pointer for things to come? A centre half with his ability to pass the ball so well from deep is good for both defence and attack. The test will be very different against better strikers, of course, but perhaps he will find things easier with the play predominantly ahead of him, facing one way.

I felt Gomes was sure to play; his fragile confidence must have been undermined by Cudicini’s selection. Carlo has done well enough over the last few games, especially getting down low and quickly as a shot stopper. However, every game there is an inexcusable mistake. Nothing was going on when he gave the ball to Blake at that free kick and it could have altered the course of the match.

Doubts aside, leaving the ground with a 5-0 victory feels wonderful. Our third was an excellent move, long ball from JJ, Lennon quick and sure, great first time finish from Keane, and from then on there was so much to enjoy. Must mention Kranjcar’s first half crossfield pass to Lennon, not so much inch-perfect as millimetre perfect. Great fun, and that’s five goals on four occasions, it’s not the end of September yet.