WHEN A MISTAKE IS NOT A MISTAKE ANYMORE…

TOTTENHAM Hotspur supporters the world over rejoiced at Spurs finally finding their feet during one of the most turgid football matches ever at St.James Park in the Carling Cup. After slack displays infused with inner-turmoil and confidence-shorn, tentative steps suggesting a fear of grass and balls, watching them grit their way to a move which resulted in the sort of fluid, counter-attacking goal that Spurs have scored for fun in recent seasons was an enormous relief. And what a difference a small burst of confidence makes, as from that point on Spurs comfortably controlled the match, kept possession with supreme ability and could’ve scored a couple more than the two they ended up with in the 2-1 defeat of hapless Newcastle.

That Spurs are in their horrific position right now can be attributed to many things, but this writer will lay 95% of the blame squarely on the chairman Daniel Levy’s shoulders. It is imperative that a manager be given the tools he wants, and in a timely fashion, so as he can both read the instruction manuals and learn how to incorporate them into the shop already running. Aside from this simple premise, add the fact that as you strengthen the squad in areas identified by said- manager, you really should not be weakening it. And bluntly, when push came to shove, Daniel Levy failed. He might’ve got away with predominant tea and sympathy (especially with regards to the protracted sale of Berbatov)   had he not also so readily capitulated to the sudden complaints of honorary scouser (and former Spurs vice-captain/mouth-piece/joker/heartbeat Robbie Keane). Some will say that Ramos must’ve sanctioned the sale, told Levy to grab the 20 mill from Liverpool before it went away, but for that to have happened you can be damn sure that Ramos gave the board a list of strikers to put in place first. 

Which he did. Arshavin was there, so was Gabriel Milito, so was Sergio Garcia. Indeed, in the case of Milito, the name had first arisen last Spring. You thus have to wonder why NONE of them ended up at Spurs during the transfer window, why instead supporters were treated to the cryptic and woefully inept ‘hands-in-the-air-we-did-all-we-could-guv’ rubbish that was ‘we had two forwards lined up and ready but agents scuppered the deal at the last minute.’ (That also goes for the ‘targets’ lined up to fulfil Ramos’ requests for a left-winger and a proper holding midfielder.) Oh really? What about that whole notion of giving the manager what he wants at the START of the close-season, or at least a couple of weeks BEFORE the season starts?

Here’s what JFG reckons happened. Levy felt he could ride these ‘deals’ to the brink, to the final days and hours of the window, in order to make sure that the main priority (shareholders) were served as well as possible. After all, a price is a price is a price, and no sucker wants to pay the sticker fee, thus one of Levy’s more favored games over the years (brinksmanship) was deployed with fervor and resolve. The problem was that with the world and it’s Mum having seen Spurs get 20 million for Keane, the prospective sellers looked at Levy and collectively mouthed ‘you cannot have your cake and eat it.’ Which is actually rather fair. If you’re going to put up such little resistance in taking 20 mill for arguably the most important member of your squad (ESPECIALLY when you know that you will capitulate on selling his strike partner who has been agitating for a move since he signed) then it is absurd to expect others to willingly let go of their top assets without an equally large wedge of wonga. And when it comes to terms of payment, as it reportedly did with Arshavin, then it benefits the club to sort out their position quickly and diplomatically. Because nobody will ever convince JFG that Levy didn’t believe he could tell Zenit St Petersberg where to stick their renegotiation in the full belief that he could waltz back in on deadline day, up the ante and do the deed. ALL of which STILL means that the manager, Juande Ramos, spent the close season training a squad that was one fine Harrods ham sandwich short of a picnic. Great silverware, wonderful crockery, superb hors d’ouvres but lacking the final main-meal strike-force in the sort of abundance that it once had.

Levy will doubtless point to the fact that Spurs spent over 60 million in the transfer window, but JFG will equally point out that the in-comings actually meant that Spurs were exceedingly close the being ‘in the black’ on transfer dealings, an extraordinary thing considering there was reportedly a budget of some 25 mill before the Berbacash was even contemplated.

And so it has been that Spurs have been stuck with a young, talented, disconnected and bewildered side, one bristling with talent but bursting with naive insecurity, the sort that renders expression on the field dead and instead sees fearful rigormortis set in to every move. Thus when Pavulychenko dropped deep, won the ball, distributed, turned, ran back into the box and got his head on the end of an excellent Aaron Lennon delivery, you could hear the relief back in N17. The side is too good, and the manager too smart, for thing to get any worse, and for sure Spurs season will now inch back to some degree of normalcy and perhaps even potential. But it will be in spite of, and not because of, the board. The chairman. The money men.

JFG gave Levy the benefit of the doubt for the entire window. When other more seasoned and grizzly commentators were criticizing his dealings, JFG insisted that until the morning of Sept 2nd Levy should escape judgement, that perhaps he had learned his lesson, that perhaps we were about to keep our prized asset and copy other ‘big’ clubs who refused to sell, or that we already had the replacements signed up. Admittedly, JFG had conveniently ignored the ‘timely’ aspect of this, instead really wanted to give Levy the full benefit of the doubt. But then came the morning of Sept 2nd. And whilst JFG doesn’t doubt for one moment that Daniel Levy feels some of the Spurs supporters pain, when a man shows the same hand, when a man repeatedly plays the same poker, when a man keeps making the same mistakes at the same times in the same fashion, you have to stop calling them mistakes…

THE ‘B’ MAN WITH TRUE CLASS…

Dimitar Berbatov’s reprehensible behavior has been well-documented. This shoddy excuse of a professional has recently admitted he spent the last month of his Tottenham career with his head buried up the M6 (among other places closer to home) and though his talent is absolutely beyond doubt, his level of professional class has surely been compromised to such a degree that only the most die-hard Man Utd supporter could look at him with any degree of respect. Berbatov might well be three times as skillful as Fulham’s Jimmy Bullard, but it doubtful whether he could ever hope to achieve even half the respect of his fellow professionals, and the football-watching public in general, that Bullard regularly receives. 

Mention Jimmy Bullard’s name to anyone who knows anything about British football, and the liklihood is that you will receive a ‘top bloke’, ‘great battler’, ‘brilliant with set-pieces’ ‘a great laugh’ sort of comment. Rare is the moment he doesn’t smile it appears, and even rarer are the moments where he behaves like most others in his profession (spoilt, rude, disrespectful). Because Jimmy Bullard is the classic layman-to-professional success story, a man who worked hard, got his chances and took them. The road has not been easy. Aside from ploughing through the non-leagues and feverishly scrapping to make it as professional in the first place, in Sept 2006 he suffered a dislocated knee as well as cruciate ligament damage. Two years later, and Jimmy Bullard is England boss Fabio Capello’s choice for a new midfield face in the squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

To a person, when news of Bullard’s 06 injury filtered through, everyone said the same thing; great guy, great character, always smiling, always seems so happy, really decent ‘engine room’ midfielder, brilliant free-kick taker, hope he comes back stronger. Because at the time, there was a little doubt as to whether he even COULD come back so bad was the injury. But from the get-go he was determined. And determined to remain upbeat. Witness a quote given to The Independent about his first meeting with renowned US surgeon Dr.Richard Steadman.

“When I first saw Steady, he told me my knee wasn’t in great shape. I asked him if he could get me back playing again he said ‘yes’. As a player that’s great and what you want to hear when your knee is wrapped round your neck!”

And he worked his way through 16 months of drudgery, rehabilitation and (ultimately) successful recovery. For a man who’s sole ambition when he was a painter and decorator was to make a living playing football, his return for Fulham last season would’ve been about the biggest dream achievable. That he should play such an important part in their premiership survival is no surprise. And when everything is considered, that Jimmy Bullard should get an England call-up should be no surprise either. It’s merited. But we all know how many managers tend to ignore the less glamorous (Bolton’s Kevin Nolan should’ve been in the 2006 World Cup squad for example) in favor of the more ‘glamorous’ names, so let’s give some credit to Capello here too. He has allowed himself to judge players on merit and merit only. On what he SEES. And thinking about it, if any of us had been in this country for approximately a year watching Jimmy Bullard, it would be hard work not picking him for England. His qualities are that clear. And his qualities are ones that none of England’s current incumbents can boast.

So good luck Jimmy, or should that say, the Best of British to you son!

 

FERGIE’S FAULT? BLAME SCUDAMORE

Sir Alex Ferguson, and Manchester United’s, behavior in the Dimitar Berbatov transfer has been reprehensible. There’s no doubt that rules were broken in the most egregious of ways, and that if it’s possible to also flagrantly take the mickey whilst breaking a rule, then that has most certainly been done on multiple occasions during this most protracted a dirty of deals. However to BLAME Ferguson for what took place is wrong. 

If there is a manager in football who loves his club more, or who is prepared to do what it takes as much as Ferguson then this writer has yet to see them. And how poor was it that the curmudgeonly Scot seized upon one of the most absurd misunderstanding in football transfer history (namely that Berbatov was given permission to go to Manchester and talk, but with CITY not United, however this was apparently NOT clarified by Spurs) and rushed to personally pick Berbatov up from the airport and give him the tour? Not very when all’s considered. The best analogy would be to ask whether you should blame the 7 year old child who repeatedly steals from the corner-shop whenever the shopkeeper isn’t looking, or the parents who know what’s going on yet refuse to take proper disciplinary action.

No, the real blame here lies with one of football’s most spineless characters ever, Peter Scudamore, the Premier League chief and, in this case, parent of the child involved. If Scudamore had a clue or a  pair, Fergie would’ve been carpeted a long long time ago for his behavior, and Man Utd docked some points and levied with some serious fines. Instead, and despite repeated proof of nefarious ways and methods in player recruitment, Scudamore has basically given them a free pass. In fact, throw this in with his ridiculous ‘39th game’ rubbish, plus the Man City affair (which appears to remain a completely unchecked invitation for criminals and con-merchants to come on in and destroy the balance of football), and it appears increasingly strange to this bystander why he remains in his job. Because if he stays where he is, allowing the likes of Fergie to take advantage of a system that has no intention of punishing them, then Peter Scudamore is surely being allowed to oversee the destruction of football as we know it. And that would be nothing short of a disgrace.