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…