Bring back Pleat

We have the players that can produce the goods, yet they rarely do away from home. But then again, when you look like you start out to play for a draw and you get a draw (against 10 men) the only person you can really look to for answers is the manager.

I don't quite grasp the concept of tactics on our travels. And lack of passion/self-belief/desire/whatever other footballing ingredient needed to make the fans proud. Today's game was awful, and apart from Robinson (who was actually pretty good for once) and maybe one or two other players, the rest look pretty much dis-interested.

With both Pompey and Bolton losing today, the one point is even more worthless than it looks. No, this isn't a knee-jerk, it's just a reaction to the frustrating facts. One away win in the Premiership. Again, difficult to understand why such a gulf in difference (relating to mentality) compared to last season.

Dare I say.......Carrick? We're we so reliant on him last year? Can one player really have such a negative impact on the teams flow and structure? Maybe. Probably. But the fact of the matter is, Carrick is the past. He wanted to move on and that's exactly what happened. We just move on and not look for the reasons in the past, but the present.

This shit is unacceptable.

It's probably not the best time for me to review this game in any true depth. Just in case I fill the blog with knee-jerks. One thing though. With Davenport gone, and lack of cover at the back (Gardner's 'clearance' lead to the shoot that hit Dawson's arm..........yeah, Anthony is set to be the 'Scapegoat of the Week for the Lilywhite faithful.....when isn't he?) we need to bring in cover for the CB position and also possibly another one or two signings with at least 2 or 3 players going off in the opposite direction.

However, bringing in new blood won't change the fact that we.........fuck it...

[kneejerk]Tactically, we get it wrong every single time away from home therefore, Martin Jol has to take a long hard look at how he motivates the players and what he looks to do tactically. We - as fans - can't keep on blaming the players. Getting it wrong 2 or 3 times is fine, its a learning-curve or sorts. Getting it wrong all the way into January.......thats unacceptable. Jol has to start giving himself a dirty look now and again to scare him into trying something different. [/kneejerk]


So, what do we do? Well, nothing. We let him get on with it. The last thing Spurs need is another transitional period under new management. I'm not suggesting for a second that this is even crossing anyone's mind (well, apart from the loonies). We just need to accept that there is still plenty to iron out and plenty of work to do and if this means a dip from 5th to 8th - then so be it. It's not like we have ever set the Premiership on fire. And if you look around, at clubs who have always been in and around the top 4 or 5, they too are still nowhere near getting into the top 2. It's not a simplistic as we would like to hope. And last seasons dramatic finish at 5th probably elevated our hopes a tad too high. And being a tad excitable, you can see why disappointing performances will hurt more than they should do.

If nothing has changed or progressed two seasons or so from now, then Levy will have to re-think his masterplan. Personally, I don't think we have anything to worry about. We are in safe hands.



~Spooky