Can we make fourth?

That is the simple question. Can we make fourth place this season, or higher LOL! I don't think we can unless Comolli brings something out of the bag. Comolli is currently responsible for the unbalanced squad and investing vast sums of cash on our strongest position. We still need a left winger and a playmaking midfielder before we can realistically challenge for a Cl place in my opinion. What do you think?

Spot the Clown

COYS!

The board finally speak as Ramos says no.

Levy and his minions have finally put out a statement assuring us the Jol's position is safe but he want to see a top four finish putting the pressure on. Levy's massive U Turn was in the style of a huge oil tanker. Took ages to come but it finally made it in the end. However the U Turn only arrived because Ramos doesn't want the job!

It appears that Kelmsey was made a complete mug by Ramos and was used to get a better deal at Sevilla. He turned us down earlier today to stay with Sevilla leaving Levy and Co up shit creek without a paddle. Jol is now safe although he has the pressure of a top four finish to go for. To be honest he had that pressure already but unfortunately the squad is still hopelessly unbalanced and we still need further investment in the midfield. This is not Jol's fault but Comolli and if we don't make the Champions League places by May then he is equally compromised in his position as Director of Football.

Only Spurs and its bumbling board could have created such a PR disaster and questions now must be raised about Levy and Kelmsey especially as the property tycoon and general thug appears to the driving force behind this move.

If Kelsey has any honour he would resign and I think it may be time for Levy to jog on as well.

The only saving grace was that Levy had the sense to back down and not pursue Redkrapp!

COYS!

Has Jol already been sacked?

Rumours flying all over the place are saying that Jol has gone already. Could be rubbish but could be true. But also with those rumours is the idea that Jol has been fired with no one in place! Ramos is apparently mulling the deal over - what happens if he turns us down? Harry Redkrapp?

Levy out.

COYS!

Jol and Levy meet tomorrow

Martin Jol and Tottneham Hotspur chairman Daniel "Two Bob" Levy meet tomorrow for showdown talks according to almost anyone who has ever claimed to be an ITK on FTL and COYS. At the meeting it is going to be made clear that Jol has lost the boards support hoping Jol will resign, thus reducing the compensation fee Jol would be entitled to if he was sacked.

It appears that Levy doesn't want to sack him as it would cost him some cash and would be a PR disaster. If Jol refuses to walk, which I hope he does, it will be interesting to see if Levy does fire him.

Ramos of Sevilla apparently is ready to come and if Levy does do away with the most successful league manager for 20 years I hope he is in place. Another fuck up along the lines of the Hoddle sacking would rip the heart out of the club and other names banded around like Harry Redknapp just doesn't bare thinking about.

The way Jol has been treated is clearly a disgraceful knife in the back job from the Spurs board with lies being leaked to the press. The latest piece of garbage out there is that he hates Berbatov - utter nonsense but part of the smear campaign by our dirty board. I never liked Paul Kemsley on the apprentice - came across as a complete tosser on the show and appears to be one in real life.

Levy Out.

COYS!

Levy looks to finish season now

Levy looks like he is about to end our season after three games. Rumors continue and it now looks almost certain that Levy is going to do the dirty and stab Martin Jol in the back with the hope of attracting Ramos from Sevilla.

This is an extremely risky strategy as Jol has now proved twice in the league that he can get us into the UEFA places. Remember we last qualified for the UEFA cup via the league in 1983 before Jol's arrival and Levy now wants to axe the man!

Levy apparently feels that Jol is not the man to get us into the Champions League where he can see a real return on his investment. However is this a new opinion or is Levy so short sighted he can only look at two defeats against Sunderland and Everton. If he is looking at the latter then the mans a fool and if the former why did he let Comolli and Jol spend £40 million and then sack him? Poor management by the directors one feels.

And Levy's apparent replacement is Ramos. Ramos has done very well with Sevilla but has only won two cups in 15 years of management. Ramos is also the man who should have seen Sevilla win the Spanish League last season. It was there for the taking before Ramos rested players for vital league games to concentrate on the UEFA, now a second rate competition to what it was. Is that real ambition being shown there? I don't think so.

This is a vital season for Spurs and I do agree we should be running the top four much closer in games and in final league positions than we have in the past. However, sacking Jol is not the answer to this. The huge upheaval it brings and change in systems and back room staff would not lead to instant success. It may in future seasons but would write this one off. Failure to qualify for the UEFA cup at least would see the departure of many stars and the start of a brand new five year plan. But of course Levy will sack Ramos 3 years in anyway. Charlton, Newcastle and West Ham have shown in recent years what happens when you boot the manager so early into a season and while I'm not saying we shall get relegated we shall lose ground on where we want to be.

And is it fair for Jol to be the scape goat here. Comolli has overall responsibility for bringing in players and shouldn't he be asked questions as to why he still can't manage to find a left winger and what did he exactly see in Zokora when we bought him? How many of our first 11 would make a top four team? King if fit, Berbatov - maybe Lennon? And then Levy - he splashed some TV cash this summer but generally has sold to invest - Carrick being a prime example but limits us in so many ways with a highly restrictive wage structure? Jol has the fifth best squad in the league - if Levy really wants CL football he need to provide the resources to do so.

If Levy sacks Jol he's a mug and will consign us back to mid table obscurity for many years to come.

Jol still for the chop?

Rumors tonight from well connected sources on COYS still reckon Jol is for the sack three games into the season. The sources are credible and have good form in all things ITK but have been wrong in the past. I for one hope they are completely off the mark for various reasons.

For one it shows Levy has learnt nothing in the time he has been manager of Spurs. You don't give £40 million to a manager who you are going to sack three games into the season.

Secondly if you are going to sack the manager you do it in the close season. If Levy does plan to give Jol his P45 then he should have been brave enough to do it weeks ago - and if his decision was made after a couple of dodgy results then the man is a fool.

Jol has led us to back to back 5th place finishes, and consecutive UEFA cup qualifications via the league - the first manager to do that for nearly 30 years - we also scored over 100 goals last year.

The fans today demonstrated they back Jol 100% at WHL and the new manager would have to equal fifth at the very least or Levy looks a fool. This is against the backdrop of upheaval, players being bemused that Jol has gone, new systems and tactics that will take time to bed in and the new guy (probably Ramos if rumors are true) may not want the current players and of course the current crop of players may well not fit the new system.

To add to all that the media and fans across the country would rip Spurs to pieces. Is Levy about to make a huge mistake? I hope not.

COYS!

Priorities and getting them right

Uncovered by a poster on FTL.

Make of it what you will.

http://www.opus-uncovered.com/video/video.php?id_video=45

COYS!

Spurs Vs Everton.

Spurs take on Everton for their first home game of the season. Kick off is at 8pm and the club have already warned fans to be there as early as possible.

Tottenham badly need to start their season tomorrow. A dismal start in the previous campaign saw us playing catch up and if we are to challenge for the top four we cannot afford a defeat tomorrow. Until last season Everton were our whipping boys. The press never seemed to pick up the fact that Everton had not won a game at White Hart Lane for 21 years but they were always rolling out Spurs Chelsea stats - funny that. However, with ten men, Everton took the points last season and fully deserved to.

Spurs were dismal going forward at Sunderland. We had plenty of possession but no one knew what to do with it so we must be more creative tomorrow. Rumors on the net reckon Bent with start up front with Berbatov. With injuries to various people including all our left backs and Lennon it sounds like Keane will play on the right side of the midfield with Jenas, Zokora and Malbranque making the other three. It is unlikely that Dawson will be fit so I hope Rocha will fit in next to Kaboul

Keane will be able to offer more creativity as long as it sticks to his right wing - if he drifts in we shall be left once gain with a very narrow, tight midfield which could cause problems. Whatever happens, a win is necessary.

COYS!

Mido Gone

Every Kebab shop owners dream customer looks like he is finally packing his bags and heading north to the wastelands of Middlesboro. He has agreed terms and has passed the first part of his medical but has a second to come. Work permit shenanigans also await and as we know with our other favourite Egyptian, it could all go pear shaped.

Lets remember Mido for the good things he did, like this goal against the scum - Thanks to a scum fan for filming this - you can relay see why they are twats in this clip:



Other highlights:



Good luck Mido.

COYS!

Sunderland Vs Tottenham Hotspur

The Premier League is back and Spurs play Sunderland with the first early kick off of the new season.

Spurs go into the game with big problems down the left side - how often have we said that - and of all the big money spent on the team we still have no one to play the left wing. Our only left footed purchase, Gareth Bale, is still 2 weeks away from fitness and Lee and Benoit are both out - Lee is back in training but lacks fitness. With these problems Ricardo Rocha is likely to play at left back. I suspect Tainio will feature in front of him to try and protect the left side as Sunderland will look to exploit our weakness there. Joining Rocha in the back four will be Chimbona, Kaboul and Dawson. Completing the midfield will be Zokora, Jenas and Malbranque. Steed has looked good during pre-season and may show more class now he has had a full pre-season behind him - something he clearly missed last year.

Jol has a decision to make up front but I reckon he will stick with Berbatov and Keane as Keane will drop deep to support the midfield. After £40 million spent we only have one change to our starting eleven and that is a little concerning. Bent will be on the bench but I am not sure if Defoe will be there.

The most disappointing thing to see however is the inclusion of Ghaly in the squad. I also think playing Bent would be better over Keane - his pace will cause the Sunderland back four to sit deep. If they attempt to play the offside trap Bent, with passes from Jenas and Berbatov will soon slip that. We must be more attacking in our approach to away games if we are to break the top four.

Playing Sunderland away from home for their first game back in the Premiership will not be easy - I would much rather play them in January after they have had an awful Christmas and I think Sunderland will be a tough team to play tomorrow. If we draw here and win our next two it would represent a good start.

Visit the Spurs Archive for video clips and highlights after the game.

The Shelf Spurs Archive

COYS!

Anyone going to Everton without tickets READ

The ticket office continues to amaze with its complete ineptitude!

From the official site:

EVERTON TICKETS
10/08/2007 10:06:07

In advance of Tuesday night's (August 14) match against Everton, we have identified a number of bookings that were printed incorrectly and therefore not been despatched.

If you booked tickets for Everton but have yet to receive them in the post, please email evertontickets@tottenhamhotspur.com and put 'Everton Tickets' in the Subject Field.

Following last night's announcement that Royal Mail industrial action has been postponed, we will despatch these tickets via First Class post today to anyone that is able to notify us via email by 3.30pm this afternoon.

If, once you have done this, you are still not in receipt of your tickets by Monday's post, please email again on Monday and place the heading "Everton Duplicate Ticket Request". We will then ensure that duplicate tickets are ready for you to collect direct from White Hart Lane.

Due to the exceptional circumstances in this case we have taken the decision, for this fixture only, to allow supporters to collect duplicate tickets prior to the day of the match. Should your tickets not arrive in Monday's post you will be able to collect duplicate tickets until 5.30pm on Monday or from 9.30 on Tuesday morning.

We'd like to apologise for any inconvenience and unnecessary worry and frustration that this situation has caused and can assure you that the cause of this problem has been identified and resolved for future fixtures.

Thank you for your patience and continued support.

COYS!

New Premier League Anthem

The Premier League has recorded a new anthem for the forthcoming season. Composed by Peter Lawlor it will be played at the beginning of every league game where the players shake hands.

I suppose its a grower.

Hear it at Peter Lawlor's MySpace page.

Peter Lawlor's MySpace page

Edit: It is called "My Saturday Self" which is a laugh as we shall play most of our games on a Sunday!

Peter Lawlor said on his blog:

"From the start of next season every premiership team will perform the "Handshake" ceremony to this track.

Also all around the world, the track will be the theme music for all Premiership tv programmes.

We had an amazing time recording the track in Abbey Road 2, On Bass my good buddy Johnathan Noyce, On drums the astonishing Smiley Barnard, my old compardre Levine Andrade led the strings.

Levine's CV is astonishing: Led Zep, ELO, The Ardetti Quartet etc etc


Daryl Griffiths conducted brilliantly.


I am mixing the long version at the moment and will stick it on the site when its done.


The Premier League chaps are going to take us all the a well known Stadium near Stretford to hear the track playing on the first day of the Season....I really can't wait!



To hear the track banging out in front of 76,000 people will be an unbelievable experience!

oh yeh, Pete Murray played a bit of piano as well"

COYS!

Ghaly still for sale.

Click here


With thanks to COYS.

COYS!

Torino Goals

Tottenham Hotspurs V Torino 04.08.07 SSN match report
Uploaded by fredFiftyFour

COYS!

Ghaly Stays!

Ghaly's transfer to Birmingham has collapsed this evening. It appears that Ghaly changed his mind at the last minute. He has been in Birmingham training with their squad all week and apparently loved it up there so the change of heart is a bit mysterious.

Rumors on FTL and COYS suggest one of two things. Either a bigger club than Birmingham have shown a last minute interest in the Egyptian's services or that he is going somewhere else with Mido. Either is acceptable to me as long as he is not at White Hart Lane come the end of the transfer window.

More likely, however, is he realised what Birmingham was really like.

COYS!

*UPDATE*

ITKs on FTL claim a training ground bust up between the squad and Ghaly. Ghaly clearly felt he was billy big boots and was winding certain players up. Bruce called a meeting and felt he was going to be a disruptive influence.

COYS!