Levy wields the axe, then hires Redknapp (ongoing news)

28th Oct – 5:00pm: Juande Ramos has just published a remarkably gracious letter on his personal website. In it he describes the success of last year, explains some of the difficulties of this season, and states that he understands the board’s decision to sack him. He then launches into a heartfelt ‘thank you and goodbye’ message to the club and fans. He comments:

“First of all, I want to tell the Spurs fans how grateful I am for the way they have treated me. Thank you for your support, respect and kindness, and even for your constructive criticism. You have made me feel very happy for many months and I am only sorry not to have been able to offer you more magical evenings like the one at Wembley last February. You have always been with the team and I thank you for unconditional support.

“I would also like to send a special message to all the people who work at the Club. The family that is Tottenham Hotspur; you are the people who make it all possible. You have treated me excellently, both on a professional and personal level, I send you my eternal gratitude and affection.

 “Lastly, I want to thank Tottenham and the Directors for giving me this opportunity to fulfil my dream. I had always wanted to coach a Club in England – the home of football – to feel the emotion and live the experience of the Premier League.

“Thank you all, goodbye, and TO DARE IS TO DO…COME ON YOU SPURS!”

For the first time since Sunday, I feel sorry for the guy! He obviously cared deeply about the club, and is upset it didn’t work out. All the best to him... at least he got a £10 million pay off, eh?

26th Oct – 9:15am: Spurs have just confirmed that Harry Redknapp has been appointed as their new manager. In addition, chairman Daniel Levy has written a (very) lengthy ‘Open Letter’ to Spurs’ fans. As well as explaining the decision to sack Ramos and co., Levy also states Damien Comolli will not be ‘directly replaced’ as Sporting Director, suggesting clearly that he intends to implement a more traditional management structure (manager > [chief scout?] > chairman] rather than sticking with the continental structure of the last few years. Levy also answers some questions which the fans have had regarding other matters. He states that the main failing this close season was not the sale of Berbatov and Keane, but that the club “were not decisive or successful enough in identifying or replacing” those two players. He also ‘dispels the myth’ that the club is run primarily for profit not footballing success, stating that if this were the case it would be counter-productive given footballing success = higher profits. He says it is ridiculous to suggest otherwise. Finally, Levy states that the January transfer window will be strategic for Spurs this year, intimating there will be some significant moves in the transfer market, and drops a hint that the club may have a further announcement to make soon, perhaps regarding a new or expanded stadium.

Portsmouth have also just released a statement on their website explaining the loss of Harry Redknapp. They stated that they did not want to lose him, but that Spurs were one of the only clubs Harry would consider leaving for.

12:45am: In the last hour and a half Spurs have released an announcement confirming the sackings of Juande Ramos, Gus Poyet, Damien Comolli and Marcos Alvarez, in a move not dissimilar to a Stalinist Purge, by chairman Daniel Levy. The statement comments, rather drily, “We wish them well”. A further statement made shortly afterwards said briefly that Spurs had approached Portsmouth, asking for permission to speak with Harry Redknapp, and Pompey had reluctantly accepted.

If this wasn’t enough, Harry Redknapp has just confirmed live on Sky Sports News that he is indeed due to become the new Tottenham Hotspur manager, will meet the players in the morning, and will be at tomorrow’s game against Bolton. He has stated that Portsmouth will receive £5 million in compensation, but that club coaches Tony Adams and Joe Jordan will not be following him to White Hart Lane. Redknapp also commented that the move came out of the blue, and gave him a great opportunity to manage a big club.

Thus Daniel Levy has wielded the axe, in a cold-blooded clear out of the most astonishing nature. Many will question whether this was a wise, well thought-out move, or a snap, premature judgement based on a few bad results (particularly as the coup was announced the night before a game). Time will tell, but it did very much seem that Ramos and co. had been unable for some time to motivate or inspire the Spurs’ players. Indeed, this week has seen both David Bentley and Jonathan Woodgate make scathing remarks about the club’s recent performances. It will be interesting to see if Harry Redknapp has what it takes to give Tottenham fans the success they have craved for some time.

The most positive part in this, however, is the sacking of Sporting Director, Damien Comolli. It seems that Ramos had been Comolli’s appointment, and many of the recent signings also Comolli’s responsibility. I am very sceptical of the ‘Sporting / Footballing Director’ structure, particularly when it’s some French former scout who used to be at Arsenal. Levy will do well to give Redknapp full control and not impose on him another Director of Football.

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And thus we enter yet another season in the astonishing life of Tottenham Hotspur football club. I wish Harry luck.

[Much more on this to come, I’m sure]

Simon

What the fudge is going on at White Hart Lane??!

Having started the season with their usual optimism, plus more, Spurs’ fans have had to endure what is now Tottenham’s worst start to a league season ever.

Yes, congratulations Daniel Levy… congratulations Damien Comolli… congrats Juande Ramos, Gus Poyet, the entire coaching staff, the entire playing staff, the medical team, and whoever else is on the books at White Hart Lane – you have played your part in masterminding Tottenham Hotspur’s ***worst ever start to a league season***. From now on, when Spurs have a bad start to a season, the pundits and statisticians will no longer say, ‘Oh, it’s their worst start since 1956’, ‘their worst start since 1920’, or ‘since 1904’. No, from this year on they will say, ‘It’s their worst start since…well, 2008’. Right now, that doesn’t have much impact, but in fifty years, perhaps sixty or eighty, if Spurs have a terrible start to a league season, it will be compared to this infamous year – and I will bore my grandchildren with stories of this sordid time in Tottenham Hotspur history.

Well done everyone, well done indeed!!!

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Heading into the weekend, only teams punished for being in administration have fewer points in the Football League – and only Spurs and Grimsby have failed to record a league win. I have to say, that from my perspective as a Spurs fan, the whole thing has got increasingly comical. For the last few games, the losses and torrid performances have not bothered me all that much, instead I am finding myself more and more fascinated, intrigued and awestruck at the sheer spectacle of it all. And we are not just bad, we are a circus. In the last two games we’ve had three sendings off, conceded three penalties (one of which was a true circus act by goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes), and gone down with little more than a whimper. There were some positive flashes in the first half at Stoke, but I really am looking for scraps. On the pitch, we look more leaderless than a herd of Welsh sheep marauding aimlessly around the Brecon Beacons without their sheepdog. The phrase “headless chickens” comes to mind.

And the scary thing is that there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. Perhaps we will win on Sunday against Bolton, but after that we have Arsenal and Liverpool. So while I could write a 1000 words trying to explain which, in my view, of the many things that have gone wrong is the root cause of the problem, I don’t really see the point. Rather, I’ll just say “well done” to Jonathan Woodgate for coming out and blaming some people (click here for audio or here for text), actually showing publicly some anger and annoyance at the situation, which is more than we’ve seen from Juande or Gus, or Daniel or Damien.

It is absolutely astonishing.

Simon