All right, so Sky Sports News have claimed that Man Utd have tabled a bid of £21m for Berbatov. Apparently Real Madrid are also interested. The two biggest clubs in the world are looking to snatch arguably our best player, or most skilful at least. Perhaps ‘snatch’ is the wrong word, as it really doesn’t matter who’s in for him, or how much they bid.
Berbatov is a Spurs player and he’s under contract, although that doesn’t matter either. Berbatov has been a Spurs player for only a year and we plucked him from relative obscurity. But that doesn’t matter. Berbatov has a great rapport with the fans. Irrelevant. What matters is whether Berbatov wants to be a Spurs player or not. If not then thanks for the memories mate, but do one.
Regardless of how good a player is I don’t want someone who’d rather play his football in someone else’s shirt. I love Spurs and part with my money gladly at the thought of squad fighting to be in the first team, but especially, accepting it with grace when they are not. It’s again time for Berbatov to declare his allegiance to Tottenham Hotspur and with it decide where he’ll be playing his football for the remainder of the season. If he chooses Man Utd or Real Madrid then he should know that it wouldn’t be with love he is remembered but with contempt.
This is a time when we need our squad together as one, a bunch of players that Martin Jol can place his belief, and with it, ours, because if there’s one player with his mind elsewhere it’ll be BMJ who pays, and our hearts with him.
Berbatov is a magnificent player, but he’s just that, a player. One, in an endless supply, that we will witness fill that glorious lilywhite shirt. And I’ll always love that more than any one player.
Come on you Spurs.
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12 comments:
This for me sums up the fickleness of Spurs supporters. Ignoring the comment that Berbatov was plucked from 'relative obscurity', what has the Bulgarian done that Jol himself hasn't?
Has Berba spoken to other clubs like Jol has done over the past twelve months? All this complete bollocks about no one being bigger than the club, yet the hysteria over Jol's treatment just goes to prove that there are as many Jol-supporters amongst the fans as there are Tottenham Hotspur Football Club supporters.
If Manchester United, easily the biggest club in the country, were interested in signing Jol as a replacement for Fergie, I think a few people would get a shock about the apparent whiter-than-white personality of the big Dutchman - he'd be on the phone to them in an instant.
Not that they would of course, because Jol will never be in that league, whereas Berbatov is - even if that passed you by when he was at Bayer.
This was a hypothetical post in regard to any player, manager, chairman, who 'wants out'. Going by what Berbatov has said in the past he doesn't. Perhaps recent speculation suggests that he does.
Berbatov was used as an example merely because he's all over the news at the moment.
Fickle about players I agree, but never about my passion for the shirt over any personnel at the club - that was the point.
It could be argued that Berbatov wasn't as well known as a player of his ilk deserved to be. The majority of Spurs fans (and I would assume English football supporters) hadn't heard a great deal about him.
Maybe you're right though - this doesn't mean that every football scout worth his salt didn't know who Dimitar was before coming to Spurs, however if he was that well thought off why didn't the bigger clubs in Europe sign him ahead of Spurs?
Then apply that 'hypothesis' to Jol right now - use HIM as an example - instead of treating him like a martyr. The man has whored himself out to other clubs whilst under contract to Spurs. Surely you can't blame the board for looking elsewhere for a contingency plan?
The general impression I get from Spurs fans is that Levy is some kind of cunt and should be out on his ear (of his own club, mind), whereas Jol should be bathed in goat's milk and given a long term contract that not even Mourinho has (despite winning fuck all).
See a week ago I would have believed that most of you love the shirt over the personnel, but this week's self-flagellation over a little theoretical recruitment drive by the Board makes me think that you'd be happy failing to push on from 5th as long you get 'BMJ' to keep doing his funny little post-match Johnny Foreigner routine every week.
Spurs fans suffer from the cult of personality with regards to their personnel. Look at your goalkeeper - officially the worst player in the league last season, yet 'Robbo' is still loved by one and all because he gives you a little wave and claps you when you sing Happy Birthday to him.
And look where that's got you eh?
I've said before that I don't blame Levy for looking towards the future if Jol can't deliver (another 5th place finish wouldn't be the end of the world though). Levy has done a fantastic job in not only guiding Spurs to their current position (by signing Arnesen and Jol in the first place) but also seemingly securing the kind of financing Tottenham has never seen before.
I think Levy is victim of his own lack of ability in dealing with the press and his obsession with keeping everything within the club completely secret. I understand that it's not wise to 'air your dirty laundry' but his lack of support before being forced into a half-arsed 'I'm behind Jol 100%' statement of a few days ago meant that fans turned on him rather swiftly.
I certainly wouldn't want Levy to go and perhaps that would lead to a bigger disaster than if Jol was to leave, but he has a manager in place at the moment who the fans, rightly or wrongly, love to bits. He needs to be aware of this an act accordingly - it's a part of his job.
In a footballing terms it makes no sense to have treated Jol the way he did over the last week or so. He has managed to disrupt the club to an unprecedented level and the reaction of fans and media alike has been his punishment.
As for Robinson, well, not much can be said other than he lived of his reputation from the season prior to last. He built up such a link with the Park Lane that it's been difficult not to support him in the same way through his prolonged bad patch. Unfortunately for him it does seem to be coming to an end. Still if you knew what it felt like to have one of your own players link in with his own set of fans the way Robinson has I doubt you wouldn't be as quick to ridicule him.
Still his form has affected this relationship badly and the reaction on THFCLatest of late is testament to it. Quiet a lot to say actually.
But it's a season too late for Robinson. He should've lost your support ages ago. I fear it'll be the same with Jol - allowed to muddle on far too long because he is "loved" by the fans (wrongly).
Which brings me to the point that this Ramos business has actually been GOOD for Martin Jol. Let's face it - Spurs have some very tricky fixtures coming up which they're likely to struggle with. The goodwill directed at Jol has created an unprecendeted second honeymoon for him. If he loses games against United, L'Arse etc he'll get let off as the old line that Levy disrupted the balance of the squad will be wheeled out, when in truth that had fuck all to do with it - Jol just couldn't muster any tactical nous during an injury crisis.
If the Ramos business hadn't come to light, then I think a good percentage of the fans themselves would be calling for Jol's head after a defeat at the North London derby. As it is, even if he's steering you to midtable mediocrity he'll get until the end of the season regardless. Which'll set Spurs back years again. But you only have yourselves to blame if that happens...
Jol deserves until the end of the season at least. If he's got that through this Ramos saga then it's just. Unfortunate for such an even to have such an unsettling affect on the club. Still the performance against Utd showed that perhaps it wasn't as damaging as feared.
I'd like to know how you think Jol will 'steer [Tottenham] to midtable mediocrity' after the job he's done over the past two seasons - how has he turned into such a bad manager since end of last season? A bit dramatic don't you think?
The cracks are starting to show at Spurs. A good collection of players will only get you so far - eventually you need a manager with some talent.
Last season Spurs had a great, big, expensive squad, whereas their rivals for 5th didn't. That's now changed and those same clubs with managers on par or more talented than Jol have strengthened their teams.
All the performance against United showed was Jol's inability yet again to beat a Top 4 side - even one with their two best players out, having had their worst start to a campaign in 15 years, having yet to win a game! Yet even with all these handicaps Jol STILL steered Spurs to defeat! But you can still put a positive spin on it - amazing!
Three losses in the first four games, Flav. Is that really how you expected to start the season? Surely that constitutes a failure?
Jol now has two games to save his job I reckon. A loss at home to those shitcunts down the road from you will seal his fate.
Football matches are won and lost in a moment. It's a cliche but it's true. Jol's tactics were good, and we deserved something. Another game we would have received a penalty, understandably they were very tight calls and the handball was dubious despite the reaction of the players (and some of the Utd fans behind the goal). Keane hit the bar, Berbs went very very close. On another day they would have gone in. Jol got it right yesterday, it proves that he can mix it with Ferguson etc.
You're right about the other teams in the league though, it will be tougher than last year. Still we'll see. You're extremely pessimistic when it comes to Spurs and you're predictions for the run in last season (which saw Spurs finish 8th) are testament that, still like I said before, you're objective viewpoint does put you in a better position than me to a fair view of what Jol and this squad is capable of.
It's late and i'll be brief... Pilgrim's last post is utter bollocks, I believe deep down he knows it too
'Mix it with Ferguson'? Come on Flav - it's not like United were on a winning run up til yesterday - they hadn't won a single game yet! You were the first team to lose to United this season! If anyone mixed it with Ferguson it's been Coppell, Redknapp and Eriksson, certainly not Jol. Every one of them took points off him. Jol took squat.
What are the chances of Fergie telling his midfielders to have a crack at goal from long range because Jol keeps picking that fat lump of a goalie with the positioning of Stevie Wonder? I certainly would, you would too. That's where the game was won and lost - in the dressing room - Fergie would have sold Robinson to Barnet months ago. Jol continues to persist with him.
The new Spurs attutude is one of blaming the referee. Like against Sevilla - taught a lesson in the passing game but it was the dodgy refereeing the reason you lost right? Funny how you never get the decisions against the Top 4. Why do you think that is? Nothing to do with the mind games of the superior managers is it?
I never used to be pessimistic about Spurs until it became clear that Jol was out of his depth and wasting the great opportunity of a magnificent football club to break into the cunts of the Top 4. I was overly pessimistic last season I admit, and credit where credit's due he did drag them back into the Euro places. But the fight for the CL places was long gone, the main pressure off, just like it is now. Only now the pressure comes from his job being on the line. I bet you he bottles that too.
Tim - another outstanding contribution to the debate. Thank fuck you joined in and made me reconsider entire footballing philosophies.
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