AVB HAS GONE: NOW TIME TO DUMP LEVY.

So Tottenham have finally bitten half of the bullet and sacked Andre Villas-Boas. Now we just have to see the back of Daniel Levy.

 

Supporters of AVB have produced a variety of statistics that purport to show how successful he really was and how wrong it was to sack him. However, what they ignore is the simple reality of his team's appalling recent performances. They may well have had a good year last year but that was with a team put together by his predecessor and that included Gareth Bale. Having brought in a raft of new blood, AVB was simply unable to blend them into an effective side, at least when they were expected to follow his tactics. While they've won the majority of their matches this season, these have been predominantly against lower-grade opposition; whenever they've come up against a decent side, they've been beaten, culminating in the miserable showing against Liverpool last Sunday.

 

Obviously, there is now much speculation about who will be the new boss, but first up is the Capital One Cup match against West Ham.  A few weeks ago, the Hammers came to White Hart Lane and won 3-0, a match which really started the alarm bells ringing at Tottenham. Whether caretaker manager Tim Sherwood can revitalise his side for this confrontation will be the first test of his credentials and we'll soon know whether or not the problem was with AVB's approach. I can see a resounding win for the home side tonight, perhaps 3 or 4 - 1, which could be a precursor to a real revival.

 

Unfortunately, the really deep-seated problem at White Hart Lane is still there. Since Daniel Levy became Chairman in 2001, the club has seen 11 managers come and go - George Graham, Glen Hoddle, David Pleat (twice as a caretaker), Jacques Santini, Martin Jol, Clive Allen (caretaker), Juande Ramos, Harry Redknapp, Andres Villas-Boas and now Tim Sherwood. If Sherwood doesn't keep the job, it'll soon be 12. No team can perform successfully with such regular disruption and the man responsible for all of this mayhem is Levy. While there can be no doubt that some of his choices were better than others, it is also abundantly clear that several should never have been appointed; some simply fell out of favour or with him.

 

Levy is an incompetent meddler. As long as he stays, Spurs will continue to underperform, whoever the manager is.

WHEN WILL TOTTENHAM RID THEMSELVES OF LEVY & AVB ?

Since Tottenham were soundly thrashed by Manchester City, they've had a very easy time of it. Two matches against third rate European opposition, both of which they won, 2 league matches against teams in the lower reaches of the Premier League, Fulham and Sunderland, which they also won, and a game against a misfiring Manchester United which they managed to draw. The media and assorted footballing experts have pronounced that the crisis is over and 'Spurs are back on track'.

 

Watching their efforts against Liverpool this afternoon, it is very clear that the 'experts' don't know their collective arses from their collective elbows. In the first half, Tottenham were every bit as hopeless as they have been all season against decent opposition - no bite at the front, midfield far too slow and outplayed, and defence at 6s and 7s and frequently non-existent. The second half saw Tottenham press much more, but by then, Liverpool were sitting on a 2 goal lead and content to protect it. Tottenham had more of the match and made a few chances but were still unable to convert possession and territory into goals; at the other end, Liverpool continued to run rings round an inept defence and took their chances. To add insult to injury, the usually brilliant Paulinho was sent off for a late challenge on Luis Suarez which was probably more worthy of a simple yellow card. In the end, Tottenham were completely overrun by a far better team and lost at home, again, this time by 5-0, but the worst thing is that they never looked remotely as good as the opposition. In fact, they were pathetic.

 

This team has oodles of talent and yet is performing woefully when up against proper opposition. Once Manchester United get their act together, which they will, and with Newcastle showing real form, Tottenham will slide backwards into the middle of the table. There is nowhere else for a team of their obvious talent but with no real plan; they will enter the next season with no European matches to worry about and few hopes of achieving anything other than another mid-table result..

 

While talent is owned by players, the plan is something evolved by the manager and his staff. If we accept that the players *do* have talent, the failure must be with the manager and this has now gone on for too long. Additionally, the manager was appointed by chairman Daniel Levy, whose record at appointing managers is about as poor as that of any chairman of any club in history.

 

GET RID OF BOTH OF THEM - NOW !