Vincent Janssen said: ‘I have given myself 12 months to succeed in the Premier League with Tottenham. And those 12 months are not over yet. The level is really high here. Up until last week we were second in the league.
‘Don’t forget I had only played one season at the highest level in Holland when Spurs bought me from AZ Alkmaar. In a short period of time I have made some big steps forward in my career.
‘I’m not going to throw the towel in just because things are not going great for the first time in my career. I am jumping to put the Spurs shirt on, but I will have to prove to the coach that I deserve to play.
‘I was only told one hour before the game on Thursday that I had to sit in the stand, I was the 19th man. Obviously that message made me sad. But the manager makes the choices.’
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An hours’ notice smacks of teaching the player a lesson or a manager that is essentially making it up as he goes along.
It’s difficult to imagine what Vinny might have done to incur the gaffer’s wrath. Very difficult.
However an on the hoof way of managing – commonly referred to as mismanaging – making it up as you go along would explain the slow starts to games as the players desperately try to work out what the system de jour is.
Fingers crossed today’s game plan was worked out sometime ago and won’t be decided at one o’clock this afternoon.
