What we’re watching here is the end of a film that none of us in absolute truth would have tuned in for. My father was particularly keen upon a routine that drove the household nuts. He’d be knee-deep in a newspaper (this was a pre-Internet thing), and you’d walk into the front room to only see some awful nonsense; to which he’d say, “I’m just getting lined up for… [insert one film or other]”
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club become the last few minutes of a film that few if any of us would have voluntarily tuned in for. Who is to blame? Bruce Grove has for some time been convinced that José Mourinho has been no good for us at all.
I take a view is that our club is broken, that no coach might realistically be able to solve the ‘perceived’ problem – anyone wishing to debate this is aware of something I am not. Haha, haha… maybe Harry Winks and Dele Alli can save us?
It’s time for Mourinho to let the lunatics assert full ownership of the asylum.
The only botch i see anywhere is Mourinho.
Poch came from Espanyol, via Southampton to us, having never won anything. He took a club that had been improving to finish second in the league and the champions league final. Incredible achievements for this club.
Dele won young player of the year, and was regarded as one of the best young players around.
Mourinho who has won everything has come to Spurs, with a squad that got to a champions league final not long before he arrived, he signed Fernandes and Doherty two superstars and has driven this club backwards.
If you are a looking for a botch, look no further than Mourinho
I normally respect my elders, but dementia is rife these days. Do I blame Botch for his players and graduates, bunch of losers for 6 long years, of course I do..
Blaming managers for their targets and players. Yes obviously. You’re stupid if you think our managers have no say in signings. Top priority and first choice only a handful of clubs in the world have that! Not us….. You think Levy picks and buys the team himself then more fool you.. Maureen works with Hitchen and Levy plus more to get transfers sorted.. Botch did the same…. Vini and Rodon I have no issues with. Both need more time to see whether they are worth their price tags…… Botch signings and or trustees like Sanchez Dier Davies Winks Sissoko Dele have been key to our costly individual mistakes. They have to go..
Exactly.. What it boils down to is dummy fans who fail to possess common sense…
What about how we played under Poch for four seasons before the rot of zero transfer churn kicked in?
Poch haters take the last six months to say he deserved to go, whilst ignoring exactly the same endemic problems with our owners that they then use to defend Jose.
Certainly, Jose has done no better so why the change of management was pointless. Oh apart from the Amazon thing… 🤔
Training cannot legislate for how someone reacts in the course of a game. You can train very well and prepare them mentally all you like but as soon as they go on the pitch it’s down to the players. Simply put, a lot of these players don’t possess the mental qualities required to be good enough. That’s what happens when you buy at Spar instead of Waitrose.
👍😍
Lesley had so much natural ability and footballing intelligence that it must be difficult for him to work with players of lower standards. I cannot recall many truly great players becoming exceptional coaches apart from Clough. Rather the exceptional coaches, i.e. Fergie, Wenger, Mourinho who have dominated the PL were journeymen or not even players.
Nope. Waaayyy to young for that post. The obvious candidate for me is Hojbjerg right now as he possesses the dynamic go get ‘em attitude we need. He can’t do it all on his own.
Have you got shares the boy, DD?!!
Must be a great cab. COYS!
I love creative people. They tend to be senstive, imaginative, difficult and sulk. They sulk A LOT! A great manager tends to be creative and imaginative, they simply have to be to outthink the opposition. When the opposition is your immediate superior. Especially a Levy. Can you imagine Michelangelo trying to paint with Dear Danny holding one end of the brush? Or Dear Danny holding the hammer while he holds the chistle? If Dear Danny had hired him, we would never of heard of Michelangelo. Yes the club is broken, painfully. But with narcisstic, egotistical rich arseholes intefering and forcing their unqualified ideas on you, well, chaos results. Or the modern day THFC! Even Kane has had enough after giving us 12 years or so of his life. He will probably go the wrong way out of habit when driving to work from his wife and kids the first time he starts his new job. Jose may sulk, he may sulk A LOT, but if I left work early and daydreamed instead of working for you after you trust me and pay me, would you not be a bit niffed at me? Another coach? Do me a favour, Bill Nick could not work under Levy. If the system cares, all racists will be traced and procescuted. Will not stop scum being scum, but at least something would be done.
“We are behind teams that historically are completely inferior” – your words. Currently we’re behind those four only.
But sure, blame me for actually reading what you wrote. I won’t bother next time.
peopel seem to forget the bore draws we had in Potchs second season, not wins. This side could and maybe should finish on 70 points for a par score, if that’s enough for CL so be it. But don’t confuse the better games from your memory from what we saw previously.
Aurier picked mr sh1t var, see that’s the issue we give platitudes and plaudits like the transformation of sissoko when in reality we just got numb to them. Sanchez swapped with Toby is the main change as our option and hope Reguilons form picks up drastically (since his injury).
Spot on .
With todays fitness programs and diets surely Aldervield can handle one game a week if not more ,amazed he doesnt get picked more.
Doherty is utter dross playing as a RB in a back four, Championship standard. Our current best back four would be Aurier, Rodon, Toby and Reguilon. Hardly an impregnable unit, but the best available on a player by player basis.
After all the comments about our defence of which i agree on amazingly its still the 4th best in the league!
One strange season for sure.
Even then he still puts in decent crosses at least.
As there was only one vocal leader on the pitch against Newcastle immediately hand the captains armband to RODON for starters!!
Would say you got to have Aldervield in there for sure ,ive given up on Doherty.
Im based in Tranent,East Lothian by the way .
Welcome.
Doherty?????? ain’t good enough me lud!!
If we needed any confirmation about consistently inconsistent Spurs we are neither the best team in the world nor the worst team. Simply an average side punching above our weight thanks to irreplaceable Kane’s and Son’s contributions. Devoid of leaders on the pitch do we look like a team or a group of individuals. Probably the latter!!
My back 4 would be out of what we have would be
doc tanglaga rodon regulion
can’t be any worse than we r getting take Sanchez post him back to Ajax I will pay for the 1st class stamp
It’s not Jose it’s levy n co that’s it fault buying crap loaning panic buying greed instead of paying what these clubs want levy try’s to get blood out of stone n then Everton Chelsea etc sneak in buy what’s needed gets there man n we look like the muppets again until levy n co bolt this is what going to happen at spurs until we get dump to championship n then they all sell up it’s to late at that point but might be best in long run we won’t win a thing while it’s levy n co at the helm full stop Man City will spank us finish 7-8 kane n son leaves n I don’t blame them for wanting out so would i n I wouldnt want half the wages they get I would play for the love of the game n spurs
Probably the only style of manager who suits Levy, someone who doesn’t have a profile to complain, accepts the N’Cluedo types and finds the occasional gem in the bargain basement.
Absolutely spot on.
No. He deserves more than enic
We are unpredictable lately you never know hope we will get the 3 points
I’ll take an ugly grubby 1-0!!
I think so too
Omitted against Brighton I suspect hard man McTominey will be selected for the Spurs match!
Brighton was denied a clear penalty today the game should have been draw, I will be amazed next week if the game ends again 6:1 to Spurs
Easier said than done snuffing out their playmaker what makes them tick Fernandes!
We wouldn’t be able to keep a clean sheet against Man city Women’s team.
Whilst they possess ammunition, also defensively vulnerable = goals!
Hahaha United is coming next think about that 1st
I am picturing the League Cup Final leading Man City 1-0 with 10 mins to go backs to the wall stuff will probably seem like 10 hrs!!
Exactly that is how I interpreted it when I watched his interview the he cannot wait to get out.
Agreed when we could not kill the I was so afraid that we gonna lose it but a point is not bad result in my opinion if you can’t win the game then don’t lose it that is my slogan.
Basically resigned to the fact that Spurs are a lost cause!
Given that he is our eternal saviour it’s harsh to criticise Kane but a couple of chances he missed was the difference between winning and drawing. That said we were lucky to escape with a point!
Agreed what you think of Kane leaving in the summer can you blame him?
Very true
Kane was greedy one time he did not pass to Son who was free and could scored the killer goal
Sorry, I misread that.
Yep.
Doesn’t mean Jose is doing a good job with what he has though. We’ve gotten worse in my opinion
Playing for years together Mee and Tarkowski are a solid partnership as were Duffy and Dunk at
Brighton!
Oh nobody can blame him for that Levy will sack him sooner or later as he always needs to find a scapegoat manager so Jose has to run with his £50mill the sooner the better I got u now cheers
🙄
Sanchez is not the only weak link!!
No.
I would pick Burnley, Spammers, Everton, Soton and others as having a better defense than us. How isn’t that linked to who trains them?
Actually at 2-1 we had opps to kill off the opposition before we fell for that sucker punch!
So, calamitous poor decisions – of which there are many – are nothing to do with training?
Newcastle’s best player didn’t even start either.
Hang on a sec the Newcasle first goal was nothing to do with being drilled but down to calamitous poor decision making by Sanchez and Tangy!
Ledley was a pr stunt.
He is a novice coach, if Mourinho has turned over all defensive coaching duties to Ledley then he really is a moron.
Ledders probably sets up the cones, takes them through some warm ups and that’s about it.
Ledley was a top class centre half, he would be great with the young kids, talking to them and supporting them
I meant for taking Levy’s money. Our great negotiator pays a lot in severance pay. Is he actually a mug?
Nope.
Yep. I think Ledders could make that team despite 5+ years being retired and a dodgy set of knees.
As soon as it was 2-1 and there was 10 minutes to go, I knew it was going to be one point.
As far as defensive errors go, that IS the job of Ledley and José.
They are responsible for drilling the players so they don’t make those errors, and don’t lose games, and don’t get dumped out of european cups when they’re 2 goals up.
Sadly Regy had his worst game for Spurs to date!
There is no panic
We can persevere and cross our fingers that Levy gives him a blank cheque book, he signs all the players he wants and he remembers where he left his magical tactics book. Whilst we wait for la la la land our best players leave.
Its plain as day, this manager will not and cannot succeed at Tottenham.
Personally, in today’s football i don’t think there are many teams that he could go to that would win trophies under him. He had his time and he was hugely successful. The recent stint at Chelsea and Man U proved he had lost his mojo.
What top club in England would have Mourinho. None.
Spain? Would Real have him back after the way he left? Barca definitely not.
Bayern or Dortmund? No way.
Possibly Inter? Maybe a French club.
Why is that? He is the greatest manager ever?
It’s because there are much better football managers to choose from who play a better style of football.
When Mourninho won PL titles at Chelsea he could rely on the foundations of a solid defence week in week out of captain John Terry and Cavalihio et al. As he quickly discovered no such luxury at Spurs.
Never seen a defensive line change so much week after week. It’s like an unlucky dip.
Totally agree. Jose’s blaming of everyone else is appalling as well. Real leaders take accountability.
For today’s game I can the loss of 2 points was Mourinho’s fault
Exactly, how much worse are Newcastle’s players than ours? They’re nearly Championship standard on this season’s form and we’ve dropped 4 points against them. Dreadful, absolutely dreadful. Kane gets top scorer and assists and we get 150m for him and accept mid-table obscurity for another 5 or so years during a painful rebuild, at least Levy will have some funds to mess about with in the transfer market the loser.
I believe he was the wrong appointment but to be fair to him there is a multi-decade failure above him.
We aren’t competing with them. More Villa, Spammers, Everton, etc. without Kane we are below even that lot. You need to think more about what is written before the next diatribe.
Exactly add to that the season is nearly over and Mourinho don’t know or figured out his best back 4 can you believe that? with the special one who takes credit always with his defensive football unbelievable.
Sounding depressed and downhearted, having finally run out of ideas and excuses Mourinho’s post match press conference spoke volumes about his current psyche!
The fact of the matter is Jose has made mistakes, the players have made mistakes, it’s been miserable and poor from December, and it all currently amounts to 5th place and 2 points off top 4 – these are facts to provide context among the doom and gloom. We have been bad but the other teams haven’t been great either, bar City but they only got their sh*t together in January.
Second – any team would want to win the cup final we’re in. Or did City not celebrate the six cups they won in the last eight or ten years? It’s a trophy we have no right to turn up our noses at, with 13 years of no trophies at all.
Third – historically inferior? Maybe Leicester, but in recent years, if we’re going by trophies, not even them – remember the title? Chelsea, City, Utd have won many more trophies than us recently and have much more money.
I’m not saying I’m happy with this season, but I’m not yet ready to throw my toys out of the pram. Things might get better – and top 4 and a cup would be our best season in a long time.
Sincerely yours
A “Flat Earther”
You can’t even blame him for that.
This is a manager with a much-vaunted defensive approach. You see evidence that any of our back four/five look anything but confident and competent?
Perhaps Mourinho is a busted flush. However neither Ledley King coaching the defenders nor Jose managing the side can legislate for defensive errors as was Newcastles opener. Their predictable equaliser was equally avoidable!
Spot on. Can’t improve any of them. I believe the Cloughs and Venables did this regularly. Their players typically did worse at the clubs they made a ‘big move’ to. Ruddock, Birtles, Davenport to name a few.
I think Mourinho wants to be sacked cause he come to the conclusion of Kane will leave in the summer and Levy will never back him in the market and he will always be the scapegoat if he stays so he rather get his £50 mill and get the hell out of there ASAP that is my reading the events of today cheers.
Spot on. Can’t improve any of them. I believe the Cloughs and Venables did this regularly. Their players typically did worse at the clubs they made a ‘big move’ to. Ruddock, Birtles, Davenport to name a few.
I’m sorry but this same bunch of players were playing title leading football earlier in the season and setting the benchmark for the rest of the league. Then the tactics changed and we were sitting back everytime we got a sniff of a one nil lead because the manager clearly can’t control his dressing room and lost his players. He can blame the squad all he likes but he’s failed to get a tune out of Doherty, Bergwijn, Sanchez, Sissoko, Vinicius, Alderweireld, Dier and even Tanguy this season. They can’t all be that bad can they?
If he can’t make middling players into half decent squad players then what’s the point of JM? He’s been brought in to polish a turd and at the moment he’s failing miserably, a turd which he’s been allowed to adorn with a couple of genuine jewels this season (Hojberg, Reguilon). I hate to say it but I think Poch would get a better tune out of this bunch of losers than the Special One would. Even if that isn’t the case JM isn’t even man enough to accept any blame for this mess and is blaming the players instead of going down with his ship, what a scumbag.
If you think we’re going to get top 4 playing like this then you’re insane. I hope you’re right and I’m the one who’s lost the plot, but we aren’t getting a trophy and we are going to be playing Dinamo Chernobyl next season. Kane will not settle for that, neither will Sonny.
It’s midnight, and I’m not going through this long, long thread, but I read Bruce’s post earlier knowing it would be against your rub, Harry.
I have, over time allowed myself to get off the anti-José bus, and understand that the problem is Enic.
But Bruce is right. José has had enough time – way more than enough time – to get more than this out of this squad. We can argue about underfunding all day long, but a coach of his calibre is paid a lot of wonga to coach, to train players to play in certain way, a way that wins football matches. He is failing, he’s failing weekly. He’s failing weakly.
The problem undoubtedly is above him, but failing after all this time to coach defenders to defend is ridiculous. I don’t know what the school of Ledley King is doing at Hotspur Way, but it’s clearly not working with these guys.
Everyone else is wrong and you are right. This is an appalling league season and we are clinging on behind many teams that historically are completely inferior. We are in the lowest value final – I hope we win – but no other big team even gives a you-know-what. Flat earther. If this is progress under a 15m manager, I hope I get to work for you one day.
It ends badly with Jose. Everywhere. Another colossal balls up from the best paid Chairman in the Prem. Lucky he’s family as Unclr Joe didn’t make money like that from imbeciles like that bald toolbag
Is Jose Mourinho trying to blame the kids? 1 thing Jose had always been good at it was his defence solidity of his teams now if you look today’s game why you want to field kids without someone experienced enough on their side I mean how can you field Tanganga and Rodon without Toby Alderweireld it is a suicidal and that blame lies on Mourinho that is why he don’t wanted to answer when he been asked the question of his defenders he kept on saying please don’t ask me that question implying the blame lies with the players and he is too good well I’m sorry I can’t defend Mourinho for this it is he who cost the team those 2 points today I cannot have any other explanations and he should know it. it seems he gave up to be in Tottenham and cannot wait the season to end so he can take his £50 mill and run, at least his body language looked like that in my opinion cheers.
Agreed. Levy is the biggest issue but Jose was never going to work. He’s a decade out of date.
It’s a tough gig – if Jose doesn’t play untrustworthy players like Winks, Dier, Sanchez, Dele, some people think he’s freezing them out and alienating the dressing room. If he plays them and, surprise, surprise, they turn out to be unreliable even against an average team on the back of a 2-0 lead from the 1st leg, it’s “well he’s the one picking the players”.
Some reactions here seem more agitated to me than when we collapsed at the same stadium 5-1. Newcastle had already been relegated and scored 3 with 10 men, so we not only failed in the title race, but also finished 3rd below Arsenal.
Blaming Poch for signings is a joke. You can’t be that stupid surely. Or was Vinicius Jose’s top priority as a CF or Rodon over the Inter bloke. Stop the idiocy.
For such a glittering resume, which he genuinely has, I was dumbfounded and apprehensive at the appointment of Jose. We aren’t set up for him to be successful and his football was awful at every club.
Absolutely right. Next ENIC disaster please. Been 20 plus years now so I think the problem won’t go away. Levy is about as attached to Spurs as David Dein is.
Of course covid has everything to do with it! We were 600 odd million in debt before covid, this has almost doubled now.. Money is needed in the game , obviously… The stadium and jam tomorrow is the bald one thinking in advance… If anything right now will bankrupt us then its covid. Its the huge elephant in the room.. Coys is spot on.
Correct. Sadly.
Hang on a sec, I thought Jose was just going to turn up with his magic wand with Sooty and Sweep.. Izzy Wizzy lets get busy.. A couple waves and Winks will play like Iniesta and Sanchez would morph in to Sergio Ramos
We were interested in him a few years back, he is solid enough and a leader, I’m not discounting Potter as manager either one day, plays a very positive style and good with his players.
Yes mate.. I would understand the panic if we were looking at relegation deep in the bottom half… We all know we need players sold and more of Joses in. The squad needs more than tweaking but it’s certainly not a mess.. Midfielders and defenders have to go. I’m not convinced by any of our Botch club record signings, Sanchez, Tanguy and Gio are not going to win us titles.
It’s interesting to me how many people have been writing essays bashing Mourinho for being a dinosaur etc. since the turn of the year. To provide a little bit of context:
We’re in a cup final.
Despite everything, we’re just two points off fourth and our main rivals for 4th have tougher run-ins than us.
Yes, we’re not good enough and have been struggling late on in games. We also had the best record in the league from the five games before Newcastle.
The football is not great. The players are inconsistent to say the least and the mood isn’t good at all. Jose’s style is based on everyone putting in a shift and too often, we have freeloaders in the team who torpedo the overall effort – or simply suicidal players who cost us goals time and time again. If we play defensively to accommodate them, the fans don’t like it. If we attack, they’re open to counters and we concede 5 at Everton, for example.
What would the same people – who are now up in arms about Jose – be writing if we were 14th, had just been done 7-2 at home in Europe and knocked out of the cup by Colchester under him? I wonder.
I am angry about today’s result. Absolutely. I often hate watching us allow dozens of shots against mediocre opposition. But Jose helped take a broken, tired, directionless team from 14th place to 6th (and Europe) and now has us as close to the CL as we’ve been recently. He has made mistakes – he selects the team, and anyone who puts the infamous Dier-Sanchez and/or Winks-Sissoko axis on the pitch should probably be sectioned. But he’s what we have now. Sacking him would cost us money we need to fix the squad, which would be an expensive backwards step.
Tk be announced March MOTD goals
1 Lamela Rabonna
2 McNeill v Everton
3.Kane v Palace
Pochettino gave Mourinho a 14th placed team and now he is 2 points off top 4 and in the carabao final. What do u mean by “terrible mess”. Everyone knows english pundits hate (former man u players) Mourinho
Like himself and all his predecessors he was recruited to secure CL football annually and win silverware!!!!!
There was no way Mourinho on 15m a year was bought in for the feel good factor for the fans.
I would think a large section of the fan base didn’t want him as manager
“same manager, different players” GTFO. Can’t stand modern football the way players/managers bleed clubs dry and take no personal responsibility. Any other industry and you’re handed your p45 with a state minimum redundancy package and everyone moves on.
Absolute scumbag of a manager and he knows exactly what he’s doing, he wants out and he wants to be paid off so he doesn’t have to take responsibility for this mess of a season. Keep him and make him suffer along with all of us until the end of his contract, show everyone how useless him and Levy truly are. What a terrible mess.