Has Levy lost the plot
Has Levy lost the plot
By Don Scully
Under Levy's managerial appointments,
we are gradually sinking down to the level of clubs like the Spammers. This is
ironic, seeing as they are doing well this season and above us.
Anyway, Levy is losing his focus by
appointing the wrong managers to manage the team or expect too much of them by giving
them so little cash to improve matters (to the standards of the other big five
clubs). We are supposed to be a top-six club (financially, maybe) but act like
a Brighton or Everton when investing in the team.
Take Ryan Mason, what possessed Levy to
put an inexperienced youth coach in charge of the team (with no experience of
running any professional club)? It is sheer madness and suicidal. We would have
been better sticking with Mourinho. Mason's been in charge of four games, one
of them could have seen us win a trophy and three league games. Won two, lost
two. Mason's greenness cost us.
Mason suffered his first Premier League
defeat in charge on Saturday as he watched his selected team suffer a 3-1 loss
to Leeds United at Elland Road, and it won't be the last defeat either, going
by what I’ve witnessed so far. Clowns running clowns. That defeat has left us
seventh in the table, seven points shy of fourth-placed Leicester City with
just three games remaining, meaning our hopes of qualifying for the Champions
League for next season are all but over. There is more chance of me getting a
date with Marilyn Monroe, and she is dead… has been dead for nearly sixty years,
than Mason achieving any sort of miracle with the team he inherited. On top of
that, sunk Arsenal are gradually closing the gap between themselves and us. A
sorry state of affairs Levy has put us in.
Of course, Europe isn't totally out of
the question. We do have a chance in the Europa league-Thursday-night-football
again, but it would mean Mason and the team focus on the three matches that
remain. If they do (and win), then the question is, why didn't he do that on
the ones he lost? Again, rawness.
Now I am not one for buying the papers,
however, I decided to venture down to my local newsagent and splash out on some
of the Sunday Papers. If you haven't read them, then trust me, the papers
haven't been particularly glowing in their assessments of our team.
Let us start with the Sunday Mirror;
"Different manager, same old
problems," Alex Milne wrote for the Mirror.
"But the manner of the loss to
Leeds shows that Mourinho's negativity and alienation of key players was just
the tip of the iceberg in the huge issues that are blighting the club at the
moment. There were some rays of light at Elland Road, with Dele Alli showing a
glimpse of his genius of old to beautifully set up Son Heung-Min for Spurs'
first-half equaliser, while Harry Kane looked as bright as ever and Hugo Lloris
impressed to keep the scoreline down. Yet there is still such a fragility and
lack of confidence within the team, and once again their defence crumbled in
the big moments to allow first Stuart Dallas, then Patrick Bamford and finally
Rodrigo to score three relatively simple goals."
Now let us look at the Mirror's rival, the Sun.
"Weren't Leeds the ones with
nothing to play for? " Oscar Paul wrote for The Sun. "For a
season-defining game to keep them in the top-four mix, Tottenham did a fine
impression of their north London rivals Arsenal. Just as meek, passive and
rudderless as the Gunners were in the Europa League do-or-die against
Villarreal on Thursday, Spurs' Champions League hopes are now up in smoke.
Caretaker Ryan Mason demanded four wins to keep their hopes alive. Instead,
Spurs were completely off the boil when it mattered most – not that many will
be surprised. That keeper Hugo Lloris was their best player by a distance said
it all."
What about the left-leaning Guardian?
"Tottenham can testify how far an
overachieving Argentinian manager can take a team; Mauricio Pochettino steered
them to a Champions League final," Richard Jolly wrote for the Guardian.
"But as his mentor, Marcelo Bielsa, lifted Leeds to ninth with his brand
of vibrancy, energy and a capacity to propel players beyond their natural
limits, Spurs' chances of a return to the European elite were effectively
ended. Appointing the untried Ryan Mason represented the last throw of the
dice, but his first Premier League defeat came to a manager almost 36 years his
senior and consigned Tottenham's season to failure. It is part of Jose
Mourinho's legacy, and if Mason's team selection was a repudiation of his
predecessor, it is harsh to fault only the caretaker for the way Spurs ended a
dispirited shambles. Leeds set the tone in a game of 25 shots. Their
fearlessness and relentlessness enabled them to prevail, and they will complete
the season unbeaten against the "big six" at home."
Then you had Alan Shearer on Match of
the Day saying Harry Kane should leave as he isn't going to win anything at
Spurs. The Arsenal side-kick to Shearer, Ian Wright, concurred. Both strikers,
both seeing no future for Kane or anybody at Spurs. A sorry state of affairs
Levy has put us in. And will next season
be any different? If you consider that in 20 years of Levy being in charge,
we’ve only been in the top four about 5 or six times and only one pathetic
minor League cup to show for it, I doubt next season will be any different. I
hope I am wrong, but I doubt it.
By Don Scully
Comments
Post a Comment