Spurred to Failure

As I always do at such times, I feel that I have to reiterate that this is not a football blog.  However, there are times when I feel I have no choice but to comment on the latest developments at the 3-D living cartoon that constitutes Tottenham Hotspur.  As ever, I should caution that I'm strictly an armchair fan of Spurs, I'm not one of the season ticket owning faithful.  But, even though I haven't paid the club an extortionate amount of money to watch them live at the Lane, I still feel ripped off in light of unfolding events.  The merits of Andre Villas Boas as a manager can be debated as nauseum, but the fact remains that - despite embarrassing and heavy losses to West Ham, Manchester City and Liverpool - at the time of his sacking the club was still seventh in the League, were in the quarter finals of the League Cup and had just qualified, unbeaten and top of their group, for the knock out stages of the Europa League.  We've now slipped to eighth in the league, have been knocked out of the League Cup by West Ham and, as far as I can see, might as well just concede defeat in the next round of the Europa League here and now.

Sacking a manager perceived as under-performing is any club chairman's prerogative, but one would hope that when they do so, they already have a credible replacement lined up.  However, Tottenham being Tottenham, it turns out that chairman Daniel Levy's plan B was simply to hand technical co-ordinator (or whatever his title was) Tim Sherwood an eighteen month contract after only two matches - the cup defeat to West Ham and a fortuitous victory over Southampton.  Two matches which constitute Sherwood's only managerial experience.  After this inauspicious start, we stumbled to a dour one all draw with West Brom who, with no disrespect to them, we should have thrashed.  Sherwood's obvious lack of any tactical awareness, his troubling team selections, ineffective substitutions and stubborn adherence to the prehistoric 4-4-2 formation do not bode at all well for the rest of the season.  Particularly problematic is his refusal to deploy a proper holding midfielder - it's rather reminiscent of Captain Redbeard Rum in Blackadder II on the matter of whether you need a crew:  "Opinion be divided on the matter - I says you don't, all the other captains says you do!"

Sherwood reminds me of Tony Adams when he stepped up to replace Harry Redknapp at Portsmouth - like Sherwood he was full of talk of moulding the team to a new shape and style, but was rapidly revealed as tactically clueless.  And, to be fair to Adams, (even though he's an ex-Gooner), he at least had some previous managerial experience at Wycombe Wanderers.  So, what does Levy's appointment of Sherwood tell us?  That the job has become a poisoned chalice, with nobody credible prepared to take it on?  Who could blame prospective candidates from shunning Spurs?  Not only do we sack managers when they are failing, like Hoddle and Ramos, but also when they are successful, like Martin Jol, Harry Redknapp and now Andre Villas Boas.  The words 'laughing' and 'stock' sadly come to mind.