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<p>The <a href="http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/7691457.stm" target="_blank">BBC</a> is reporting that the house cleaning at Tottenham Hotspur Football Club has begun. Manager Juande Ramos, Sporting Director Damien Comolli, and first team coaches Gus Poyet and Marcos Alvarez are all looking for work after being sacked Saturday night ahead of their tie with Bolton Wanderers on Sunday. Clive Allen (Development Squad Coach) and Alex Inglethorpe (Youth Team Manager) will be in place for Tottenham for Sunday’s tie.</p>
<p>It’s a toss up over what Ramos will be most remembered for. Back in February, Tottenham won the Carling Cup with an extra time defeat of Chelsea 2-1, their first since the League Cup back in 1999. It could also be argued that he’ll be most remembered for the poor start to this season that ultimately saw him sacked.</p>
<p>The partnership between Ramos and Comolli never seemed to take off. It didn’t help either that Tottenham sold Robbie Keane and Berbatov in the last transfer window, without adequate replacement up front. It’s going to be difficult to judge Roman Pavlyuchenko this season as he’s played a full season in Russia and will probably fatigue before the whole season is over. Luka Modric hasn’t exactly fit into the system Ramos had at Tottenham.</p>
<p>In the same report, it has been reveiled that Portsmouth have agreed compensaion so that Harry Redknapp can take over as Tottenham’s manager. While it surprises me, I can understand why Redknapp would want to leave. If all the media reports are to be belived of late, Portsmouth are facing debts beyond their control and won’t be able to build their new ground. And in all fairness to Portsmouth, Redknapp has taken the team as far as he can go.</p>
<p>For Redknapp, it’s also another bottom of the table challenge. When Redknapp took over Portsmouth back in December 2005, Portsmouth were in the same situation Tottenham are in now. Can he keep Tottenham up?&nbsp; Only time will tell.</p>
<p>What’s unfortunate for Tottenham and Portsmouth is that this happened so close to their Sunday fixture. However when changes need to be made, it’s best to go ahead and get them done and out of the way.</p>
<p>Thanks to Bishopville Red for tipping me off to this breaking piece of news.</p>


Housecleaning Begins at Tottenham. Ramos Out, Redknapp in. - World Soccer Talk

Housecleaning Begins at Tottenham. Ramos Out, Redknapp in.

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<p>What’s most revealing about the demise of Tottenham Hotspur is not how Juande Ramos appears so dispassionate and out of his depth on the touchline, but how Spurs fans are blaming the downfall of their club on Damien Comolli and not Ramos.</p>
<p>In two separate polls conducted by EPL Talk, fans appear to more upset about Daniel Levy and Damien Comolli than they are about the former Sevilla manager. When asked <a href="http:\/\/epltalk.com/poll-who-should-be-the-next-manager-of-tottenham-hotspur/3443">which Spurs manager should have the job of managing the club if Tottenham would lose against Stoke</a>, 58% of the respondents sided with Juande Ramos instead of people like Terry Venables, Harry Redknapp and Gus Poyet.</p>
<p>And when asked <a href="http:\/\/epltalk.com/poll-whos-to-blame-for-the-disaster-at-tottenham-hotspur/3464" target="_blank">who is to blame for the disaster at Spurs</a>, only 17% of the respondents blamed Ramos (at the time of writing this article).</p>
<p>To me, this is astonishing. Take any manager in the Premier League other than Juande Ramos and he would be able to do a better job at Tottenham that Ramos. Spurs have a team of world-class players at White Hart Lane with people such as Roman Pavlyuchenko, Luka Modric, David Bentley, Vedran Corluka, Jonathan Woodgate and Aaron Lennon. Managers like Phil Brown, Roy Hodgson, Steve Bruce and Gary Megson would kill to have players of that calibre available for selection each week.</p>
<p>While Damien Comolli is the recipient of most of the venom from Tottenham fans, it’s simply masking the true incompetence at the club which is Juande Ramos. The club is bottom of the league yet he’s unable to get his team playing with the passion necessary to pull themselves out of the hole.</p>
<p>The dark cloud hanging over White Hart Lane would be removed if and when Juande Ramos gets the sack, and a new manager steps in to give the players a kick up the backside and start playing with a plan in mind. Jermaine Jenas should not be the captain of this club. Instead, he should be moved to the bench based on his pitiful performances and lack of leadership. The list of changes goes on and on, but as long as Ramos is in charge, the future looks extremely bleak for Spurs.</p>
<p>The reality is that if Spurs fans got their wish and Comolli was ousted, the next to go would be Daniel Levy, then the players and then Ramos. Other than help Spurs win the Carling Cup, what has Ramos achieved? The team looks worse than it was one year when he took charge. To be honest, I have no idea why Spurs fans are so reluctant to let Ramos go. He’s dragging the team down so much that Championship football is becoming more of a reality as each week passes.</p>


Tottenham Fans: Stop Making Damien Comolli The Scapegoat - World Soccer Talk

Tottenham Fans: Stop Making Damien Comolli The Scapegoat

<p></p><div><figure class="image"></figure></div> Young-Pyo Lee has joined Dortmund after the club agreed to terms with Tottenham Hotspur for the South Korean fullback.<p></p>
<p>Lee’s survival at Spurs this long has been something of a oddity for us Lilywhites as he had fallen behind Gareth Bale, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Jamie O’Hara and Gilberto in Juande Ramos’ estimation.  He had been a Martin Jol favorite, but for some reason the Spanish boss didn’t rate him.   And it couldn’t have been for effort, because Lee was a tireless runner.  His continued omission from the squad, when BAE, Bale and Gilberto were all injured last winter, led to the use of nickname he was given in the title of this thread.</p>
<p>So when the rumors of him returning to PSV, from where he had been bought in 2005, or joining Jol at HSV, especially after Sorin was dumped,  never came to fruition, Spurs fans were rather surprised.   He had been a good steward in his time at the club and the thought of him rotting on the reserves bench was sad.</p>
<p>I am very happy to see him get a chance to play again.   Here’s my take on what BVB are getting.   He’s a decent defender with good lung power, who relies on positioning rather than tackling.   His height can sometimes be a disadvantage.  He’s good at getting forward, but he is a right footed left-back, which teams figure out quickly and know they don’t have to guard the by-line when he attacks.  He would seem to be a sound partner for 20 year old Marcel Schmelzer, who was thrown into the fire when Dede was injured.  If the two share the role, it will allow Scmelzer time to grow, while having an experienced player to rotate with and learn from.</p>
<p>Lee is a consummate professional, and has never complained about his treatment at Spurs.  I think he’s a solid pickup for Klopp and I wish him all the best.  And I do hope he realizes that while Ramos and Comolli never rated him, most Spurs supporters did and liked him.</p>
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Why Pick Lee? - World Soccer Talk

Why Pick Lee?

<p><a href="http:\/\/www.bundesligatalk.com/the-new-gaffer-introducing-jol-at-hamburg/40/martin-jol/" rel="attachment wp-att-41" title="Martin Jol"></a></p><div><figure class="image"><a href="http:\/\/www.bundesligatalk.com/the-new-gaffer-introducing-jol-at-hamburg/40/martin-jol/" rel="attachment wp-att-41" title="Martin Jol"></a></figure></div>Fred Rutten isn’t the only new Dutch manager in the Bundesliga, as  ex-Tottenham Martin Jol took over the reigns of Hamburg earlier this month.  It’s been nearly 30 years since Jol’s last appearance in Germany.  He made 9 appearances for Bayern Munich as a midfielder in 1978/79 before returning to the Netherlands the next season.  His managerial journey has now mirrored his playing career, rotating among the northwestern European triangle of the Netherlands, England and Germany.  This time around he hopes to spend more than a year in the Bundesliga.<p></p>
<p>Jol will be Hamburg’s 26th gaffer in the past 45 years.  While this seems like a lot it’s actually the norm for the league (as next week’s entry on Bruno Labbadia will detail).  The only manager to last longer than 4 years at Hamburg?  Ernst Happel. Yes,  he of Ernst-Happel-Stadion fame (the stadium was named for the two time European Cup winner and not vice versa, in case you were wondering).  While fans would love it if Jol could emulate Happel’s European triumphs, they’d be satisfied with replicating his domestic success.  Coincidentally both Happel and Jol began their managerial careers at ADO Den Haag.  Anyway, it’s been 25 years since he Happel brought home the team’s last championship.   Since then they’ve been a steady, if not spectacular, club:</p>
<p><font color="#000000"> </font><a href="http:\/\/www.bundesligatalk.com/the-new-gaffer-introducing-jol-at-hamburg/40/hamburg-position/" rel="attachment wp-att-46" title="Hamburg Position"></a></p><div><figure class="image"><a href="http:\/\/www.bundesligatalk.com/the-new-gaffer-introducing-jol-at-hamburg/40/hamburg-position/" rel="attachment wp-att-46" title="Hamburg Position"><img loading="lazy" src="https:\/\/ds-images.bolavip.com/news/image?src=https:\/\/images.worldsoccertalk.com/webp/WST_20080731_WST_73767_hsv-tabellenpositionen.webp&amp;width=480&amp;height=200" alt="Hamburg Position" align="middle" height="200" hspace="15" vspace="15" width="480"></a></figure></div><p></p>
<p>They own the unique distinction of being the only remaining original Bundesliga side never to have been relegated.  To continue staying afloat in the Bundesliga and hopefully challenge for silverware Hamburg must first and foremost continue developing their Dutch pipeline.</p>
<p>Currently Hamburg employ four Dutch players in their first team: Joris Mathijsen, Nigel de Jong, Romeo Castelen, and captain Rafael van der Vaart.  Chelsea-flop Khalid Boulahrouz is also a recent member of this group.  Together they comprise the second-largest national contingent in the squad and arguably its most talented.  Hamburg has developed in somewhat of a Dutch Portugal.  Portugal, for obvious reasons, is the destination of choice for young Brazilian talent making their initial move to Europe.  Those who display enough promise are then snapped up by larger clubs.  A crude analogy, to be sure, but it effectively describes the situation.  Like the Bundesliga at large, Hamburg in particular has evolved into a showroom for foreign talent before it moves on to more lucrative English or Mediterranean shores.</p>
<p>The most obvious example of this will soon be Rafael van der Vaart, who has made his feelings quite clear about leaving Hamburg over the past year.  For a time the rumor was that he’d end up at the Mestalla with Valencia.  Now the bids have centered around the Spanish capital, either as part of Atletico’s summer signing spree or as Real’s ersatz Ronaldo.  Although his contract runs through the 2009-2010 season it is clear that he is on his way out and almost certainly to the land of his mother’s birth.  Hamburg would be well-advised to sell soon rather than risk losing a hefty (approximately 15 million Euro) transfer fee thanks to the <a href="http:\/\/eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!CELEXnumdoc&amp;lg=en&amp;numdoc=61993J0415" title="Bosman Ruling Text" target="_blank">Bosman ruling</a>.</p>
<p>The best way to spend the van der Vaart money would be exactly how the club has in the past, on young players.  While no one has or will likely ever confuse Hamburg for Arsenal, the club have made the decision to pursue mostly young professionals (three of the four Dutch players above are 25 or younger, for instance).  It seems unlikely that Jol will alter this policy, although were he to try he’d find himself dealing with a much stingier board than Tottenham’s (and he won’t have a repeat of his run-in with Spurs’ director of football Damien Comolli).</p>
<p>Is Jol the man to have Hamburg fans partying like it’s 1983? Is there a limit to how many Dutch players German fans can stomach in the squad?  Is it only a matter of time before Hamburg, taking their cue from North London, replace Jol with Sevilla’s current coach, Manolo Jimenez?</p>
<p><strong>Next Week</strong>: Bruno Labbadia at Bayer Leverkusen</p>


The New Gaffer: Introducing Jol at Hamburg - World Soccer Talk

The New Gaffer: Introducing Jol at Hamburg

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ALL POSTS TAGGED "Damien Comolli"

General

Housecleaning Begins at Tottenham. Ramos Out, Redknapp in.

General

Tottenham Fans: Stop Making Damien Comolli The Scapegoat

Borussia Dortmund

Why Pick Lee?

Gaffers

The New Gaffer: Introducing Jol at Hamburg