Last week, on Tottenham Hotspur

Article by David Levy

No one does a ‘soap opera’ quite like Spurs. It actually feels like a lot longer than a week since I sat down to write about AVB’s dismissal the day after the 0-5 drubbing at the hands of Liverpool. Here are some of the main talking points from the last 7 rollercoaster days.

Life after AVB

It’s hard to know what to believe in the press at the best of times but we got a lot of information thrown at us last week from both Spurs and AVB’s camps. The stories had varying claims and assertions that contradicted each other as is usually the case in this kind of situation. What is clear is this;

AVB had been alienated from the higher ups at Spurs. Who’s fault that happened is the main bone for contention but ultimately the fracture appeared to have been there for a short while and following the Liverpool game it actually appears that AVB and Spurs parted ways by mutual consent.

It just wasn’t working. What we all hoped would be a long term marriage turned out to be a prolonged honeymoon. It was good for the most part (last year) but in the end neither side was willing to put in the time and effort to compromise with the other. The despondency shown last week at White Hart Lane was enough to convince me that for whatever reason, it was time for something new.

Inter-Tim

Quite clearly there was no real contingency plan by Levy and the board with regards to appointing a new manager. If we are being honest, of those currently available, none would be at the top of our list. Most respectable managers are employed at the moment, and with a World Cup not too far away, even those managing Internationally are very much focused on their teams World Cup hopes.

With two games in 7 days we would need someone to step in and do something to wake up our group of young players and somehow bring them out of the depths of despair. Confidence would be at an all-time low and still being within reach of the top places in the league we could not be allowed to slip any further away.

Tim Sherwood has, apparently, been groomed for a Managerial role at Spurs for some time. He has been focusing on the development squad for a while now and has also been cited to have extremely good knowledge of the clubs inner workings.

So Tim along with Les Ferdinand, Stephen Freund and the highly rated Chris Ramsey were appointed as the interim team to manage and coach our first team for the short term at least. This had many spurs fans divided in opinion but with no other choice available at such short notice it was Tim who took us into our Quarter Final Capital One Cup Tie against West Ham

The unthinkable…..again.

West Ham at home on a cold, wet, windy London evening.

Many were watching this game with immense scrutiny, almost more with a mind for what the lineup meant for the weekend rather than what it did for the evening. We were without the bulk of our first choice defenders with Capoue stepping in at CB again to cover for the suspended Dawson. We also appeared to revert to a more bog standard 4-4-2 formation, playing our two pacey wingers on the wings that favoured their stronger foot. Defoe and Ade were to start up front, the later seemingly brought in out of the cold having been somewhat frozen out so far this season.

We lost the game having been a goal up and looking somewhat in control for 60 odd minutes. After we scored, and Ade went off we looked increasingly more vulnerable with Lloris having to get us out of a couple dangerous situations. Ultimately we lost the game by defending poorly, being unable to deal with the height of West Hams front man.

To many this was all the information they needed. Tim was an awful manager, he would stick to a rigid, ‘Arry style 4-4-2, only play the British players and alienate all our new talent.

Obviously there was the other more rational point of view.

Tim was resting our new talent for Sunday. He gave some players that needed some match fitness a run out and possibly gave some game time to those who needed to prove themselves. Ade and Rose were brought off during the game to keep them safe for Sunday game and unfortunately he had no control over the players available to select to play at the back.

It hurt to lose to West Ham again, make no mistake about that. But in a week where everything was going from bad to worse, all you could do was brush it aside and look to Sunday’s game which for so many would be the true indication of what Sherwood was capable of and what we could expect of him if Levy was to keep him on as our Manager.

Salvation Sunday

3 points. 3 Goals. Ade scoring 2. Lamela, Erikson and Soldado starting their first game together and a wonderful, unexpected cameo from a youth prospect.

Tim proved many people wrong by achieving all the above.

We didn’t play so well in the first half and we gave away two goals in the game which better defending and possibly a holding midfielder would have helped to subdue but this Tottenham team finally sprung to life in the second half and we could have won by more.

I’m going to go into more depth about the formation in a separate article but ill say this for now. Tim’s tactics and team selection were not perfect and in my opinion were not the blue print for how we are going to approach every game going forward. They were however, bold and daring and did go some way to keeping the already circling vultures at bay for a little while longer.

Full Tim Job.

As of Monday evening, Tim Sherwood and Co were given the reigns to the Tottenham realm until the end of next season.

One thing is for sure, no one does it like Spurs. We all need to get behind the manager and the team and give them a clean slate to work off.

Its enthusing to have Spurs men at our helm. Men with inside knowledge about our players and club which will make the transition from AVB’s tenure more smooth and quick than a completely new team coming in and shaking things up.

I'm excited, nervous and eagerly awaiting Boxing Days West Brom clash.

6 points off the top, half a season to play.

COYS

© e-Spurs 2013 All rights reserved no part of this document or this website may be reproduced without consent of e-Spurs

Share on Google Plus