Great coaching job by Jol

[DigitalTron]

Those who mistakenly criticized Jol should take this time to re-assess. Jol has proven himself to be the best manager Spurs have had in a long while.

Facts:
1. Spurs finished higher in the Premiership than ever before with their 5th place finish in 2006.

2. Spurs duplicated their highest ever Premiership finish (5th) in 2007.

3. Spurs place in the Premiership table has only ever earned them entry into Europe twice (2006 and 2007).

4. Spurs showed well in Europe, going on an English record run of winning games in the UEFA Cup.

5. Spurs showed well in domestic Cups, such as the FA Cup and the Carling Cup without tanking in the Premiership.

6. Spurs spent a lot of money on acquisitions--nothing new there--but this time we obtained many very good players, just about every one is worth more today than what we paid for him.

7. Spurs lost a vital cog to our defense and attack, and managed the same spot in the table while adding players with that money (Berbatov and Zokora) who proved to be exceptional additions to the team.

8. Spurs integrated many new starters at 5 different positions yet didn't slip in the table (Berbatov, Zokora/Huddlestone, Malbranque, Chimbonda, Ekotto, Rocha/Davenport/Gardner).

9. Spurs endured a horrendous run of injuries sidelining 8 starters and numerous backups for long stretches of time (Berbatov, Keane, Malbranque, Jenas, Lennon, Zokora, Ekotto, King).

10. Spurs played with one of the very youngest teams in the entire Premiership. Our regular starting 11 had an average age below that of the so-called "Arsenal Kids" that were such media darlings as they participated only in the cup competitions.

11. Spurs played one of the most aestetically pleasing brands of attacking soccer (football if you prefer) in the Premiership.

12. Spurs had one of the highest scoring teams in the Premiership getting production from their committment to the attack.

13. Spurs players performed for Jol and expressed satisfaction being coached by Jol.

14. Spurs increased their profit margins without sacrificing the product on the field (pitch).

15. Spurs have the success on and off the pitch to start moving forward with an increased stadium capacity.

16. Spurs have energized their fan base, excited the neutral fan, and proven that the future is indeed bright.

Say what you will about Martin Jol, but I think he's done a brilliant job of management for this club, both the long term and the short term. This season may well have been his best management job since taking over the reins at Spurs.

-Digital

[KHowe]

I agree wholeheartedly, great post Digital. To think that we finished 5th, and performed so well in UEFA, with such a large revamp of the team really should give huge credit to Jol.

[Colm]

two top 5 finishes in a row, Jol had done a a very good Job, to think some people were actully criticising him sounds ********ing stupid.

Agree with everything Digital said.

[sendorange]

He has done well, mainly because he got the team playing a lot more positive in the 2nd half of the season after some garbage performances in the first half.

However a lot of those points you made about transfers and profit cannot be attributed to him, he is only part of the system alongside Levy and Commolli.

Good job, but a great one would have been a better run in at least one of the cups and closer to 4th in points. Next season will be crucial for him to show progression if the club goes out and signs more good players and does not sell anyone.

[pookspur]

the thread title says it all.

i've said it elsewhere, and i'll say it again - this season was a marked improvement upon 05-06, and our upward trajectory continues under martin jol.

[Danners9]

two top 5 finishes in a row, Jol had done a a very good Job, to think some people were actully criticising him sounds ********ing stupid.

Agree with everything Digital said.

Criticism is fine as long as it's justified. Some of the time it has been, and some of the time it hasn't.

It's a results business and the last 12 games have seen 8 wins, 3 draws and 1 defeat. That is a very strong end of season run.

[pookspur]

i made reference to our loss to sheffield united in another thread, and it got me to thinking of how, after that match, i thought our only way back into europe was to win a cup. if i remember correctly, it dropped us into the bottom half of the prem. i definitely thought we were writing off the league at that point, with our cup runs getting our focus.

well, i've gone back and had a look at our league form since that loss, and it's pretty impressive.

8 wins
3 draws
1 loss (chelsea 1-0 at the bridge)

when was the last time we finished so strongly in the league? it's been awhile.

[Colm]

i made reference to our loss to sheffield united in another thread, and it got me to thinking of how, after that match, i thought our only way back into europe was to win a cup. if i remember correctly, it dropped us into the bottom half of the prem. i definitely thought we were writing off the league at that point, with our cup runs getting our focus.

well, i've gone back and had a look at our league form since that loss, and it's pretty impressive.

8 wins
3 draws
1 loss (chelsea 1-0 at the bridge)

when was the last time we finished so strongly in the league? it's been awhile.27 points out of a possible 36. Awsome form. Probably title winning form.

[SpursGlory]

Excellent post... have to agree with Danners though. Most of the criticism naturally came when we had our bad spell and were closer to 16th than 4th on pts. At that point things really could've gone bad... thankfully they didn't.

I certainly questioned some of his tactical decisions, motivational ability, tendency to sub very late making the subs ineffective at times, and our weakness at CB. But MJ turned what could've been a sinking ship in the league to a rising force. Add to that the outstanding runs in all cups... I couldn't be happier with anyone else in charge.

With the team's play and spirit gelling I think we're in for a great season next time out. Priorities for progress though will be demanding...

1) Securing a top 4 finish for Champions League appearance.
2) Another great run in the UEFA Cup (with a very good chance to win it)
3) Beat Arsenal (as well as better results against Man U & Liverpool and continued success vs Chelsea)
4) A piece of silverware (League Cup or FA Cup if not UEFA).

#1 We only finished 8pts off 3rd & 4th so it's well within our grasp provided we get the type of start and consistency we had in 05/06.

#2-4 we're extremely overdue for, enough said.

Great point about our strong finish too.

[JSpur]

well, i've gone back and had a look at our league form since that loss, and it's pretty impressive.

8 wins
3 draws
1 loss (chelsea 1-0 at the bridge)

I think that single defeat was the Saturday 12.45 kick off after our Thursday night game in Spain. We should do better next year too. People should talk about a top 5 now.

Remember we had King, potentially our best player and our captain, out for 3/4 of the season. COYS.

[Danners9]

A lot of the criticism is/was because of the tactical decisions. Things like waiting too long to make substitutions and not killing off teams when we are on top. Things that lots of clubs struggle with too. You could say that Arsenal are one of the guilty parties when it comes to killing off teams, they don't score enough without Henry. It's something that comes with experience, I hope.

The Sevilla home game was a good example of waiting too long to make subs. It should have been all-out attack from about 20 mins in, Defoe came on in the 50/60 something-th minute.

Part of the issue is not having a 'complete' team. I know i said that no team is complete in a different thread, but the injuries and the work-in-progress that has been part of Spurs' seasons in the last two years really shone through against Sevilla. They had players to bring off the bench to suit the game, they made changes from the 1st leg to suit what they expected for the 2nd. Spurs had midfielders playing full-back, a right back playing in centre defence.

It is a process and will take time to finish, but there are mistakes there to be seen. Not saying the injuries or squad reshuffling is Jol's fault, but it is something the club have to look to avoid for next season.

[mattie g]

i made reference to our loss to sheffield united in another thread, and it got me to thinking of how, after that match, i thought our only way back into europe was to win a cup. if i remember correctly, it dropped us into the bottom half of the prem. i definitely thought we were writing off the league at that point, with our cup runs getting our focus.

Pook, I thought the same exact thing, and made a post to that effect. I happily acknowledge that I was wrong - our form in the final third of the league season has been remarkable and for us to have finished 5th after the start and indifferent mid-winter form we had is truly magnificent. It certainly didn't hurt that other teams' results went our way, but we earned those 27 of 36 points and fought our way past the rest of the pack to earn that fifth spot.

[LedleybetterthanSol]

I just want us to play better when we get a lead against the bigger teams. None of this dropping off and no possession bullzhit.

[Hauler]

Jol has done a great job and I want to see him with spurs for the next three years at least. I know if we get to champions league and finish top 4 it will be easier for him to stay. Jol is one of the best coaches ever and to drop him for this season would be an outrage. Let him stay on until WHL is redevloped and let him have one season there if everything doesnt go to plan. I think we will get better and better if we can keep our great players together. GO JOL!!!

[AllWhitebeliever]

Great job by Jol!! We had crack the 60 premiership points and hopefully next year, we will crack the 70 points with 4 extra wins over. Better and better, year by year.

With the White Lane youngsters having a season under their belts grabbing a few games in either UEFA, FA or Premierships plus a few good signings like Garth Bale or something of the same quality, we can't but improve.

:cool:

[Phillyspur]

Plenty of calls for his head mid-year in our slump, but I never agreed with them. The final run has brought us to where we should be and I think maybe Jol is learning from his mistakes (eg Blackburn - bringing in Keane in time to get the equaliser).

Stability is also a virtue, just look at Newcastle if you don't believe me. IMO the manager has to be pretty bad to sack him (Pearce? yes. Pardew? probably not.) Jol is far, far, FAR from that.

Next year will be interesting - will we be happy with the same kind of finish - no trophies and outside CL? I suspect many of us will not. If we don't break into CL within a few years will Jol then have done 'as well as he can' and move on, like Curbishley did at Charlton or Allardyce at Bolton?

BTW speaking of managers I saw Keith Burkinshaw sitting next to Boothroyd at the last Watford game. Never knew he had a connection there.

[Danners9]

Burkinshaw was assistant, or some sort of consultant anyway.

[whishey]

My only problem is Jol he can't beat the Scum! But yea great job awesome finish to the season with our left back out most of the year