Amongst all the doom and gloom...I think this warrants a look. I've seen in mentioned a few times that there are some interesting similarities between our situation now and with Spurs in 2008/09. I've had a bit of a deeper look. See below (I'm aware this is probably a colossal waste of time - but I found it interesting none-the-less).
Management at start of the season
Spurs had Juande Ramos - a foreign coach with good rep trying to stamp his identity on the team after a decent first season.
We had Koeman.
Summer Transfers:
Spurs lost a couple of massive players - Berbatov and Keane - their strike force essentially. Their spending spree included Pavlyuchenko, who never lived up to his predecessors. They also spunked big money on the likes of David Bentley (Blackburn - £15m), Corluka (City - £8.5m), Hereulho Gomes (PSV - £7m), Dos Santos (Barca - £5m), and Modric (Zagreb - £16m). Their most expensive signing in the summer was undoubtedly their best. The rest of them didn't exactly pull up any trees.
Everton lost their main striker and replaced him with lots of expensive signings, but failed to adequately replace the big man. Hopefully there are signs that the really big acquisition (Sigurdsson) could come good.
Early season form
Spurs were a complete car crash in their first 8 games. They had only 2 points from these, leading to Ramos being sacked in late October. They immediately made what was seen by many as an unfashionable appointment - an ageing British manager with a reputation for wheeler-dealing and not the best tactician in the world. Enter Harry Redknapp.
Everton at the 8 game point this season had 8 points - so already in a healthier position than Spurs were. However, we waited until after the 9th game - a 2-5 loss to Arsenal - to give Koeman the bullet. And instead of instantly appointing a new manager, we placed a caretaker in charge.
At 13 games...
By the 13th match of 2008/09, Spurs' form had already seen a significant improvement. They had leapt to 12 points, having won 3 and drawn 1 of Redknapps first 5 games - including an epic 4-4 draw in the North London Derby at the Emirates.
By the 13th game of this season, Everton's form is still poor - but we match Spurs from 08/09 with 12 points - thanks to the win against Watford and draw with Brighton which our caretaker manager oversaw.
How Spurs sorted things in January
Spurs were able to keep their improvement going in January by splashing more cash. They addressed their striking problems, signing Jermaine Defore (Portsmouth - £9m) and re-signing Robbie Keane (Liverpool - £12m) who had flopped since his move. They also splashed £12m on Palacios from Wigan and £4.5m on Chimbonda from Sunderland. These moves added goals and a bit of steel in the midfield as well as full back cover.
End of season
Spurs were able to climb to a very respectable 8th place by the end of the season. Redknapp took them back to basics, restored confidence and brought some firepower in which essentially helped them climb clear. As we know, he then oversaw a period of real success at the club which has helped them get where they are now.
So what do we learn?
It is possible to completely mess up your player recruitment and have a nightmare start of the season and still pull it around by appointing a dodgy English manager.
But it would have helped a lot more if we'd made the decision on Koeman's replacement sooner....
Management at start of the season
Spurs had Juande Ramos - a foreign coach with good rep trying to stamp his identity on the team after a decent first season.
We had Koeman.
Summer Transfers:
Spurs lost a couple of massive players - Berbatov and Keane - their strike force essentially. Their spending spree included Pavlyuchenko, who never lived up to his predecessors. They also spunked big money on the likes of David Bentley (Blackburn - £15m), Corluka (City - £8.5m), Hereulho Gomes (PSV - £7m), Dos Santos (Barca - £5m), and Modric (Zagreb - £16m). Their most expensive signing in the summer was undoubtedly their best. The rest of them didn't exactly pull up any trees.
Everton lost their main striker and replaced him with lots of expensive signings, but failed to adequately replace the big man. Hopefully there are signs that the really big acquisition (Sigurdsson) could come good.
Early season form
Spurs were a complete car crash in their first 8 games. They had only 2 points from these, leading to Ramos being sacked in late October. They immediately made what was seen by many as an unfashionable appointment - an ageing British manager with a reputation for wheeler-dealing and not the best tactician in the world. Enter Harry Redknapp.
Everton at the 8 game point this season had 8 points - so already in a healthier position than Spurs were. However, we waited until after the 9th game - a 2-5 loss to Arsenal - to give Koeman the bullet. And instead of instantly appointing a new manager, we placed a caretaker in charge.
At 13 games...
By the 13th match of 2008/09, Spurs' form had already seen a significant improvement. They had leapt to 12 points, having won 3 and drawn 1 of Redknapps first 5 games - including an epic 4-4 draw in the North London Derby at the Emirates.
By the 13th game of this season, Everton's form is still poor - but we match Spurs from 08/09 with 12 points - thanks to the win against Watford and draw with Brighton which our caretaker manager oversaw.
How Spurs sorted things in January
Spurs were able to keep their improvement going in January by splashing more cash. They addressed their striking problems, signing Jermaine Defore (Portsmouth - £9m) and re-signing Robbie Keane (Liverpool - £12m) who had flopped since his move. They also splashed £12m on Palacios from Wigan and £4.5m on Chimbonda from Sunderland. These moves added goals and a bit of steel in the midfield as well as full back cover.
End of season
Spurs were able to climb to a very respectable 8th place by the end of the season. Redknapp took them back to basics, restored confidence and brought some firepower in which essentially helped them climb clear. As we know, he then oversaw a period of real success at the club which has helped them get where they are now.
So what do we learn?
It is possible to completely mess up your player recruitment and have a nightmare start of the season and still pull it around by appointing a dodgy English manager.
But it would have helped a lot more if we'd made the decision on Koeman's replacement sooner....
