New DoF?

[Jordinho]

Do you know, I am quite capable of crediting Camolli where it is warranted. We signed some good players on his watch. But I would balance this by saying that far too many of them were not ready for the first team at the time and particularly when Jol was with us, were not the players that the manager wanted.

I'd be interested to see if GB was able to a more measured assessment of Camolli's tenure too.

I'm just saying I'm pretty sure I've read all these posts before, many a time, and not much has changed.

For instance: Zokora was NOT bought to replace Carrick, but play next to him. The fact that we didn't replace Carrick is another issue.

 

[Jurgen the German]

Do you know, I am quite capable of crediting Camolli where it is warranted. We signed some good players on his watch. But I would balance this by saying that far too many of them were not ready for the first team at the time and particularly when Jol was with us, were not the players that the manager wanted.

I'd be interested to see if GB was able to a more measured assessment of Camolli's tenure too.

Also interested on his thoughts of Commolli's work at Liverpool.

 

[Jurgen the German]

Also lets not make out that Commolli had to do everything on a shoestring budget like he's Billy Beane of the Oakland A's (Moneyball reference for those of you who don't know). He was given plenty of money to spend at Spurs.

 

[Jordinho]

Also interested on his thoughts of Commolli's work at Liverpool.

How much was truly down to him though? They could have been his suggestions, it could have been Dalglish, but those negotiating did a horrible job. Their asking price for Torres was Carroll + £15 million. When Saudi Sportswashing Machine asked for more, Liverpool did the same to Chelsea. Hard to tell who the biggest mugs were.

 

[milo]

I'm just saying I'm pretty sure I've read all these posts before, many a time, and not much has changed.

For instance: Zokora was NOT bought to replace Carrick, but play next to him. The fact that we didn't replace Carrick is another issue.

Yep

 

[Jordinho]

They're probably all in here and then some: http://www.glory-glory.co.uk/showthread.php?1273-Comolli-sacked-from-the-bindippers

 

[harr1984]

That doesn't mean he should get credit for signing him when the wheels were in motion long before AVB arrived.

Maybe not, but how do you know AVB wasn't sounded out about the job and targets etc well before he was officially appointed? Interesting how soon as Redknapp was sacked Vert's agent came out and said the fact Redknapp was no longer there wouldn't affect the deal. Would hardly be beyond the realms of possibility that they knew AVB was coming, or had even spoken to him well before...

 

[Jurgen the German]

How much was truly down to him though? They could have been his suggestions, it could have been Dalglish, but those negotiating did a horrible job. Their asking price for Torres was Carroll + £15 million. When Saudi Sportswashing Machine asked for more, Liverpool did the same to Chelsea. Hard to tell who the biggest mugs were.

I was under the impression that HE was the one who negotiated the fees, Dalglish identified his targets.

 

[Jordinho]

I was under the impression that HE was the one who negotiated the fees, Dalglish identified his targets.

I'd be very surprised if Ayre or the Americans weren't involved somehow, letting one person work solo on deals like that is no way to run a business.

 

[ArcspacE]

Comolli joined in September 2005. He signed Berbatov in May 2006. If he didn't sign Berbatov, then he didn't sign Zokora either (who signed a week before Berbatov).

Comolli left us a very good squad, but with no strikers. Redknapp blowing nearly £45m in his first year on Keane, Crouch and Defoe, rather than properly replacing Berbatov (which we didn't do until about 6 weeks ago when we signed Ade), was more what held us back.

Comolli 'closed' the Berbatov deal, that is well documented

Bar a defensive midfielder we had a good squad prior to Ramos' last season - we then simply went and hired a manager who could actually speak English to the players.

 

[ArcspacE]

Angry Jol says Comolli's 'profit-driven' signings sealed his fate at Spurs


Email

Dominic Fifield and Ewan Murray

The Guardian, Friday 2 November 2007


Martin Jol has spoken publicly for the first time about the friction in his relationship with Tottenham's director of football, Damien Comolli, during his time in charge at White Hart Lane and has said his position there was undermined by Comolli's transfer dealings.

Jol, sacked by Spurs last week and now a leading candidate to take over at PSV Eindhoven, had wanted to bring in two experienced players in the summer, including a left-winger, and was unhappy with the purchases made by Comolli. He was presented with signings which included Darren Bent, Younes Kaboul and Kevin-Prince Boateng.

"I felt the squad would be unbalanced with these signings and it proved to be the case," Jol said. "The funny thing is the new manager will probably come to the same conclusion and the club will go out in January and buy the two players I felt we needed."

Jol said he realised before the start of this season he could be on borrowed time. His relationship with Comolli was strained and he felt the club were putting potential future profit ahead of short-term requirements. "When Frank Arnesen was director of football we spoke together about the players to bring to the club," he said. "But I did not have the same relationship with the next man. I think the club wanted to invest in younger players because they wanted to make money on them in the future. The decisions were not being made for football reasons. I knew that in the summer and realised my position was becoming very difficult."

Jol has been replaced at Spurs by Juande Ramos but may not be out of work for long. PSV, the Dutch champions, have confirmed he is one of a number of names they are considering to succeed Ronald Koeman, who has left for Valencia.

In Scotland the CIS Cup draw descended into farce yesterday when the wrong clubs were announced to play each other in the semi-finals live on television. Officials mismatched the clubs with some of the numbers on the balls as they were drawn and transposed Aberdeen and Hearts. The false draw was: Hearts v Dundee United and Rangers v Aberdeen.

The draw was made at the Scottish parliament by Alex Salmond, the first minister, and Alex Fergusson, the parliament's presiding officer. Fergusson misread the club names correlating to two of the numbers and hence the incorrect draw was announced. Rangers will face Hearts and Aberdeen will meet Dundee United.

"I can only apologise for the confusion," said Fergusson. Brown McMaster, president of the Scottish Football League, said: "It is an embarrassment but we would rather have an embarrassment than a lack of integrity."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2007/nov/02/newsstory.tottenhamhotspur?INTCMP=SRCH

 

[ArcspacE]

I’m glad MY side is doing well


Exclusive

By SHAUN CUSTIS

Published: 23rd April 2010

This is the man vilified as Tottenham’s sporting director, criticised by ex-boss Martin Jol for making signings over his head and was eventually sacked after three years with Spurs bottom of the Premier League and his reputation in England torn to shreds.

Comolli apparently could not spot a player if he juggled a ball on his nose in front of him.

After all, look at the clowns he brought in — Heurelho Gomes, Younes Kaboul, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Luka Modric, Gareth Bale, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Danny Rose.

Comolli’s signings were so useless they all played in last week’s 2-1 victory over Arsenal. And, when they followed that up by beating Chelsea 2-1, Rose was replaced by another one of Comolli’s recommendations, David Bentley.

More than half the side which steps out at Old Trafford tomorrow are expected to be members of Comolli’s collective.

You could forgive the Frenchman for wanting to stand outside White Hart Lane and scream ‘I told you so.’ Comolli wanted more time but chairman Daniel Levy wouldn’t give him it with Spurs being pelted from all sides.

So in October 2008 in came Harry Redknapp, no lover of technical directors, and out went Comolli along with boss Juande Ramos.

Comolli, 37, said: “I don’t think of this as some sort of revenge that the players we bought are doing so well — I’m very pleased it has worked out.

“The day Daniel called me and said he wanted to make changes, I told him he was being too quick but there was a lot of pressure on him and he said it was something he had to do. That’s football, it happens, but I knew the players would prove themselves. I never had any doubts about them.

“I said this would be the first team to have been bottom in October that could go on and qualify for Europe and they nearly did.

“I give Harry full credit for adding a resilience which wasn’t there before but he had very good players to work with.

“When he was manager at Portsmouth and at West Ham he used to ask me about various French players. He hasn’t been in touch since he took over at Spurs, though.”

Comolli, now director of football at French side St Etienne, was schooled as a talent spotter by Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger.

They spent 12 years working together and Comolli unearthed the likes of Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Eboue and Gael Clichy.

He added: “The day after I was sacked by Spurs, the first man on the phone at 8am was Arsene. He told me I’d done a good job and those after me would benefit from my work.

“Arsene must have had a vision. He helped me to keep my belief during what was a difficult time. I was very disappointed to have lost my job, I still am. I was in love with the club.”

Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepag...Y-Tottenham-are-doing-well.html#ixzz29LqEqZlF

 

[jts1882]

Do you know, I am quite capable of crediting Camolli where it is warranted. We signed some good players on his watch. But I would balance this by saying that far too many of them were not ready for the first team at the time and particularly when Jol was with us, were not the players that the manager wanted.

I think this is where a valid criticism of Comolli is most warranted. A DoF must work with the long term in mind, but must also supply the manager with the players he needed. Under Jol we were desperate for left sided players and, while BAE, Bale and Modric would eventually do well, they were ready when Jol wanted them.

I'm just saying I'm pretty sure I've read all these posts before, many a time, and not much has changed.

For instance: Zokora was NOT bought to replace Carrick, but play next to him. The fact that we didn't replace Carrick is another issue.

Do we known this? That is what I thought at the time, but I have since seen another version of events.

The story is that Carrick was happy at Spurs that spring and wanted a new contract. Comolli had targeted Zokora and told Levy that he would be better than Carrick, so Carrick's request was turned down or the offer was not much of an improvement. So Carrick wanted to leave by the time United showed interest. I can't remember where I saw that striy and if it is true, but it made me question the idea that Zokora was bought to play with Carrick. Anyone know anything on this story?

 

[Jordinho]

I think this is where a valid criticism of Comolli is most warranted. A DoF must work with the long term in mind, but must also supply the manager with the players he needed. Under Jol we were desperate for left sided players and, while BAE, Bale and Modric would eventually do well, they were ready when Jol wanted them.

Do we known this? That is what I thought at the time, but I have since seen another version of events.

The story is that Carrick was happy at Spurs that spring and wanted a new contract. Comolli had targeted Zokora and told Levy that he would be better than Carrick, so Carrick's request was turned down or the offer was not much of an improvement. So Carrick wanted to leave by the time United showed interest. I can't remember where I saw that striy and if it is true, but it made me question the idea that Zokora was bought to play with Carrick. Anyone know anything on this story?

It's true that Comolli didn't have the same opinion of Carrick as Jol and probably didn't think it was vital to replace him, the story about his contract talks would suggest so.

Carrick was happy at Spurs and was seeking a pay-rise from £25,000-a-week to £40,000-a-week. He was laughed out of the room and told to re-sign on Spurs' terms, or be sold.

 

[indianspur]

Carrick was always going to Utd once they were interested, plus his wife wanted to move back north closer to the North east

Utd, the wife, more money, there was no way Spurs couldve kept Carrick. So i wouldnt blame Comolli for that one

 

[jts1882]

Carrick was always going to Utd once they were interested, plus his wife wanted to move back north closer to the North east

Utd, the wife, more money, there was no way Spurs couldve kept Carrick. So i wouldnt blame Comolli for that one

Rather a circular argument.

If Carrick was happy and had just signed a new contract he might have stayed another year or two. Its also possible that United only became interested because he was looking to move and Comolli was the reason he was looking to move. Maybe if Levy valued Carrick more, because of a different assessment from Comolli, he would have dug his heals in like he did with Modric. Maybe the story is not true and maybe Carrick would have gone anyway, but we don't know that.

Besides, the criticism of Comolli is that he rated Zokora above Carrick. So either the plan was to replace Carrick, in which case it was bad judgement, or the plan was to play both, in which case he failed to replace Carrick when he left. Either way Comolli deserves some of the blame.

 

[Wriggly]

BMJ was in love with spurs ? So much so that he went for a meeting at Saudi Sportswashing Machine about a job there.

 

[ArcspacE]

BMJ was in love with spurs ? So much so that he went for a meeting at Saudi Sportswashing Machine about a job there.

Did he really?

Thought it was just rumours

 

[onlyme]

This is a great thread. I missed both the Jol and Comolli interviews quoted above.
I would love for Statto to post the profit and loss account for Comolli's tenure.

Edit: What date was he appointed and sacked?

 

[jts1882]

Did he really?

Thought it was just rumours

I'm not sure we know certainly.

But I think Levy said something that suggested he did.