by W.H. Garcia

Created on: October 13, 2007

Two seasons ago, an outbreak of food poisoning snuffed out Tottenham's hopes of claiming a deserved fourth place finish. Two seasons on, it seems that an inferiority complex is starting to assume the role of the next virus.

The team is certainly lacking self-belief at the moment, unable to convert draws into wins, leaking goals and languishing in one spot above the relegation zone. Most notably, they could not hold on to a 2-1 lead last weekend against Liverpool. The home side hardly troubled the Tottenham defense in the whole game, but sneaked in an undeserved equalizer at the death, leaving Martin Jol looking towards yet another game to redeem himself.

A fifth place finish for the last two seasons is definitely nothing to be sniffed at. However, one cannot help but wonder whether Tottenham has lost their way a little with the board's tactlessness and some very dubious transfer decisions.

Daniel Levy has not endeared himself to a lot of fans after it was revealed that Juande Ramos of Sevilla was approached by the Tottenham board to replace fan's favorite Martin Jol. The upper echelons of the football club are clearly frustrated with 'limited progress' that Jol is making and wants a clean slate. Jol is in a similar situation to Sir Bobby Robson when he was at Newcastle. Robson had made Newcastle into a team that had the most realistic chance of breaking into the monopoly of the 'big four' but was relieved from his position before he could achieve that.

Tottenham have now taken over that responsibility but one wonders whether Jol would be allowed to continue in his quest. There might have been a newfound solidarity at the club, evident from the scenes at the aftermath of the game against Aston Villa. However, seasoned pundits will tell you they have seen this ominous pattern all too often: vote of confidence for the manager, players start to play for their manager, string of bad results, manager goes.

Arguably, Tottenham have the best strike force in the league with the likes of Berbatov, Defoe, Keane and Bent. However, it seems that Martin Jol has yet to get the best out of these four striking talents that will easily fit into any team in the league. However, spending 16.5 million pounds on Bent has proved to be an unwise decision, considering Henry's 16 million pound move to Barcelona. The money could have been better spent on boosting the defense which has been suffering from the absence of Ledley King. Tottenham would be glad to emerge from the season unscathed, let alone break into the top 4.

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