“Daniel Levy targeted with Tottenham fans to protest at Man Utd match”
That headline comes from the Telegraph, and it is followed by an article in which we are told that supporters “are planning pre-game march followed by sit-in after Sunday’s fixture to voice their disapproval of Spurs chairman.” The message as ever will be “Get out of our club”.
But really things down the Lane are not quite as bad as some make out. After all it is not as if Tottenham are going down – that won’t happen any more now the PL finances have effectively made it nigh on impossible for promoted clubs to do anything much other than go back down the next season.
OK they might be 14th and sinking, and they might have 27 points to Arsenal’s 50, but even so they are still over 50% of Arsenal’s points, so that’s not too bad is it?
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Arsenal | 24 | 14 | 8 | 2 | 49 | 22 | 27 | 50 |
| 14 | Tottenham Hotspur | 24 | 8 | 3 | 13 | 48 | 37 | 11 | 27 |
| 15 | West Ham United | 24 | 7 | 6 | 11 | 29 | 46 | -17 | 27 |
| 16 | Everton | 23 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 23 | 28 | -5 | 26 |
| 17 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 24 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 34 | 52 | -18 | 19 |
| 18 | Leicester City | 24 | 4 | 5 | 15 | 25 | 53 | -28 | 17 |
But of course the trouble is that these supporters of theirs will keep on talking up their own club while talking down Arsenal, in a way that is, by and large, utterly illogical.
Of course it is true that Arsenal have been in a similar state; in Deember 2020. In fact Arsenal were in a worse state that season after 14 games, for Arsenal were just four points above the relegation places while Tottenham were being talked up for the Champions League what with Everton being in fourth spot on 26 points. And as the media noted, Tottenham had a far better goal difference than Everton. Amost twice as good in fact.
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur | 14 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 25 | 14 | 11 | 25 |
| 15 | Arsenal | 14 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 18 | -6 | 14 |
| 18 | Fulham | 14 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 13 | 23 | -10 | 10 |
| 19 | West Bromwich Albion | 14 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 29 | -19 | 7 |
| 20 | Sheffield United | 14 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 8 | 25 | -17 | 2 |
Now of course Tottenham supporters didn’t have any good words to say about Arsenal at the time, and were looking, full of ambition, at the upper reaches of the league. But then they made two fatal errors. The first was to play a merry-go-round game with managers – which almost always brings about disaster.
Indeed this decade (yes this decade, since 2020) Tottenham have had no less than seven permanent and temporary managers. This century they have had 19 permanent and temporary managers! This decade Arsenal have one. This century Arsenal have had four (including Freddie as a temp).
And remember this has included a period at the end of 2020 when Arsenal were 15th in the league.
But despite some poor times at the start, with the inevitable demands for his departure (including, utterly insanely this season and last season) Arteta has not only come good, he has also turned out to be the manager with the highest win percentage of competitive matches of any permanent Arsenal manager at any time in the club’s history. That is to say since 1893.
That win percentage of Arteta’s is 59.22% – so let us contemplate Tottenham Hots and the win percentages of their managers.
Tottenham have never had a manager who has achieved Arteta’s level of wins but they have had two managers who have reached over 55% win percentage with Tottenham. In the 19th century it was Frank Brettell (manager 1898-1899) who got to 58.73% victory rate in the Southern League. And then there was Arthur Turner who it is claimed got to 55.1% win rate during the last of the wartime leagues in 1946/7.
In modern times Antonio Conte (2021/3) got to 53.95% wins, Mauricio Pchettino (54.27% wins) and Andre Villa-Boas (with 55% wins).
Now those figures are not too bad, but all those guys left Tottenham when they were doing ok. And this may give us a sense of what is wrong at TotStad, as I think the ground is called (at least until they do finally find a ground sponsor – I wonder why it is taking so long). They keep changing managers.
But why do that? To answer this we might have a look at what happened to Keith Burkinshaw who in the space of three seasons (1980/1 to 1983/4) won the club two FA Cups and the Uefa cup. He left because the chairman wanted a say in which players were bought. And then the Tiny Totts slipped back down.
Since then Tottenham have won the League Cup twice and the FA Cup once. But also since then by my count Tottenham have had 22 managers, excluding as far as I can make out, those who have been temps.
Maybe this shows that finding a manager who can do stuff is difficult. Maybe it suggests that those people who are either calling for Arteta to go because he has failed to win anything since the FA Cup, should actually think what he has done compared to other managers. Maybe we should just snigger at Tottenham and let Arsenal get on with it.
You must stop all this Tony.
Talking sense. Looking at the bigger picture. Giving context. Finding things to celebrate and be happy with. Oh dear!!!!
You of all people should know none of that matters. We lost our last game 2-0 at Newcastle for pity’s sake. Arteta must go. NOW.
You’ve been an Arsenal fan since the Norman conquest. Well, at least for quite some time. You know how it works.
Now get back on ‘the page’ this instant.
Interestingly, if you look at Jurgen Klopp’s win percentage at Liverpool it was 60.2%, so just above Mikel. But in 9 seasons they only came top once and second twice. The rest included 3, 4 ,5 and 8th place finishes. You never heard too much about Jurgen Klopp getting booted out or about what dismal failures Liverpool were during his tenure.
Off topic
Another interesting offering from The Football Terrace highlighting the appalling Jamie Carragher getting it totally and disgracefully wrong about Nwaneri and MLS changing seperately from the senior players on the Sky ‘The Overlap Fan Debate’ programme.
How Sky and Carragher are allowed to propagate such inaccurate rubbish on mainstream television is a disgrace.
Google ‘Carragher’s Nwaneri LIES EXPOSED! The Overlap CALLED OUT’ to find the relevant you tube clip about 5.30 minutes in.
The original article was originally on The Mail Online.
Well, we should march to voice our disgust with the lack of a signing in the closed window. Not a superstar. Always hard to get and almost never in the January window but someone to spell the remaining boys up front. This is a disservice to the team and supporters. Let’s not put lipstick on a pig.
Mick Shelly
What I found weird was the comments section, specifically in relation to how, in their desperation to defend Carragher, the Liverpool fans start banging on about how many trophies Liverpool have won, as if that somehow justifies Carragher’s lies.
Very odd.
How someone who spits at another human being is still employed in the media is beyond me, but as I have said many times, the level of sports journalism and broadcasting in this Country is appalling, and SKY Sports, along with talkshite, are the worst of the lot.
Shameful.
@ Gooner72
More often than not, I concur with your views. On this occasion, I just feel that you are being far too simplistic. Yes of course it would have been brilliant to sign a world class player who would fit the system that has served us so well to date. But surely, as a follower of this site, you must realise that getting such a player is extraordinarily difficult and, even if it were possible, is not without a variety of significant ramifications.
I’m happy to debate those difficulties and ramifications if you wish but I suspect you’re secretly aware of them……but I share your frustrations about where we find ourselves. After tonight, it’s pretty obvious where Liverpool would be if they’d lost Salah for three months. It is what it is….and it’s hugely disappointing, but blaming the club or Arteta is not something that I think is a logical response.
Mikey
Very well put.
As you will be aware Gooner72, I too vary rarely disagree with you, but as Mikey says, it is far too simplistic, and I would suggest even, disingenuous, to suggest we could of just plucked the ideal ‘Number Nine’ out of the air if only we’d wanted to, or tried to.
I thought that kind simplistic thinking was the reserve of the swaying dullards down the Toppled Bollard, or the Fantasy Football bods, managing the team from the comfort of their blog?
If only it were.
I have absolutely no doubt that those who’s job it was to try and get somebody in worked tirelessly to do so.
It appears to me they wasn’t going to be railroaded into paying too much, or bringing in somebody they didn’t really want, just to appease those aforementioned ‘bloggers’, as well as the the odious scribblers, who lets face it would of slaughtered us no matter what we did.
Panic buy etc etc. You know exactly what would of happened.
But yes, as Mikey says, it is frustrating.
Without the injuries and clearly diabolical red cards we received early on, we would be at the very least level with Liverpool. At full strength we are easily as good as Liverpool, and as you suggest Mikey, if Liverpool had just lost Salah they would be lost. It has happened to them before.
Mikey and Nitram,
Time out. Read my comment. I didn’t ask for a “world class player” or “we could have just plucked the ideal “Number Nine”. I asked for “someone to spell the boys up front”. I noted superstars are hard to get especially in January. Nothing like either of you quoted me as saying. Take a look. Surprising and disappointing because your comments are usually quite accurate. You can disagree with my point, it’s only my opinion after all,
but please quote me accurately. Much respect to you both.
Gooner72
I wasn’t meaning to be disrespectful, so if I mis interpreted what you were saying please accept my apologies. Never the less I will explain myself.
This is what you said:
“Well, we should march to voice our disgust with the lack of a signing in the closed window.”
Why should we? I’m not disgusted. You obviously are, and all I’m doing is asking why, because you surprise me.
Okay you didn’t suggest we should of bought ‘the ideal number nine’ but you did say we should be disgusted because we didn’t at least buy ‘someone’. So, okay that’s your view and you’re of course entitled to it. But equally I can question it. And that’s all I’m doing. I’m asking:
What do you mean ‘someone’?
-Buy someone with two legs?
-Buy someone YOU like?
-Buy someone the media likes?
-Buy someone at any price?
Who? Who is this ‘someone’ of which you speak? You tell me. Who is this player you know is good enough, available, affordable, and wanted to come to Arsenal?
Do you not think if the right player, at the right price, was available we wouldn’t of bought him?
Given the brilliant signings we have made these last couple of seasons I’m just surprised you think ‘Marching in disgust’ (metaphorically of course) is the right reaction. I trust Arteta and his team implicitly. If they could of they would of.
So tell me:
Who?
How much?
How you know he was available?
How you know he wanted to come?
If you can answer that my friend I’m right there on the march with you.