Venables: Spurs must sort it now
by Jo Carter, 10 October 2008
Former Tottenham boss Terry Venables believes struggling Spurs can turn things around, but is calling for patience from the club's fans.
Speaking on The Friday Football Show on Setanta Sports 1 at 9.30pm, Venables has insisted there is still plenty of time for Tottenham to kick-start their season.
The North London side have taken only two points from seven games this season and manager Juande Ramos is under real pressure to deliver at White Hart Lane with his team rooted to the bottom of the table.
“It needs to be sorted out now,” said Venables on The Friday Football Show. “Sometimes you have to get low before you realise just how bad something is.”
Venables believes every top-flight team is under huge pressure, whether to win trophies, qualify for European competition or avoid relegation.
“Everyone is fighting for their life,” he said. “But you cannot turn it around in a day.
“You cannot expect to be at the bottom one week and at the top two weeks later.”
The frustrated Tottenham faithful have called for chairman Daniel Levy and director of football Damien Comolli’s blood following the summer’s transfer dealings.
But with the transfer market increasingly global, the former England boss conceded that certain factors such as whether the player will settle in England and language barriers are impossible to foresee.
However, he insisted that clubs cannot afford to get the high-profile signings wrong.
“When you make that big gamble you have got to get it right,” he stressed. “This is serious business.
“It’s too important to make sloppy decisions. The supporters of the club rely on it.”
Spurs captain Ledley King has made just two league appearances this season, and despite solid performances, has not featured regularly in Ramos’ side, being used for European matches instead.
“[Spurs] might see the Uefa Cup as particularly important,” admitted Venables, but he insisted Spurs have plenty of strength in depth, with or without King.
And looking at the squad list, with its household names, it is hard to see why Spurs are struggling as much as they are.
Gus Poyet admitted last week that Darren Bent and Roman Pavlyuchenko could not play together, as they were too similar, leading to the decision to play a lone striker.
Pavlyuchenko, who has been ruled out for three weeks with an ankle injury after Spurs’ defeat at home to Hull, has failed to make a real impact since his arrival at White Hart Lane.
Venables admitted that it looked like Pavlyuchenko was only one half of a deal, and Spurs were gambling on signing Andrei Arshavin to support his Russian colleague.
“It just made common sense to me,” he said. “There is something missing; someone did not arrive.”
The interview in full is on The Friday Football Show on Setanta Sports 1 at 9.30pm.