There was much talk before the start of last season over whether Tottenham Hotspur could challenge the ‘Big Four’ of Man United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal. As it turned out, Spurs didn’t even finish in the top half of the table, so that prediction was pretty wide of the mark (a bit like a Darren Bent shot). Now, with Juande Ramos at the helm, there’s more talk about them challenging for Champions League places, although the Daily Mail reports that his predecessor Martin Jol is not convinced the club will ever manage a top four placing. Sour grapes or just brutal honesty?
The Dutch mananger, who has just taken over at German side Hamburg after being sacked by Spurs in October, said: “When I was with Spurs we finished fifth twice.
“It’s not realistic for Tottenham to be top four because the financial differences are too much.
“Everton were the last club to do it and that was merely a one-off.”
Hmmm, I seem to recall the Toffees were toe-to-toe with Liverpool for the best part of last season, thus proving that football is all about the sum of parts, unless you have someone like Cristiano Ronaldo in the team! Plus, Tottenham’s spending over the last couple of seasons is roughly equal to that of north London rivals Arsenal, so is Jol right to make such a bold statement as the above?