One of the bane's of modern life is the "spinmeister", those PR people hired to defuse every crisis and portray their masters in the most positive light. It seems to me that we have been treated to a front row seat of spinning the news, Spurs style, this week and it is ugly.
When our brave lads on the Board got their hand caught in the Ramos cookie jar, their first reaction appears to have been to play ostrich. Yes, Ms. Cullen may have advised, always best to hide behind the "we do not respond to speculation" line. However, that approach did nothing to quell the firestorm erupting in the press, so plan B appears to have been, brazen it out. Here we see spinning at its purest. Pick something that is a true half truth to obscure the whole truth: We have never officially offered Jol's job to anyone. Based on later events, this disclosure appears likely to have omitted certain pertinent information: Yes, we have sounded out a potential successor, flying club officials to indirectly meet with him and to see if we could get an agreement in principle.
The brazen approach was undone by Ramos' disclosure, making Spurs' spin look disingenuous. Never mind, there is always the indignation response: of course we are always looking to improve, its top 4 or bust (for the coach). However, that fell like a lead balloon as it made Mr. Levy look ungrateful--two top 5 finishes not enough for you Daniel? Suddenly, there was a backlash, players, including ones that had left Spurs, supporting Jol, managers supporting Jol, fans supporting Jol. With the winner in the P.R. battle sorted, there was only one place for the Board to go--join the support Jol bandwagon.
So now we have the Levy-Kemsley version that puts them 100% behind Jol (with a slightly blunted knife no doubt). The whole Ramos thing was not because they were going to replace him, heaven no. Instead, because Jol is so wonderful, Kemsley was concerned that Jol's loyalties might lie elsewhere. Ramos was just a contingency plan if Jol left. The board (except Sir Keith) love him oodles and there is no pressure to finish top 4. Got that?
Is it just me or has the more Spurs' P.R. done their work, the worst this has become for them? It is like the animal in a trap that gets more entangled the worse it struggles. I'm going to guess that the truth is in the statements that have been made, hidden by the spin. However, I'll be damned if I can discern exactly what it is. Instead, I think that the Board has lost all credibility. No one will believe anything they say because we all know that they engage in this shell game. It would be naive to think that they didn't spin the news at all, but to have it's scope demonstrated so publicly is especially harmful. Ultimately, if the steps taken were so innocuous, why hide behind the spin? Heads should roll, swords should be fallen upon, purely based on incompetence. It will be interesting to see who is sacrificed when the furor dies down--it won't be anyone important though.
The only plus I see from this whole sorry mess is that those with nothing but the best interest of the team at heart, you and me, have played a part in reminding the plc that we do have a say. Sometimes, democracy works, sort of. We have our dysfunctional Spurs back and maybe only the fans can save it.