Keane Gives Jol a flying start
By Longsider
November 13 2004
Press reports covering last nights game agaisnt Tottenham Hotspur. We have reports from the Independent, Daily Telegraph, Times and the Guardian.
Keane hits two to put Spurs back on track
Daily Telegraph
Tottenham, in disarray last weekend following the shock resignation of manager Jacques Santini, got their troubled campaign back on the rails last night by putting Championship opponents firmly in their place in a one-sided Carling Cup fourth-round encounter.
Burnley, who captured the headlines in the previous round, set out for a repeat triumph more in hope than expectation following a crop of injuries over the last two weeks.
Despite a bright start which should have earned them at least a brief advantage, they proved no match in the end for a well-organised Spurs line-up in which Robbie Keane excelled up front.
Keane scored the first two goals and laid on the third before retiring early to prepare for more demanding Premiership assignments beginning with the televised battle for local pride at the weekend.
While Arsenal fielded a shadow squad against Everton in advance of Saturday's north London derby, Spurs could take no liberties in a match which had a crucial bearing on their season.
Martin Jol, caretaker for last weekend's damaging home defeat by Charlton, named as powerful line-up as he could muster for a demanding assignment against a Burnley team - albeit a weakened one - who had embarrassed Aston Villa on this ground in the previous round.
That meant a full debut for England midfielder Michael Carrick following his £3 million transfer from West Ham. Carrick, whose face did not fit into the brief regime of Santini, showed Spurs' travelling supporters what they had been missing by setting up the 32nd-minute strike for Keane which eased the nerves of those around him.
Before Keane swept in his third goal of the season following a jinking run to the edge of the penalty area and the most inviting of crosses from Carrick, Tottenham had lived dangerously and could have fallen behind on three occasions.
Robbie Blake, occupying a lone striking role for Burnley, was the chief threat to the visitors' defence and was only a matter of inches from scoring with an excellent shot across the face of goal.
Before that Blake had set up Richard Duffy by racing behind the Spurs defence and pulling the ball back cleverly only to see the midfielder direct his shot straight at Paul Robinson.
Micah Hyde also forced an excellent reaction save from Robinson, who would surely have been beaten if Duffy, again from a Blake centre, had got an unchallenged header from 10 yards on target.
Blake again worried Spurs by slipping away from Noureddine Naybet and bursting to the edge of the penalty area from where he hit a low drive just past Robinson's right-hand post.
Burnley were left to regret their failure to take any of those outstanding chances when Spurs effectively put the tie beyond them with two excellent goals in the first 13 minutes of the second half to secure a welcome quarter-final place.
Keane produced a carbon copy of his opening goal by timing his run perfectly to avoid an offside flag and meet a low cross from the left by Jermain Defoe, who had been sent scampering away by Retoe Ziegler.
The finish by the Republic of Ireland striker was clinical and Burnley goalkeeper Brian Jensen was powerless to intervene.
Jensen was an even more disconsolate figure six minutes later when he was comprehensively beaten from 25 yards by Defoe.
Again Keane was prominent, this time setting up his front-running partner with a skilful lay-off which encouraged the England international to carve out his own shooting opportunity and find the top corner of the net with a splendid curling effort.
His work done, Keane then gave way to Fredi Kanoute, who almost scored with his first meaningful contribution. On this occasion, however, Jensen reacted quickly enough and pushed away the fierce drive from the edge of the penalty area.
Keane brings double joy for Jol
Guardian
Whether this ultimately comfortable victory over a desperately understrength Burnley team will prove useful preparation for taking on Arsenal on Saturday remains to be seen, but it was a potential banana skin avoided in Martin Jol's first game as Tottenham's head coach. For that small mercy the Dutchman was grateful.
"It was necessary to get a result and we managed that," said Jol." "We didn't play with a lot of confidence in the first half but in the second we saw a Spurs we can build on."
Given that Jol had described the game as "the most important of the season so far", his decision to play the Michaels, Carrick and Brown, in central midfield and leave Jamie Redknapp on the bench in a side otherwise close to full strength was an interesting one.
Already without four regular first-teamers, Steve Cotterill could have done without losing the experienced defenders John McGreal and Frank Sinclair after fitness tests as well. Gary Cahill, an 18-year-old centre-half who arrived on a month's loan from Aston Villa on Monday, was drafted straight in to deal with Jermain Defoe and Robbie Keane.
Yet Burnley dominated the opening quarter. Robbie Blake set up Richard Duffy for an shot straight at Paul Robinson, then Blake turned beautifully past Noureddine Naybet and shot just wide.
Duffy wasted another Blake set-up on the half-hour, heading a cross wide from eight yards, a bad miss made to look even worse a few minutes later when Keane timed his run perfectly to push Carrick's low cross past Brian Jensen.
Burnley responded bravely. Robinson made a fine save from Tony Grant before Blake, working hard as solitary striker, again shot wide.
After half-time Cotterill gave Blake support by pushing up Amadou Sanokho, but almost immediately Spurs made the game safe. Defoe slipped away from Lee Roche and with the outside of his foot played a fine ball for Keane, again arriving late, to sidefoot an easy second.
Spurs began to enjoy themselves. Defoe, with a thumping 25-yard drive, made it three shortly before the hour.
"If they get good service, Defoe and Keane are one of the best partnerships in the country," said Jol, who also singled out Carrick for praise.
A potential embarrassment avoided, Martin Jol can now concentrate on resuscitating Tottenham Hotspur as a Premiership force after goals from Robbie Keane and Jermain Defoe took the North London side into the last eight of the League Cup and handed the club's eighth manager in 10 years a winning start.
Jol knows he will soon face considerably tougher tasks than beating a Burnley side shorn of seven first-team regulars, but after the upheaval caused by Jacques Santini's acrimonious departure, the Dutchman can be more than satisfied at the accomplished way his side - that notably included Michael Carrick, studiously ignored by Santini - dismissed their Championship opponents despite an uncomfortable start.
Jol has promised to replace Santini's defensive pragmatism with a more attacking approach, but it was Burnley who demonstrated the greater flair and inventiveness in the opening exchanges with Robbie Blake twice conjuring openings that could have brought greater reward.
A cleverly timed sixth-minute run unpicked the visitors' offside trap and, with the Spurs defence desperately backtracking, the forward was unfortunate not to see his carefully weighted pass converted by the advancing Richard Duffy. Then, five minutes later, Blake's speed of thought allowed him to collect a quickly taken free-kick, turn, and drill a firm, left-foot drive disturbingly close to Paul Robinson's left-hand post.
Jol could have been forgiven for shifting uncomfortably in the opposition dug-out before Spurs slowly began to ease their way into the game with a Keane snapshot and a Noe Pamarot header offering evidence of the shift in the balance in the contest. The movement of Keane in particular was proving too much for Burnley's make-shift defence and ultimately led to the 31st-minute opener that would have brought a tangible sense of relief to the new Spurs coach. And to add to Jol's sense of satisfaction, the opening was created by the industrious Carrick who collected Keane's pass before manoeuvring himself into space on the right-hand flank and returning the ball perfectly into the path of the Irishman who finished with ease.
Burnley desperately needed to fashion an early response but were guilty of wasting two good openings when Duffy and Michael Duff failed to convert with close-range headers, and those missed opportunities were made to appear even more costly in the opening 13 minutes of the second half when Tottenham constructed two expertly taken goals to settle the tie.
Spurs' second came after a simple yet incisive breakaway started by the Swiss midfielder Reto Ziegler and continued by Defoe on the left before the England forward picked out Keane who again finished easily from close range in the 52nd minute.
And with Burnley clearly spent, the pair reversed roles when Defoe collected Keane's knock-down, shrugged off a challenge from Duff, and sent a dipping 25-yard drive beyond the helpless Burnley goalkeeper Brian Jensen.
Jol's Reign off to a flyer as Spurs turn on the style The Times Spurs, of course, are the masters of the false dawn and Jol is pragmatic enough to know that this game against a makeshift Burnley side was a world away from a home date with Arsenal, which comes next. Nevertheless, the banana skin was sidestepped with a modicum of style. “In the first half we gave away too many chances. We were sloppy and gave them too much space in midfield,” Jol said. “In the second you saw a Spurs that I can build on.”
Burnley were never going to provide the football equivalent of a house-warming present for the Dutchman and they battled away in vain. Though shorn of seven players through injury, plus the cup-tied James O’Connor, they had shown their penchant for giant-killing by disposing of Aston Villa in the previous round and had also beaten Spurs in the League Cup two years ago.
Ultimately, Burnley were left to rue their profligacy, Richard Duffy heading wide and Robbie Blake dragging a shot after turning Noureddine Naybet. “I’m very proud of them tonight because they gave me everything,” Steve Cotterill, the Burnley manager, said. “We’ve been in rough waters and maybe this was coming. Now we need to steady the ship.”
Jol may look like the enforcer of old, a serious disposition and a frame made for widescreen television, but even he broke into a smile after Robbie Keane and Jermain Defoe showed their quality. Spurs even verged on ebullience. Michael Carrick relished his full debut and conjured up the first goal for Keane with a deft low cross.
Tony Grant and Michael Duff forced smart saves from Paul Robinson, but Tottenham created a game-breaker to grace any honeymoon after 52 minutes. Reto Ziegler fed Defoe on the left and his carefully weighted pass with the outside of his boot was perfect for the scavenging Keane. Defoe quickly followed that up with a tremendous strike of his own from 25 yards. The curving shot left Brian Jensen with no chance. “You don’t dare, you don’t do,” Jol had said. Who dares wins.
BURNLEY (4-5-1): B Jensen — L Roche, G Cahill, M Duff, M Camara — R Duffy, T Grant, A Sanokho, M Hyde, G Branch (sub: J Valois, 41min; sub: J Pilkington, 82) — R Blake. Substitutes not used: M O’Neill, P Scott, M Yates.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (4-4-2): P Robinson — N Pamarot (sub: P Ifil, 77), N Naybet, L King, S Kelly — P Mendes (sub: S Davies, 62), M Brown, M Carrick, R Ziegler — R Keane (sub: F Kanouté, 64), J Defoe. Substitutes not used: K Keller, J Redknapp.
Referee: G Poll.
THE bus was left in the Turf Moor car park as Martin Jol’s reign as the Tottenham Hotspur head coach began with a comfortable victory that scored well on the clapometer. It is too soon even for knee-jerk reactions, but given that most fans found the Jacques Santini era as entertaining as root canal work, it was a promising start.
Tottenham’s tradition of attractive football has become something of an urban myth. They have not been overburdened with flair since Ossie Ardiles formed a midfield trio with Chas and Dave on Top Of The Pops in the 1980s. Jol has already proved an amateur historian by lacing his comments with references to Bill Nicholson and Jimmy Greaves, but the task of winning with style has dented many a reputation.