UFO Info Week-End

He is now bound to suspect that his head was on the block at Upton Park

He is now bound to suspect that his head was on the block at Upton Park.Apparently, Graham’s attempts to establish some common ground with the club’s new executive vice chairman, David Buchler, were unsatisfactory, leaving him with the suspicion that he could not rely on Enic’s support. Given no guarantee of tenure (there was no talk of a new contract), his planned excursions into the transfer market set aside, Graham began to wonder what the future held for him.Following a home loss to his old club Leeds United last month, Graham reflected on the action that was necessary for the restoration of Tottenham as a major club. “We are years behind Manchester United and Arsenal,” he said. “When I came here from Leeds it was to discover that a lot of money had been wasted on players who had no sell-on value and and the youth policy had been allowed to stagnate.”We were sitting in Graham’s office and he was looking around at framed photographs from the era of Danny Blanchflower, Dave Mackay, Cliff Jones, John White and Jimmy Greaves. “I had those put up because they are an inspiration,” he said.

“I suppose that fact that my greatest successes as a manager and as a player were achieved with Arsenal makes it impossible for some of our supporters to accept me, but I would love to make Tottenham a great club again.”People forget that the club was a shambles when I took over and that the priority was to make sure that we didn’t get involved in a relegation battle Since then, a lot has been done I’ve unloaded 15 players while bringing nine in. Unfortunately it has left us under-strength and put too much strain on youngsters who, if handled carefully, will have a big say in the club’s future.”When Graham became afflicted with a painful condition in his ankles and wrists last year, which still causes him pain and requires medication, friends wondered whether it would seriously undermine his enthusiasm for management. “It’s something I can deal with,” he said when we spoke again last week shortly before the triumph at West Ham.Set against the suspicions that were growing in Graham’s mind, it was nothing. Could he believe in the people he was now working for? Had they already reached a decision to replace him, if not immediately then at the end of the season? Were they in contact with possible replacements?It surprised Graham’s friends when he turned to coaching and management. As a stylish young player with Chelsea, he would be the first to interrupt football discussions led by his friend Terry Venables “Let’s put the ball away,” he would say. It’s never been clear what altered Graham’s mind, but once it was set on management there was no holding him.

Where Graham has beaten most of his contemporaries is in the brains department. He became a winner because he proved smarter than most of his competition, because he is an unyielding perfectionist and because he has imposed his will on players with the force of his personality. He began to win at Arsenal and went on winning until a foolish mistake in transfer dealings cost him the job and a year’s suspension.At Leeds he laid the foundations of a team that has been taken forward by David O’Leary. “It thrills me to see how well players I brought forward are now doing,” he said “They have grown up so much since I left. It’s one of the things I want to achieve at Tottenham.”In professional football Graham’s demanding credo has plenty of relevance. With it, he has won and was perhaps on the brink of showing that he could keep on winning The money men thought otherwise. In showing Graham the door Enic has revealed that it is no different from the club’s past administrations.