Taxi for the haters
Wednesday, December 8, 2010 at 12:45PM I'm loving it. The amount of despondent rhetoric being aimed at us by the haters warms my cockles cockerels. You can track it all back to last season if you so wished. Constant abuse about how we'd never get fourth spot, not consistent enough, always choke when it matters. Then when we go and do it we're told by everyone how we'd not get past the qualifiers for the Champions League. When we did they wrote it off, lapping up it up when the groups were drawn and we faced Inter which would pave way for humiliation. And now, apparently, we've topped a group with opposing sides that are not very good, sides that have made us look good. Their lack of quality helped us to score two goals per game and eighteen in total, and qualify with a game to spare and finish top to avoid the likes of Barca and Madrid in the next round. Inter, Twente and Bremen - all poor opposition which makes us equally poor for conceding so many goals against them.
We have no style or tactics (pass the ball to Bale, let him run down the flank, cross the ball in, someone gets on the end of it) or substance. We lack depth apparently in terms of being able to progress any further both in Europe and in the Prem because only United, Arsenal and Chelsea can juggle Europe and domestic bread and butter. And City could do it, in theory. And we should also just surrender the emotions we currently possess and ready ourselves for the Europa League next season. Because that's where we belong. Apparently we didn't read the small print, we're an embarrassment to the CL.
We'll be shown up once we play a proper team. Which apparently don't exist in the group stages if Spurs happen to have fluked passage into a group. And if you were wondering, the answer is no. We don't have any players out injured and yes, if we play five or six games and play well and win and then lose a game, we're defined by that single loss. And if we beat someone we're not meant to beat it's not because we've played well. It's luck or the other side have failed to turn up (see last seasons WHL wins over Arsenal and Chelsea and this seasons win at the Emirates and the 3-1 against Inter as prime examples).
You learn something new every day, no? This football lark, it's complicated.
I'm a little lost now exactly how poor and rubbish we're meant to be thanks to the constant moving of goal-posts by our obsessive critics.
No doubt when we do finally get knocked out of the Champions League by a proper team we'd be told we're absolute rubbish with a variety of lolcopters crashing down on our front lawn even though the reality is - no one actually expects us to win the whole damn thing and there is hardly any thing to be ashamed of considering the records of other seasoned competitors and their début seasons in the premier European competition.
But that's neither here or there. We're enjoying the experience, lapping it up, doing it our way and getting away with it. And sure, it's naïve at times and far too open and other teams (in waiting for the knock-outs) will be prepared and might attempt to suffocate possession and bore the game and us into submission when they face us. But then considering how easy we find it to score away from home...nah, let's not dream. Because that's a commodity that is quite simply inexcusable. You got that?
Then again, if we add King, Dawson, Huddlestone, a fit van der Vaart, Modric, a refreshed Defoe and perhaps one or two new players in January, it will make whatever happens on the 17th December positively gleeful.
It's been a roller-coaster. We've shown little fear. Perhaps one or two moments of Keystonesque footwork and trembly knees, but then this whole experience was meant to be nothing more than us experiencing top tier football and adapting to it for when we return to it in the future. Get a taste, let it roll around our mouth and then spit it back out again. We're having a ball. Swallowing every last drop (ooh matron).
This is Spurs. Patched up. Nowhere near full pelt. Winging it. And out of the group at the first time of asking.
Keep on moving those goal posts, keep on hating haters.
Reader Comments (79)
“....if we play five or six games and play well and win and then lose a game, we're defined by that single loss. And if we beat someone we're not meant to beat it's not because we've played well. It's luck or the other side have failed to turn up....” How very true.
Also, I’ve read many reports from yesterday’s game and not a single one mentioned how shockingly disgraceful the officiating was. We can give game to anyone, but I am afraid that rotten referees will be greater obstacle to our success in CL that the opposing teams. Hope that yesterday’s showing was one off from the FIFA officials, and not a deliberate attempt to roadblock Spurs.
COME ON BELGRADE!!!!!
Just wondering if anyone has seen or heard Phil Thompson's verdict on spurs lately, always interesting to get his unbiased opinion.
Great to see Wilson looking very solid once again, but for me the best sight last night was that of Mr Corluka back at RB. He is a proper defender. Hutton has done well, but at the peril of Lennon.
Well done Arry - I loved his interview after the game, I thought he was gonna wet himself.
COYS.
Great post Spooky.
I was at a meeting at the first Inter- game and didn't know the scores- of course my gooner nephew kept me up to date at regular intervals.
After 2-0, the next text was "Champions league, you're havin' a laugh"
mmmm.... revenge IS a dish best served cold....It's just brilliant being a spurs fan.
Keep up the great work.
Great read as always spooky. Haters? Just knowingly smile and remember:
We don't care what the other team say,
What the f*ck do we care.
A-F*CKING-MEN!!!!!!!
I've been stewing about this for a while and you go ahead and say it better than I could! Well done! If they can't stop talking about us then we must be doing something right...
http://www.fifa.com/ballondor/puskasaward/index.html
Vote for the Irish bloke.
Spooky spot on - best 11 on the pitch no-one will want to come to the Lane. 2011 here we come.
Modric, VDV, Lennon, Bale, Defoe - the new Famous 5. If Harry goes bring back Ossie!!
Another great read Spooky i love being hated. No one likes us we dont care. Thought the ref was shocking last night, never a freekick for their goal!!!!
Dust dem haters off your collar
Vindaloo, vindaloo.......... we're going to score one more than you!!!!
Bollocks to the haters, I'm loving every minute of it. Even if we go no further (but we will) we've achieved more than they ever thought we would. COYS!!!
Come the next stage we should have most of our currently injured players back, so if those presently fit stay fit and we maybe buy one or two more (preferably not cup tied) we may just continue to shake the World in 2011.
Never thought I would say this but Gallas is the Heart we have missed for so long. He takes conceding a goal as a personal insult. It really matters to him. Bloody unbelieveable!
we go about our business quietly not overly boasting not rising to the baiting of our beloved club we dont act cheap and nasty we are better than that we are tottenham hoitspur, we are just glorious in our footballing ways.....COYMFS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nice article:-) the haters remind me of a spoiled child who is use to all the attention coming his way. Then along comes a new kid who takes away some of the spotlight from them and they cant handle it. They throw tantrums, whinge, belittle, become jealous/snidey spoiled little brats and their true colours come to the fore. It makes me laugh though I find it highly amusing, how dare we be a good team who play swashbuckling stuff with little or no regard for our supposed oppositions "superior" status. All haters can suck on it, it only makes us stronger.
COYS
Spurs Barcelona final, dream?? F that, we'll have them in the semis.
UEFA Champions League Final 2011
Wembley Stadium
Tottenham Hotspur FC vs. Arsenal FC
Bring. It. On.
The football is naive, but it's a damned sight more exciting than watching anyone else. Has anyone else become completely bored of watching games that don't involve us (Barca aside)?
If we can get WIlson back to his best and just sit between the defenders and the creative players, this gung-ho approach might just work.
Can understand other teams fans being jealous but why most sports casterslike the idiot Durham calling us deluded the day of the group drawing. I know he gets paid for being a cunt but his antics that day were sickening
In all honesty, we've played like this for years (probably since Ge*rge Gr*ham), open , attacking, condeding goals... We just never used to score more than the oppo.
Stumbled across this feed on Newstalk just now, Comedy gold!!!
http://football-talk.co.uk/10944/spurs-topping-group-making-sick/?
I saw that. Awful, no?
Durham is a joke. It's basically about getting irate callers into the show to scream at him so he says what he knows will cause a reaction. And he knows that if he slates Spurs no matter what he'll get that type of reaction.
Thing is, plenty of people in the media are now 'on our side' in terms of positive comments. It's hard to get use too, but there are still many who begrudgingly praise us and will be the first to jump down out throats if it went belly up.
Not matter what happens now in the CL - we've done enough to warrant some nice applause at the end of our adventure. God forbid if we got to the Q-F's or Semis.
This article is pure class, I've not even read the comments but I dont need to, it sums it all up perfectly. Very well written indeed
Bit disappointed there was no video of that goon being sick. Still just knowing how much it is affecting them makes it for me lol. There's a few saying now we wont get past the next round, long may those predictions continue to be true :) Life is good and we are doing it all the Spurs way COYS!!!
Well put Spooks the frightened one the problem is we are like working class lads at a public school and showing them all to be spoilt brats. Talk Sports ginger mouth is the worse one Durham tipped us to get beat in every game. We have done this with a different team in every game and horrendous injury's players who where rusty with no game time and low on confidants, and something no one mentioned except our ex players in the studio. One word of caution Gomes and Ekotto are both having dips in form and Harry needs to address this or we could suffer Gomes his losing his positional sense the free kick and the headed goal highlighted this problem he needs to have another Parkes talking to. Ekotto makes me mad he does some grat things then spoils it with his wast full passing down the line to no one and he his clumsy in the penalty area his penalty count must be horrendous and on top of this Gomes is hopeless at saving them. Fix these weak spots and we can have a great season and even better than last year.
i :heart: davspur.
still.
the more they hate us the better I like it......nobody hates Leyton Orient or Barnet and theres a damn good reason for that!!!!!
West Ham hate Leyton Orient - for obvious reasons (they will soon be playing them)
I have a mate who works at a soup factory. He is often In The Knorr.
Spooky as I said in a previous post the Gooners and scouse seem to be bitter beause of their demise and the inevitable shift in power. I'ts a bit like the massive attack song inertia creeps. They know it's happening, it is coming up slowly but surely enough it is ALL changing and there's absolutely nothing they can do about it. There is still some positivity from the Utd fans and somewhat even from Chelsea because they still reckon the title is between them and we are not yet serious challengers. In time I think they will come round to hate us too. Expect the next slight against Spurs to be the old one about us outspending all the other over the last 4 years (bar man city) and we're still only 5th it's a long season bla bla ! I love every minute of it!!! Anyone else noticed even the Sky 4 pundits and occasionally MOTD whinners are warming to us a little?
Keep it up spooks!