There is still hope
Saturday, April 23, 2011 at 11:13PM I reckon I've got it sussed out.
All we need to do is sacrifice fifteen virgins (one for each remaining point) in the centre-circle at White Hart Lane and then take five voodoo dolls representing each club we have left to play and hang'em upside with pins inserted.
Whilst the sacrifice takes place (for reasons relating to legality we can't actually sacrifice people so I've spoken to a friend who knows someone who knows someone who can put me in touch with a farmer and for a nominal fee covering insurance purposes we can borrow fifteen lambs although we have to return the meat post-ritual or we'll lose the deposit)...Okay, so whilst the sacrifice takes place on the pitch we need to then set fire to the voodoo dolls and pray to Mait' Carrefour, the Haitian god of magicians and lord of the crossroads, promising him the souls of the sacrificed virgins (he won't know the difference, the souls are unlikely to bleat after they transcend) in return for Champions League next season. We also need to bury Chirpy in a shallow grave. Nothing to do with the ritual at all. Just, you know, might as well kill two birds with one stone.
I reckon that just about covers it and it's as full-proof as anything can possibly be. Got it all planned out on my clipboard.
No need to waste time on how to line-up our forwards best. How to get them to play with passion and desire starting off with the fundamentals like moving around the pitch a bit and controlling the ball. How best to structure our midfield for assured balance. Where to slot in Lennon for maximum impact. How to retain the required level of tenacity in games against lower-placed clubs as displayed against the bigger sides. How to get the message across that even if the opposition hasn't lost for a fair while, we should be storming it at home in a flurry of fantastics rather than once more failing with frustration.
Also no point in dwelling on the harsh reality of irony whereby said failure is shared by all involved, including the players that might want to transfer their way out in the summer due to the club not being involved in a competition because the same players failed to take us back there. Or is it the managers fault? Or is it mine for thinking we'd get on fine and that we were not over-extending? Regardless, where's the killer instinct? That has to be question that hides behind another disappointment.
You want killer instinct? You want it? If you want it, you do it yourself. You get on the phone to a farmer and you order some baby sheep.
Fourth spot. It's still on.
We simply need to win every single game remaining and City need to slip up the once in addition to playing us.
Believe.
We got written off every single game leading up to Eastlands last time out. Nothing is impossible until it's impossible and it's not impossible. Not yet. When it finally is I'll applaud the team for a quite stupendous season, one with regretful blips that have cost us in the long run. But that's for another me in another universe, one where we finish outside the top four filled with melancholical madness, whilst an emo Spooky sits in front of his webcam reading out poetry and despairing with endless dejection.
Screw that universe.
Now excuse me. Got me some shearing to do.
Just remember what I've done for you next time you tuck into your lamb chop and potatoes.
Reader Comments (96)
2009/10 Defoe&Crouch=37 goals. Well, we won't stand for that at Tottenham, will we! No, we'll drop Defoe and play a midfielder (well he did come from R Madrid!) up front. That should reap, hmmm... 16 goals. And u wondered why were 21 goals behind City. And by the end of the season when we've realised he's not a striker... ah, let's drop Lennon. He's only the fastest winger in the league, what use is that to us?
Beautiful work, Spooky.
Have to admit to backing the strikers to come good and they've not and yes its been down to the hesitation to form a cohesive formation and a consistent one with the link from mid to forwards. This is why it's so head-scratchingly frustrating.
Finishing top 4 (this season) is nowhere half as difficult as it was and has been projected.
Just to add the obvious:
We are giving it away like a crack whore.
I think if we win all our remaining games and the clubs currently above lose all their games we could finished second.
Harry said last summer when we qualified for the CL that we needed a striker. He didn't buy one. Levy even tried to buy another midfielder in January (Charlie Adam) FFS. There's not enough thought being put into buying players. Why is it that at the last minute every window Levy comes up with a player that can be bought (if you can beat the deadline). It's because he's out there looking for bargins with no structure to what we need and making sure we get that first. Then he can fucking buy all the midfielders he wants.
This has been a bad season and only because we didn't buy a striker in the summer.
Harry needs to tell Levy to get him the players he wants and cut the crap.
I'm pissed off again.
If Blackburn can pull off a shock result against City on Monday it might still be on. I was hoping that Everton might do us a favour as well, they almost held out against United.
Today was a missed opportunity though, I thought at 2-1 the time was right to bring off one of our forwards (OK, both scored, but they'd done their job by then. Listening to the commentators berate every Pav back-heel it probably should have been him) and pop on either Bassong or Pienaar (shoring up either the defence or midfield, or allowing a re-shuffle of Bassong to LB and Bale back to the wing).
Anyone else thinking it's a mistake to allow so many of our players out on loan, or only rely on a comparitively limited pool within the squad? If the team is 'tired' after the admittedly heroic fightback in midweek might'nt it have been useful to have O'Hara, Livemoore or Townsend available to freshen things up? Liverpool don't seem to be doing badly blooding some youngsters, both their teenage fullbacks played well today
We blew fourth spot when the January window shut. We are all us spurs fans with so many years as evidence still think that we are anything more but mere make weights in the premier league. We make profit, that's what we do!!! Lots of profit and the occassional rant by Levy or the occassional signing that is nothing more than a token gesture every year!! It's better for us that Man City get 4th spot, they will anyway and who knows thye might let us buy Given and Bellamy cheapily, I said "Cheapily" Mr Levy...but I'm sure he would ruin that too with his stupid medalling!! When you measure money spent/over success...Levy reign has been a total disaster. But wait..I hear you cry...what about the new stadium...and I say to Yee....What ten years after Arsenals!....But wait you say again...What about th eappeal with the Olympic stadium...I say to Yee....yes..there are some people out there that haven't experienced his nonsensical behaviour...But wait you say again..What about the millions spent on players...and I say...we always sell before we buy and we always make a profit!!! A few years ago before Arry...we sold 90m of talent and replaced with 75m of talent...I observed we are 15m weaker..and we were...2 points from the next 8 games. Retarded..simply retarded. If we sold Bale for 40m...we would spend 20m at best...To do is to Dare...wtf...We never do..and we never dare.This next transfer window will open and shut..Jenas will still be at the club, King will still be injured and maybe just maybe Bale, Van and Modric will be at the club, but if they do leave I wish them well and to go to a club that challenges for titles..not the pretenders in North London!! If we are ever to challenge and keep hold of our best players we need to spend..and not just what we recoup, but really spend more than we recoup in sales. To do is to dare...Mr Levy.....or should I say rodders...cos you are one hell of a plonker!!
From Stratty via email (as he appears to be having some issues at the minute with posting directly):
think Harry messed up by breaking up the Defoe/Crouch partnership. Defoe is a man who needs an arm round the shoulder to get the best out of him. We have seen that clearly over the years here and at Portsmouth. Drop him when he scores, and he'll soon stop performing for you.
4-4-2 with Bale on the left and Lennon on the right REALLY didn't need fixing. We were really looking forward to having them both fit and having a season of it. 4-5-1 has been a nightmare since we first used it at Stoke.
Still, I must be mad because no-one else seems to have noticed.
It's criminal the number of pts we've dropped against the relegation candidates. Spooky hit the nail on the head - a complete lack of a killer instinct and little tactical cohesion ("just go out there and kick it", anyone?).
Harry: what can you do about a strike like that?
Well, how about trying to get a 3rd goal instead of strolling through the remaining minutes or going 4-5-1 to shore up your midfield and defence?
Didn't United draw 2-2 against West Brom this season? And the Filth lost to them.
@ Mark; It would not be a miracle if Rovers beat City and I don't understand how you thought Everton might do us a favour.
@ Chris: Earnings per share are about 5% of the share value. Dividends (when they have been paid) are about 1.5%. These are hardly "Lots of profits". The only two teams making lots of profits are Manure and Arse, and one of those is spending most of those profits on debt repayments for other businesses. Financially, we are well managed, but the City of London is hardly drawing up lists of takeover targets.
If you want to measure money spent over success, look at what City are paying their players and their transfer fees, and then consider the fact that we are one point behind them, and got to the last eight of the CL, compared to them in the last 16 of the EL.
People have very short memories sometimes. The last time a PL team in the CL (LEEDS) spent like there was no tomorrow, they were in Div 1 within a couple of years
we will lose against chelsea, liverpool will beat us at anfield and we'll finish 6th. 8 draws at home and our inability to beat the most pedestrian of teams has sealed our fate.
If not 4th then 6th ..so as to avoid europa and then go for title next year
Watching Bale, Lennon and Van der Vaart getting in each others way on the left while Kaboul was left on his own on the right in a very very lopsided and, at 2:1 up with 15 minutes to go, tactically suicidal formation, was frustrating and annoying.
Watching a lump of twitching lard sat with his hands crossed in the dugout while Kevin Bond looks on with abject dejection was plain revolting. There are not many other managers (top or otherwise) who would have behaved in such a sit and hope fashion.
Chris, a heartfelt post and I feel the same.
SpurredoninDublin, I went through all the Financial Reports since Levy took over and can confirm that looking at the real bottom line, in the 10years he has been incharge we have only made a profit in 5 of them, and the only sizeable one was the year that Berba and Keane were sold.
The more interesting fact to emerge from the reports was that Levy established his 3 main priorities for a 10-15 year plan in year 1 which were a new training facility (may be delivered this year), investment in the team and a new stadium.
Investment in the team is more than throwing money at any old player but about having managers who can spot talent and fit it into a team plan....we are still waiting. Also, the Levy declared policy of buy young so that the "asset" still has a sell-on value speaks volumes about what Tottenham Hotspur PLC really is to ENIC, not a football club but a business enterprise.
A new training facility is nice but not as essential as a new stadium. 10 years after assuming control we still do not have it and more prevarication resulting from Levy's ineptitude in handling a bunch of amateur politicians and thinking that he did not want to be left looking silly.....well, too late for that mate.
The culture clash between Levy the bean-counter and any football manager only has one outcome and that is the manager has to over-achieve if Spurs are to challenge for anything meaningful with a real chance of winning it. That doesn't look likely to change anytime soon unless there is another Mourinho or, dare I say it, Wenger out there, and even if there is Levy wouldn't recognise it if Moses himself gave him the name on a tablet of stone.
So Chris, yes we are just make-weights and can only hope we get lucky or adjust our expectations to those of WBA, Wigan, Wolves, West Ham, Blackpool, Crewe and Chester fans ie: enjoy the day out but expect nothing.
BTW, I'm sure we will finish 4th this year.
Very disappointed. Resigned to 6th already to prevent the onset of hope, yet again.
Two major gripes
1) What has Lennon done to deserve getting only half a game and then being played out of position on the left? What was the point of having two flyers on the left, where the defense was already geared up to coping (very well) with Bale and no threat from the right? Even more strange is the fact the VDV is left footed, sop could easily swap sides.
2) My biggest gripe with Harry is not squad management or tactics or failure to persuade Levy to buy the players we evidently need or flirting with the England job, or trying to turn us into an aging squad. It is his huge gob/constantly seeking attention and saying stupid things. Early in the season he said he saw us as title challengers, said he wouldnt sign anyone unless they were special/going to move us up a level (Pienaar/Bongani?), was happy with our strikers etc etc. Now he is telling us how grateful we should be for finishing 5th/6th and it wont be long before 2 from 8 rears its head.
What did worry me yesterday was that Bale looked increasingly frustrated and hacked off. In some ways it would be a disaster losing him, but I do worry about his attitude if having won so much praise he doesnt feel the rest of the team is worthy of him. I also worry about the amount of time he spends on the floor after apparently being poleaxed every game and and his missing games through injuries. Maybe if we got really big bucks for him it wouldnt be such a bad thing.
The other observation I had yesterday was the sheer determination/bloody mindedness and willingness to bust a gut for the cause that the Manu players displayed yesterday (hence why Berbatov doesnt make their first team). I didnt really see much of that from Spurs yesterday, although to be fair we did display it against the goons.
Fingers crossed for a repeat of last season's miracle run in.
Re: Lennon, it's does on the surface appear to be since the first leg v Madrid, CL that it's all gone pear shaped.
Re Bale, I agree he has looked frustrated of late. In recent games, he's put in a decent number of balls only to see that none of our strikers was busting a gut to get onto the ball. So much for busting a gut down the flank. On the other hand, Modric looked dead on his feet towards the end of the game. Talk about running your stars into the ground. All this while Krancjar, who last season provided cover for Modric, with both assists AND goals doesn't even make the bench? I would not be surprised to see dissent in the dressing room rear its ugly head sooner rather than later.
some of you so called fans make me laugh.how many times have we got into the CL before.the year before harry came in we came 11th and when he came in we was bottem.in his first full season he came 4th and this season we may come 5th but when was the last time we beat both milans in the same season.all i hear is moaning about harry do you want the good old day of mid table or even bottem back.be careful wot you wish for and enjoy fighting for something at end of the season for once.
coys
Knee-jerking is common place, but Harry isn't beyond criticism. Some might argue he's limited, I personally think he's over complicated one or two things but also believe the players have to take responsibility for some of the complacency. We have the talent (and manager) to finish top 4. Just might have left it up to the Gods this time.
@Dave K.
Fair comment. I have to say that your description of the business plan was almost working when we had Arnesen/Jol.
I don't disagree with you about the view of the club as an "asset". But you don't have go back too far in history to find Chairmen who almost ruined the club financially (Scholar) and almost led to us being taken over Maxwell. Can you imagine having someone like Bates in charge of the finances? How many of us would want to see an owner like the one who bought into Wrexham and then "conned" them out of the ground that they owned.
This year, I estimate we will make the biggest profit in our history, but it won't be much more than £20 mill, and looking at the prices charged for players, that wont even buy a decent striker. The point I was making to Chris, is that there are no big profits in owning us, unless of course we get a new ground. As you pointed out, we have only made a profit in five out of ten years, and I don't think we have ever made an eight-figure profit.
@ Spooky.
Agree with what you say, but if we have lost 4th place, then it is not because of what is happening now but what happened at the beginning of the season. With the fixtures we had at the opening, we should have been top in October, and as the games got tougher, I was expecting Man U and Chelsea to overtake us. If you take the two games against Arsenal as representing our real ability, then I think we should have had 3rd place this year.
Don't disagree. We've all discussed the matches where we've dropped valuable points - yesterday included. We hardly lose at home, but we draw far too many games. Never found our groove this season other than in pockets and one off games.
Spot on Spurredon. That's the reason why we have all the knee-jerking and criticism. Not because we don't appreciate how far Spurs have come, but because we all know it was well within their current capacity (manager and players) to do a lot better - especially at home in the premiership.
E15spur, just to remind you we finished 5th twice under Jol. We had Berbatov and Carrick but didnt have players like Bale, Modric and VDV. Left back was mainly occupied by Lee, in midfield Zokora and Jenas were regulars. Yes we finished 11th under Ramos, but had already won a trophy so there was nothing to play for.
Last year we reached an FA cup semi and finished with a higher points total than we will reach this year, so we havent really progressed this season at all, despite the proclamations from Harry of being title contenders.
Harry is a much safer pair of hands than Ramos but he isnt our greatest manager ever.I'd go so far as to say that with the same resources there are a number of other managers (Moyes for example) who would have done as well.
I dont want to sack the bloke and hope we get 4th but we are entitled to moan when thhe opportunity to push on has (probably) been missed.
@SpurredoninDublin
Cheers for the reply :) I'll definitly be cheering on Blackburn on Monday but their form has been poor lately, hence the 'miracle'.
As for Everton I didn't put that well; they've been on a good run and still have to entertain City. Was thinking that they would do us a favour then but not too sure after the Man U result, to lose a goal so late-on is gutting, and confidence plays such a big part at this stage of the season. Goodison is still a tough place to go though, but we still have The Bridge and Anfield to visit as well.
Cheers for the rallying cry, there is still everything to play for, but we missed a trick not taking 3 points yesterday and would have given us a big boost to be above City before their game at Ewood. Come on Blackburn!
@Mark.
Understood. It's not over yet, but I do notice that in the distance, there is a fat lady doing some warm up exercises.
Yesterday morning it was in our hands, and now it's in the hands of others. I think City minus Tevez at Blackburn on a Monday night is going to be a tough one, but on the other hand, I recall this time last year, we spent most of our time winning against the odds. Lets hope we can recapture that spirit.
"Nothing is impossible until it's impossible and it's not impossible. Not yet."
Lovely words Spooky. I could imagine Bill Nick saying something like that. Those words should be framed and nailed to the dressing room wall.
you lot are pathetic. What happened to the being graceful when you lose? we've had a magic rollercoaster season and have come up just short. Yes we have had disapointments and in hindsight we wonder what would have happened if we had done this or that but its utterly pointless. We should simply say well done and thank you to the team for a superb champions league experience and a good effort in the league. Now we go away, strenghten if we can and go again next year. What did you lot expect anyway?? City have spent a fortune and will do until they overtake us, we were always on borrowed time. Some of you need to wake up to reality. We are a top 6 team, no more, no less. With our ground size and wage stucture we have no right to be any higher than 6th. You are delluded and you make me sick.
@Sam-I-Am
When you put it like that, the rage does not seem so irrational.
Last year we overachieved, this year we have underachieved. If you judge us solely on our performances in big games, we are a class act. if we are judged on our results against the lower ranked teams, we are mediocre. For all that, it has been a good year for us, but I agree with you appear to be saying, that it should have been so much better.
Rafa isn't Lionel Messi. If there is no position for him, he shouldn't play.
2009/10 Defoe&Crouch=37 goals.
2010/11 Rafa&Crouch=16 goals.
So he can't play up front.
And he's not a right-winger.
Lennon is the fastest in the league, can run past anyone. You can't drop him.
Should have gone back to 4-4-2 in September.
FORWARDS
CROUCH OUT- KLOSE IN (FREE TRANSFER) CAN DO THE SAME JOB AS CROTCH & WONT GET BULLIED BY DEFENDERS.
PAV OUT - CAVANI IN - 28M
KEANE OUT - FALCAO IN - 20M . ANOTHER PLAYER LIKE TEVEZ, SUAREZ & HERNANDEZ. A REAL TIGER UP FRONT.
GOMES OUT - HUGO LLORIS IN
WOODGATE OUT - LUGANO IN
Some of you need to wake up to reality. We are a top 6 team, no more, no less. With our ground size and wage stucture we have no right to be any higher than 6th. You are delluded and you make me sick.
Apr 24, 2011 at 12:40 PM | jim
Jim must be a Charlton supporter who crossed over when they got relegated. Definately the most unambitious football fan ever. Not just for his comments today - but each and every comment by Jim is about how "we should be happy" with whatever and a moan directed at anyone who dares to suggest that Spurs should aim higher.
Whenever we lose/or draw with another mediocre relegation threatened team, you can be sure that Jim will soon appear here to remind us how "lucky" we are. It wouldn't suprise me to find out that "Jim" is actually Jermain Jenas (or maybe even Thierry Henry) in disguise.
Ofcourse he has the right to express his satisfaction with lost points and a mid-table status. But getting "sick" as a result of Spurs fans expressing their desire to see their favourite team at the top is a bit....gooner-esque in my humble opinion.
Spurs can win the damn title - and we dont need an oil baron or Russian ganster to do that, That is the fundamental basis of some of our "we should have done better" comments.
,
@ Stratty
You are not mad. 4-5-1 has been a disaster. We have scored just as many goals in the league as our relegation threatened opponents West Brom. If VDV stays and Harry continues with his inability to accomodate him (thereby insisting on the 4-5-1 that has seen Defoe and Crouch - embarrasingly -score less goals combined than Robert Huth this season) then we will be in a lot of trouble next season. Liverpool have sorted themselves out and I can't see them missing out on Top4 for three consecutive seasons. Jim will be reminding us how "lucky" we are to finish in the top half.
Jim, forgot the UCL adventure and all that - tell me you are happy at the results we've managed against the likes of West Ham, Wigan, Blackpool, WBA, etc. It's criminal the no. of pts we've dropped to those teams and how these pts, even just a portion of them, could have made a significant difference.
sorry spooks , even though i love your blog, if we cant even beat w.brom at home what hope to beat chavs, citeh , and mickeys away, are you on something??? or is it a sudden rush of sugar ?
Going on history, we show up when we are least expecting it. Although out of all the games, the Anfield one is the one I think we wont win. But hoping Harry proves me wrong.
I am not too sure if Jim has possibly been misunderstood.
What I believe he is trying to say is that there are a number of fans who give the impression that we should win every game by just turning up, when the reality is that we have the least resources of all the teams in the top six of the PL, by a very wide margin.
You can make the case that if you forget about the CL and consider only the Wigan and West Ham type results, then we have a lot to be mad about, but if that's how you judge success, you are never going to be satisfied. There has been plenty of good news this year as well as some dire results. Overall, this has been our best season in the last twenty years, and yes it could have been better, but there are a number of posters who whenever things go wrong, head up lynch mobs.
I hate to have to tell all of you this, but the real problem with Spurs is that the people who really know how to do HR's and DL's job are too busy posting on the Internet to spare the time to show them how to do it.
@spuredonindublin
Fair points. Still very frustrating though. I agree we don't want a kamikaze chairman like Bates or the Leeds guy but we do want one that gets his priorities right and makes the correct decisions to move the club forward, not one who is just happy balancing the books.
He said at the end of last season that in effect there were only 2 top 4 positions open in the PL and 5 or 6 teams competing for those places and he was not prepared to bankrupt the club to try for one of those 2 places. Sounds sensible but also shows a lack of ambition by accepting that not all 4 places are available if a team is built and managed well. United and Chelsea have been poor by their standards this year but we have been worse. Beating the lower clubs would have had us challenging for top spot and we all know that all we needed from the start of the season was a goalscorer, not a crippled mid-fielder with an ego the size of the London O2 Arena.
I think Harry has lost a bit of control of the coaching staff. He looks really brassed off, sitting there and there's no movement from Jordan, Bond or Allen around him. I really think Levy should look at Moyes as Harry seems to have lost touch. When a manager stands in front of a TV camera and says ''when cox scoared that goal, what can you say''. Maybe you cannot say anything but you can gee up your players and not sit on the bench looking as though you need a sleep. He's past his 'sell-by' date.
Agree with cookiebun, Redknapp can't handle the pressure and is now trying to convince himself (let alone us fans) that we're doing well in the league. He is very rapidly losing the plot. We had the opportunity to progress in the league but have now blown it. It doesn't matter though, England's entire media have focused solely on the CL campaign and Redknapp can do no wrong. The problem is that some fans, Jim, SpurredoninDublin etc. have also been misled. The wheels are falling off the wagon.
Spooky, going on history, we haven't beaten the chavs or the dippers away from home for 21 and 18 seasons respectively. I'll be amazed if we take more than 3 points from those two and City.
@DaveK.
Don't make you wrong. I have a certain amount of sympathy for what Jim has been saying, because when you look at some of the comments made about the financial running of the team, it's clear that you wouldn't trust some of these posters to run a crooked a raffle without making a loss.
There is an oft asked question amongst boxing fans, as to who pound-for-pound, was the greatest boxer of all times. Some people say Sugar Ray Robinson, but he would never have beat Muhammud Ali, because Ali was a heavyweight. In football, when you talk about pound for pound, you mean the cash version. For my money, pound for pound, we are the best team in the world, but if we want to fight the heavyweights, we need to bulk up ourselves. New ground!
Assuming that we had bought Suarez and Torres in the last window, and it had not worked out there would be three different schools of thought. Some of us would be castigating the management, because we all knew that these two would not fit into our team and any idiot would have told you that we should have bought Forlan and Carroll., The second school would be saying what plonkers we had running the team because now they have nearly bankrupted us and we have nothing to show for it. The final school of thought would tell you that the board are plonkers for both having bought the wrong players and nearly bankrupting us into the bargain.
in a few weeks time when the season is over, these same financial genii will be drawing up lists of players that we need to sell, together with their estimated values and make it sound like because they have bothered to write it down, it will be a done deal. The reality is that we are now living in an era where if we buy the wrong player, the best we can hope for is that someone will take them on loan to reduce our wage bill.
I think if we had been consistent this year we are probably the third best team in the PL. Putting that into perspective, and using my boxing analogy, if Sugar Ray Robinson had finished third in a tournament to Ali and George Foreman, all the neutrals would be saying "What an amazing performance, and just think what he could have done if they were the same size as the other two"
I'm disappointed that we haven't finished third this year and are doubtful to finish fourth, but I am very proud of the fact that even in sixth place, we are doing a lot better than we should be doing when you look at our resources.
@DaveK.
BTW, Bates is "The Leeds Guy"
While it is clear that in today's footballing climate, we can no longer hope to recieve even one third of what we originally paid for our now fringe players when and if we sell them on, and it is true that the finances we have vis a vis the other clubs mean just one mega-money transfer that fails will cast serious doubts on our ability to maintain our financial health, the one thing you fotget, SpurredoninDublin, is that as fans, we all want to see our team be the best. Not sixth best in the league and proud of it, because our finances dictate that that's the highest we can go, but the best, up there with the Arsenals and Uniteds of this world. That's what I want, that's what you want, that's what everyone (except maybe Jim) wants. Some people just are a bit more desperate to see it soon than others;doesn't make them wrong. The same people you mock for wanting to see players sold and bought are the people without which football would be a gentle, harmless sport in which every team agrees with each other about who should be where in the league table and all matches assume the harmless atmosphere of friendlies. A non-competitive sport, basically, and none of us want that.
"What has Lennon done to deserve getting only half a game and then being played out of position"
Spooky touched upon it with his comment: Re: Lennon, it's does on the surface appear to be since the first leg v Madrid, CL that it's all gone pear shaped.
I'll say it flat out: Lennon called 'Arry a liar over his statements about Lennon's supposedly last minute illness. He hasn't started a match since.
Does anyone here seriously believe that Harry Redknapp still gives a teeny tiny toss about Spurs? Maybe in his first season with us, when saving us from relegation was wrapping up his career on a high. But since then, it's been unending self indulgence on his part, all about Harry, all of the time. He takes credit when it goes well, it's the players' fault when it goes wrong. And fans have got some cheek on them expecting to do as well this year as we did last year. Who knew Bale had a great throw on him? Erm, any coach/manager/trainer doing his effing job should have spotted that after how many years has he been at the club?
Here's a theory as to why we do well in the "big" matches and on the big stage: We have for the most part very talented as well as some exceptional players who are able to gin themselves up for those matches thanks to the adrenalin surge. Not so much adrenalin available for your bread and butter matches against lower half sides in the league, which is when you rely on being well coached and trained. You know, set piece drills, tactics, rotating players in a big squad so everyone stays fit and not rushed back from injury/illness too quickly. What I believe is professionally known as The Basics. The stuff Harry can't be arsed to do.
Folks are stressing about finishing 5th or 6th this season? Keep this chancer another year and see how we all enjoy being 12th at Christmas and watching a full scale exodus of talent in January.
If he was offered the Chelsea job tomorrow he'd leave. I don't think too many have ever disputed he is only loyal to himself, but that in its self is vital to him being a successful manager. He knows that if he sustains success/progression at Spurs, he'll look better for it. Unless he's in auto-pilot because his mind has already wondered onto something else.
@Dubai.
I think you misunderstand me.I too want to see us win every game, but unlike a lot of people bI don't think that the reason why we don't win every game is the fault of him or her or that, and is to do with our limited resources.
I'll try and explain it again. With our resources, we should not realistically expect to do much better than sixth. This year, we managed to build a team that should have finished third, and is now going to finish somewhere between fourth and sixth, that is both a disappointment, and can still be seen as an achievement when everything is taken into account.
I am not complacent about these things, and when we have the new stadium, there will be no more excuses, and I too will want to know why we can't win every game, but during the meantime, the real world is where I live.
Spurredonindublin--why bother playing matches at all, why not just compare financial statements? Get rid of Football Manager, the hot new game will be Financial Models. League position matters but only to the extent it increases your percentage of the broadcasting revenues.
Your moniker is well chosen. Like 21st century Dublin, you appear to be strangely soulless.