Running up that hill
Thursday, April 28, 2011 at 12:51PM So there stood the general with his army at the foot of the hill. Memories of a past glory in battle which was fought gallantly and won. Having returned to reclaim the land for a second time, his tired troops look up at the steep hill and frown. For it's not an easy task to climb and fight and then stand at its peak victorious, then do it all again.
Their foes, they are more prepared this time. The element of surprise, no longer a factor.
"Onwards we shall charge", the general commands.
Dissent in the ranks.
"Onwards? Charge? Again? Why can't we just go around the hill? Then come up the other way and surprise them? Fight from the top and push them back down", say the tired troops.
"We don't have enough men to do that", some say to each other.
"We don't have the right type of men", some dare to whisper.
"Onwards!" Screams the general.
"This just about worked last time, we've been stuck at the foot of the hill all year, it's too late. We should have attempted something different from the offset. They can see us coming", say the tired troops, dismissing their generals strategic know-how.
"Onwards! Let us claim what we deserve!" The general commands as he begins to lead his men forward on horseback.
And onwards they march, for they are soldiers and they obey their orders.
Once more. Running up that hill, battle cry from all.
And if they were to be pushed back once more by the barbaric hordes that await them then surely the general will admit defeat and return to the foot of the hill and await for reinforcements from the emperor. And then perhaps another tact will have to be embraced to once more reclaim the land and plant the flag of victory in it's peak.
The hill will always be there. The fight will always be a tough one. And if it's been done before, it can be done again. Perhaps next time, by taking no prisoners.
Onwards.
Reader Comments (63)
WTF was that business with Sandro after the goal...Even the bloody ESPN commentators were pointing out that's the only time you'll ever see a manager tick off a player for being out of position when they've scored a goal.
FFS, what the hell was he thinking? Sandro's first goal, he runs over for hugs and congratulations and Redknapp dresses him down instead. "Look, son, made a bit of a promise to Roman, gotta look to my future, y'see, so no more of this going forward and scoring business, right?"
Redknapp out...and video technology in, seeing as how it looks like Abrahmovic got to the linesmen as well.
Hahaha I think after that performance pretty sure no one's gonna pay 40-50 million for bale, not sure if that's good or bad any more. I agree that we can't move any further ahead with Harry at the helm. Could Moyes, Coyle or Holloway do any better?
Weak officials... yes they may have cost us 2-3 well deserved points yesterday but those decisions and all the conspiracy theorists can't hide the facts behind our failure this season in the league. Yes the CL has been awesome, an amazing adventure and an experience to treasure, but our involvement shouldn't have been the burden that it became, a burden emotionally and physically that has no doubt cost us form in the league.
Although I'm normally of a positive mindset I can't help dwelling on what could've been, we have fallen short of expectation, not that I believe my expectations are too high as some are on here at times but our return from games against the clubs lower down the league proves we still do not have a squad full of the right calibre or character of player. As the old adage goes, Spurs are always 3-4 players short of being a top drawer, title contending team... let's be honest, with the way the Prem is looking, this time next season unless you're still competing for the title there's little chance of getting into the top 4!
Where do we lay blame? Individuals, the mgmt, the board? It has to be the collective and there can be no argument that we have underperformed in the league... what happened then?
2 disappointing transfer windows
Uncompetitive wage structure
Not enough match day revenue due to capacity at WHL
Lack of true quality in depth within the squad
Lack of adequate player rotation
Lack of quality cover at lb
Lack of quality cover at rb (even though we've got 4 on our books),
Lack of a quality reserve keeper
Lack of any quality upfront
Too much faith and goodwill toward King and Woodgate
Levy taking his eye of the ball in the Jan transfer window, instead focusing on the Olympic Stadium bid until it's too late
Questionable tactics at times
Questionable team selection at times
Too many individual schoolboy errors
Probably being a tad harsh as I'm so gutted with how our league form has suffered, how we have failed to reach the heights of last season and build any sort of momentum going into the final throwes of the season.
I'm still confident (call it blind faith if you will) that we will find some big performances between now and the end of the season... they owe it to themselves! I'm also confident that we will keep our best players in the summer, i just hope that we add to the squad with quality players in the positions we all clearly know we need serious improvement in. If we have another foray into the transfer market like the last 2, we'll be on a slippery slope back down to mediocrity.
COYMFS!
And if we don't finish 4th, I wouldn't be overly concerned if we finish 6th... The Europooh League really is a burden we could do without, instead allowing us to fully focus on domestic competitions and genuinely compete at the very top next season.
City showing the way to play the team bottom of the league when you are at home. Typing this at 2-nil with 15 minutes on the clock. Maybe West Ham will surprise me in the next hour but I doubt it.
Maybe now people will stop saying City are no better than us!! Would swap their strikers for our three any day of the week.
Is there really 1 Spurs fan who would take our front three over Dzeko, Balloteli and Tevez?
League never lies, if Liverpool have had such a terrible season what does that say about ours?
Still could be worse we could be bottom of the league looking at the big new stadium we don't want.
So that's that, then. Bit of an anti-climax really. On to next season then...
if Liverpool have had such a terrible season what does that say about ours?
Form guide doesn't lie either. We are 13th in the league right now in the form table.
Watched the Arsenal-Man Utd match. Have to say the Gunners play some amazing football, even minus Fabregas. If only we could play with such pace and fluidity - I certainly think we have the players to do so.
Yeah, as much as it pains me to say, that was impressive Docomo. Was expecting Gooners to bottle it--esp when Squillaci came on but they held it together.
Not only can we play that way but we do, it's just been awhile ...
Please, and I say this kindly, Docomospur and nycyid, no team in the world can play like that with someone like Crouch as their main striker.
Its time for Spurs fans to be ruthless. We are not Wigan or Stoke. Having the likes of Pavlyuchenko and Crouch as our main strikers is just unacceptable. If you put any of those two in the City or Liverpool teams for a consistent ten games, I believe firmly that they will be lucky to come up with 3points out of the 30points available.
We cant keep joking around. "Crouch gives us another option!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!". Are we in a relegation battle? Are we desparate and lacking ideas even before a game kicks off that we need "another option" based on hoofs? We will finish 6th this season. We dont need hoofs to finish 6th. We can play in the true and proud Tottenham tradition and build on that. If we finish 6th trying to do that, then its atleast a bit acceptable.
We hoof frantically like a dying giraffe being attacked by a pack of wild lions, never win any game with conviction, and yet...we still finish 6th. A couple of points above Everton.
Where is our pride?
Fair point Ronnie but I'd throw Defoe (and Keane) in there too though. All our strikers are atrocious IMO.
Ronnie , valid points there but in Wigans defense ... they try to play real football most of the time.
To return to the VdV issue, can't help thinking it's HR's readiness to accommodate VdV which unbalances the team. Rafa gets top marks for finishing, unpredictability and (occasional touch of) class, but Lennon's been played out of position, ditto Bale, and 'shape' is lost. Look at the top three. Despite fluctuations in form, individually and collectively, they maintain shape, meaning everyone knows what they're doing. That held for most of last season. If HR really is a 'keep it simple' man, then 4-4-2 and play to their strengths. VdV ? Plays alongside Modders in midfield and supports the BAE/Bale triangle. (Modders to do the same on the right) with Hudds/Azza. The red-and-white team, as noted above, have almost perfected this, without sorting out a more businesslike approach in front of goal (sounds familiar ?). Move Crouch/Pav/Keane on, and retain JD, who's still got a couple of good seasons in him.