The catalyst for this seasons epic blip is not the moment Fabio lost/quit his job as England manager. It's the moment our manager refused to draw a line under it. Redknapp should have come straight out and stated "I'm not interested in anything other than Spurs. Don't ask me about it, please respect Tottenham and the job I'm being paid to do". Even if he is interested in it, that's what the summer is for. No such luck. Did anyone expect it to pan out any differently?
Instead he whored himself like he always does. Focus is lost. Respect is lost. Court case probably rattled him a fair bit too. It's been discussed before, we all know this. It masks other issues at play relating to lack of decisiveness with selections. Actually no it doesn't, we can see them as well. It's all rather blatant and obvious. There's also the fragile mindset of our players that saw them so easily effected by it. Collectively, motivation is easy if everyone is on form, its more tricky if only a select amount of players give a s**t all season long. Lack of rotation, strange line-ups and a hefty sack of inconsistent soundbites...whatever happened to back to basics?
I don't know, perhaps it's too soon after the game to discuss all this. Usually when things are going well we all lap it up (fans and manager alike) and when things are not going well we react accordingly and criticise. Which is well within our rights to do so (as long as we attempt to retain some level of balance). Most of us don't, which more or less matches up to the way Harry handles it. Ironic that we are as fickle and reactionary to what is going on at the time and what best suits us - much like our much maligned manager. But then that's what we are meant to do. We want the best for our club, within the constraints of what we possess. Although every person will have a varying perception to the next person.
We're underachieving. That's my perception. In the past when we claimed we were underachieving it was misguided because the reality was we did not have the team to truly compete. We do now (be it one for the short term not the long term) and we're half way to ballsing it up. We can't have one of the best sides pound for pound in the country one minute and then claim we're over-rated the next. We're good enough. We are desperately letting ourselves down. That's more than perception (IMO), it's just another harsh reality.
There's nothing wrong in recognising the lack of leadership. The formation, selection and tactics against Arsenal, Man Utd, Everton and Norwich (Chelsea in the cup included) during this blip are pretty damning. Distinct lack of mental and positional preparation.
We've also muddled through all three cup competitions (Carling cup and Europe hardly bothered at all) with the league always the priority and yet somehow we've managed to surrender momentum in the only competition we've taken seriously.
The players are equally accountable. Far too many have switched off. Still it's better to be competing (and throwing it away) than it is to be sat dead in mid-table, right? Right? Someone? Anyone?
Five games left to make this article look stupid.