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If you swallow the hogwash still peddled by modern football’s persistent cheerleaders, Spurs have already achieved this season – we’ve landed our ‘holy grail’ by qualifying for the omnipotent Champions League. This conveniently ignores the barely acknowledged but crucial detail that we haven’t qualified – there is what could prove to be an inconvenient pre-group stage game to negotiate first. So, for the unfashionable old curmudgeons among us who hang on to that quaint but outdated belief that lifting trophies is a more accurate definition of success, there’s still plenty of work to be done. We haven’t won anything yet. Nonetheless, even a miserable old git like me won’t begrudge any Tottenham fan walking around with a bit more swagger this summer: it is as good a time to be a supporter of the club as any in recent (i.e post Premier League) memory. The mood is good. We’re a stable club in relative good health; we have a decent, shrewd manager who knows the score and has shown he can get the best out of Tottenham players individually and as a steam; the squad is better-balanced with seams of real quality running through it – Modric, Bale, Lennon, Gomes and King (if fit and ably backed up by Dawson if not) are contemporary Spurs players to be proud off and, complemented by more quality in depth, combine to give hope and optimism for the future rather than the usual pessimism and misery. Over the summer there have been the familiar mutterings
about the need to seize the opportunity and aim to sign big-name players on
fees and salaries to match, as befits a club that is poised to gain a ticket
to In those circumstances, and with the familiar caveats about possible ins and outs before the end of accursed transfer window, for me the more important benefit of last season’s excellent performance in the league has been to enable Spurs to hang onto our better players, instead of the usual depressing spectacle of seeing good players leave for more promising and lucrative pastures. The squad should be stronger for the experience of seeing out the last season in hugely impressive fashion and hopefully, staying together means they’ll want to succeed together. The question is, will this be a season in which we build on that success or suffer a dose of ‘difficult second album’ sickness? Only two defeats and 10 wins from the last 12 league games, including memorable victories over the Goons and Chelsea, was outstanding, title-winning form by anyone’s definition and the players should now have the confidence to realise they can take on the best sides and succeed. Is it too fanciful to suggest we could aim for the league? Perhaps, but far from being mocked for his belief that Tottenham can challenge, Redknapp should be applauded. For too long we’ve known our ‘place’ and cowered accordingly. We probably won’t even come close, but so what? Time to show a bit of Audere est facere. |
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