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Rosie’s
Column cs194@yahoo.com Last Updated: Monday, 26 May 2003, 11:32 PM |
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THE
TOPSPURS COLUMNISTS
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ROSIE
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NW10
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CRACKERS
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LYNFORD
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KOSHERNOSTRA
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GUEST
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TOPSPURS - The Manager Poll (Revisited)
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From
Broadhall Way to The RFK
2002/03 Season Review – Part One
A season which again promised so much again finished in complete and utter failure – and unless things change dramatically in the years to come the following season will be the same – and the one after, and the one after that. We ended the season as the laughing stock of the Premiership and for a once great club it is simply humiliating. Part of the reason why we are in our current position is that too many people, supporters included, live in the past – and until we face up to reality we cannot move ahead in the future. But in order to do so we must first realise exactly what has gone wrong – as the reasons have pretty much been the same for the past decade and more. Not finishing in the top six in the history of the Premiership is simply not good enough – and the season just ended was yet another great chance to end that barren run.
It all seemed so different on the lazy Sunday afternoon of 21 July 2002. Summer activity had been reasonable with the signings of Jamie Redknapp, a quality midfielder with great vision and Milenko Acimovic an unknown quantity from Eastern Europe who had played reasonably well in the World Cup. Jonathon Blondel, a youngster from Belgium, and Rohan Ricketts, from Ars*nal, also joined the first team squad. Stephen Carr was coming back to full fitness and other youngsters were available for the first team. With the likes of King and Gardener at the back, Ziege, Davies, Poyet and Redknapp in midfield and Sheringham and Ferdinand up front we potentially had a good squad. We still lacked firepower up front (largely due to Hoddle’s indifference to Rebrov and thus his unwillingness to play him – he was eventually loaned off to a Turkish club) but many fans were quietly confident that THIS could be the season which would see us qualify for Europe, THIS would be the season that, at last, would shape our future. By the end of the day hopes had further been raised – Spurs had played and had comfortably won their first pre-season game at Stevenage Borough by four goals to nil. Acimovic looked very comfortable on the ball and amazed the crowd when, at one stage in the game, he had the ball by the corner flag with three Stevenage players around him and seemingly nowhere to go. He somehow turned them all and ran through with the ball towards goal – queue great applause from the supporters. We left the ground content that this was the start of something good. Little did we know that it would be our (joint) biggest win of the season – and pretty much as good as it got.
Encouraging wins at Colchester United (3-1) and Bournemouth (1-0) followed. Youngsters such as Lee Barnard, Dean Marney and Ronnie Hendry were thrown in at the deep end and did a good job. A 2-1 win at Gillingham kept our 100% record up but the following day our pre-season was dented by a 3-2 defeat at QPR. An appalling display but also just one friendly match too many and hopes were still high. A fantastic show in a 4-0 victory at Crystal Palace put Tottenham on a pedestal once more and Spurs fans were treated to the delights of a Chinese player on trial by the name of Qu Bo. Pacy and good on the ball we chanted, “sign him up” and he played again in our next match, a 1-0 victory at Watford. Unfortunately he, like most players in the match, were dire in what was a dire spectacle and, due to work permit problems, he was never heard of again. Tim Sherwood scored the winner in the Watford game, kissed his badge and ran towards the Spurs followers. Some cheered but others, like me, booed. The previous week he had written a scathing article in a national newspaper criticising the ambition of the club. Quite rightly he never played for Spurs again – but unfortunately his article turned out to be correct. The following day we more than matched the UEFA Cup holders Feyenoord in an enthralling 2-2 draw, and reasonable home displays against Celtic (1-1) and Lazio (2-2) ensured that Spurs were well prepared for the start of a promising season.
Our Premiership campaign kicked off with a frustrating 2-2 draw at Everton. Despite a cracking goal from Etherington we were disappointed to only come away with a point after leading 2-1 – but a soft equaliser let Everton back into the match and a draw was a fair result at the end. A dull 1-0 home win against Aston Villa followed but three points were the most important thing – we never have a good start to the season and four points from the first two games were crucial. A 1-0 victory at Charlton then followed – a fantastic defensive display and a good goal from Davies clinching the victory. Bunjy, whose worst display of the previous season was in this corresponding fixture, was immense in his new position in central midfield as things generally looked Rosie for Spurs (pun intended). Redknapp in particular looked good in central midfield with his exquisite range of passing and Richards and Gardener looked comfortable at the back.
With the new transfer deadline looming on the day of our home game against Southampton Tottenham were lacking the one ingredient that could ignite the season – a top quality striker. On the deadline day itself, just when it looked like all hope was lost, THFC pulled off somewhat of a miracle and signed Robbie Keane from Leeds. Not an out and out finisher but a great forward nonetheless and an excellent acquisition. By himself we knew he couldn’t produce all the goods but he certainly was the start and we knew that, come January, if we were up there then we could perhaps sign someone else to go with him. He was paraded on the pitch before the Saints game and two hours later Spurs fans were on top of the world because the club, for only the second time since I’ve been a fan, were top of the League. Our splendid position came because of a 2-1 win, which was not only our third League win in a row (a rare statistic for Spurs over recent years) but also our best start to a season for a long, long time – ten points from a possible twelve. “We are top of the League,” was the chant – and we stayed that way for ten days – albeit because of a break for internationals.
Next up was a trip across London to face Fulham. We went 2-0 up early on and we were in dreamland. Arrogantly we chanted “we are top of the League” – and this arrogance spread to the players on the pitch. Cruising, we suddenly gave up. We stopped tackling, we stopped marking, we stopped defending – we stopped playing. In the second half we allowed Fulham to run and run at us, almost as if we were saying, “let’s see what you can do!” They answered the call as they first pulled a goal back and then equalised with only a few minutes to come. They continued to miss chance after chance but what was to come was inevitable and, sure enough, in the third minute of stoppage time, they pulled the sucker punch with the killer third goal. A sickening way to lose a game but we deserved what we got – nothing. It may be years before we go top of the League again.
A 3-2 derby win at home to West Ham with a cracking goal from Gardener of all players at the death brightened the mood once more before we faced a trip to Old Trafford. The performance against the Hammers wasn’t fantastic though and thus it came as no surprise that we succumbed 1-0 to Manchester United – our tenth straight League defeat at the Theatre of Dreams. Some who were there felt we deserved a point if not more – we did not. They played us off the park and only good goalkeeping from Keller and poor finishing from the Mancs kept the score down. Keller, an ever present in competitive games in this campaign, was responsible for keeping us in many matches in which our defence faced a barrage of abuse. However he could do nothing in our next match, a 3-0 home defeat to Middlesborough. One of (but not the) worst displays of the season, Tottenham made a team who ended up with one of the worst away records in the Premiership look fantastic as we totally capitulated. This was one of those matches where the whole team played badly and this happens to Spurs far too often for my liking. In some teams a few players can have an off day but the other players carry them. With Tottenham if one plays badly they all do – and this is the manager’s fault. Contrary to popular belief it is partly down to not trying – not going for 50/50 balls, not moving off the ball, not running into space, not man marking, etc. If a player looks up, considers his options and plays the ball forward only for it to be intercepted by a defender then this is just a bad pass – and good defending. But if a player just hoofs the ball upfield aimlessly without looking and the ball is intercepted then this is not trying – and Tottenham do the latter on too many occasions.
A League Cup second round tie at home to Cardiff City followed. These are the sort of matches that have to be won, regardless of performance – and so it was, a 1-0 victory the only thing worth remembering from the ninety minutes. A trip to Blackburn Rovers in the Premiership followed – and Spurs made up for their Boro debacle with a 2-1 away win in what turned out to be an excellent team performance. We rode our luck at times and clinched the three points with a lucky Keane goal – his first in a Spurs shirt. He scored twice more in a comfortable 3-1 home win against Bolton Wanderers, and, a quarter of the way into the season, Tottenham were sitting pretty in the table. A difficult run of five matches followed though and the results from them would go a long way to determining the outcome of our season.
First up was Liverpool away. An excellent performance saw Tottenham come within minutes of a point before Owen was needlessly brought down in the penalty area and a good strike saw the Scousers clinch a 2-1 win. This was typical of many Spurs displays against the top teams – failing to turn good shows into much needed points. The same happened in our next match, at home to bogey team Chelsea. Another virtuoso display saw Tottenham batter the Blues, but fail to break our duck (twelve years without a League win against the West Londoners) as the match ended 0-0 (in what proved to be our only goalless draw of the season). The Lillywhites then went to Burnley in the third round of the League Cup needing a bit of a pick me up – but instead failed to produce the goods again. We took the lead early on but, as against Fulham, we decided first to showboat and then to give up – and Burnley came back to lead 2-1. Keane proceeded to then miss a hat-trick of chances and the match ended two-one to the home team. Players such as Poyet (who either scores or does nothing in games), Davies (well below par during the season) or Iversen (he’s just useless) had a lot to answer for as Tottenham went crashing out of the League Cup at an early stage yet again. A bad run needed to end at Sunderland but instead we participated in the most abysmal match of the season. Nothing happened in the first half and only two moments of note happened in the second – Sunderland scored twice to win 2-0. They were poor but we were worse and the bad run continued. The last thing we needed was a trip to Highbury for the North London derby but this fixture was up next and we produced the most embarrassing performance of the season to lose 3-0. We didn’t even compete against our arch rivals and the scoreline could have been a lot more. King made his first appearance of the season but he couldn’t do anything and Davies compounded the problem by getting sent off early on. Worst still Redknapp picked up an injury which, barring a brief appearance a couple of games later, would keep him out for the rest of the season – a problem Spurs fans feared when we signed him. A difficult run then that had ended in disaster with just one point from four games and a huge derby defeat - and it remained to be seen whether we could turn things round in the games to come.
An easy 2-0 home win against a poor Leeds side stopped the rot but then we failed to win at an average Birmingham City team as we came away with a 1-1 draw in another nothing game. What followed in our next two matches summed up Tottenham’s season, and indeed recent history, to a tee. Firstly we beat an excellent looking West Bromwich Albion team at home by three goals to one. Early goals in both halves made the victory seem comfortable but it instead was extremely flattering to Spurs as West Brom were by far the better team and better finishing from their part would have resulted in another humiliating defeat. Next we had Arsenal again in the return North London derby at home – and proceeded to produce our best display of the campaign. In the first forty five minutes we reigned down on our rivals goal and, although we couldn’t quite keep the same level of pressure up in the second half, thoroughly deserved to beat the red side of North London. Except for one slight problem. We didn’t. Poor finishing meant the game ended 1-1. Typical Tottenham – play poorly against a small side one week (no disrespect to West Brom) and scrape a win, then play well against a big club the next week and fail to win. The fact remains though that had we played like we did in this game for the whole season we would have qualified for the UEFA Cup at the very least. Disappointment soon turned to joy however as our first game in a busy holiday period ended with a 3-2 win at Manchester City. A thoroughly entertaining match that could have gone either way but for once we grabbed the crucial three points and at Xmas, halfway through the season, our sights were firmly set on Europe. Sure, things could have gone better and we were out of the League Cup but we were in a useful position and all we had to do was to ensure that the second half of the season would be on a par with the first.
The busy Xmas schedule continued with a 2-2 draw at home to Charlton on Boxing Day. This was another of these frustrating Tottenham performances – we went 2-0 down and looked dead and buried but came back to draw 2-2 and indeed nearly won it at the death. On the one hand fans were pleased to salvage a point and slightly disappointed that we didn’t win it, but on the other many were annoyed at how poorly we played to start with in what was an important home fixture. Our next performance was better but the result was worse – a 2-1 defeat at Newcastle. Despite playing well Tottenham went 2-0 down and never really looked like recovering despite some neat possession football. On New Year’s Day we travelled to Southampton for the first of two consecutive matches against the Saints and lost 1-0 in an even match. It was a game in which either team could have won but Southampton did because they scored the goal – and there isn’t much that can be done in those situations. However it meant that Spurs had only got one point from their last three matches and, after recovering from the five game blip just a month earlier, another bad run was on the cards. Tottenham needed a change of luck and fans hoped it would materialise in the form of our first FA Cup tie of the season – a third round fixture at Southampton. On paper not much had changed from the League encounter three days earlier but on the pitch we completely fell apart as the Saints thrashed us 4-0. Almost (but not quite) the worst performance of the season, Spurs were a shambles all over the pitch with good defenders such as King and Perry making basic mistakes, good midfielders like Davies and Poyet not contributing and good strikers like Keane and Sheringham not producing the goods. Even Keller, consistently good up to this point, was at fault. Out of both Cups in the early rounds (and thus two possible routes into Europe gone) and League form falling by the wayside the season appeared on a knife edge. Most apparent was the lack of another decent striker to accompany Keane up front and, with the transfer window having just reopened, the Board needed to act. They offloaded Rebrov and Ferdinand but clinically failed to purchase anyone else. This was to prove fatal.
It didn’t appear to be this way after our next match, an enthralling 4-3 victory at home to Everton. It was a throwback to the days of old with chances being created at either end and crucially Tottenham came out on top. We then went to Villa Park, a ground at which we hadn’t won in the League since 1986, and promptly beat Aston Villa by one goal to nil. An excellent all round team performance and for once a deserved away victory – the bad run had seemingly come to an end. It was a false dawn however as we promptly lost 1-0 to Newcastle at home. Luck was against us (we had a perfectly good goal ruled out for offside) but, as at Southampton on New Year’s Day, the Geordies put the ball in the net and Tottenham didn’t (save for the disallowed goal) – and at the end of the day that is the difference between the have and have nots. The haves take their chances, the have nots do not. A trip to Stamford Bridge then followed and everyone feared the worst at another of Tottenham’s bogey grounds. Instead a surprisingly good performance was produced as Spurs earned a 1-1 draw – a good result on its own but as part of a campaign a win perhaps should have been gained. A home fixture against an extremely poor Sunderland side was next on the horizon and a comprehensive result was needed. For once we produced it as we battered the Mackems by four goals to one. Once again we stood in a promising position – just outside the top six in the Premiership, and once more Europe appeared on the horizon. This was the point at which we needed to produce a good run, this was the moment when, for once, we needed to step up and win a few matches in a row. But Tottenham supporters were pessimistic – we’ve been through it all many times before and have failed each time. Unfortunately we were right to be so.
Another home game followed, this time against an equally poor Fulham side. On a Monday night the fans, as usual, turned out in force, but the players did not and performed poorly in a 1-1 draw. We had a chance to redeem ourselves though with a trip to local rivals West Ham. The Hammers were in danger of getting relegated and had indeed taken Les Ferdinand off our hands. A good performance and three points were crucial if we were serious about European qualification. Instead a surrender and a 2-0 defeat followed – with, irony of ironies, Ferdinand scoring one of the goals. Keane was not available for this match and instead we had Doherty, a central defender, up front. We couldn’t create any chances and didn’t. Bunjy, playing one of his many games in midfield, looked way out of his depth. Players such as Anderton and Davies did little, and defenders such as King and Richards looked unusually vulnerable at the back. This was a massive blow to Tottenham and we needed to bounce back immediately. Before our next competitive game however we had strangely arranged a mid-season friendly against Irish team Bohemians in Dublin. Due to the irregular rules of the transfer system we had managed to acquire a Japanese midfielder by the name of Kazuyuki Toda and he made his first team debut in this match. He looked poor however and Tottenham looked worse as we lost 3-1 to a team that had just started their pre-season training two days earlier. Toda made a few more appearances in latter matches but showed little other than possible pound signs in the eyes of the Board of Directors. Competitive action returned with a fixture against Liverpool at home. Our poor form continued, in another end-to-end match, as we succumbed 3-2 thanks to some poor defending and, worse, an unwillingness to fight. Fight for the ball, fight for the three points, fight for our season. We had one last chance, one last chance to salvage our season, our next fixture away to Bolton. A difficult place to go and a home team fighting for their lives, but even so Spurs had to step up and produce the goods. Keane was back for this match but Spurs once again appeared lacklustre and, just when a draw looked on the cards, we conceded a last minute penalty. In it went to give Bolton a 1-0 victory and, to all intense and purposes, end Tottenham’s season. One point from four matches (and a friendly defeat to boot) when, on paper at least, all could have been won. A lack of motivation, a lack of ambition and a lack of skill all contributed to the downfall.
The remainder of our matches still had to be played though and it was oh so typical Tottenham that we should then beat Birmingham at home by two goals to one, just as the pressure had been removed. An easy victory, but it mattered little. A visit to Leeds was next and we played well in a 2-2 draw – although perhaps we should have snatched a victory. Some Spurs fans still felt that we had an outside chance of Europe – if we could win all our remaining matches. Those slim, unrealistic chances ended on Good Friday when we faced an average Manchester City side at home. Spurs lost 2-0 and the performance was dreadful – we played as if we had given up – and the fact was we had. We constantly gave the ball away, we didn’t fight for 50/50 balls, we didn’t defend – we just didn’t play. Performances like that are inexcusable – yet still happen far too often. An away game at West Brom followed and, in the midst of some dreadful displays, we stepped up with a good one to win 3-2. The problem with Tottenham is that only produce them when we feel like it – not on a consistent basis. Our penultimate home game followed against Manchester United, and many feared the worst. They were right to do so – we lost 2-0 to the eventual Champions and, like at Old Trafford, only good goalkeeping and bad finishing from United kept the score down. There is no disgrace however in losing to a team that is clearly better on the day – Spurs tried their best but just couldn’t produce. Our final competitive away match of the season followed – a trip to the Riverside to face Middlesbrough. Within twenty minutes we were 2-0 down and down to ten men – game over. With just pride to play for however we showed none as we literally just stopped playing – and Boro went on to beat us 5-1. If they wanted to, they could have scored ten. With the season having fallen apart our final home match of the season against Blackburn Rovers beckoned. Blackburn still had a chance of qualifying for Europe, and thus everything to play for. However, given our recent results, we owed something to the fans, something for them to take away with them in the summer. What followed cannot be put into words – it was much worse than a disgrace. We lost 4-0 and words cannot describe the anger felt by many of the supporters at the end of the match. It was quite clearly our worst result and performance of the season – and it was simply disgusting. It meant that, as in the 2001/02 season, we ended up with fifty points. It meant that, as in the previous ten seasons, we ended up in mid-table, in tenth position. Then it was onto the epilogue, a pointless end-of-season friendly away to DC United. Hoddle brought on Dean Marney and Lee Barnard towards the end (pointless as he hadn’t played them in a competitive match all season) and experimented with Bunjy at the back (again, pointless) and, after a poor first half, we played reasonably well in the second. DC United though won the match 1-0 thanks to an own goal and Spurs fans left the ground thankful that the season was finally over due to the way we had ended it, but with little hope of success in the years to come.
2002/03 Season Review – Part Two
Having attended all fifty three first team matches in person in 2002/03 it pains me to see how a once great club has become. There are a number of reasons for this however and these must be addressed if THFC are ever to achieve anything in the future.
Ultimately everything comes down to results. Our final League record was P38 W14 D8 L16 F51 A62 P50 and this is plainly not good enough. More defeats than victories and a goal difference of –11 is ultimately why we ended up mid-table once again with an average number of points. Consistency, as it has been for the past ten years, is the problem. Only twice during the season did we win three competitive matches on the trot and one of those runs included a Cup match. Three wins on the spin equals consistency but it is a statistic that we rarely achieve year in year out. Part of the problem is arrogance – in numerous games we fail to beat teams who are inferior on paper because we assume that we’ll beat them without even trying. Thus during the games we don’t show the required effort (in terms of tackling, man marking, movement off the ball, passing, etc.) and thus don’t get the required results. This season we failed to beat Fulham (a 2-3), Burnley (LC a 1-2) Sunderland (a 0-2), Birmingham (a 1-1), Fulham (h 1-1), West Ham (a 0-2), Liverpool (h 2-3), Bolton (a 1-0), Man City (h 0-2), Boro (a 1-5) and Blackburn (h 0-4) for partly these reasons – a total of twenty eight dropped points and a League Cup exit. Our other main failure is when we play teams who, on paper, are superior to us. On numerous occasions we raise our game but fail to win due to not taking our chances. This season that happened against Liverpool (a 1-2), Chelsea (h 0-0), Ars*nal (h 1-1), Newcastle (a 1-2), Newcastle (h 0-1) and Chelsea (a 1-1) – a total of fifteen dropped points. Only with the following games could we not complain because either we had a complete off day and/or the opposition played well – Everton (a 2-2), Man Utd (a 0-1), Boro (h 0-3), Ars*nal (a 0-3), Charlton (h 2-2), Southampton (FC a 0-4), Leeds (a 2-2) and Man Utd (h 0-2). That’s eighteen points and an FA Cup exit that, to a large extent, can be written off (in terms of the results, not the inept performances). However the other forty three are inexcusable and had we got just half of those with the fifty points we did actually achieve Tottenham fans would be looking forward to the Champions’ League next season. As it is six home League defeats in total are too many – forty three dropped points in this manner are too many. Failing to take chances against better teams is down to the players – failing to be motivated against the lesser teams is mainly down to the manager.
Tottenham’s problems cannot, however, just be attributed to results. Another aspect that must be analysed is basic footballing technique. This is an area that affects English football in general and Spurs are perhaps just as fallible as anybody else. It is though absolutely infuriating when a player earning £20,000 or more a week cannot play a simple ball or make a simple tackle or control a simple pass with a simple first touch. Quite often it is down to a lack of concentration – a player like Poyet will simply hoof the ball upfield without looking forward to see who the ball is going too. Equally players upfield should, at the same time, attempt to move into a vacant space in order to receive the pass. Tottenham’s movement off the ball is extremely poor and this is mainly due to the lack of pace in the side – most players just don’t have the speed to find that space in the spilt second required. However much of it is to do with laziness and this has to be addressed. In the first half against Ars*nal at home every player was challenging for the ball and winning it, every player was finding space, every pass was successful and thus chances were created (although not taken). If we had played like that for the whole season we would have won the Championship – why we didn’t is difficult to fathom but it has to change in the future. Set pieces are another problem – why we score so few goals from corners and direct free-kicks compared with other sides is not easy to say. Our crossing is also poor – but this is an art that is, sadly, drifting out of the game.
Of course when the team is broken down it is left with the individual players and how they perform determines how well the club does as a whole. In goal Keller has been fantastic this season with numerous saves, many of them brilliant. His command of the goal has been excellent and his distribution adequate if not great. He saved Tottenham in many matches this season when the defence failed and hopefully he has a few more years in him yet. However he cannot continue indefinitely and, as Sullivan and Hirschfield failed to appear in any competitive games this season, it is likely that they will not want to stay at the club. Thus if and when Keller leaves in the future (or more immediately if and when he gets injured or suspended) we will not have any adequate back-up. This needs to be addressed in the summer.
However this is probably the least of Tottenham’s concerns as other areas of the pitch are more in need of repair. Our defence, on paper one of the best in the country, has conceded far too many sloppy goals this season and this too needs to be looked at. King, player of the season in 2001/02, has had a poor campaign. He has been beaten by pace on numerous occasions, his tackling has let him down, and generally he seems under par. The management need to take him under their wing in the summer and try and sort him out – otherwise a potential great could be lost. Gardener on the other hand has been a colossus and along with Richards (when he’s been fit) has excelled in central defence. Both can man mark, tackle, pass, push players off the ball and generally defend well and both should be in the starting line-up next season. Perry and Doherty have performed reasonably as back up and should be retained – although Thatcher has become a bit part player and should probably be moved on. The full-back position has been a problem for a very long time at N17 and it continues to remain so. Taricco is absolutely useless – his best performances are average compared to most and he has to be replaced. Carr, back from injury, had a poor campaign. He’s lost the ability to run down the wing, to run at the opposition and also seems scared to fight for the ball. He is now just a stereotypical English defender (even though he’s Irish!) and perhaps he wouldn’t be missed if he was to depart in the close season. Obviously replacements would have to be found in the summer.
In midfield Poyet and Freund have to go. They’ve had their time but now they’re too old. Bunjy and Acimovic also have to go – they were quite simply a waste of money. Neither can tackle, neither can pass, neither carry any weight in midfield. They both give the ball away too much and are a liability. Redknapp on the other hand is young and, when fit, has had a great season. His passing is good, he can create space for others -and he can take (and score) free-kicks! Alongside him Etherington looks an exciting prospect but hasn’t played enough this season. When he has he’s run at players, cut inside, played the pass and indeed had the odd shot and scored the odd goal. His crossing needs to dramatically improve and he needs to learn to lay the ball off more but potentially he has a great future. Last season however Davies potentially had a great future but this season he’s completely gone off the boil. He’s stopped running at players, stopped crossing the ball, stopping shooting and looks a shadow of his former self. This is very worrying indeed and, like King, he must be looked at in the summer. Ziege could potentially replace him permanently at wing back but he is more defensive minded. If Davies and Etherington improve though we would have the wingers and the midfield maestro. What we still need is a ball winner – someone to replace Freund – and more, a midfield general. A Roy Keane or Patrick Vieira type player – someone who can tackle, pass, gee the midfield up and, most crucially of all, run at opposition defences. Someone, in other words, with pace. These players may already be in the squad. Blondel, Ricketts, Thelwell, Henry, Marney, Barnard, Burch and Yeates can all play in midfield but crucially they’ve not been tried. They should have been towards the end of the season when we had nothing to play for. They must be next season. Toda needs more of a chance but doesn’t appear to be any good and Anderton, as always, remains an enigma. On his day he’s good, but otherwise he’s awful. He probably should go as well.
Our true weak spot at this moment in time though is of course up front. Our only bright spot is Keane – probably our best signing since Klinsmann. Energetic, fast and skilful Keane is the only player in the team who, this season, has kept on trying no matter what. Constantly running up and down the pitch, into corners, into the area and back again - if his attitude was repeated throughout the team we would have had a lot more points this season. With his pace and his excellent control of the ball (again, something other players could learn from) he is a handful to opposition defences. This season he has created numerous chances on his own simply by running at and beating players. His finishing still could be improved but he still scored a dozen or so goals for Spurs this season and that’s not bad in his first year at the club. However he is not an out and out goalscorer and he cannot do it on his own. Time after time this season he held the ball up in the corners with defenders around him, but had no team mate near him to support him, and thus lost the ball. Not his fault but the team’s. With Ferdinand, Rebrov and Sheringham all gone Tottenham have nobody else to partner him – forget Iversen he’s not fit to walk onto a pitch let alone actually play a game. Slabber, the youngster, may be one for the future but Spurs simply have to sign at LEAST one striker in the summer to accompany Keane. If we don’t then, without goals, we will be relegated from the Premiership next season.
No team can be mentioned without the manager in the same breath and, regrettably, this article now turns to Glenn Hoddle. When he was appointed as Tottenham boss I said that he was not the right choice. A great player for the club he may have been but as a manager he has been distinctly average. Unfortunately I have been proved right. Firstly his man management is abysmal – the fact that the players have not been motivated for numerous matches against inferior teams this season is largely down to him. Many players have publicly hinted that they don’t get on with him and it appears that he is so arrogant that, if he has an argument with one, he just refuses to speak to him. This is no way to manage a McDonalds branch let alone a Premiership football club. His handling of Rebrov in 2001/02 was, quite simply, a disgrace. Secondly some of his selections this season have been mind boggling. Continually picking Poyet and Sheringham (albeit Teddy did score quite a few) when it is quite obvious that they are finished, and yet not picking Blondel, Ricketts, Barnard, Marney, Yeates, Slabber, Thelwell, Burch and Henry is ludicrous. What is the point of signing them or bringing them through the youth ranks if they’re not going to get a game? Thirdly his formations and tactics leave a lot to be desired – he kept changing from 4-4-2 to 3-5-2 and back again, often in the same game. He insisted on playing Bunjy in central midfield when it was obvious that he is not comfortable in this position. He kept making substitutions with five minutes to go in games that had already been lost when it was obvious changes had to be made earlier. In many games players didn’t know what they were meant to do – he simply hadn’t told them. The obvious answer would be to get rid of him this summer – but it would not be the correct answer. Over the years Spurs have chopped and changed too often and consistency is as important off the pitch as it is on. Any manager needs at least three full seasons and it is why Hoddle should – and will – get one more year to get it right. If however, and as one suspects, Spurs are in the same position twelve months on, then he has to go.
The above are not the only concerns surrounding THFC at the moment. This season we had numerous injury problems – far too many to mention here. It is true that all teams have injuries – but not to the extent Tottenham do. In the early part of the season a table came out listing the number of injured players amongst all twenty Premiership teams. Our rivals Ars*nal were second in the table with seven. We were top with fourteen. FOURTEEN injured players. It has been the same for the past decade and it is simply NOT all down to bad luck. Our back room staff need to be investigated – from the physio to the person who cleans the treatment room. Our treatment methods need to be looked into as well as the equipment we use. Attitudes to players also need to be looked into – because a lot of the time they pretend to be injured worse than they actually are. Only a proper investigation will help reduce the injury jinx – and a full strength team in the season just ended may have produced an entirely different outcome.
At the helm of the whole organisation is the Board of Directors and the Chairman Daniel Levy. I saw him and his wife outside the RFK Stadium after the DC United game at the end of the season. I had previously seen them at Stanstead airport on the way to the Bohemians friendly back in March and asked him if he remembered me from that time. He didn’t – but surprisingly his wife did. Then he said something which still astounds me at the time of writing, a few weeks later. With genuine surprise in his voice he said, “so you’ve come all this way JUST to watch Tottenham play?” I was stunned and said, “yes!” He said, “oh!” I said, “actually mate about two hundred of us have flown over for the game!” He said, “oh!” again, and then he had to go. With someone as naïve, crass and out of touch with supporters as he effectively running the club the future does not look bright. The company he works for, ENIC, do not appear to have the ambition and desire to make Spurs great again, instead seeing Tottenham as just a business investment. In order to progress they need to forget about a new stadium or increasing the capacity of White Hart Lane. They need to forget about building training academies. Instead they need to invest money into the first team squad and they need to do it THIS summer – before it’s too late. Supporters though wait more in hope than expectation.
This article has been rather pessimistic, criticising all aspects of the club. There is one element that deserves praise though and that is us, the fans. It never ceases to amaze this writer how dedicated our supporters are, week in week out, year in year out, when all we have to put up with is mediocre drivel. Indeed attendances have risen as performances have declined. However fans are not entirely blameless. As I indicated at the start of this piece many of us tend to look back at the past, remember the glory days, reminiscence, and expect us to rekindle them. Many of us feel that it is indeed our right to be a big club. It isn’t. The fact is we are no longer a big club. It is not our right to become a big club again. And until we stop looking back and accept what we are - a mid-table, mediocre, run of the mill football club, we cannot move forward. We will never again become great until we accept that we currently no longer are. It can be done but it will take time. It will take years. Because in order to become great again we have to accept the fact that we must start from scratch, that we must earn the right to be amongst the big boys, that we, to quote the famous song, must start again from our beginnings. We cannot just become great again overnight. Football is a business and, just like any other business, it is a harsh industry. Only if we acknowledge our current status can we ever hope to change it.
That, however, is the long term future. The short term future, as indicated by this article, looks bleak. A lot depends on what happens in this summer, in this close season. Crucial signings need to be made – and if they are then we can move forward. If not though, if the right decisions aren’t made, if the right moves aren’t implemented, then we could remain as we are indefinitely. We could remain in mid-table forever. Worst still we could be relegated. But the great thing about football, the greatest entity on earth, is that there is always hope. Hope for a brighter future. Hope for a successful future. Hope for a glorious future. Admittedly it’s not much to go on but, at this point in our history, it is all we have. Come on you Spurs.
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Disclaimer: Please note the words on this page are the opinion of Spurs supporters and are just that, opinions, not facts and are nothing to do with Tottenham Hotspur Football club PLC. Just a supporter having his say, nothing more nothing less