The Calm Before the Inevitable Storm
How we feeling?
Anxious I guess. It’s the bog standard default setting for most Spurs fans at any given moment. Of course, you can choose to be positive and hope for the best because the alternative is to fester in the misery that we often define for ourselves, with accompanying support by the mis-management of the club (by the board). But alas, this is a reset right? Not a reboot, a fully blown reset. One year in, under Ange, we have a new structure within the walls of THFC regarding player acquisitions and scouting. Data led, the right players for the right manager. A philosophy that isn’t based on desperation. An identity re-connected to what it means to be Tottenham.
Right?
Ha. Well, fuck knows. The above all sounds sweet but the reality check is the output on the field. Long time readers will know that my stance is to always believe and for the club to represent the heritage and traditions we favour. Afterall, WE are the club even if in modern times we are being pushed aside as any season ticket holder is replaceable, such is the demand for attendance (even with the rising costs of fandom).
It’s been a long long time since I’ve blogged here on DML - the place that pretty much made me. The landscape of online football discourse has changed massively. Podcasts are the main resource. Social media is practically a constant stream of micro-blogging. YouTube offers detailed breakdowns of tactics and theoretical line-ups. Everyone is a content creator. Everyone is a blogger. And there is little time for long form written essays. It’s a very selective club, as seen by the rise of SubStack and other platforms (Patreon included, hint hint). I’d wager some people haven’t even got this far in reading this particular share.
Spurs, since the Poch implosion, has showcased how poor Daniel Levy and friends have been with decision making, from a football perspective. It’s a story as old as time itself. Jose and Conte, perhaps ambitious to a point but neither suited to a club like Spurs. Yet rather than rebuild after Poch, we opted for a quick fix. Of course, the whole ‘20 years 1 trophy’ line - as factually correct as it is, there’s a lot of context missing. We have attempted breakthroughs and arguably since 2006 have risen to be a top team. Just one with missing ingredients to ‘get over the line’. Lots of European football, cup finals, semis. Just no cigar. Spurs are criticised for their high end failures whilst the likes of Everton and Villa and a few others are barely compared (if you dare to follow the trajectory from the 80s into the 90s and 00s).
And now? Today?
Ange is maligned by some. No doubt he has questions to answer (set piece defending) but Spurs have a bright and sparky squad of players. That backline is potentially elite. The midfield is stacked with talent (if said talent turns it on) and also youthful enterprise. Recovering from Harry Kane is almost impossible so we need reinvention to inspire resurgence. The club are backing their manager, we have a strategy for once, and if they can add an obsessive energy to pushing us from (often) seasonal Champions League contenders to actual title contenders - then things will have truly changed. Project Youth is also tasty, with the profile of players we are signing and the academy lads (especially one Mikey Moore).
That gap between City (and them lot) and the rest is big but not impossible to close. But first things first, we need to be decent and consistent. As Ange has said, we need to be in a position where we can compete and win and not simply do so on the one off occasion.
The window has yet to close. The season is about to start. We need perhaps a winger and a midfielder in. A defender too. We do in fact need all of those things.
The club have never been in such a promising position. A billion pound entity (and some). Revenue streams aplenty. Super club on paper, not so super on the pitch. It’s time. And because of that aforementioned valuation I doubt the club will be sold any time soon. Perhaps a stake, a percentage, an injection. But we are stuck with ENIC. And for all their missteps (wrong appointments, wrong players for the wrong manager, ticket hikes, concession controversy) they appear to have finally caught on. We need a blueprint and we need to commit to it. An uncomfortable comparison is the one at the other end of the Seven Sisters road. We have that capacity so if we’re serious people, we need to move seriously towards elevating ourselves to the next level. Rather than sit comfortably where we are; flirting with elite potential.
The investment we make as fans (both with heart and wallet) needs to be matched. Because if you’re not hungry to be the very best there are several other teams that will happily step up instead. Some might say that we need to cheat-code our way to success. Do a City. A Chelsea. Who cares about laundering and human rights? Sports washing is practically legitimised these days. Ha, well, I would hope nobody wants to sacrifice the club, sell its soul. Then again, some will argue we’re less of a football club and more of an entertainment venue.
The war of words will persist.
Ultimately, we are here for the football and that’s all I can focus on.
Up The Spurs
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