Jerk that knee
Spurs News 24/7Last night (Sunday, time of writing) had a quick look, just a seconds worth at the comments on this blog and Twitter. Had to burn my eyes out, now using voice recognition to blog. Will probably be accused of blind faith.
So apparently the best way forward is to make a managerial change now - according to those that have spent all season predicting this eventually. The rest of us have been conned by an illusion. Andre Villas-Boas without the mental tenacity, it's alleged, to fight his way through the criticism and repair some of the self-inflicted damage on morale.
Retaining stability (count up how many managers we've worked through over the years and let me know) and seeking to let the man that's started the job finish the season has the risk that if he failed to pick us up from the canvas and qualify for the Champions League that this would be the catalyst for transfer requests. This would be a waste of a season, setting us back a season or more.
A lose lose situation although the former is a win for some.
So rather than take that gamble, sacking him would allow for new direction that might spur us on and reclaim the potential that we're failing to live up to.
Tied into this logic is no risk. So I'm told.
I do love the old 'we're falling behind' line. Look around, there's not a lot to fear if we get our act together. Sure, we shouldn't be trying to we should be there already. But we're not but is time running out? Someone point me towards the egg timer of doom so I don't miss out on the apocalypse. If this was the end of the season and we we're 10th, then fair enough.
Sacking him would be the traditional football way of doing things. Not even two full seasons and some want to show us much loyalty to our coach that we get from want-away players.
Is football this pressured? Do we turn into a pumpkin at midnight?
We missed out on CL football by a couple of points last season, because of individual errors (if you want to scrutinise it to the bone). Some like to believe we only got to a position where we then lost it because of one man (Gareth Bale), a nice story arc for those that actually believe football is not a team game. Still, there is a continuation of one problem - a lack of goals and connection between the midfield/wings and the forward.
If AVB wants to save face (and make me look good) he can do with a monumental epiphany right about now. That 6-0 on Sunday might have been enough to induce one.
If Daniel Levy was to make a decision based on this one result and the belief that all previous results are evidence of no progression then does that not make a mockery of his decision to appoint AVB in the first place? A mockery of the 'break through' out in the Bahamas that inspired the spending, the rebuild and the arrival of Franco Baldini?
Are we going to give the next man the same virtues of our patience?
Going back to the thinking that no CL would mean players leaving, then God only knows what this game is about if I'm going to be concerned with footballers that don't want to wear the shirt. If that is football, if a club with aspirations like ourselves are stuck in this perpetual loop of demand and supply, then this will never let up.
Aim high, always aim high - but do so without losing sight of the ground below your feet.
Then again, Levy got AVB on the cheap. The players we signed can play under any coach. Baldini will be no different to Comolli in terms of suggesting a replacement.
If the next man comes in and the football is prettier, then at least we'll have pretty football.
The pressure is on our coach - no doubting that. It's always been on. As I wrote in the match report (the article published before this one), the City performance was limp and pathetic.
I expect our players to be hurt, as much as I am so I expect them - all of them - to show something in the next league game. To show us how much they want to wear our shirt, how much they believe in our coach. If they repeat Sunday's performance over and over again - then there's no arguing. The players have the power and AVB will have lost his.
It's Manchester United (in the league) up next. Don't cry. Hold back the tears. We've got a week to go.
Fight, spirit...that's just half of it. I'm not ignoring the fact that Andre has to show us how big his balls are. Grapes or grape fruits behind that fitted suit?
Football is so fickle, from the boardroom to the stands, from the players to the media coverage. When things are bad, they are ten times worst for the supporters. We are as good as our last result. This is embraced every time and the very life is strangled out of it. Every single time. Stability not necessary for the fast football generation. No in-between, it's either good or bad and if it's bad then shift onto the next man and repeat until fade.
I'm standing where I've always stood until the day I'm knocked down. This isn't blind faith, this isn't pride for the sake of pride. I still see us recovering and discovering the type of form we have threatened on paper out on the pitch.
I'm loyal to Tottenham Hotspur first - above any man or player. I happen to still respect stability. I want to fight to attain it. We've had worse days and worse times with worse players. We're hardly in crisis so I refuse to behave like we are. The dangerous game is played by those that do believe we are in crisis. That same positive belief I get criticised for having is less damaging than the negative belief that we're at a point of no return.
You'll disagree (most of you, some of you) and say you're just being shrewd, you're looking ahead and saving us all the hassle of more grief. That it's best for the club to cut loose and start again because expectancy is at an accelerated pace - no CL = disaster, therefore fix it before it's too late to fix.
Maybe I've got this all wrong. Maybe it's simple and AVB is over complicating it. Maybe in the end, a season or so from now, AVB's blueprint will work - but nobody will find out because he'll have left by then, replaced by someone that gives us the cosmetic package we all desire. Can you honestly say that person won't trip over their own self-inflicted tactical preferences? We can never know.
I honestly think it comes down to the very fundamental building blocks of supporting. People want instant gratification. With caveats. Caveats that change depending on how well we're doing ('CL is more important', 'winning a cup is more important' <- select when appropriate depending on where we are in the league).
Football is this pressured.
We got spanked by City. Now nothing - nothing - that has taken place this season up until this point matters. This is ground zero for all involved. The past will become relevant to history again only after we've seen what Spurs have to offer in the way of a reaction.
If Spurs came out and smashed United, with AVB showing big balls and his players equally pumped up - watch the difference in emotions shift towards him and the team.
Massive week(s) ahead for us now. We need to see a tactical and player reaction otherwise this false crisis will turn into a real crisis because it doesn't take much to tag something with the c word these days.
Twelve games gone and I'm writing this.
Only Tottenham.
I blame Gareth Bale's parents. None of this would have happened had they not had a bunk up.
