There used to be a Tottenham Hotspur over there
Spurs News 24/7Tottenham are playing a football match this Sunday. Hardly an extraordinary statement but since our 1-1 draw away to Hull City the football itself has taken a back seat thanks to the disdain aimed towards Daniel Levy. For those that backed Andre Villas-Boas and retain a sense of doubt with Tim Sherwood, the past two results have fuelled frustration and that much maligned patience is beginning to slip away from our fingers once again. Tottenham and their fans are dancing to the same tune with the same moves over and over again. So don't blame me if this reads like a repeat. Blame my source material.
Off the field we are obsessed with the lack of development with the new stadium, the StubHub controversy and the non-existent transparency concerning the Y word. There's the aforementioned frustrations concerning Levy's net-spend and ENIC, the investment company that own Spurs which Levy controls whilst Joe Lewis (who owns ENIC) looks on from afar.
There is no consistency with these frustrations because the fickle truth is if the football was better all the despondency would be parked up whilst we glowed with pride. Although that's not to underplay the fact that Spurs do appear to lack genuine leadership and more importantly an actual plan that allows any given coach the time to implement their own. I guess that is the tipping point. We are all fed up of the repeat shows. Regardless of the progress made since the early 2000s.
Seems that if you do not get immediate results you're out. Even if you do get immediate results you might still be out. Just ask Frank de Boer and Louis van Gaal - two men who appear to desire the pay out Levy will give them when he sacks them after hiring them. If either one of the two are crazy enough to align themselves with the paradox that is Tottenham Hotspur.
One of the greatest footballing quotes of all time is the one attributed to Keith Burkinshaw (it's never been proved). The quote of course is; There used to be a football club over there.
Or 'there used to be a football club here'. It changes subtly depending where you read it. He was referencing the change in how Spurs was being run as a club and how it was losing its soul. Not too overly dramatic considering Irving Scholar took us to the brink of ruin before Alan Sugar via Terry Venables saved the club which was later sold to ENIC. Spurs have never been this fiscally strong. It took as years to compete again having lost out during the Sky Sports Top Four era. But we are competing. Yet how can something look so good on the surface be so unnerving inside? Paradoxical indeed.
So I welcome Everton to the Lane and look ahead to a vital game that might give the winner the momentum to claim a top four position. It's a distraction. That's all the actual football seems to be these-days.
originally blogged for Club Metro
