The nearly there team??

[Maltese Falcon]

What do the fates have against us?

First on the brink of a CL place that could have transformed Jol and us, we suffer Lasagna Gate

Then we are shoe-ins for a third place finish - only to have Capello resign out of nowhere as England manager over a non-football issue... leading to a domino effect resulting in Harry losing focus, losing the trust of Levy and getting kicked out when - again out of nowhere - Chelscum win the CL against all the odds!

Then just as we are on the brink of another CL place, we throw away a 6 point lead and with it the best player in the world

Now as it seems we have the chance to recruit a world class manager, that idiot Moyes couldn't at least last one season at Old Trafford.

What have we done to deserve this???

 

[kanoute16]

History repeats itself. It started with the poor business investments in the 80s that lead to massive debts that was closely followed with Sugar saving us financially. Sadly he had no idea how to run a football club being a savvy business who rarely took a risk. When the money flooded into football in the 90s we suffered one rubbish manger after another only spending to appease the fans with no real structure in place.

Levy and Enic have come in and things seemed to be improving after again picking some poor managers, however we only seem to get so far before , as you have described, something comes along to bat us back down

 

[DubaiSpur]

Eh. Goes all the way back to when one of our best ever players and attacking talisman of the double side John White was killed by bloody lightning at the age of 27. We arguably never recovered from that blow.

We are a ghoulishly unlucky side, but a lot of our current reversals are self-inflicted, imo. Mistakes have been made this season, from top to bottom. And part of the reason we are likely to continue making those mistakes in the summer is our own attitude as fans. Sure, LvG is a 'world class' manager. Who's won a CL trophy. But that one came in 1995. And now we bleat that losing him is going to be a body blow if it comes to pass.

Rafa Benitez won a CL trophy too. In 2005, far more recently than LvG. He's won a Europa League trophy as well, a couple of La Liga titles, a few cups with Inter, the FA Cup...the list goes on. He's apparently interested in managing us as well. Yet we as fans are incredibly snobbish, almost to the point of being actively insolent. LvG is hailed as a maestro of free-flowing football, and so he is the ideal candidate. Rafa is derided as a dour, negative manager (bull**** if I've ever heard it) and so he is unworthy of the honor of putting his name above the manager's door here at the Lane. Indeed, most on this board seem to prefer the likes of Mauricio bloody Pochettino (who has won nothing and has a career win percentage of 33 percent) and Frank De Boer (whose Ajax just lost 5-1 in the final of the Dutch cup to a newly-promoted side) to a man who's been there, won it all, has managed in the Premier League before, speaks fluent English, is old enough to be respected and also young enough to be a real long-term option.

No, we would take these unproven, unknown managers because they play what we deem to be 'good' football: pretty and full of possession. We turn down people like Rafa because they advocate steely defensive play and rapid, lightening-fast counter-attacking football (oddly the same type of football Harry had us playing). We fawn over managers like LvG and their trophy cabinets, but when offered a man who's won many of the same trophies with arguably worse sides at his disposal than LvG had access to, we scoff because our puritanical brand of 'pretty' football has to achieved, and quickly.

No, there is a malaise among us fans that extends to the club, and that collectively mires us in mediocrity. We are offered safe, solid options, but turn them down. Which, ultimately, is understandable (we have our tradition to maintain, after all), but we shouldn't keep harping on about our ghoulish luck. Because it's not the cause of all our troubles.

 

[WhoopWhoop]

It's not great tbh but then hardly helps matters when after these disappointments our chairman sees it fit to sell our best players and replace with inferior players. Shame really.

 

[markysimmo]

What do the fates have against us?

First on the brink of a CL place that could have transformed Jol and us, we suffer Lasagna Gate

Then we are shoe-ins for a third place finish - only to have Capello resign out of nowhere as England manager over a non-football issue... leading to a domino effect resulting in Harry losing focus, losing the trust of Levy and getting kicked out when - again out of nowhere - Chelscum win the CL against all the odds!

Then just as we are on the brink of another CL place, we throw away a 6 point lead and with it the best player in the world

Now as it seems we have the chance to recruit a world class manager, that idiot Moyes couldn't at least last one season at Old Trafford.

What have we done to deserve this???

This makes me sad

 

[Gutter Boy]

Everton, Villa, Saudi Sportswashing Machine, Leeds - all have similar stories.

 

[Gutter Boy]

What do the fates have against us?

First on the brink of a CL place that could have transformed Jol and us, we suffer Lasagna Gate

Then we are shoe-ins for a third place finish - only to have Capello resign out of nowhere as England manager over a non-football issue... leading to a domino effect resulting in Harry losing focus, losing the trust of Levy and getting kicked out when - again out of nowhere - Chelscum win the CL against all the odds!

Then just as we are on the brink of another CL place, we throw away a 6 point lead and with it the best player in the world


Now as it seems we have the chance to recruit a world class manager, that idiot Moyes couldn't at least last one season at Old Trafford.

What have we done to deserve this???

We didn't exactly throw it away. Our run-in form was as good as it had been all season. Arsenal were just exceptional (barely dropped a point in their final 10 matches)

 

[paxtonwolf]

I dont know the history of Olde Haringay, but is WHL built on some sort of ancient burial ground? The bad luck we have had in recent times has always made me wonder

 

[nelto]

I dont know the history of Olde Haringay, but is WHL built on some sort of ancient burial ground? The bad luck we have had in recent times has always made me wonder

Hopefully digging the new stadium foundations will unearth it, like Crossrail. The bodies will re-interred with dignity, the curse will be lifted and we'll win the league ten years in a row!

 

[THFC6061]

I dont know the history of Olde Haringay, but is WHL built on some sort of ancient burial ground? The bad luck we have had in recent times has always made me wonder

The stadium was built on a old plant nursery (Beckwith's Nursery) owned by the Charrington's Brewery.

They planned to build housing units to give a steady supply of customers to the White Hart pub which they owned, but were persuaded that having a football club there instead would provide more income.

Spurs agreed to guarantee 1,000 fans for every first team game and 500 for every reserves match.

 

[SpurMeUp]

The stadium was built on a old plant nursery (Beckwith's Nursery) owned by the Charrington's Brewery.

They planned to build housing units to give a steady supply of customers to the White Hart pub which they owned, but were persuaded that having a football club there instead would provide more income.

Spurs agreed to guarantee 1,000 fans for every first team game and 500 for every reserves match.

So in effect we were built to service a pub! Holston has been our coolest sponsor, and consistent with our early history. Didn't know that, thanks for sharing.

 

[paxtonwolf]

The stadium was built on a old plant nursery (Beckwith's Nursery) owned by the Charrington's Brewery.

They planned to build housing units to give a steady supply of customers to the White Hart pub which they owned, but were persuaded that having a football club there instead would provide more income.

Spurs agreed to guarantee 1,000 fans for every first team game and 500 for every reserves match.

Good info as always Statto. Bang goes my theory then..

 

[paxtonwolf]

Hopefully digging the new stadium foundations will unearth it, like Crossrail. The bodies will re-interred with dignity, the curse will be lifted and we'll win the league ten years in a row![/QUOTE]

Just the once and I will die a happy man.

Over 50 years and neither Tottenham or Warrington RLFC have ever been crowned Champions in my lifetime. Even Warrington blew a 16-2 lead in last season's Grand Final. I think I am destined to never ever know what it feels like to see my team be crowned League Champions of their Sport

 

[spurs' magna carter]

- One of the best squads in the League

- One of the best training facilities in the World

- Very well run business

- £108m summer spend​

And yet, we are miles behind the top teams in fact despite what is happening at Utd I'd still say we're miles behind them as well.

I genuinely believe that this club could win the league but when look at the lasagne gates and munichs we've had to endure you get the feeling that regardless as to what we do it won't happen, even with a sugar daddy, it still can't happen!

But if we build a new stadium.....

 

[braineclipse]

I would rather be the nearly there team than the not even ****ing close team we were in my first decade as a Spurs fan.

Unsurprisingly, when looking at a relatively long period of time there have been several properly unfortunate events and unlucky situations.

 

[Cochise]

I was typing away in another thread and thought this may be the better place for this ramble:

Lets look at our transfer history. During the Redknapp years we gradually bought the best players from mid table teams (Palacios, Corluka, Bentley, Defoe, Crouch, Kaboul, Kranjcar), mixed them with unkown young talent (Modric) and some young youth prospects (Huddlestone, Bale) to over achieve and reach fourth spot. After that we followed the same policy (Friedel, Parker the Ade loan) and only brought in one world class player (VdV). If we are honest it was at this time when we should've been buying up some better quality players as we could attract them.

After that we spent two years scrabbling around for players whilst losing Modric, you could even argue we followed the same policy (Dempsey, Siggy, Dembele) but we did get in Lloris and Vertonghen. Last summer was the last time we could really hope to get in the calibre of players we need (those with aspirations of going for the top four and beyond) as players wanted to play with Gareth Bale and could see the quality we had elsewhere. If that money has been mis-spent then we are going to have to go back to the policy of 5-6 years ago of getting in players who are the best of the rest in the hope that they combine well with the great talent we already have (Eriksen).

The question is do we need such a rebuild and if so who can we get in that matches the old policy? Teams like Chelsea and Emirates Marketing Project are always throwing out talent that we could use, players like Carrick, Milner, Lescott, Cole and funnily enough Lukaku (not gonna happen but funny they are looking to offload). Best of the rest in the EPL, we are looking at players like Reid, Krul, Marshall, Caulker, Shneiderlin, Vorm, Williams, Michu, Bony and de Guzman.

When I look at Liverpool's transfers from over the past 2-3 years they have followed a similar plan. They have the top teams cast off's (Sturridge, Sakho, Toure), unknown young talent (Coutinho), good buys from average EPL teams (Allen, Mignolet, Henderson) and the emerging home talent (Flanagan and Sterling). Ok they are fortunate to have a strong leader in Gerrard and the talent of Suarez, but the transfer model isn't entirely different, they have just bought less.

Sorry again for the ramble but I just got typing and consider the subject to be worth considering. It's entirely feasible that our purchases from last summer come good under the right coach, however in the event they don't, perhaps this line of reasoning will be something we will see the club follow.

 

[Danners9]

It's not great tbh but then hardly helps matters when after these disappointments our chairman sees it fit to sell our best players and replace with inferior players. Shame really.

And also not push on when the opportunity is there. This season was one, with or without Bale, as Liverpool have shown. And before when Spurs made it to the CL. And before when Berbatov was here, and before, and before that. The club spends what it makes, it doesn't invest any more. Maybe it suits the owners to keep the club as a nearly team, on the verge and missing out just - similar to Wenger/Arsenal where ambitions have become about making 4th and keeping the money rolling in while pretending to challenge for the title.

 

[DMac]

I dont know the history of Olde Haringay, but is WHL built on some sort of ancient burial ground? The bad luck we have had in recent times has always made me wonder

The stadium was built on a old plant nursery (Beckwith's Nursery) owned by the Charrington's Brewery.

They planned to build housing units to give a steady supply of customers to the White Hart pub which they owned, but were persuaded that having a football club there instead would provide more income.

Spurs agreed to guarantee 1,000 fans for every first team game and 500 for every reserves match.

I think I've figured out what happened. The plant nursery was built on an ancient, cursed burial ground and always produced **** plants, so they decided to build something else there and built our stadium. ](*,)

 

[braineclipse]

I was typing away in another thread and thought this may be the better place for this ramble:

Lets look at our transfer history. During the Redknapp years we gradually bought the best players from mid table teams (Palacios, Corluka, Bentley, Defoe, Crouch, Kaboul, Kranjcar), mixed them with unkown young talent (Modric) and some young youth prospects (Huddlestone, Bale) to over achieve and reach fourth spot. After that we followed the same policy (Friedel, Parker the Ade loan) and only brought in one world class player (VdV). If we are honest it was at this time when we should've been buying up some better quality players as we could attract them.

After that we spent two years scrabbling around for players whilst losing Modric, you could even argue we followed the same policy (Dempsey, Siggy, Dembele) but we did get in Lloris and Vertonghen. Last summer was the last time we could really hope to get in the calibre of players we need (those with aspirations of going for the top four and beyond) as players wanted to play with Gareth Bale and could see the quality we had elsewhere. If that money has been mis-spent then we are going to have to go back to the policy of 5-6 years ago of getting in players who are the best of the rest in the hope that they combine well with the great talent we already have (Eriksen).

The question is do we need such a rebuild and if so who can we get in that matches the old policy? Teams like Chelsea and Emirates Marketing Project are always throwing out talent that we could use, players like Carrick, Milner, Lescott, Cole and funnily enough Lukaku (not gonna happen but funny they are looking to offload). Best of the rest in the EPL, we are looking at players like Reid, Krul, Marshall, Caulker, Shneiderlin, Vorm, Williams, Michu, Bony and de Guzman.

When I look at Liverpool's transfers from over the past 2-3 years they have followed a similar plan. They have the top teams cast off's (Sturridge, Sakho, Toure), unknown young talent (Coutinho), good buys from average EPL teams (Allen, Mignolet, Henderson) and the emerging home talent (Flanagan and Sterling). Ok they are fortunate to have a strong leader in Gerrard and the talent of Suarez, but the transfer model isn't entirely different, they have just bought less.

Sorry again for the ramble but I just got typing and consider the subject to be worth considering. It's entirely feasible that our purchases from last summer come good under the right coach, however in the event they don't, perhaps this line of reasoning will be something we will see the club follow.

Both Huddlestone and Bale were bought prior to Redknapp. The young/unknown players brought in under Redknapp were primarily Sandro, Walker and Naughton.

I agree that looking to bring in "the best of the rest" and top 4 leftovers is a good part of a solid transfer strategy. It's the way to bring in PL experienced players and get the mix between potential and experience somewhat right.

It should be combined with bringing in players with massive potential that might take some time to flourish though. It's where I felt Redknapp was lacking during his time here, particularly after Sandro and the Kyles. Whereas Comolli and Baldini (so far) has swung to far in the other direction by bringing in very few PL proven players.

 

[Lilywhite]

It's all John Terry's fault.

His racism is ultimately what led to Capello leaving, cos of the ensuing fallout with the FA. Then (this bit's a joke) Terry starred as a player and manager in Chelsea's epic (and not at all financially doped - yes I'm bitter) CL win which kicked us out of the CL.