Who/what is YOUR Tottenham?

[thfcsteff]

I've been thinking about this for a while now…


I loved the sexiness of AVB, the promise, the intelligence (and he IS a smart smart man), the ideaology behind possession-football, the proposed 'program', the DOF, all of it…but when I look back, NWND might've reached a place far more abruptly, and in a different fashion, that I can empathize with.

I support all our managers until they give me a reason not, either by being disengenuous, dishonest or simply not trying anymore. I even held fire over GGG, even though I hated him. But the manager in my lifetime who captured everything about this beautiful, wonderful club, was Burkinshaw. I was spoilt. We played with flair and style, we shipped some awful games but won some beautiful ones. We were the Cup Kings. Wembley literally became a second home I was there that much. Everything, from that first Le Coq Sportif kit to the players, to the stands, it was beautiful. Even the terraces! WE were the anti-racist club, WE had the best away support, WE had joy we had fun…Maxi was a goal/mistake in the making every game, but it didn't matter because we SCORED MORE! We were swashbucklers. We were entertainers. Alfie Conn was an early early indulgence, and then came Glenn…

I have been on a roller-coaster these past few years, but more these past few months. I believed in AVB, I wanted to believe in him…I wanted to feel that it was going to be a platform for titles and CL domination in years to come…

In the last month I have found myself enjoying (despite my reservations) the vibe at the club. Who knows if the likes of Soldado are happy (I hope he can get a tune from this great striker) but seeing Bentaleb has really got me excited. A local. Townsend to come back. Some other ressies coming in on the bench. Seeing us be a little looser for sure but entertaining. Less control at times? Perhaps. But goals. And some entertainment.

I have come to the conclusion that I actually don't know if I care about 'competing' in that sense with the multi-billionaires who can go and buy whoever and fill their shiney new soulless ****holes with plastic ****ers. I don't know if I care about adapting what we are, what the DNA of this club is to achieve that. Now, if we can achieve that OUR WAY then FANTASTIC!!!! But Van Gaal? Does not excite me. I can only see more turbulence, more aggro, more ripping apart to re-assemble and confuse everyone.

MY Tottenham are swashbucklers. In my deep heart I know that, but my nature is not to complain unless I see disengenuous/dishonest behavior from the top. It's why I was NEVER angry at Ramos (just did not work for a couple of reasons) and will never be angry at AVB (the man worked his ******** off but ultimately it didn't work again for a couple of reasons)…

One place where Sherwood has really earned my respect is that he has not shirked from the duties of establishing what he thinks is right. He is doing some stuff which is unpopular, but he is his own man. He is obviously working hard. And I like that. The dedication.

I feel that as a supporter of over 40 years, right now, my Tottenham has returned. The unpredictable yet entertaining yet frustrating yet sometimes glorious Tottenham has returned. Right now, I am at peace and enjoying it all. Right now…and frankly? Having been very intrigued by Hudd's post earlier in the week, and revisiting the somewhat loud and aggressive but passionate thoughts of NWND, I find myself in a place where I want us on the one hand to fight with every sinew against becoming a 'mega-corp' a la City and United and Chelski, but hoping upon hope that we can be THE ONE who breaks their dominance the right way. We got so close under one manager, who for reasons debated to utter death here, didn't get it done. Perhaps, just perhaps, we're going to get close again.

But if it's oligarch, oil barron or nothing…give me nothing!

I don't want Burkys words to come true.

 

[90291Spur]

I've been thinking about this for a while now…


I loved the sexiness of AVB, the promise, the intelligence (and he IS a smart smart man), the ideaology behind possession-football, the proposed 'program', the DOF, all of it…but when I look back, NWND might've reached a place far more abruptly, and in a different fashion, that I can empathize with.

I support all our managers until they give me a reason not, either by being disengenuous, dishonest or simply not trying anymore. I even held fire over GGG, even though I hated him. But the manager in my lifetime who captured everything about this beautiful, wonderful club, was Burkinshaw. I was spoilt. We played with flair and style, we shipped some awful games but won some beautiful ones. We were the Cup Kings. Wembley literally became a second home I was there that much. Everything, from that first Le Coq Sportif kit to the players, to the stands, it was beautiful. Even the terraces! WE were the anti-racist club, WE had the best away support, WE had joy we had fun…Maxi was a goal/mistake in the making every game, but it didn't matter because we SCORED MORE! We were swashbucklers. We were entertainers. Alfie Conn was an early early indulgence, and then came Glenn…

I have been on a roller-coaster these past few years, but more these past few months. I believed in AVB, I wanted to believe in him…I wanted to feel that it was going to be a platform for titles and CL domination in years to come…

In the last month I have found myself enjoying (despite my reservations) the vibe at the club. Who knows if the likes of Soldado are happy (I hope he can get a tune from this great striker) but seeing Bentaleb has really got me excited. A local. Townsend to come back. Some other ressies coming in on the bench. Seeing us be a little looser for sure but entertaining. Less control at times? Perhaps. But goals. And some entertainment.

I have come to the conclusion that I actually don't know if I care about 'competing' in that sense with the multi-billionaires who can go and buy whoever and fill their shiney new soulless ****holes with plastic ****ers. I don't know if I care about adapting what we are, what the DNA of this club is to achieve that. Now, if we can achieve that OUR WAY then FANTASTIC!!!! But Van Gaal? Does not excite me. I can only see more turbulence, more aggro, more ripping apart to re-assemble and confuse everyone.

MY Tottenham are swashbucklers. In my deep heart I know that, but my nature is not to complain unless I see disengenuous/dishonest behavior from the top. It's why I was NEVER angry at Ramos (just did not work for a couple of reasons) and will never be angry at AVB (the man worked his ******** off but ultimately it didn't work again for a couple of reasons)…

One place where Sherwood has really earned my respect is that he has not shirked from the duties of establishing what he thinks is right. He is doing some stuff which is unpopular, but he is his own man. He is obviously working hard. And I like that. The dedication.

I feel that as a supporter of over 40 years, right now, my Tottenham has returned. The unpredictable yet entertaining yet frustrating yet sometimes glorious Tottenham has returned. Right now, I am at peace and enjoying it all. Right now…and frankly? Having been very intrigued by Hudd's post earlier in the week, and revisiting the somewhat loud and aggressive but passionate thoughts of NWND, I find myself in a place where I want us on the one hand to fight with every sinew against becoming a 'mega-corp' a la City and United and Chelski, but hoping upon hope that we can be THE ONE who breaks their dominance the right way. We got so close under one manager, who for reasons debated to utter death here, didn't get it done. Perhaps, just perhaps, we're going to get close again.

But if it's oligarch, oil barron or nothing…give me nothing!

I don't want Burkys words to come true.

Great post. I'm from a similar generation to you, Steff. Was there for all the 80's finals at Wembley and at WHL for Tony Parks's winning penalty save.

One small thing, we were close with TWO managers!!! It's the hope that's unbearable, but TS seems to have given us back some semblance of the ethos we love in our club. Sterner tests will follow with the likes of Emirates Marketing Project and how he handles to EL, but his first 6 games in charge in terms of points and goals have been encouraging.

COYS!!!

 

[Baleforce]

similar generation (few years younger probably), but i'm the other way now, i don't care about fancy football, i just want us to win, fair means or foul I don't really care anymore, I want us to be relevant and I want to see us win a proper trophy, sadly there's not many of them left now

there aren't any footnotes in the history books about who owned who and how much they spent, only who won

 

[Papercut]

Chas and Dave mate, i was in it for the music... :lol:

 

[Raziel]

Spurs is all that was mentioned, firsts in a lot of things, black players, south American players, double wins, Europe, always more the cup, glory side, never quite the consistency/grind to be a league team. The club itself has always be more socially/charity wise involved that other clubs, and under Levy we have gained that "well managed business" in the new world of football. And even our worst managers and players weren't the scumbags that are so prevalent in some clubs today.

I think to Galeforce's point however, we have to compete in CL and have to win the occasional trophy (every 3 or so years) to remain relevant. Failure to do so makes the risk of just being another team with "history" a bad season away. What happens if another City happens, do we then start a season fighting for a Europa league spot? the next 3-5 years are extremely important, Everton has been 5th-7th for some time now, it hasn't moved the club forward, only 4th or higher helps us make that next push. In business if you are not taking some one else's piece of the pie, someone is taking yours.

 

[chicken_badge]

White shirts
Navy shorts
Cup side
Glory
Bill Nicholson
UEFA Cup
Chas N Dave
Bottle job defeats
Glorious wins
Great football
Great goals
Wacky keepers
Never 0-0
Golden c0ckrels
Navy and white bar scarves with a little bit of yellow
Hummel
One gem of a player every five years
Hate Arsenal
Crap transport on match days
Crap refreshments on match days
Horse crap on match days
Paul Coyte on match days
Holsten
Red line of death
"....what a fantastic run..."
"....he is you know..."

That's MY Tottenham!

 

[Cochise]

I'm a Spurs fan who grew up in the 90's, the brightest thing that happened to me as a Spurs fan was the signing of Klinsmann and the league cup win. I was generally depressed every monday morning going to school as all my mates supported Chelsea, Arsenal and UTD (oh the variation of foreskin jokes I encountered). I was devastated when my favourite player left (Sheringham) and crushed when my replacement favourite did the same (Judas).

Yet here I am still a Spurs fan. I have jumped around a bar with a random bloke (whilst his Mrs watched on helplessly) celebrating Lennon's goal against Chelsea. I celebrated like a nutter in a pub at full time when we beat the same team in the League cup final, where the Spurs fans were outnumbered 4 to 1. For me personally Jol was the first coach that really impressed me. The man had us playing some good football at times and had us playing well in Europe. Redknapp went one better and had us playing some great stuff and for the first time in years there were whispers of us being part of the title race. For me they were the two coaches who had us playing the way I want. I don't want tiki taka, I want football that gives players the platform to showcase their talents, someone going on a mazy run, a thunderbolt of a volley, a quick counter attack or a quick passing move with a defence splitting ball taking out their defence.

Don't get me wrong, I like tiki taka and "wengerball" but I prefer to see individuals doing their thing. I guess it's the showmanship.

 

[Nigeyman]

OMG you guys.....

I am welling up here!!!! next time you feel a surge of hatred for the other lot come and have a read of this thread!!!

Steff that was effin beautiful!!!! top top post!!! Steff thats my spurs also....though I am younger and my first memories are from 90/91 I was ten....Spurs took my sense,brain and beating heart...have never looked back!

 

[Daisuk]

I'm unfortunately a slave to watching and following Tottenham Hotspur. I have no real choice. It's in my blood. So, naturally, I want our football games to be entertaining, as I will be watching them. I want us to attack with the talent we've got, I want us to try fancy stuff, I want us to hone the skillful Ginola's and Gazza's, and I want us to score loads of goals (duh). I'd much rather win 5-4 than 1-0. I'd love it if we got more local talent involved (even though I'm not from the area myself), and I'd hate it, absolutely hate it, if we became another Emirates Marketing Project or Chelski, I'd much rather we used the money we're generating ourselves to support our football, like we do now. I love Levy for the way he handles the finances of the club, and don't really have a problem with the way he runs the club (I think not supporting AVB in the end was the right decision).

I don't want to win trophies at all costs. I know it will generate more fans and potentially more glory in the long run, but for me personally, winning a trophy by parking a bus throughout a season wouldn't be worth a lot.

 

[metalgear]

ardiles, hoddle, villa defined tottenham for me so it is football with a unique style and dominating presence.
AVB did it for me as much as Redknapp, but what I also want is a happy squad of mixed nationalities, and indications that we are a forward looking club that doesn't just throw money at the game, but also use hard work and smarts to develop a footballing institution that is respected worldwide.

 

[thfcsteff]

Great post. I'm from a similar generation to you, Steff. Was there for all the 80's finals at Wembley and at WHL for Tony Parks's winning penalty save.

One small thing, we were close with TWO managers!!! It's the hope that's unbearable, but TS seems to have given us back some semblance of the ethos we love in our club. Sterner tests will follow with the likes of Emirates Marketing Project and how he handles to EL, but his first 6 games in charge in terms of points and goals have been encouraging.

COYS!!!

Excellent correction because yes, we were!!!! And yes mate, Parksie…broke my glasses that night celebrating Robbo's mental equalizer!!!!!

 

[Gutter Boy]

- Galliant losers
- Plucky underdogs
- Soft-centred
- Weak mentality
- Rotten culture
- 2 minor trophies in 22 years
- 2 CL qualifications in the past 58 years


Sadly I started really getting into football in about 1988, so I've experienced the high of 1991 and then our massive downturn.

I'd love us to become like a Porto, Dortmund or Ajax, but sadly we've fallen off that track now.

Roy Keane got it spot on the other day - "Tottenham will always let you down".

 

[thfcsteff]

- Galliant losers
- Plucky underdogs
- Soft-centred
- Weak mentality
- Rotten culture
- 2 minor trophies in 22 years
- 2 CL qualifications in the past 58 years


Sadly I started really getting into football in about 1988, so I've experienced the high of 1991 and then our massive downturn.

I'd love us to become like a Porto, Dortmund or Ajax, but sadly we've fallen off that track now.

Roy Keane got it spot on the other day - "Tottenham will always let you down".

He's a bitter man. I will never forget the c unt siding in after scoring in the League Cup at City Ground in 93, two fingers up and down on each hand at us, the arsehole.

If you're going to nail a statement, please matey, the GREAT Peter Cook…'the failure I can handle, it's the hope I cannot bear!!!'

 

[90291Spur]

Excellent correction because yes, we were!!!! And yes mate, Parksie…broke my glasses that night celebrating Robbo's mental equalizer!!!!!

I swallowed half an un-smoked cigarette jumping for joy underneath the Shelf when Parks made that save. Ahhh, Those Glory, Glory Nights. I hope that the new crop of fans get to see the same success we were fortunate enough to witness.

 

[thfcsteff]

I swallowed half an un-smoked cigarette jumping for joy underneath the Shelf when Parks made that save. Ahhh, Those Glory, Glory Nights. I hope that the new crop of fans get to see the same success we were fortunate enough to witness.

Admit it…we thought it was always going to be like that hahahahahaha!!! ;-)

 

[Thebarbarian]

Hajduk Split semi, then the final !!!! my GHod that was European Football at it's best
Garth crooks scoring the winner at Highbury in 85 while I stood in the North Bank
Steve Perryman
Glenn Hoddle, still the most mercurial player I have ever witnessed
Ossie, Gazza, Ginola, Teddy, Klinsmann, Barmby - a joy to see live when at their best
Taking 34 bus from Barnet to Tottenham High Road, walk to the ground, it still never disappoints to this day
Dodgy horse burger outside the ground
QPR fa cup final replay, standing in QPR end wearing the yellow away shirt and getting pelted with coins

Part of my life, my being, my structure. Who are Tottenham? We are Tottenham ... simple

 

[greatwhitenorf]

"...and STILL Ricky Veelya!"

I get goosebumps just typing that. My only visit to WHL was in 1979. Late in a summer vacation visiting family - Liverpool and Southampton fans - and seeing Led Zeppelin at Knebworth before first year at university. Details vague - drank pints before and after. We played a team in blue and white, 1-1 draw? Laughed the day away. The whole Villa and Ardiles adventure was underway. Nasty war and Spurs with two Argies. I thought that was special.

Villa's tribulations in the first '81 final, redemption in the replay. Me standing on a chair, waving my blue and white bar scarf with - yes Steff - little bits of yellow - as the whole pub stares at me, my girlfriend (now my wife) just shaking her head in wonder.

Was there anything sexier in football than Glenn Hoddle? I grew my hair long at the back because of him. And maybe Steve Archibald, too. Klinsmann justified re-growing it. And those Hummel-Holsten kits. Nothing like them anywhere.

The whole attraction started much earlier, sitting with my Grandad in Belfast watching Spurs on TV, hearing stories about Danny Blanchflower and Dave Mackay, his favourite players. Villa's goal just sealed the deal.

It could be difficult to follow from afar as life and a growing family brought new priorities. But specialized TV systems, Scallywags bar in Toronto and the internet have made it a simpler matter since the late '90s. And now, just thrilled to see this great club coming back to the level it belongs. There's a culture at Spurs that is quite rare. It needs to be preserved and it needs to be grown.

 

[Thebarbarian]

yep, should have had Ricky on my list of great players I've seen live while in their prime.

I remember seeing him score a hat-trick against Wolves at WHL when we smashed them 6-1, (the romantic in me keeps recollecting it to be the "perfect" hat-trick ie one right foot, one left foot and one header, but that could be all bollox).

That was also the day I split my head open running from South Stand lower as they opened up extra standing in the Park Lane. I managed to run head first into one of the metal barriers and by the time St John's Ambulance had finished patching me up the Park Lane was full so I had to go back to south lower where everyone was laughing at me, I was 13 at the time!! happy memories.

 

[thfcsteff]

yep, should have had Ricky on my list of great players I've seen live while in their prime.

I remember seeing him score a hat-trick against Wolves at WHL when we smashed them 6-1, (the romantic in me keeps recollecting it to be the "perfect" hat-trick ie one right foot, one left foot and one header, but that could be all bollox).

That was also the day I split my head open running from South Stand lower as they opened up extra standing in the Park Lane. I managed to run head first into one of the metal barriers and by the time St John's Ambulance had finished patching me up the Park Lane was full so I had to go back to south lower where everyone was laughing at me, I was 13 at the time!! happy memories.

haha, i remember that day well, if i'm not mistaken it was the first day the new west stand was open…well, new THEN LOL…your earlier memories and THIS comment

Part of my life, my being, my structure. Who are Tottenham? We are Tottenham...

is genius.

I might have to lobby for the bold part above to be somehow incorporated into this site's logo. It is up there with Blanchflower mate. You are a poet. Suuuuuperb!

 

[DubaiSpur]

You're lucky, you know. Your Tottenham were regulars at Wembley, won a UEFA Cup, had the likes of Villa, Ardiles, Hoddle, Lineker, and Gascoigne all in their prime, and were considered one of the 'big five' ,able to seriously appeal to both successful young managers like Ferguson and in-their-prime talents like Gazza (although ultimately only one of those pursuits turned out to be successful: who knows what would have happened if we managed to snag Ferguson but not Gazza?)

You had some fond memories of success and swashbuckling football to look back on when the grim 1990's and early 2000's rolled around, and given that cushion were (I'm guessing) more able to bear the blows of misfortune with a steady heart.

For fans like me, drawn into following Spurs during the late 90's and through the early 2000's, there were no such memories beyond Graham's League Cup in 99', Ginola's slaloming runs, occasional excitement from the likes of Ferdinand and Sheringham, and some cult heroes bringing a smile to our faces in the form of Freund, Davids, Naybet, et al. These were some great memories, to be sure (and to the exuberant mind of a child, often indelible memories), but they were set against the back-drop of what I like to think of as the grand decline of Tottenham Hotspur, the transformation of the club from being one of the big boys swaggering around at the top to being the 'sick man of the Premier League', contriving to lose in ludicrous ways, flirting with relegation, enduring stolid mid-table finishes, signing dud after dud after dud, experiencing chronic mismanagement from top to bottom, and worst of all, doing all this and still being viewed as a mere comedic sideshow as our arch-rivals swaggered to league titles and cups galore playing slick, expansive football with undoubtedly some of the greatest players ever to have played in England and with one of England's best-ever managers at the helm.

We were a laughing stock: Arsenal were feared and respected. We signed duds, crocks and old men: Arsenal signed our best defender and captain on a free transfer at the height of his career, with him lying to us and utterly ruining our hearts. And we seemingly found new ways to lose every week: Arsenal went from boring 1-0 merchants to 'the great entertainers', taking the one thing we had left in he eyes of the world, our tag as London's most attractive, fluid side.

At the end of that period, we had very little, imo. We had our black humour, our vociferous support, our relative comfort in being a side of whom little was expected and from whom little was delivered: we had the occasional moments of joy with our cult legends and our Mabizelas and Todas and Tramezzanis. We had our insistence on playing open football, for all the good that did us. But we had fallen so far, so very far from the days when we were considered contenders and giants, when the name 'Tottenham Hotspur' evoked anything other than a mild respect at best and hearty laughter at worst.

Maybe that's why the new generation of fans are so quick to judge our managers and our players: because we're scared of us becoming the Tottenham we grew up with again. Can you imagine it? Being told, for a whole decade or so, that Tottenham were once great, once perennial visitors to Wembley, once known throughout the land as the epitome of attractive, somewhat naively open football. That we were once 'good', good enough to be far above the level we were at throughout the late 90's-early 2000's. Being told all the stories, watching all the videos, hearing all about Nicholson and Rowe and Villa in '81....while at the same time watching Anderton limp off again, or our miracle signing Rebrov failing and flailing, or our former captain ****ging us off in his first press conference as an Arsenal player, or us surrendering 3-0 leads to lose 4-3 against ten men, or ending the season mired in lower mid-table anonymity while Arsenal celebrated winning the title on the turf of White Hart Lane.....

It is very hard reconciling the history of your club's greatness with the reality of your club being somewhat ****. Not even completely atrocious, just mildly bad and easy to make fun of. And I suspect that's what drives a lot of the current generation of fans towards being impatient and demanding instant success from whomever manages us or plays for us: the fear of returning to that situation, the fear of losing everything good that's happened to us since 2005 in a gradual slump away from the promised land we were inches from reaching not once, not twice, but thrice in the last decade (by my reckoning, 05-06, 11-12 and 12-13). Since the nadir of that 2003-2004 season, we have slowly risen up again, away from the anonymity we were mired in and towards becoming once again a club that swings its proverbial dong around on the big table with the big boys. And, as much as the previous few paragraphs describe my Tottenham..some of the good things that have occurred since that period are also part of 'my Tottenham'.Stoically putting the final league table up on my class notice board in 2006, and proudly circling our fifth-placed finish in blue marker (despite my long sobbing after the West Ham debacle that denied us the CL), only for a grumbling teacher to take it down later because 'no one likes football in this class except you, why be selfish?'. Running barefoot down the warm Dubai streets at night singing 'Oh when the Spurs' after the final whistle in the CC final, much to the bemusement of the patrons at the local restaurants adjacent to my apartment building. Showing up to a university lecture in a Croatia jersey with Modric's name (no number) on the back on a sunny April day in 2008, thoroughly annoying my United-supporting professor who dearly wanted them to sign Modders. Yelling so loudly I was asked to leave my university pub by campus police after watching Crouch hit the post in the climactic City game in that beautiful 2009-2010 season. Jumping merrily on the tables of a different bar with a bunch of other boozy fans (a few hardy Spurs supporters up north and a whole lot of United fans) long into the night after Crouch's header meant we got into the CL for the very first time, ultimately managing to get all of them to sing 'Oh when the Spurs' as we staggered away back to our respective homes. Sitting outside a trailer in rural Ontario, a speck of black winter clothing in a sea of white snow as far as the eye could see, watching Gomes stopping Milan time and again on a TV the size of a microwave and praying for the final whistle while simultaneously somehow knowing that we were destined to go through, odds and reputations be damned. Shedding a silent tear as Bale ran over to hug AVB, hoping against hope that this was something beautiful and that this was something that signalled the final breakthrough into the light of success we'd all been dreaming of for so, so long.

All those dark days in the 90's and 2000's...they were very much my Tottenham. But all those memories of a child growing into a rather cynical man but all the while being susceptible to simple joy at the sight of eleven men hundreds of miles away jumping over each other in joy while the roar of the crowd echoed around the rusty old stanchions of a famous old ground....All that is also my Tottenham. As it is your Tottenham, and the Tottenham of almost every single member of this forum. That joy is also equally our Tottenham.

And ultimately, the reason for our current impatience and nervousness probably lies in that dichotomy: the **** Tottenham was our Tottenham, but the good Tottenham is also our Tottenham. And we don't want the latter to turn into the former again: never again, at any cost. We've had such fragile, ethereal moments of beauty in recent seasons, and, ultimately, despite my best intentions and earnest desire to give everyone at Spurs a fair crack of the whip.....I will be damned if I'll let somebody drag us back into irrelevance and oblivion, irrespective of his (or their) intentions, long-term plan or extenuating circumstances.

It's a curious mental state to be in, I know. But that is how I am, what 'my Tottenham' has moulded me to be. And I suspect I'm not the only one.