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Once upon a time, in the north

4 min read
by The Fighting Cock
We used to destroy teams up north. Marching up away from the big smoke, teams like Hull, Bolton and Wigan would just fall at our feet and beg for mercy. We are Tottenham! How dare a team try and beat us. Tucker examines a myth.

Do you remember the good old days, when Spurs would march up the M1, or the M6, and roll over any of these upstart newly promoted teams with ease? Or when we used to break down teams such as Bolton, Burnley or Stoke as if we were Popeye opening a can of spinach?

Exerting the minimum effort, and the points spewing forth from the can directly into our corncob pipe, and turbo charging the team to fly on to win the league title.

No?

I don’t either.

So why are results like Saturday’s draw at Hull always so achingly disappointing?

Should we be surprised when our seemingly star-studded team turn up and look like they expect to win without much effort? Shouldn’t we be used to it?

[​IMG]We have always struggled to get maximum points on our travels against teams like this. Bolton were always a thorn in our sides, I can only recall winning there maybe once in the last 10 to 15 years. We would almost always turn up at the Reebok Stadium as the favourites, much fancied to win, and we would always let ourselves down, and have to endure Sam “anti-football” Allardyce grinning from the touchline, like Bamber Boozle from the similarly named quiz game on teletext.

It was a relief in the week to see that it’s not just me that gets annoyed by Allardyce and his particular brand of football, although I am not sure I would describe it as 19th century. I’m pretty sure the likes of Old Etonians, Blackburn Olympic, and Corinthians used more forwards.

[linequote]We would almost always turn up at the Reebok Stadium as the favourites, much fancied to win, and we would always let ourselves down[/linequote]

 

Still, Spurs have always been rubbish against the “lesser” teams, the one exception being the time we put nine past Wigan. Players like Kevin Davies would always find a way to take advantage of our lack of fight. Or we would simply not have the right key to unlock a stoic defence.

It was a familiar story, on Saturday afternoon. Spurs started slowly and gave away ground to Hull, allowing them to take the lead with some sloppy defending. Is it too much to ask that our defenders set their alarm clocks for 3pm?

From the moment Shane Long scored the game was always going to go one way, defence versus attack. That’s not to say Hull didn’t have their moments after scoring. Just that Spurs were always facing a battle to break down a team they have struggled to beat twice already this season. The Spurs fan base was in the mood for hysterics on Friday night, Levy was nowhere to be seen.

The lights were off at the training ground. No risk of Daniel getting his fingers caught as Jim White announced the transfer window had slammed shut. Many on social media were crying out for a left back, and someone to cover up front when Jermain Defoe leaves. Their fears were borne out on Humberside, as Danny Rose and Roberto Soldado both had performances to forget, and worse still when Adebayor limped off late on. Forcing Tim Sherwood to make his one and only substitution.

It was more than a little frustrating to see so little activity from the Spurs bench in the second half of the game that we really needed to win. Though Spurs seemed to be in control, there was no cutting edge, Aaron Lennon, never the sharpest of knives when in the box was playing very narrow and having a poor game.

Soldado was having little impact and was lacking the first touch that looked so promising in his link up play earlier in the season. Why not make a change?

The bench wasn’t exactly over stocked with explosive players, but it would have been nice to see a little pragmatism from our new coach. So are we to believe that our shortcomings at the KC were all down to Sherwood’s inexperience?

[linequote]I don’t really remember many performances where Redknapp or Villas Boas destroyed these kind of teams, at least not on a consistent basis[/linequote]

Or perhaps, that there has always been a culture of arrogance at work within our club, expecting these games to be easy. Yes Sherwood has questions to answer about the lack of substitutions, but then I don’t really remember many performances where Redknapp or Villas Boas destroyed these kind of teams, at least not on a consistent basis.

Some credit also has to go to Hull and Steve “face like a bag of offal” Bruce. Hull are a team with fight, and they have lot to fight for. They were never going to make us look like the 1970 Brazil World Cup team.

They set their team out well and they do it with their own measure of grace, with Tom Huddlestone spraying balls around, balls like the one that sent Gareth Bale through against Man City last season. Hull, played well. There really isn’t a lot to read into this performance, other than; same Spurs, different northern team.

It’s grim up north and ‘twas ever thus.

[author name=”Tucker” avatar=”https://www.thefightingcock.co.uk/forum/data/avatars/m/1/1580.jpg?1376331065″ tag=”Tucker” twitter=”tommytucker3000[/linequote]

All views and opinions expressed in this article are the views and opinions of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of The Fighting Cock. We offer a platform for fans to commit their views to text and voice their thoughts. Football is a passionate game and as long as the views stay within the parameters of what is acceptable, we encourage people to write, get involved and share their thoughts on the mighty Tottenham Hotspur.

7 Comments

  1. Freddie Flatcap
    03/02/2014 @ 9:34 am

    “Culture of arrogance”….. you said it. Off you go, back down south. Mockney mugs.

  2. bonzo
    03/02/2014 @ 11:52 am

    Good post this one. I made the mistake of looking at some ‘Spurs fans’ blogs on Saturday night and you’d think that we always beat such teams away and the 1-1 was unprecedented catastrophe. Hull are a decent side but I suspect we’d have won if Long and Jelavic hadn’t been making their home debut. Not that we were very good (Paulinho’s great strike and the wonderful move that led to Ade’s volley apart). Spurs clearly have highly talented players but it’s the mental state that needs changing, the concentration and desire. That tends to come and go. I’d recommend anyone football fan to go and see Palace at the moment. The workrate, discipline and desire is incredible. Imagine if Spurs added that to their talent (while playing a bit more football than Palace hopefully! – top 4 all the way then.
    Final point – people are reading way too much in to Tim Sherwood’s post match comments. Don’t forget that what he tells the team and individual players is probably very different to what he tells the players. Don’t imagine that he told the players after the 1-5, ‘oh well, they are a great team, don’t worry’. I’d find that hard to believe.

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