On a day when supporters were asked to recognise the passing of our greatest manager, James Glanville describes a poisonous atmosphere and his detachment from those around him.
Cesspit to a Cauldron
John F. Kennedy once said “Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.” Never has a quote seemed so apt for our beloved football club. Watching from my vantage point in the Park Lane I experienced a feeling never felt before whilst at Tottenham, complete and total detachment…not from the side on the pitch but from the fans in the stand.
I came in to the game riding on the crest of optimism from the mid week demolition of Asteras Trioplis, still eulogising about that rabona and the local lad done good bagging a clinical hat trick. Not to mention the admirable work once again from 1882 to generate a superb and audible atmosphere despite the lack of numbers inside the ground. Newcastle in all honesty seemed more of a speed bump that we would glide effortlessly over rather than the hurdle we ended tripping over and landing flat on our face. The away side not having recorded a victory on their travels since March 1st talk amongst the crowd was of 4’s and 5’s, with the more pessimistic going for a narrow home win but a win nevertheless. The outcome could have been much further from the prediction.
[linequote]I experienced a feeling never felt before whilst at Tottenham, complete and total detachment…not from the side on the pitch but from the fans in the stand.[/linequote]
Kick off came around after a nostalgic tribute to the great Bill Nicholson and almost simultaneously the mood seemed to switch. From my eyes we controlled the game nicely without creating too much, in my opinion it only seemed a matter of time before we found the killer pass and broke the deadlock.
However it seems my view must have been obstructed by something as all around me the once famous Park Lane roar was replaced by the all too familiar White Hart Lane whinge. With barely 10 minutes on the clock came the calls “F***ing up it, Tottenham”, “Speed it up”. If only Mauricio had access to such brilliant tactical advice! Despite this we managed to make the breakthrough, another home grown hero in Ryan Mason standing the ball up for Adebayor to guide the ball home and end his own goal drought. In all honesty there was little to report up until the break, Tottenham in complete control but creating little, sounds familiar doesn’t it.
Perhaps due to this control the players presumed the game was already won, perhaps Newcastle’s form meant they would just roll over in the second half and we would be looking at a QPResque score line.
Seven seconds in to the second period and any such thoughts were vanished with a swipe of Sammi Ameobi’s left foot. Those in the stands looked for someone to blame and they found him. Eric Dier. The 20 year old centre back, filling in at right back, making only his 5th Premier League appearance. And according to what seemed the majority of people around me the player who has only ever had one good game and is completely out of his depth. While I am not defending Dier, as he didn’t seem to be defending from the kick off I ask those who were calling him to be brought off and stuck in the reserves for a couple of years till he’s up to scratch what was the alternative? On the bench I saw only one other defender, Vlad Chiriches, was this the answer?
Quite simply no, Dier is the only option until one of the Kyle’s return. Yes, be disappointed, but don’t heckle every touch or challenge he makes for the remaining 45 minutes. The pressure got to him and he produced a very uncharacteristically poor performance. Still there’s 45 more minutes to play yet, plenty of time to get behind the lads and get the 3 points.
[fullquote]We ask for work rate, effort and passion from players. Well it’s time to see some in the stands.[/fullquote]
Yet instead what followed was one of the most uncomfortable 45 minutes of my life. Not only were Tottenham one paced and fell behind to another poorly defended goal, but the atmosphere turned poisonous. Reports of three Spurs fans being ejected for fighting each other, frequent moans groans and completely ridiculous snipes at players and then most disappointingly of all, the 61st minute arrived.
On a day which had been marked out to recognise the passing of the greatest manager of this clubs proud history all fans were asked to applaud the life of Bill Nic on the 61st minute. Pockets of fans, myself proudly included rose to their feet and clapped. Clapped out of respect of a man who helped make Tottenham great. Nevertheless many fans stayed seated and silent. Others even telling those close not to clap. Appalling. We had been asked to show our respect to a club legend, we weren’t asked to applaud the failings on the pitch, no we were asked to applaud a man who took Tottenham to the heights our generation can only dream of. Yet so hate filled were many towards the current crop that they ignored this and shoved two fingers up to Bill and refused to acknowledge him. I can only hope his family, who were there, were unaware of this show of petulance
Many of the aforementioned fans then decided to call for Pochettino’s head and claimed it was different under Redknapp, forgetting that under Harry we lost at home to Norwich, Wigan, Wolves, Stoke. Drew with Aston Villa, Hull, West Brom, West Ham, Sunderland. All of this with the hugely talented squad that he inherited with the likes of Bale, Modric, Van der Vaart, Lennon in his prime and perhaps the biggest miss of all, Ledley King. Not only this but we have had 3 managers since Harry, why are we pining for a man who hasn’t been associated with the club for 2 and a half years? Why show this man so much love when you can’t applaud the greatest we’ve ever had? Forget the past, focus on the present, look forward to the future
I’m not saying we should be happy in defeat, I left just as disappointed as everyone else, but I’m a supporter. That’s what I pay to do, support. Creating a negative atmosphere only creates tension and anxiety within our ranks and shows our opponents a weakness that they can exploit. Let’s get behind the team when we fall behind, let’s roar them on to victory. Let’s not boo at the end of every defeat, even the best teams will lose games on paper they should win, and we certainly aren’t one of the best teams anymore.
[linequote]Forget the past, focus on the present, look forward to the future[/linequote]
Supporting is the only way we can positively affect Tottenham. Anyone who believes that atmosphere doesn’t count for anything look at Crystal Palace. Undoubtedly the best supported team in the Premier League, and also the most over achieving team in the Premier League. They managed to finish mid table last year with a very mediocre squad. How? Through unity.
Yes they were guided well by Tony Pulis but are you telling me that a player won’t run that extra yard, sprint that little bit harder if he’s got 25,000 people cheering him every step of the way? We ask for work rate, effort and passion from players. Well it’s time to see some in the stands. Let’s turn this cesspit back in to the cauldron it once was.
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.
12 Comments
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28/10/2014 @ 10:42 am
A good article. It’s a shame that there were some fans who dissed the memory of Billy Nick and they should hang their heads in shame. I also believe the players dissed the memory of Billy Nick on the field, however they aren’t Tottenham and therein is the problem. They just pick up good weekly pay packets and really don’t give a monkeys about pride, passion and the fan. Neither do the board. Poch will be a good coach if given the time and the right players. Unfortunately Levy has set the precedent which has filtered through to the fans. No one is patient. No one is looking at the long term. This season will be a “turning-point” season for the club, its management and fans. I just hope that we are facing the right direction when the season ends. COYS
28/10/2014 @ 1:59 pm
Poncho will be a good coach,Christ what we Spurs fans wanted is someone who’s a good coach now.
28/10/2014 @ 10:47 am
What we’re seeing is the poison of modern football. Sky Sports and ITV telling us how fantastic Champions League football is, everyman and his dog on social media and blogs telling us how crap things are, ‘I love Tottenham Hotspur but I must tell you how crap we are and how embarrased I am as a fan’ and my favourite ‘Levy out’. Other fans mocking us and laughing. people can’t handle supporting us or looking at other fans, a Premier League team in general.
Once we were just averaging mid-table, away wins were rare and then something happened, we became a lot better and became a challenger for top 4 football and Champions League football. The seasons gone past have been so hard to take with just missing out by a whisker, backing the sackings because I wanted it so bad and an instant solution was needed.
This season is different, I’m going to sit back and forget about top 4 football. Enjoy supporting the team again and loving the good times but just getting through the bad times. Not aiming for top 4 football because it isn’t going to happen and probably for the next couple of seasons. The Newcastle result hurt but it’s done and I look forward to Brighton and Villa away.
Hopefull the club and Levy will take a step backwards, ‘Yep we gave it a good go, let’s regroup and try again’. I like Poch and think we have good players and I think once out forward four click and get going then bang, it’s going to be good. Give Poch years in charge to sell and buy and mould the team in his vision as the team is the results of seasons of panicking and split second decisions. I’m going to try to enjoy this season as much as i can and try to have the attitude I used to have. Supporting my beloved Spurs.
I ignore any fans now, pundits talking crap and any negativity won’t be read. I don’t need thousands of others telling me how to support my team, i’ll do it my way and reccommend it to all other spurs fans, too many come across as plastic. COYS
28/10/2014 @ 11:30 am
Totally agree. These are our boys. Like it or not, no matter how they got there, whether the team was better 2 yrs ago or not. They are human and will make mistakes. But that is exactly the time to get more behind them. The team got caught with their pants down 2nd half and it wasn’t good enough. But from that second on 35000 spurs fans should’ve been clapping and encouraging everything Eric Dier did. He’s a young man who I believe will be a world class centre back one day. He made a mistake, but what use are we if we can’t stand together and pick him up and help him ride our wave of support until he’s got his composure again. Shame on any selfish wanker who boo’d him. The point about Crystal Palace is spot on. The difference the fans there make to the effort of the team is plain to see. Win some, lose some it doesn’t matter. How dare we ask for a positive effort and attitude from our players yet we don’t give give positive to them. Get behind your team unconditionally and reap the rewards. Continue the way we’re going and there are more bad results at home to come.
28/10/2014 @ 2:01 pm
I hope you still feel that way when we are in tne Championship next year thanks to this clown.
28/10/2014 @ 10:53 am
Completely agree. The atmosphere was poisonous in the 2nd half. From where I sit in the Park Lane Lower the crap being spouted by a large number of people was ludicrous.
Given Poch is only 9 games into the season this is ridiculous. It was the same during AVB’s first few home games. The expectation seems to be that we have a right to rollover any team outside of the top 6. I dont think this is necessarily unique to Spurs but I honestly think the modern football fan has no level of patience any more and turn to boos the minute things don’t go to plan.
More than anything we need to give the team and manager our support, especially when we have a new manager trying to get his ideas to work.
28/10/2014 @ 11:08 am
Many of us at the stadium should know better ……. we’ve seen it all before. The first half, for all the lack of an end product, was a fine example of us working as a coordinated unit to press the opposition and keep them almost permanently under pressure. A momentary lapse in concentration brought an unexpected setback, and both players and supporters lost their nerves, each convincing the other that defeat was likely. In the first half we were strong, but our strength didn’t destroy Newcastle, and in reality we were more fragile than them. My take on it would be that defeat WASN’T inevitable after the equaliser, and this was the moment when a concerted voice of support from US would have at least got the team going forward again. The situation is going to remain fragile for the forseeable future, just as it was on Thursday when an equaliser might well have led to an entirely different result. It was also a possibility then because we were far from secure defensively all night. There really is only one answer to our circumstances, and that is to get behind our team, because there is no other magic to get us winning again. Our conviction that they CAN succeed, and our expression of our desire that they do so will possibly help; no amount of negativity will have the same result. We have to stop treating this as a kind of ‘them and us’ situation, where we turn up expecting and demanding inevitable success. It isn’t only the team that is letting us all down; WE are doing it too ……… (cue for a ‘yes but’)
28/10/2014 @ 11:10 am
I’d like to add one thing – does “Arry’ really look like he is going to be the solution to QPR’s problems …………?
28/10/2014 @ 11:52 am
I wrote a similar article last month after the home defeat to West Brom and I completely agree with your views. The atmosphere on Sunday was poisonous and in my opinion disrespectful to the greatest manager this club has ever had (and probably will ever have). I sit in the North Upper and was astonished at the lack of applause during the 61st minute, I observed that it was only sections of the Park Lane and the Shelf that were clapping for Bill. I myself joined in with this applause from the other end of the stadium but no one else followed, I even got a few odd looks from people around me and the applause was muted out by moans and groans. I can only see this as a product of modern football. The reality is that we have the second most expensive season tickets in the league, and that people pay to be entertained. Our cheapest season ticket is £765, to watch the likes of Adebayor and Vertonghen amongst others f**k about every other week putting in minimal effort, whereas the cheapest season ticket at the Premier League champions Manchester City is £299, where you can see the likes of Toure, Aguero and Silva exhilarate the fans. The growing frustration and poisonous atmosphere comes from being mugged off with ticket prices and knowing that we’re being mugged off. Another factor is that we have been deluded by the Champions League season. Many fans think we’re a lot better than we actually are and that we should easily be challenging for 4th every season. There is no evidence to suggest that we will come anywhere near 4th this season; setting our sights on finishing between 6th-10th and reaching the final/winning a cup competition is probably a more realistic target. Maybe if we lowered our expectations a little, and realised that we’re just a high-mid table PL side then the atmosphere at White Hart Lane may improve.
28/10/2014 @ 2:05 pm
We spent a lot of money,changed managers again and again and produce what?Mostly rubbish ,you wouldnt put up with poor performances from your car,girlfriend so why put up with it from your football club.
29/10/2014 @ 7:26 pm
What’s the immediate solution then? Any bright ideas or just miserable moans….
30/10/2014 @ 11:20 pm
Sat next to the author on Sunday and couldn’t agree more. 14 minutes into the game before the three cavemen behind us started to impart their massive football knowledge on all those around us.
As for the lack of respect towards Bill Nick it was disappointing to see so many in the west stand in particular sitting on their hands
As a club we need to celebrate our proud record but never forget where we are at the moment. Back the team, back the players and get the humour and passion back at the lane
Iain