100 Not Out

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For my 100th post on this illustrious forum, I've decided to discuss something that's really stuck in my craw for the last 3 years: Dimitar Berbatov.

To discuss my feelings for Berba, I have to go back to the beginning. In my first Spurs supporter at the ripe old age of 25, I'd come a long way in regards to actually understanding the game, how it was meant to be played, what constituted shit football, etc etc. Who were the players that could dazzle us, who were the ones to make us do a perpetual
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(I'm looking at you, Lee Young-Pyo) and above all, why I knew in my heart I'd made the right choice to support Tottenham Hotspur. That was the season we came within a dodgy lasagna of finishing 4th. In retrospect, it might have been too much too soon for me. I wouldn't have felt like I'd earned it (if one living 5,000 miles away can ever feel like he'd EARNED it.) I'd have felt like a fucking bandwagoner, like oh so many Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, & scum fans around me. I wanted to support a team that was a cut above the rest, but not a New York Yankees type dynasty. No fun in that. As a Cleveland fan, I was used to being that almost team in oh so many different sports. The threat of disappointment held no sway over this fan's mind. It was all about enjoying the game. Enjoying Robbie Keane flipping and tricking his way beyond 4 Blackburn defenders on the goal line to score an amazing goal; Enjoying Martin Jol squaring up to Wenger at Highbury; Enjoying the fact that we were winning more than we were losing. It was all just a great ride that first year.....

Then, it happened. Losing to West Ham on the final day. Losing out on Champions League. More importantly losing it to the scum. At the time, I was still too much of a newb to really understand the ramifications of the whole event. But I gathered that to lifelong Spurs fans, it was nothing short of absolutely fucking tragic. But oh well, it didn't phase me as much as all that. #noobface I still had a team in Europe, I still had a favorite player in Robbie Keane, and I still had a favorite team. A clear cut favorite team. Tottenham. Yes, a kid from Ohio loved Tottenham more than his hometown teams. Odd.

Moving forward to the summer of 06, an unknown (to me) Bulgarian striker from some team called Bayer Leverkusen glided through our doors. Had no idea of his skill, his reputation, his demeanor. Nothing. And, to be honest, he didn't impress me a whole lot as the season got underway. However, as he grew into the side, it was clear that this guy was great. I recently watched the highlights from Fulham away in the 06-07 FA Cup. While Robbie Keane's volleys got the Ooohs & Ahhs, Berbatov's sexual flick over the keeper for the 4th was the epitome of class. He dripped confidence. He glided in such a way that he knew he was better than the person he was up against. Not many things excluding women can give me a hard on, but that one touch flick past that hapless Charlton Athletic defender and ensuing goal to send them down was climax worthy.

By then, I'd really done my homework on the history of Spurs, and knew of the tradition of having those flair players with no real backbone to surround them with in order to be a successful team. Style but no substance. You score 3, we'll try to get 4. While exciting, this is no way to go through a league season. Berbatov was another in a long line of players like Ginola, Gazza, Klinsmann, etc who gave us moments of sheer ecstacy whilst being surrounded in a pool of mediocrity. And while I enjoyed having him here, there was always that sense of impending doom that we wouldn't be able to hang onto one as classy as this without making any real progress. What made it slightly worse is I never got the sense he loved playing at Tottenham in the same way as, say, Keane-o loved it. It always felt like we were a stepping stone to bigger & better things. And, after a truly shit 07-08 in which we had 1 moment of glory amongst a shitstorm of changes, I knew he would leave.

The weird thing was, I almost felt like he should leave. Why? Because he was better than us. That's right. He was better than us. It was hard for me to admit at the time, but the fact that he was never Spurs through and through and the fact that his skill level wasn't really to be matched by anyone else on that Spurs team made it easier to let him go. What's that old saying? If you love someone, set them free. I loved Berbatov playing for us, and to be honest, he never betrayed the club like a certain Irishman who said he was Spurs through and through only to bolt when fucking Liverpool opened up their shirt and stuck a tit out at him. But that's another story. How I felt when Berba finally left us on Deadline Night can be summed up by paraphrasing Redd at the end of Shawshank Redemption; Some birds are not meant to be kept. Their feathers are too bright. When Sir Alex Ferguson pays in excess of 30mil for someone, you know he has the goods. He went on to win the Premier League twice as well as the Champions League. I'm happy for him.

Now, he's 30, nowhere near the United first XI, and it saddens me. Someone on twitter posed the question "Would you take him back?" In a heartbeat. I do believe he has affection for Spurs and went to United because it was a glorious opportunity to do great things in the prime of his career. I also believe that if he came back, he'd do a great job for us no questions asked. One thing is for sure, he'd have a much better team around him than when he left. Berbatov's undoubted class would really shine in this current squad. Instead of Jenas & Tainio, he'd have Parker & Modric. Rather than Malbranque, he'd have Bale. No Robbie Keane? Oh, I suppose he'd just have to make do with Rafael Van Der Vaart. Tough life. I genuinely think Berba would have a bit of a renaissance here at Tottenham again and would welcome the opportunity to see him play in a Tottenham shirt. You might call this "The One That Got Away Syndrome." And you know what? You'd be absolutely right. He was the first player of geniune world class level I got to watch at Spurs week in and week out. Keane-o might have been my favorite, but he never evoked the same level of emotion out of me as when I watched Berba play. I hope he comes back.
 
Wouldn't want him back, but if we did have him back he wouldn't make the starting 11 anyone so it would be funny watching him rot on the bench at a club that he thought he was too good for
 
you can't have a player return to a club that did what he did. Everyone knows that including Levy which is why all the rumours that constantly resurface are garbage.

One of the finest footballers I've ever seen at white hart lane but he actually over performed in a spurs shirt and that's been shown since. The couple of seasons he was excellent were better than he'd ever played before. We were just lucky to have him during that time. It's likely had he stayed he would've returned to his normal self (as can be seen regularly at Old Trafford), which is still a good player but not the beast we had the pleasure of watching.
 
No doubting how good he was for us and I even go as far as saying he was probably one of, if not the best players I've seen at the lane in the last decade however the way he went about engineering his move was nothing short of a disgrace.
 
Again, the way I feel about Berbatov is how one might feel about that wonderful woman that you knew was amazing and couldnt believe you had her until she realized how amazing she was and moved on to a more amazing guy. She betrayed you, but you can't stop yourself from pining for her. Sad.
 
You spelt Rafael, Raphael.

Wouldn't take him back, the way he left just makes it hard to accept him. If he came back he'd have to be firing straight away which won't happen with him. Memory best kept in the past.

I'd compare him to a girl that gave you HIV which she caught from
your best mate. Cheating dirty skank.

xxx
 
Thelonious Filth said:
You spelt Rafael, Raphael.

Wouldn't take him back, the way he left just makes it hard to accept him. If he came back he'd have to be firing straight away which won't happen with him. Memory best kept in the past.

I'd compare him to a girl that gave you HIV which she caught from
your best mate. Cheating dirty skank.

xxx


uhh.. NO I DIDN'T. :rolleyes:
 
And even though I hated how the whole move went down, I find myself placing only 1/2 the blame on Berbatov with the other half going to Whiskey Nose up there at United. Blatant tapping up of the highest order. At the time, we were a fucking shambles after that horrific run in to the end of the season with a manager nobody really seemed to like. His head was turned much like Luka's was this summer. Stay at Spurs in a less than brilliant situation, or go to the best team in England and win leagues and trophies. I didn't blame him for wanting to go, but I did blame him for the attitude and once it was apparent he wanted to move, we shouldn't have fucking waited til 23:59 on deadline day to do it. Since then, we've created a fantastic squad with a real opportunity to achieve vs that massive underachievement of a squad when Berbatov left. So it was easier to keep Luka this time around because we could really justify telling him to fuck off with his wish for Chelsea by saying "we can do great things." What great things was Ramos going to do after that shit end of season? I fully understand WHY he acted how he acted. I wish he hadn't had to sully his reputation by that beginning of season strop, but it happened as well as the inevitable move to United. I realize I am fighting a losing battle here, but again, these are just my thoughts on the whole matter.
 
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