Saturday, July 10, 2004
The Realities of being a Spurs Fan

For any person who had ever gone to the Teamtalk Spurs webpage and surfed the Your Say segment,he or she would have noticed the incessant amount of moaning that goes on there.Some of it has been justified,most of it has just been whining and others has been plain ridiculous.Anyway,in recent weeks,I have noticed a wave of "Santini Out" sentiments growing among the population there.Santini Out.Think about that.His record as Spurs coach currently stands at Played 0,Won 0,Drawn 0,Lost 0.And a bunch of wankers are already calling for his head.

Let's face facts.The last time Spurs won the league was in 1961,the great Bill Nicholson double-winning side.The last time Spurs finished anyway near the current Champion's League spot(1st to 4th)was, as far as I remember,1987.The year when Chris Waddle was still around before he was sold and replaced by Gary Lineker.The past few seasons,Spurs have had trouble just finishing somewhere NEAR the top six.And the team has seen their captain,a certain Mr Campbell,leave the team on a Bosman to join their bitterest rivals in order to win a Championship medal(which he did!).Great side?Hardly. I would even have trouble describing the team as decent even though they do have good players like Keane,Defoe,King,Davies,Gardner and now Robinson.

The real trouble with Spurs though,in my opinion,has been the fans.They have always been quick to jump on the backs of players and management whenever things have gotten a bit rough.From George Graham...wait,make that Gerry Francis to Glenn Hoddle,none of them has ever been able to win the undying support of fans.Anytime when the team goes on a losing sequence,the fans immediately throw out the "XXX Out" banner.Rarely have they stood behind a particular manager.And I rather suspect they won't be eager to stand behind Santini either.Seriuosly,how many Spurs managers have lasted beyond 2 seasons?And how long has Ferguson and Wenger or even Allardyce(let's face it,Bolton is a better team at the moment)managed their sides?Continuity breeds success.And Spurs have never allowed that to happen.They crave instant success.Any manager who comes in has to steer the side immediately into the top six or win a cup.Huh???Reality check.Spurs don't have a Russian sugardaddy pumping hundreds of millions into the club.They may be a top-earning club-side but they don't,no longer,have the name to attract top players anymore.So face it,we'd (I finally used "we")be signing the likes of Sean Davis and Pedro Mendes(which we just did...Pedro who?),not the likes of Edgar Davids or Ronaldo(the press speculation is a riot to read though).We haven't even managed to sneak into Euorpe via the fairplay option.Hah...

Anyway,I'd end this post now,I've been really writing lengthy stuff here.I love underdogs.Which is why I support Spurs and Spain so much.They'd never achieve anything.But there's a romantic air to it.And when we do actually win something,the joy is just...wow,more like rapture.And as long as the team plays the beautiful football,I guess it's alright to be underachieving.It's wonderful and exciting watching Spurs play,even though I get at least a couple of heart attacks per game.Still,better that than Greek football.