The Trouble With Us - Part II

[Richspur]

About a hundred and fifty-six years ago (well, sometime last year anyway...) I wrote an article on here entitled: "The Trouble With Us" - this was a very long article, the majority of which was considered at 3 in the morning following a glass of wine or three. Had it been written at that time of night rather than the following morning, it could have been considerably longer, so count yourselves lucky!

As it was, at least two of you replied that you had to take the day off of work just to read the damn thing, so apologies for that, and probably the reason I don't contribute more often (no one's got the time!), though I do look at the site most days and am always interested in the comments and debate.

However, it's a slow work day and we are just about to embark on what could be our most important and exciting season for a long time and I thought it was a good opportunity to see how far we've come - at least from a fan's perspective.

My previous article - to summarise the jist of it for those of you too traumatised by it to read it again - was that we as a club and as supporters hope for success, whereas the nominal big four clubs and their supporters expect success.

We never knew what we were going to get before any particular match and we are prepared to go to extraordinary lengths on a personal level to try to achieve victory for our beloved Spurs, even if the actual players cannot achieve this for themselves! Examples include the wearing of lucky pants, foregoing shaving until a win is on the board and watching matches sitting in a particular position (head between the knees in the emergency crash position being a personal favourite). We are usually hoping above hope that we are going to win, and our personal quirks are designed to ensure that bit of success - the Spurs supporters extra mile, if you will.

The point is - it all comes down to mentality. Previously, I wondered whether the club could ever match the mentality of the current big four clubs, and if they could, would it rub off on us as fans. Or, could the club only achieve that mentality if the fans had it first? I still haven't decided what the answer is, and it's a circular argument which people will have views about all day long, so all I can do is tell you how I feel about things now.

And here it is. I feel good. I'm confident. It's a strange feeling.

Martin Jol is always banging on about us having a top mentality - and I took this to include the supporters too, and I think I'm starting to develop a top mentality.

I take a look at the way the club has progressed since Daniel Levy took over, the appointments made within the club, the players that come and the players that want to come to the club, and importantly the players that are allowed to leave the club.

I see the way that the club conducts its business, and the levels of respect given to the club by not only certain sections of the press but by fans of other clubs - so many of them wish their club was run like ours and had our players.

I look at the way we are starting to play the game and the fact that we have finished fifth two years in a row - this is no fluke.

In fact, I believe it's an evolution - and the positive effects of that are starting to rub off on me. I am starting to look at games, even pre-season friendlies which can be very strange games sometimes and think: "I expect to win this game".

I look at the squads of all the other premier league teams and do not think I would swap with many and I am now expecting to beat teams when we play them, and do it in style.

What is more I really expect to be challenging for one of those top four positions this year, and in recent seasons would just be hoping that we could put a good run together to nick a European slot.

So, all in all, I believe we have evolved as a club over the last few years, and having emerged from our cocoon of hope, I think the butterfly of expectation will take us to great heights over this and forth-coming seasons.

Fingers crossed eh?

[Paxtonite]

Got to confess, i started to skim the latter part of that post so how much wine this time eh? :wink:

Nevertheless, i was just saying to one of my sons the other day that for the first time i am rather spookily looking at the "big four" as dare i say it equals. By that i mean that we have a chance against them. I no longer go into those games fearing a drubbing although last season the 3-0 games against Liverpool and scum as well as the home drubbing from Man u would dictate otherwise! Those games were closer in fact.

Nevertheless it is about mentality. Positive mental atitude. Belief. Call it what you will. Its about going into games expecting and believing you can win. Expecting alone just breeds complacency whilst hoping is not necesarily belief.

The problem with being a spurs fan is that our belief has been based on insecure foundations in the past and hence we know how our expectations can go tits up.

This time i think we are ready.

This time............COYS!

[JonnySpurs]

Nice article, I dont think I read ur first one but I totally go along with the whole "sitting in the right seat" theory, I found mine last season and by jove it worked well, lol!

I, like you, am feeling a similar rise in expectation for the season and am much more confident now when I watch us play! All in all, I have positive feelings and can't wait to get started, bring on the rollercoaster that is the premiership season!

[tevezito]

Mentality is such an important and difficult to acquire/assess facet of football and it has definitely been one of the missing links in Tottenham teams over the past thirty years.

I think one of Martin Jol's key strengths as a manager is his ability to develop the mental side of player's games and this has definitely improved us as a team over the last three years.

I also admire the way Jol has done this without resorting to mind games with the opposition - you don't need to have a 'war of words' with your rivals to show 'top mentality' - you just have to believe you will win and go out and do it.

That I expect Tottenham to go out and win things this season with sportsmanship and flair is indeed an 'evolution' and I hope more fans out there share our optimism and the virtuous circle continues to snowball...

[walworthyid]

I have been saying this myself over the past couple of years. The expectation we now all feel is based on the gradual transition we have made over the past 3 seasons. They go hand in hand, the team we now have warrants the expectation we now have of them.

Lets face it, 3 seasons ago we were not able to compete with the big boys and so therefore it was a misplaced hope rather than expectation that took us into each season.

BMJ is quite right when he repeatedly mentions the importance of a top mentality, but what he is obviously unable to say is that it will only get you so far. Meaning, that as our squad has evolved and improved he has raised the expectations of the players based on their collective and individual ability to compete. There is little purpose in telling an average squad that they can challenge for the champions league or the title.

We now have a squad talented enough to compete for the title, do they believe that, probably not. What they do all believe though is that we can finish 4th and that I believe is as much as we can expect this season.

I want to see us go out there and stand toe to toe with any team in Europe and believe that we can and will win and that can only happen when the players are good enough to believe it.

[mancman]

Good article but........

Of course I am hopeful of success this year but be warned. I have a question for all Spurs supporters to answer "Do you think the following team is our best side?"

ROBINSON
CHIMBONDA DAWSON KING YOUNG
LENNON ZOKORA JENAS MALBRANQUE
BERBATOV KEANE

If so, what do you notice.......

1 None of our new signings are considered better than our current first eleven.
2 KING and LENNON are injured and out for at least 2 months and 1 month respectively.
3 Replacements ? KABOUL (inexperience could see him really exposed) & ROUTLEDGE (not good enough) or TAARABT (too young though I think he has wonderful potential).

Whilst there is no denying the squad is stronger remember Spurs can only play 11 players.

Just a final word of caution - much has been made of BERBATOV (quite rightly) but Premier defences now know what to expect and forgive me for saying this I thought Berbatov was absolutely crap in South Africa.

I hope I am wrong but please do not build your hopes up to high.

MANCMAN

[banks_18]

I'll feel confident if we can get off to a good start. The start is so important.

[guate]

Good post, reflecting, I suspect, what most of us Spurs supporters feel.

Regarding the winning mentality concept, for many years we were a push over, especially when going a goal behind, however the Charlton game away a season or 2 ago, where after being 2 goals down at half time we came back to win 3-2, was the true turning point for the club in my mind.

No doubt about it, this upcoming season, which thank God, starts in 1 week, is surely going to be a cracker and even if the majority of you don´t agree with me, I for one believe we´ll manage a place in the top 3.

QUE VIVA LOS SPURS

[mlarvis79]

I think 9 other players might help, but those two are a good start ;)

[JoeT]

'Tevezito', your comment "win things this season with sportsmanship and flair" - for me - says it all. I hope we can do it!!

[Chimbo!]

Good article but........

Of course I am hopeful of success this year but be warned. I have a question for all Spurs supporters to answer "Do you think the following team is our best side?"

ROBINSON
CHIMBONDA DAWSON KING YOUNG
LENNON ZOKORA JENAS MALBRANQUE
BERBATOV KEANE

If so, what do you notice.......

1 None of our new signings are considered better than our current first eleven.
2 KING and LENNON are injured and out for at least 2 months and 1 month respectively.
3 Replacements ? KABOUL (inexperience could see him really exposed) & ROUTLEDGE (not good enough) or TAARABT (too young though I think he has wonderful potential).

Whilst there is no denying the squad is stronger remember Spurs can only play 11 players.

Just a final word of caution - much has been made of BERBATOV (quite rightly) but Premier defences now know what to expect and forgive me for saying this I thought Berbatov was absolutely crap in South Africa.

I hope I am wrong but please do not build your hopes up to high.

MANCMAN

Its just preseason Berba will come good trust and he admits hes a slow starter, peaks after xmas. I disagree with your lineup as i reckon Taraabt, Bale, Boateng and Bent will definitely challeneg for a place and i reckon Bale will be our 1st choice left-back. We will also rotate a bit as well so there wont be 1 difinitive best team, rather which players are best for the moment. Our problem last season wasnt our 1st team, it was our lack of depth in quality which has now been solved. This will make us more consistent and i bet we will not have a longbad spell. We are far better then last season and dont forget alot of the players will have improoved either through age or more experience in the prem.

[Firekid]

Who's Young at left back? and when did we buy him?

[beuller]

Just a final word of caution - much has been made of BERBATOV (quite rightly) but Premier defences now know what to expect and forgive me for saying this I thought Berbatov was absolutely crap in South Africa.



MANCMAN


In the first half of the second game against the Pirates he was as normal I thought. Best touch, best vision and best execution of anyone out there.

Didn't seem to enjoy the heat but he certainly wasn't absolute crap. Unless you know absolutely fuck all about football of course.

[Steady_nethercott]

i enjoy reading all these positive posts. Just know that, as with all teams, there will be a result that will bring out the doom and gloom merchants onto this board.

hope im wrong

[KarsenToon]

Guys Ghaly is staying.

[BTN1]

We are definitely much stronger than at the start of the season last year. I was reviewing the DVD recently- Davenport; Murphy; Mido & Ghaly played alot of games between them.

Kaboul is a significant step up from davenport
Boatang (by all accounts) & taarabt are a big improvement on murphy & ghaly.
And Bent is a massive improvement on Mido (who managed to miss a few chances & kept Berbs out of the side!!)

We also have Steed fit from the start, jenas also and a settled malaria free zokora.

Have faith my fellow spurs - this year we will be stronger and better and finish 4th (at least)

COYS

[wookie]

yeah, brum have pulled out of the ghaly deal. bugger

for "footballing reasons"..??

[KarsenToon]

He has actually trained with them 3 times this week, and the only problem was his work permit, and they are saying they did not like the look of him in training

[Chimbo!]

Ur havin a laugh! Ghaly is staying are we cursed with this egyptian duo for eternity?... BTW good article.

[BTN1]

and they are saying they did not like the look of him in training

Do you think it was his Leo Sayer hair that put them off??

[KarsenToon]

Well it would put me off!

[onthetwo]

personally, I think Sunderland are going to throw the kitchen sink at our defence...it will be Bolton-esque. If we dont lose I will be quite happy.

[rooster1]

I thought the deal was done and dusted.

Bruce was raving about him the other week and after 3 days in training he's not satisfied !!??

Maybe he threw a bib down in disgust when his team lost
in a 5 aside and he had to do some shirt throwing
press ups to Bruce's dismay. "Chuckle"

[Rufio]

With regards to our first 11 and the (potential) improvements:

Robinson - his form will almost definitely be better than last year and he improved vastly towards the end.

Chimbonda, King - yep

Dawson - Excellent season, but I feel with a fit King, Kaboul will be pushing heavily for Dawsons place - a potential improvement - Kaboul is quicker, powerful, more composed on the ball and has a monster shot.

Bale - Not sure if first choice or not but if he is will provide wonderful set pieces and crosses, which Lee cannot do - that could be potentially 5 goals in assists/goals.

Lennon, Jenas - Yep

Zokora - fit and settled, no malaria, surely going to improve on last year. Boateng is ready to come in but we have been told he is very good offensively and very powerful - improvement.

Malbranque/Taarabt - If Taarabt plays, he will bring a lot of magic, we dont know for sure if he will play or not yet.

Berbatov - yep

Keane/Bent - Bent will be an improvement on Keane in a different way, as he is extremely powerful, he brings us something much needed for away games, so i consider Bent to play at least 19 prem matches, and that is an improvement on Mido at least.

I think our squad has improved vastly, but the biggest problem is getting and keeping King fit.

[N10toN17]

Positive post Rich and a positive attitude, I just hope all the doom and gloom merchants don't turn at the first sight of trouble.

Higher expectations for some means unrealistic aspirations. If we give the boys full backing all season long, I'm confident they will not let us down.

[bern]

Agreed we will kick arse this season.

[striebs]

BMJ evidently knows the problem as he has said he wants to cut down from 50 goals against to 30 .

My only doubts are whether Zokora and Robinson will deliver the goods and whether King will be fit in time for the second half of the season .

Everything else looks VERY good .

[striebs]

Agreed we will kick arse this season.

In more ways than one

[Jonesey]

Our main problem is that we need to develop a winning mentality. We have a very good squad (left-hand side aside) but winning the Peace Cup or the Vodacom challenge is not going to do that.

Chelsea, Man U, Liverpool and Arsenal have all won major silverware over the last 10 years and that breeds a culture of winners around a club.

We're probably closer to these 4 teams than anyone else but with such a young team i really do think it would majorly benefit us to win something significant this year. Sounds obvious I know but it will breed a winning mentality and help us move towards truly making that step up.

This is probably going to mean taking on - and beating - more than one or two of the top 4 teams this season ... and if this happens in the right cup competitions this could really help us win something, begin to believe in ourselves more as a team and develop a mentality which will enable us to push for the title in a couple of years.

Oh, and keep Dimitar Berbatov at the club beyond next summer.

[Jonesey]

I think we have a bought wisely this summer and as a result we have several new best sides:

ROBINSON is still our best choice at GK ... but Cerny has proved he's also a safe pair of hands in Robo's absence.

CHIMBONDA DAWSON KABOUL/KING YOUNG/EKOTTO

LENNON/ROUTLEDGE ZOKORA/BOATENG JENAS/MALBRANQUE BALE/MALBRANQUE (providing we play Bale on the left wing which seems to be looking like the case)


The most significant change for us is up front in my opinion. I think we now have an array of partnerships, all of whom will work together:

BERBATOV KEANE
BERBATOV BENT
BENT KEANE
DEFOE BENT

Things are looking pretty good I think - still need that left winger though.

[theoldguy]

And no mention I see about Tom Huddlestone who is, in my opinion, a great reader of the game and one who will create many chances for our strikers. As he matures look for him to command a place in the starting team. You read it here!