AVB vs. the home support

[tototoner]

Sorry if already posted but Adrian Durham slams Villas-Boas in his Daily Mail column



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...llas-Boas-wrong-criticise-Tottenham-fans.html

 

[dricha1]

Sorry if already posted but Adrian Durham slams Villas-Boas in his Daily Mail column



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...llas-Boas-wrong-criticise-Tottenham-fans.html

If anythings going to get the fans upset by AVB's comments back on his side it's Durham...the man clearly has an agenda.

The only thing AVB has done wrong in my eyes was using the words "...no support..." If he had phrased it differently or not used those two words, no fuss would have been made because apart from the "..no support.." bit everything else AVB said was spot on.

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

In today's Mirror

Andre Villas-Boas was right to criticise Tottenham fans — they can make or break Spurs' season

Martin Lipton says White Hart Lane is England's most atmospheric ground - but only when the home team are flying

It was, we were told, “breaking the last taboo”. A recipe for self-destruction.

No manager should ever cross the line and question the fans. They are the lifeblood of the club.

So, after a scratchy, edgy performance at the Lane, the Spurs manager’s comments surprised many.

“What are they moaning about?” he said. “What have they got to moan about with what they’ve seen here? We couldn’t have done any more, we couldn’t have tried any harder.

“I couldn’t be more pleased with how we’re doing here. They’ve had it so good over the years, you see. They’ve been winning every week, keep winning league championships every year, so you get upset. It’s hard.”

Any manager worth his salt would never go down that path.

You certainly wouldn’t find one who knows the game in this country, who understands the supporters, speaking like that.

Oh, sorry... wrong Spurs manager.

Those words weren’t spoken by Andre Villas-Boas on Sunday evening.

It's a quote from then-Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp, after a draw with Sunderland in 2010.

The comments Villas-Boas DID make certainly got rival fans laughing.

Especially Chelsea supporters, many of whom turned Stamford Bridge into a place of fear for their own players last season.

And Arsenal fans - the ones who booed Arsene Wenger and his team off the pitch on the first day of the season.

How swiftly they all forget.

The truth is that supporters up and down the country have become more impatient with every passing season.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s insistence that the Old Trafford fans would not turn on Manchester United was proven false in the week his latest autobiography was published.

Norwich supporters are gunning for Chris Hughton.

And so on. And so forth.

Would Villas-Boas have spoken out so loudly had he not witnessed the damaging effect the negativity of the White Hart Lane crowd was having on his own players?

I doubt it.

Even those most critical of the manager will know he had a valid point.

After all, while the Lane can be the most atmospheric ground in the country when Spurs are flying, it is also prone to a manic, self-defeating introspection.

Tottenham supporters have long believed it is a question of “when” things will go wrong, rather than “whether”.

Look at the quarter-century of scapegoating of left-backs who did not live up to the legacy of Cyril Knowles.

Villas-Boas may have taken a risk in going public, while the fact his side are grinding out results - rather than taking teams to the cleaners - is a factor.

Spurs fans believe they have a right to be entertained, remembering what Danny Blanchflower said about glory.

Fair enough.

So, too, is the belief of some that they have been censored over the Y-word dispute. That, though, is a canard ('An unfounded rumour or story' - Ed).

The truth is this Spurs side is, still, a work in progress.

The likes of Vlad Chiriches, Paulinho, Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela are seeking to find their feet.

Taking the ground – metaphorically – from under them, creating tension, uncertainty, will only help Spurs’ top-four rivals, not the men with a cockerel on their shirts.

Only Frank Brettell, who had two seasons in charge when Spurs were still a non-league side before the turn of the 20th century, has a better winning percentage than Villas-Boas.

Not Bill Nicholson, Arthur Rowe, Keith Burkinshaw, or Redknapp. Frank Brettell.

No. Me neither.

Statistics, of course, can be used to make any point.

Spurs need to play better, over the rest of the season, to get a Champions League place - let alone land that first title since Nicholson’s Double winners in 1961.

But if White Hart Lane does not make itself a hostile bear-pit, if the fans do not work out they need to respond to Villas-Boas, none of that can possibly happen.

So, how much do the Spurs fans really want it?

 

[Nine while nine]

Sorry if already posted but Adrian Durham slams Villas-Boas in his Daily Mail column



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...llas-Boas-wrong-criticise-Tottenham-fans.html

Bloody Daily Mail, I loathe and detest that rag. Think it's now time to deploy Andros to the press box, as his warning to their photographer obviously didn't have the desired effect.

 

[Flashspur]

a tough subject.....the issue really is negative vibes I think - the nervous tension at WHL sometimes is so palpable you can touch it and taste it. I only get to WHL a few times each year but last season the half dozen games I saw, we were nervy indeed and the singing was sporadic. Most of the time you'd hear that old chesnut 'stand up if you hate the Arsenal' which kind of made me cringe. Even the Park Lane has gone quiet. Perhaps a bit of chanting and cheering whenever we have the ball will help. What happened to the old days when the crowd was already whistling and screaming 15 minute before kick off? The build up at the Lane pre-match was fantastic. In those days the team flew out of the blocks like a fiesty nag at the Grand National.

Maybe we need a bloody Master of Ceremonies or a comedian to warm up the crowd. Perhaps one of those guys that pump up the audience on the Dave Letterman show before he primps out on stage? By that time they are ready to have a collective orgasm.

 

[Spurs_Bear]

Go into an OAP home have a listen. Go stand near a school playground have a listen. Assuming you're not deaf or arrested it will become clear.

That.

Is potentially the best come back I have ever seen on SC.

 

[SlunkSoma]

Think back to the latter stages of the Redknapp era, we were often left wanting at home - even losing games like Sundays. You can't deny that the fans are not in some way responsible, as we are the common denominator. Before CL qualification there was nervous tension, but it manifested itself in positivity - now it comes across as negative and frustration. I really don't get it.
Are there no fans on here that stand up and hurl abuse at the players all game? Be interested to hear how this is deemed appropriate, as the people around me on Sunday thought it was.

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

Lately when watching football i've noticed a few new songs from other teams fans while we seem to be stuck with a handful of the same old standards. Surely if other clubs have people dreaming these things up we can manage it too? Or do we need to advertise for a songwriter?

Maybe we could have a contest and Bomber could start chanting the winners entry

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

That.

Is potentially the best come back I have ever seen on SC.

Yes because OAP homes are legendary for rowdy renditions of who's the wanker with the pills or 'stand up, if you stink of piss'. And when I dropped the grandkids off at school last week I was greeted with chants of 'he's fat, he's old, his willy smells of mold, A&C, A&Ceeeee'

 

[Spurs_Bear]

Yes because OAP homes are legendary for rowdy renditions of who's the wanker with the pills or the posh spice song. And when I dropped the grandkids off at school last week I was greeted with chants of 'he's fat, he's old, his willy smells of mold, A&C, A&Ceeeee'

Worried that the kids knew that about you...

 

[only1waddle]

Lately when watching football i've noticed a few new songs from other teams fans while we seem to be stuck with a handful of the same old standards. Surely if other clubs have people dreaming these things up we can manage it too? Or do we need to advertise for a songwriter?

Maybe we could have a contest and Bomber could start chanting the winners entry

Don'tcha wish your left back was BAE............ Don'tcha

Even that's been taken away

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

Worried that the kids knew that about you...

I have sweeties

 

[sloth]

I said it before, there's a chip-on-my-shoulder culture in the suburbs and the counties we draw our support from which doesn't exist so much in other parts of the country. People brought up to moan and complain and always blame someone else, it's the Daily Mail/UKIP generation: fackin immigrants, fackin do-gooders, fackin politicians, fack off the lot of them...

Just when it gets into the ground it's: Fackin chiric... Whatisname... Who the fack's he? Hoof it.... Where the fack's Soldado, waste of money him, get Defoe on for fack's sake, "JERMAIN DEFOE HE'S A YIDDO, JERMAIN DEFOE HE'S A YIDDO!" fackin AVB doesn't know what he's doing... He plays on the left you ****! Fackin shit this is, don't know why I bother..." And repeat ad infinitum every match, every season.

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

Fucking immigrants.

 

[Mr Pink]

I've had time to think about all this now. I've always been really supportive of players and management, often against the general view, and I've often been quite critical of some of our fans.

But.... AVB is out of order with all this. He's given at least 3 separate post match interviews, each one with further cutting comments about our support. The 'We had to do it alone' comment is pretty rank, even if true. I'm not sure I can remember any manager saying stuff like this about their team in recent years. What he's done is given other clubs' fans golden material and we will now become synonymous with shit fans/atmosphere, much like 'the library'.

He could've said something in the programme notes (I bet there's something tomorrow saying how wonderful we are). I've been to games a million times worse than that, atmosphere wise. I remember loads of fans proper booing against Sunderland at half time.... and we were one nil up! The atmosphere in this game, despite being crap, didn't warrant this attack from AVB. A mention in the programme notes or Spurs TV etc, could've got the message across and done the job. Instead, our fans are now the laughing stock.

Every club's fans have better away support than home. I know Arsenal fans, Chelsea fans, Utd fans, West Ham fans etc who all say their home atmosphere is often shit unless it's a big game. And I'm sure the same goes for City (nowadays) & a few others. It's not just a Spurs thing and I hope all fans quietly realise that.

Sunday games plus dull football plus economic climate plus whinging ****s plus high expectations plus 10 behind the ball equals lack of atmosphere.

Despite all the above, I actually completely agree with AVB's sentiments. I hope this doesn't backfire on him (or us). We've been quite crap at home (fans) for a few years now, mainly since we got good again. But he's out of order for using the terms he has during 3 separate interviews. I'm also angry because I'm a fan who does sing, cheer, never boos, enjoys etc, so I'm being lumped in with these fuckers who do the opposite of all that. It's such a difficult one this, but despite him being generally correct, there are ways and means... and in my opinion, he's gone about it in completely the wrong manner.

It was never about just one game. There is no way he would of taken the risk of saying what he did if it was a one off. This is obviously a feeling he's had for months on end and the frustration on Sunday led him to say something.

The players didn't just come to this realisation after one game either. Its a pretty drastic measure in all honestly which I guess reflects the way AVB and the players feel about it.

 

[DEFchenkOE]

The atmosphere at most grounds in the UK are poor, certainly not a patch on German /Turkish /Swiss grounds where the singing is non stop throughout the game.

Being told to sit down, high ticket prices etc are all the cause and dull football doesn't help.

 

[Gilzeanking]

Hmmm , so its not just a one off subject that came up spontaneously in an interview . Its a full on management campaign .

Risky thing for a manager to do imo . AVB learned at Chelsea that he needs the players on his side . He also needs the fans .

Not sure fans get loud and excited because they are told to , they do it because they feel emotions . If yr partner seems uninvolved in the sack , then mebbe you should try going longer than 45 seconds , you don't say well , make more noise . Our team performance vs Hull was not much to shout about , yes we got off , but only just . He complained about lack of energy . Taking the entire squad to Russia may be a better place to start looking for reasons for that .

If results start falling away then sympathy for AVB will evaporate quicker after this imo . A little spontaneous mention if it comes up in interview ok , but not a full on campaign like this . Mistake .

 

[dagraham]

I said it before, there's a chip-on-my-shoulder culture in the suburbs and the counties we draw our support from which doesn't exist so much in other parts of the country. People brought up to moan and complain and always blame someone else, it's the Daily Mail/UKIP generation: fackin immigrants, fackin do-gooders, fackin politicians, fack off the lot of them...
.

You may well be right.

What we need is free mushy peas and gravy at WHL. Get in the northern spirit

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

You may well be right.

What we need is free mushy peas and gravy at WHL. Get in the northern spirit

How about if we all started to wear flat caps? Maybe we could get the Spurs shop to start selling blue and white branded ones.

Eey Ooop you Spurs!

 

[bomberH]

In interview, programme notes, I think however he did it, it would have been picked up by the media and a big deal made out of it.

Maybe, but there's no way he would've used the same phrases in programme notes as he did in a post match interview. It would've been more articulate, more thought out and less of an attack whilst still getting the point across - and it would've been on SSN for 5 minutes on a Monday morning rather than repeated 8 times an hour every day as they can actually show him laying into us. Much more fun for them.

He's been brilliant and articulate in nearly everything he's said and done since being here so I can't slate him too much. Just this once. And I'll forgive him if he wins us the World Cup.