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Can I trust Tottenham not to let me down again?

Locotoro

Prince of Zamunda
Sep 2, 2004
9,328
13,924
Football is a strange ole game...and I often feel the same way you do., feeling let down, not wanting to build my hopes up only to see them dashed.

But for me it always comes back to one simple fact...

I'd rather be a Spurs Supporter than a fan of any other team in the world.

Since I have supported Spurs in the late 80's we have always entertained.

Spurs is a club with tradition, playing the beautiful game, the forefathers of the push and run style, the first British club to win a European trophy, first non-league club F.A Cup winners, the famous five, first team to do the double, Blanchflower, Sir Bill, jimmy greaves, first team ever to win the Uefa cup, Ricky Villa's mazy dribble, Hoddle & waddle, Lineker & Gazza, Gary Mabbut!! our Sony Jumbotrons ,Ossie's Tottingham, Oh when the Spurs go marching in, Klinsmann dive, the return of Teddy, Christian Gross and his underground ticket (ok forget that one), Steffan Fruend the goal machine, David Ginola, wow that goal against Barnsley, his muscleman celebration, We love martin jol martin jol loves me, EUROPE AGAIN!!, yid army! yid army!, Ramos' revolution, the silky Berbatov, 5-1, 5-1, 5-1, Screwing Chelscum in the final!.....Audere Est Facere!

"The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It is nothing of the kind. The game is about glory, it is about doing things in style and with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom."
 

hellava_tough

Well-Known Member
Apr 21, 2005
9,429
12,382
Football is a strange ole game...and I often feel the same way you do., feeling let down, not wanting to build my hopes up only to see them dashed.

But for me it always comes back to one simple fact...

I'd rather be a Spurs Supporter than a fan of any other team in the world.

Since I have supported Spurs in the late 80's we have always entertained.

Spurs is a club with tradition, playing the beautiful game, the forefathers of the push and run style, the first British club to win a European trophy, first non-league club F.A Cup winners, the famous five, first team to do the double, Blanchflower, Sir Bill, jimmy greaves, first team ever to win the Uefa cup, Ricky Villa's mazy dribble, Hoddle & waddle, Lineker & Gazza, Gary Mabbut!! our Sony Jumbotrons ,Ossie's Tottingham, Oh when the Spurs go marching in, Klinsmann dive, the return of Teddy, Christian Gross and his underground ticket (ok forget that one), Steffan Fruend the goal machine, David Ginola, wow that goal against Barnsley, his muscleman celebration, We love martin jol martin jol loves me, EUROPE AGAIN!!, yid army! yid army!, Ramos' revolution, the silky Berbatov, 5-1, 5-1, 5-1, Screwing Chelscum in the final!.....Audere Est Facere!

"The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It is nothing of the kind. The game is about glory, it is about doing things in style and with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom."

:clap::clap::clap: - now that's what I'm talkin' about!!
 

DC_Boy

New Member
May 20, 2005
17,608
5
Hi DM - thanks for compliments - I put the disclaimer in about 'exact nuances' as I know the English language is one bucking bronco of a beast and is always liable to unseat you at any time you start claiming mastery :)

Great post Locotoro :) one small but massive thing tho - AFAIK we are not just the first but the only non-league team to win FA Cup - and I don't see that changing anytime soon

truly the one and only :)
 

BringBack_leGin

Well-Known Member
Jul 28, 2004
27,719
54,929
I watched a spurs v wimbledon game on ESPN the other day from late 90's the year we nearly got related under Gross. Apart from Klinsmann the team was full of compete dross and managed by a half bald unknown idiot. The vague hope and optimism of breaking into the top four we now have as spurs fans seems light years away from these days and we should think ourselves lucky. However I cant help but dread that familar dismal away performance on the opening day against boro and going down to a wonder scored by someone who will never ever score a goal like it in his career again.

agreed with much of what you say, and in that 97/98 season we were truly awful, but you are extremely harsh on gross. without him we would surely have been relegated, the reason we were in a relegation fight was because of gerry francis and how low he had dragged us, gross not only saved us from relegation but ensured that we did not finish in the bottom 6, whereas before him, going down was a very real possibility. For an idiot, he has since done brilliantly, winning many titles in Switzerland with Basel and completely overhauling Zurich as the best club there.

And while I loved Klinsmann, and I was happy with his contribution, and I was at that 6-2 game as well, it was hardly he who kept us up, he contributed but I would have thought that the accolade of season saviour must surely go to David Ginola, who was our top scorer from the wing and by far our best player all season long. Not one other player came anywhere near Ginola.

Also, that team did have a lot of dross but there was some flickering of goodness in it. Campbell at that point was arguably the leagues best centre half, definitely the best young one, and he showed as much at the world cup that followed. Anderton when he came back from his injury was brilliant for the final third of the season. Ian Walker was a very capable goalie, who while he made some mistakes made far more spectacular saves. He was no worse than Robinson in Robsinsons first season, but he had an even worse defence in front of him.

Unfortunately Mabbutt was out all season after his opening day leg break but came back on the final day to say goodbye, but Calderwood was decent enough as well. And in midfield, Allan Neilsen is a player who I would take every day of the week ahead of either Jenas or Zokora. Furthermore, while often ridiculed, Ramon Vega is a hero to me. In that league cup final (the worst final I have ever seen by the way) the following season he played on a broken foot and in the final minute cleared from Heskey off the line after a Campbell mistake.

Edinburgh, Austing, Sinton, Fox, Howells, Ferdinand, I will happily accept that all of these were complete eyesores in their time at Spurs, but even then there was good to remember.

And i'll be completely honest, untill we signed Berbatov in the summer of 2006, that season was my most exciting as a season ticket holder at Spurs (my first as a season ticket holder as well) and I remember many more enthralling moments from that season than from the first season in which we finished 5th, which, while I was delighted with our performance, was a pretty dull season on the pitch in which we never won a single game by more than 2 goals.
 

DC_Boy

New Member
May 20, 2005
17,608
5
while it's fair to say Spurs have never had a winger to match Cliff Jones, it's also fair to say Ginola is a true Spurs legend and had he come to Spurs earlier in his career and given us five or six years - he would be seen as a true Spurs great too I reckon

I don't know why I think a true Spurs great is higher praise than a true Spurs legend - it just seems to me it is

anyway what I'm saying is Ginola is right up there with the Berbatovs Klinsmanns and Waddles of this world

but probably not the Greaves Jones Hoddles, Jennings Mackays etc whose longer association with the club put them on a different level
 

SlunkSoma

Like dogs bright
Oct 5, 2004
3,941
3,490
Is the disinterest possibly down to the fact that we have in these last few months actually signed some quality players and the positivty from previous seasons was based more on hope than actual product (ie the new players coming in). Now we are shaping up to be a quality side are we entering strange new territory - we were more familliar with the 'Oh Zokora can fill Carrick's shoes' 'Helder Postiga will come good' 'all these new players that we have never heard of (Atouba, Edman, Mendes, Pamarot) must be brilliant' type of preseasons because the expectation wasn't actually there afterall, just hope. Now capturing Modric and dos Santos in particlar we and the rest of the footballing world expects us to do the business, thus putting an unfamillair pressure on ourselves.
 

Dougal

Staff
Jun 4, 2004
60,346
129,922
Is the disinterest possibly down to the fact that we have in these last few months actually signed some quality players and the positivty from previous seasons was based more on hope than actual product (ie the new players coming in). Now we are shaping up to be a quality side are we entering strange new territory - we were more familliar with the 'Oh Zokora can fill Carrick's shoes' 'Helder Postiga will come good' 'all these new players that we have never heard of (Atouba, Edman, Mendes, Pamarot) must be brilliant' type of preseasons because the expectation wasn't actually there afterall, just hope. Now capturing Modric and dos Santos in particlar we and the rest of the footballing world expects us to do the business, thus putting an unfamillair pressure on ourselves.

That expectation was there last year. New arrivals always bring a risk so as highly as we can rate our new signings there are still no guarantees that they will set the world alight.
 

pagevee

Ehhhh, What's up Doc?
Oct 4, 2006
644
147
Football is a strange ole game...and I often feel the same way you do., feeling let down, not wanting to build my hopes up only to see them dashed.

But for me it always comes back to one simple fact...

I'd rather be a Spurs Supporter than a fan of any other team in the world.

Since I have supported Spurs in the late 80's we have always entertained.

Spurs is a club with tradition, playing the beautiful game, the forefathers of the push and run style, the first British club to win a European trophy, first non-league club F.A Cup winners, the famous five, first team to do the double, Blanchflower, Sir Bill, jimmy greaves, first team ever to win the Uefa cup, Ricky Villa's mazy dribble, Hoddle & waddle, Lineker & Gazza, Gary Mabbut!! our Sony Jumbotrons ,Ossie's Tottingham, Oh when the Spurs go marching in, Klinsmann dive, the return of Teddy, Christian Gross and his underground ticket (ok forget that one), Steffan Fruend the goal machine, David Ginola, wow that goal against Barnsley, his muscleman celebration, We love martin jol martin jol loves me, EUROPE AGAIN!!, yid army! yid army!, Ramos' revolution, the silky Berbatov, 5-1, 5-1, 5-1, Screwing Chelscum in the final!.....Audere Est Facere!

"The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It is nothing of the kind. The game is about glory, it is about doing things in style and with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom."

Effing brilliant post! Shame I can't rep you for itEek

Have a beer instead.:cheers:
 

ChRiStOpHe

It's a piece of cake to bake a pretty cake
Dec 14, 2004
12,813
331
It's funny... I've been a fan since the summer of '97, and have thrown myself, feelings and all, right into Spurs from the very beginning. At a time when I started playing a lot myself, I needed a team to follow, and after a chat with my Dad, it turned out that he'd supported Tottenham year ago. He'd though fallen out of love with the game, but after I decided I would pick up where he left off, his love was rekindled. Now, both fenatics, I still tell him every single summer that next season will be the one. Every single year, he laughs, and teasingly reminds me that, "you say that every year". While he's a nagetive old sod, I've always been the complete opposite. As Dougal and others have pointed out, I used to (and still do, if I'm honest) throw expectations and excitement in the direction of signings who I've barely seen play, if at all. I'm still the same as I was when I was a fresh faced 9 year old with as much knowledge of the game as your average llama. But no matter how blind my excitement is, I'm still buzzing, as I am every summer, 100% certain that we'll not only challenge Liverpool next season for their Champions League place, but actually take it from them.

I know that with another decade of this emotional battering, it's likely to get harder to keep this sort of optimism up, but right now, I'm still as excited as I was back in '97, '98, '99 etc etc etc.
 

Chimbo!

Well-Known Member
Jan 7, 2007
3,558
3,291
It's funny... I've been a fan since the summer of '97, and have thrown myself, feelings and all, right into Spurs from the very beginning. At a time when I started playing a lot myself, I needed a team to follow, and after a chat with my Dad, it turned out that he'd supported Tottenham year ago. He'd though fallen out of love with the game, but after I decided I would pick up where he left off, his love was rekindled. Now, both fenatics, I still tell him every single summer that next season will be the one. Every single year, he laughs, and teasingly reminds me that, "you say that every year". While he's a nagetive old sod, I've always been the complete opposite. As Dougal and others have pointed out, I used to (and still do, if I'm honest) throw expectations and excitement in the direction of signings who I've barely seen play, if at all. I'm still the same as I was when I was a fresh faced 9 year old with as much knowledge of the game as your average llama. But no matter how blind my excitement is, I'm still buzzing, as I am every summer, 100% certain that we'll not only challenge Liverpool next season for their Champions League place, but actually take it from them.

I know that with another decade of this emotional battering, it's likely to get harder to keep this sort of optimism up, but right now, I'm still as excited as I was back in '97, '98, '99 etc etc etc.

Gr8 post, its good to be an optimistic spurs fan! It is what football is all about.:clap:
 

Dougal

Staff
Jun 4, 2004
60,346
129,922
Like a mistreated pet rescued by the RSPCA and passed onto to a new, seemingly caring, family, I should really cower in the corner until I'm sure it's safe to some out. I shouldn't invest my all into the benefits of this new lease of life because, as mentioned, I have all too often been left battered, cold and sick by the hope a new dawn brings.

It has happened again. Maybe a few more people will understand where I was coming from a few weeks ago when I wrote this.
 

CosmicHotspur

Better a wag than a WAG
Aug 14, 2006
51,069
22,383
Disillusionment set in for me when wages hit the roof, crashed through it and took to the skies. It has changed the game beyond recognition and even though I lived for 19 years just a few miles from N17 until we moved a couple of years ago, I couldn't even afford to go to matches for at least the last ten of those years.

I find all the conflicting ITK and transfer rumours too dizzying to read so I just check out headlines and then patiently wait for confirmation of changes when they actually materialize.

However, I was born and bred in Tottenham and being a Spurs supporter is in my blood and, despite the ups and downs of latter years, that could never change. It's the club and its tradition and its very soul that I love. Players come and players go, some are legends, some are better forgotten. I always have a tiny thread of hope to cling on to that we will see truly great days again and reclaim our rightful place at the top where the name of Tottenham Hotspur belongs.

Maybe Ramos will do it, maybe he won't. Perhaps it won't even happen (again) in my lifetime, but it DID happen in the 60s and I was lucky enough to be there to witness it.

Whatever happens, this season I will again have moments of sheer despair and moments of pure joy. That pretty much sums up Spurs for me.
 
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