Does this represent part of the problem with our players?

[Adam]

Just read an interview with Redknapp in which he said this about our players, on the subject of us faltering like the Spurs sides of the past 10 years:-

“These players don’t know what happened four years ago; they probably don’t even know they won the double in 1961! They wouldn’t have heard of Dave Mackay. They wouldn’t have a clue where Tottenham finished five years ago.”

For me, this is quite a sad representation of the attitude of our players, and also suggests a poor handling of new players when they are brought into the club.

When you see interviews with players at top clubs like United, Barcelona, Real Madrid etc, they look as if they have been engulfed in the ethos of their new club, which seems to give these players an added desire to suceed at their new homes. Quite frankly, i have seen so many Spurs players of the past ten years look as if they wouldnt realise if their shirt was red with a cannon on it, and quite frankly, im fed up with it.

Im not saying that our players should be supporters of the club before they join or anything like that, but i dont really understand how you can give your all for something if you have no idea about its past glories, former greats and the way in which that institution works. If we dont try and enforce the club's ethos and history on the players, then i dont see how we can expect them to care about us more than any other club-Fergie is constantly bleating on about 'the Manchester United way,' and when you look at how much their players care about the shirt whenever they step onto the pitch, i cant help but wonder if the above quote from Harry suggests a deep-rooted problem in the club's staff, and goes some way in explaining the apparant lack of care that the players have for the wellbeing of the club and its supporters.

 

[grantalope]

The gulf between the traditions of Barcelona, Madrid, Inter, and United and us is enormous. Players know that playing there is something special, it is the ultimate validation for a life dedicated to football. Yes, Spurs have a tradition as well, but our tradition is important to us only. Is our history really that much different than clubs like Villa, Everton, City, etc? The answer is probably "yes" to the die hard fans of each team, but a definitive "no" from an uninformed/uninterested party. Similarly, you don't see players at Chelsea or Arsenal going on in a similar way about tradition as they do when signing for Barcelona or Madrid. I don't think that United's players are trying harder for the title than Chelsea's or Arsenal's. I get you point at wanting to instill a historical sense of the club into our current batch of players, but I think it is foolish to act as though bleating on to them about Mackay and '61 is going to have any affect on or off the pitch.

I have more of a problem with Harry throwing players under the bus in order to gain "cheap" favor among fans and the media. That quote is obviously going to appeal to Spurs fans who really really really care about the clubs history and will hope/expect the player's to at least understand why the club is so important to the fans. Are you more disposed or less disposed to supporting the current batch of players after reading that quote? Obviously a bit less. Harry is of course proving to the fans that he is well aware of the history that we all hold so dear. But because Harry isn't going to do anything about this "problem" maybe he should keep his mouth shut and not publicly complain about how EVERY player in the squad knows next to nothing about Tottenham and its history.

 

[PT]

Yesterdays football world compared to today's mercenary money laden "soccer" environment is worlds apart. Yesterday's professionall player compared to todays were and are driven by totally polar opposite values.

If the game's administrators were to sanction a global capping of wages and perhaps provide flexibility in add-on bonuses depending on Club aspirations then players might start playing for the incentive of a decent wage coupled to a chance of football glory.

 

[nicdic]

You're comparing us to Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid?

 

[sherbornespurs]

“These players don’t know what happened four years ago;......"

Have I missed something, what actually DID happen four years ago?

 

[PT]

“These players don’t know what happened four years ago;......"

Have I missed something, what actually DID happen four years ago?

I think Harry was speaking metaphorically.

 

[gibbs131]

Jol learned practically the history of the club while he was here. Remember that football focus style thing where they ask the manager and a player 10 questions about the history? Jol got them all right! And they were not easy ones too.

The players can't take all the blame. We signed kids and thats what you get usually.

 

[SpunkyBackpack]

So if they asked Dave Mackay what happened 20 years previous to him joining i wonder how well he would have done?


(yes im being facetious, its my only useful trait)

 

[Adam]

You're comparing us to Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid?

No, im not-im just trying to point out that in general, the teams that repeatedly have success are those who seem to make their players aware of the ethos of their clubs, as the aformentioned three do.

It just seems to make sense that if you want someone to give his all for a cause, there needs to be more there than purely financial gain; surely a player is more likely to give a shit about the club he plays for if he has even an inkling about its past-personally, id expect all of our players to know about Bill Nicholson and the double as they were hugely significant moments-if you look at the top clubs, there is usually some interaction between the current crop of players and the former greats, for example Bobby Charlton at United, Bob Wilson at Arsenal etc.

I just saw the quotes and thought it was a bit of a sad reflection of the way i look at Spurs now, but even if im totally wrong, i dont see it as too idyllic to expect the players to understand two or three of the key events in the club's history

 

[Luka Lennon]

I think the main problem with alot of our players is down to work-rate. If you're not prepared to go out there and work your bollox off regardless of the opposition and really earn the victory then you'll have alot of upsets. We have a good few players who have alot of talent but don't always show up to put a full shift in. It's all to easy for them nowadays they make shit loads of money whether they play or not and whether they win or not. Alot of our problems also stem from the manager merry go round we've been for years. Look at Everton under Moyes they've allowed him to build a squad of players who respect him and work their bollox off for him we haven't had anything like that for decades and although we spend loads more money it's always a mish mash of players bought by several different managers or DoFs. Hence they mostly over achieve and we mostly under achieve. We were on the right track with Jol but then Comolli showed up. Now we seem to be on the right track with Harry but no doubt something will happen again and we'll be right back to the drawing board with a new mug in charge.

 

[striebs]

I think the main problem with alot of our players is down to work-rate. If you're not prepared to go out there and work your bollox off regardless of the opposition and really earn the victory then you'll have alot of upsets. We have a good few players who have alot of talent but don't always show up to put a full shift in. It's all to easy for them nowadays they make shit loads of money whether they play or not and whether they win or not. Alot of our problems also stem from the manager merry go round we've been for years. Look at Everton under Moyes they've allowed him to build a squad of players who respect him and work their bollox off for him we haven't had anything like that for decades and although we spend loads more money it's always a mish mash of players bought by several different managers or DoFs. Hence they mostly over achieve and we mostly under achieve. We were on the right track with Jol but then Comolli showed up. Now we seem to be on the right track with Harry but no doubt something will happen again and we'll be right back to the drawing board with a new mug in charge.

The trueist assessment of Tottenham I've ever seen .

 

[rez9000]

The gulf between the traditions of Barcelona, Madrid, Inter, and United and us is enormous. Players know that playing there is something special, it is the ultimate validation for a life dedicated to football. Yes, Spurs have a tradition as well, but our tradition is important to us only. Is our history really that much different than clubs like Villa, Everton, City, etc? The answer is probably "yes" to the die hard fans of each team, but a definitive "no" from an uninformed/uninterested party. Similarly, you don't see players at Chelsea or Arsenal going on in a similar way about tradition as they do when signing for Barcelona or Madrid. I don't think that United's players are trying harder for the title than Chelsea's or Arsenal's. I get you point at wanting to instill a historical sense of the club into our current batch of players, but I think it is foolish to act as though bleating on to them about Mackay and '61 is going to have any affect on or off the pitch.

I have more of a problem with Harry throwing players under the bus in order to gain "cheap" favor among fans and the media. That quote is obviously going to appeal to Spurs fans who really really really care about the clubs history and will hope/expect the player's to at least understand why the club is so important to the fans. Are you more disposed or less disposed to supporting the current batch of players after reading that quote? Obviously a bit less. Harry is of course proving to the fans that he is well aware of the history that we all hold so dear. But because Harry isn't going to do anything about this "problem" maybe he should keep his mouth shut and not publicly complain about how EVERY player in the squad knows next to nothing about Tottenham and its history.

In actuality, Redknapp was defending his players. The quote above was in response to an accusation by an interviewer that our current crop are doing what previous Spurs sides have done - start well and then mess it up. He was saying that the idea that Spurs have a tradition for shooting ourselves in the foot is irrelevent because these players are not familiar with Spurs history. Here is the complete answer he gave:

“It’s a new team. I don’t go with all that rubbish. How can that have any bearing with what’s happened in the past?

“These players don’t know what happened four years ago; they probably don’t even know they won the double in 1961! They wouldn’t have heard of Dave Mackay. They wouldn’t have a clue where Tottenham finished five years ago.”

Makes his answer a little clearer, wouldn't you say?

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

Now we seem to be on the right track with Harry but no doubt something will happen again and we'll be right back to the drawing board with a new mug in charge.

We will be if some of the Genei who lurk on the front page have their way.

 

[SpurSince57]

Yesterdays football world compared to today's mercenary money laden "soccer" environment is worlds apart. Yesterday's professionall player compared to todays were and are driven by totally polar opposite values.

If the game's administrators were to sanction a global capping of wages and perhaps provide flexibility in add-on bonuses depending on Club aspirations then players might start playing for the incentive of a decent wage coupled to a chance of football glory.

Yesterday's player was owned by the club, PT.

 

[double0]

Arry really should just get on with the job instead of being a public speaker.

 

[TheWaddler]

“These players don’t know what happened four years ago;......"

Have I missed something, what actually DID happen four years ago?

We choked in our pursuit of CL qualification. He was being asked whether the players would be thinking of that this time around.

 

[riversmonkey]

It's the winning mentality, a lot of our players seem to be of the mindset that if we don't win today, we will try harder next time. Where as the best players in the world go to war every game, leaving everything on the pitch. There are professional footballers who turn up and get paid, and then there are natural footballers who embody the game.

The history thing is quite interesting because only last week Javier Mascherano said this when linked with a move to Man City:
"At Liverpool we play with the history of the club. We don't have the money that they have but we are proud to play for Liverpool..... I don't want to play for Manchester City. Yes, they have money and they are building a good team but I am still proud to play for Liverpool. You can buy stars but you cannot buy history and I think Manchester City respect Liverpool. I think they know we have some very good players too and we will fight until the end. Then we will see what happens."

 

[PT]

Yesterday's player was owned by the club, PT.

Good point, thanks.

 

[mil1lion]

I'm sure the players are aware of the history of the Club. Sure, they wont know as much as the diehard fans. But they'll be aware of the legends that have played for Spurs, and the style of football we have played for many years. Especially the English players we have at the club.

But it's not crucial for them to feel the same way about it as the fans. The truth is, players often come and go now. We as supporters will follow the Club for our entire lives. Footballers only spend part of their career there.

The important thing is that they are motivated to take us forward in the present and the future. As long as new players come here wanting to achieve big things with the club, i'm not too fussed how much they know about our history.

 

[Vecellio]

The gulf between the traditions of Barcelona, Madrid, Inter, and United and us is enormous. Players know that playing there is something special, it is the ultimate validation for a life dedicated to football. Yes, Spurs have a tradition as well, but our tradition is important to us only. Is our history really that much different than clubs like Villa, Everton, City, etc?

With all due respect i think this is a bit incorrect. I think it was generally accepted pre-premiership that there were in fact a 'big five' of which we were a part (albeit probably the least successful with mainly cup victories). In the premiership years we have fallen down the pecking order.