Have we blown our chances to be a top side?

[wiggo24]

I think the 2011-12 season is the one where we should have pushed on, but we screwed it up, finished 4th (after being 10 points ahead), and failed to qualify for the CL.

This was the team, and imo it's better than our team now:

Gomes
Walker King Dawson BAE
Lennon Parker Modric Bale
VDV
Adebayor

We have now sold all our best players, and replaced them withplayers who, at the moment, are simply not performing.

If we'd kept this team made 1 or 2 proven quality signings I believe we could've won the league, or at least been top 3 the following season.

This could all change of course, all the current players could suddenly improve, but I haven't seen any indication of this happening, leading me to dream about what I believe to be our "glory days".

 

[Qualsonic]

I think in this particular cycle we have peaked, and will now fall (hopefully not too deeply) into a trough.
I'm reasonably confident we'll miss out on the CL places this season, probably struggle to hold onto some of our key players in the summer and find it extremely difficult to improve on what we've already got.
Most tellingly we've lost the momentum we had built up over the last few seasons, whereas, for example, the fortunes of Arsenal,Liverpool and perhaps even Everton are all on the up.

This is a pretty bleak forecast, but as seasoned Spurs fans we must be used to the continual disappointment - I for one had let my hopes run away from me over the last 4 or 5 years, but have now come to realise this is really as good as it gets for us.

 

[Darragh]

since january last year this club has been going backwards and since bale left in summer we have thrown away all good work in past few years at least and i would argue going back 10 to 15 years in terms of players and performances. Its a mis mash of averageness.. the boys club where no one plays for the betterment of the team, just themselves in getting a better move. we stand absolute zero chandce of top 4 this season,anyone who thinks otherwise is plainly blind putting it bluntly.. at least before with some players you just know were going to develop, this lot are distinctly whatever and very uninspiring.

the root of it is levy and i just dont understand clubs thinking of appointing someone like AVB and then simply not replacing world class talent with world class talent.. if bale goes for 86 million... fine take that money and say to madrid ... u want bale grand, u can have him but we take a ozil in return no questions asked or take a truly world class player playing at top of his game.. proven and real real quality .. not some 21 yr argentinian one season wonder for example no matter how much potential he might have...and then add to the world class player..

bottom line we have replaced modric and bale with nothing but every average players not fit to lace their boots and it shows. levy went for the cheaper option no matter what way you look at it and its a mid table finish in a very average premier league for me. its exciting and keep me going but its pants really and thats what pisses me off. we were right their on the edge where we could have truly pushed on and dominated but fucked it all up imvho with silly decision making and ego's getting brusied and pissed off.

 

[THFCSPURS19]

I think the 2011-12 season is the one where we should have pushed on, but we screwed it up, finished 4th (after being 10 points ahead), and failed to qualify for the CL.

This was the team, and imo it's better than our team now:

Gomes
Walker King Dawson BAE
Lennon Parker Modric Bale
VDV
Adebayor

We have now sold all our best players, and replaced them withplayers who, at the moment, are simply not performing.

If we'd kept this team made 1 or 2 proven quality signings I believe we could've won the league, or at least been top 3 the following season.

This could all change of course, all the current players could suddenly improve, but I haven't seen any indication of this happening, leading me to dream about what I believe to be our "glory days".

Friedel was our goalie, no way we would have got into the Top 4 with Gomes in goal

 

[Misfit]

Personally, yes. I think so. We've got the squad, largely. The manager continues to be a problem. Or DL's apparent mistrust of each and every one he has employed is anyway. We no longer look all that attractive to bright young things imo. Maybe we can dodge a bullet in the short term if we get LVG in next summer. I'd expect a couple of prominent moves even so. Maybe Verts and Lloris or something. But we could regroup from that with a fantastic base of a squad still and LVG bringing in a few players of his liking.

I think we need to rehabilitate ourselves tbh. We must look a proper clusterfuck to outside observers.

Of course, unless Sherdawg is the messiah or we get LVG then we could be looking at a mass exodus and taking a punt on a manager looking for one last go at club management before retirement.

A LVG would be quite good, imo, providing it's a Baldini backed appt. He's a spikey bastard with a reputation that won't be harmed by a less than glorious spell at THFC. DL would have nothing on him.

 

[Skye Sauces]

Friedel was our goalie, no way we would have got into the Top 4 with Gomes in goal

Except when we got top 4 and Gomes was the goalie!!!!!!

 

[Misfit]

Just for the sake of clarity - I believe the worst will happen and this time DL doesn't get his miracle. The players, and we have quite a few very good ones, will think "fuck this" and all agitate to leave. We'll then look even less attractive a prospect as we currently do and get in a military medium managerwho will guide us merrily through the next 20 yrs between 8th (in a good season) and 15th (in a bad season). Maybe even a cup SF once every 7 yrs to add some spice to proceedings.

Who the fuck knows what happens to the stadium.

 

[Misfit]

Except when we got top 4 and Gomes was the goalie!!!!!!

Yeah. That trifling detail excepted.

 

[THFCSPURS19]

Except when we got top 4 and Gomes was the goalie!!!!!!

Fuck I forgot- I suppose those were the days before he became shit, I miss those times.

 

[Spurger King]

Personally, yes. I think so. We've got the squad, largely. The manager continues to be a problem. Or DL's apparent mistrust of each and every one he has employed is anyway. We no longer look all that attractive to bright young things imo. Maybe we can dodge a bullet in the short term if we get LVG in next summer. I'd expect a couple of prominent moves even so. Maybe Verts and Lloris or something. But we could regroup from that with a fantastic base of a squad still and LVG bringing in a few players of his liking.

I think we need to rehabilitate ourselves tbh. We must look a proper clusterfuck to outside observers.

Of course, unless Sherdawg is the messiah or we get LVG then we could be looking at a mass exodus and taking a punt on a manager looking for one last go at club management before retirement.

A LVG would be quite good, imo, providing it's a Baldini backed appt. He's a spikey bastard with a reputation that won't be harmed by a less than glorious spell at THFC. DL would have nothing on him.

Idoubt LVG will be interested in a mid-table team going backwards. More likely to end up with Avram "fuckface" Grant.

 

[Misfit]

Idoubt LVG will be interested in a mid-table team going backwards. More likely to end up with Avram "fuckface" Grant.

Yes. This is more how I think events will play out. Still, tickets will be slightly easier to come by. Who knows, DL might go the full section 8 and build the new stadium anyway in which case you'd be able to rock up on the day of the game and buy tickets again.

 

[Kendall]

I think so. We just don't seem capable of playing a quick passing game of football without looking flustered. We are really, really ordinary.

 

[spurslenny]

Said it before and I'll say it again....

..we'll never be a 'top' side until we have that total 'winners' mentality from top to bottom.
Something is missing, and it aint a tangible thing.

It's a mentality thing, and we just don't have it to the degree we should have for this size of club.

 

[ethanedwards]

Tottenham

• 01 Gomes
• 13 Gallas
• 20 Dawson
• 22 Corluka (Woodgate 59)
• 32 Assou-Ekotto
• 07 Lennon
• 11 Van der Vaart (Modric 62)
• 12 Palacios
• 30 Sandro
• 40 Pienaar (Kranjcar 76)
• 15 Crouch
• This is the team that beat AC at the San Siro.
  We need another Gallas and a VDV, Harry needs a few kudos for buying Gallas.

 

[THX2208]

 

[thinktank]

This has been discussed in many threads but I just wondered what the general consensus is here.

I can stomach a lot of things with Spurs but what I'm struggling to accept is in my opinion, we've blown our chance to become a truly big club or at least solidify our position as one.

By some miracle, partially players coming through, partially Levy's guidance and partially manager's. We've come an extremely long way over the last 10 years. Even though we'd come far, we still had giants ahead of us, the oil-rich Chelsea and then suddenly City were bought by similar owners.

It seemed impossible but we still got into the top 4. Liverpool, a once title challenging club, had somehow collapsed. City even through investment, missed out and there we were... Top 4, the Holy Grail.


However, through bad luck, our self-implosion... God knows what... 2010/2011 We failed to kick on from an excellent debut CL campaign. We had the squad, Arsenal were a declining force (mind the gap ring any bells?) Liverpool still lay dormant... Yet we still fucked it up.

I could accept that, just. Okay I thought... Arsenal are still able to be caught. So on rolled 2011/2012 and it was probably the worst of the lot. The luck we had for the Chavs to lift the CL and in essence make our 4th place finish redundant. Heart-wrenching, still fine margins... We were 1 point off of 3rd place Arsenal. The games we messed up there, the chances we will now rue. The 'Arry saga - Was this the turning point?

2012/2013 still I naively believed, Arsene's insistence of not purchasing world class players, Liverpool still a recovering giant... Bale's emergence as one of the best players in the league, it could still happen. But when that last of Bale's wonder goals went in against Sunderland, I knew... We all knew it was probably the end of our run. Two more points, and it all could of been so different.



Fast forward to where we are now... What next for our club? I genuinely don't see us even making Europa. The competition many of us have so regularly scorned. The competition which half a dozen seasons ago would have been such a marked achievement to qualify for.

Liverpool look to have finally clicked and have arguably the 3rd or 4th player in the world leading their line and a manager who albeit an idiot - knows how to set up a team. City, Chelsea, Arsenal - All too look nailed on for top 4, this is before we consider last year champions United and the emerging Everton (who I think will drop off).

How long is it before another billionaire bank rolls a team who isn't a regular in the top 6?

IMO, we have really blown it to establish ourselves as a title-challenging side. If we fail to get any European football this season, are Lloris, Vertonghen etc. going to stick around with Deadwood as manager whilst playing school boy football?

The comforting thing for me is that our youth teams are supposedly quality and we've got a plethora of top talents coming through. I feel we will always be knocking around top 6 but I believe we've blown our chance to push on past that.

I just don't know anymore.

 

[thinktank]

http://www.theguardian.com/football/quiz/2013/apr/02/brendan-rodgers-david-brent-quotes-quiz

7/10

 

[thinktank]

I certainly think we would have a much brighter future if Levy had taken one of numerous chances to push the club to the next level.

This everyday.

It's very painful to look back at the times we could have bought a striker or moutinho or a defender and been sitting pretty but Levy has been too risk averse.

And now he's put the riskiest manager possible in charge of the fortune he eventually did decide to spend.

Strange fucking world I tell ya....

 

[KILLA_SIN]

This everyday.

It's very painful to look back at the times we could have bought a striker or moutinho or a defender and been sitting pretty but Levy has been too risk averse.

And now he's put the riskiest manager possible in charge of the fortune he eventually did decide to spend.

Strange fucking world I tell ya....

He oscilates between massive risks and big gambles and then back to safe bets.

 

[$herringham]

Doom mongering...

Yes, this is the end and everything is shit. Happy now?

Saying the truth sarcastically doesn't change the truth