Our fans mentality

[BENNO]

I don't give a fuck anyway, I'd go see Spurs whether we're in the Champions League or the Dr Martens league. I just love watching football, and this is my club.

And just when i didn't think i'd find a better post than the one i just quoted, along comes another. Well said indeed.

 

[Mattspur]

Going to be a tad controversial with my first post. But am keen to gauge whether I am in the minority of spurs fans?

Mate, if you go on Twitter you’ll see the place is full of other Spurs fans who think like you. You should check it out. I think it’ll be right up your street.

 

[yido_number1]

We might not have won trophies but we've consistently improved from top 10 to top 4 and have actually competed twice to win the league in March April etc. The stadium and champions league revenue have built the best squads we have had in my lifetime. We will keep improving and we will win trophies despite other clubs being financially doped to get there.

 

[BENNO]

Personally it would for me.

I do agree in many ways to opening poster, I see many fans just want to get one up for "bantz" purposes, and come back with we are in a better position than we were 10-15 years ago, whereas in reality these last 25 years have been by far the worst in the clubs history.

We have always been a big club, always been one of the top 6 in terms of revenue, yet we have basically not won a thing for a generation, this never happened.

At the end of the day most Spurs supporters can name every year we won any trophy, in 20 years time they will need to look up on the internet where we finished in the League in any given season (unless we win it), because the game is about trophies and that is where we have failed massively for a team of our size and means.

This is it in a nutshell for me, it's the times we live in when everyone (well not me, i'm 50, but younger fans) are stuck in this horrible bubble where their whole time is spent either mocking/gloating or being mocked. So they have these completely unrealistic expectations so that they can be the ones doing the gloating/mocking. It's stirred up by Talksport and Sky of course, and newspapers even quote what fans are tweeting these days. Utterly poisonous and completely destroys just about everything good about being a fan and loving a football club. In my last year as a season ticket holder i crashed my car on the way home from WHL due to getting in a race with another vehicle, basically cos i was wound up that we'd lost and that i was being told how shit my team was by Adrian Durham. Absolutely ridiculous, so i stopped listening to talksport, avoided any Sky Sports guff regarding Spurs and swerved Twitter - and my life not only got a whole lot calmer but my enjoyment of Spurs improved markedly.

 

[KingKay]

I've wondered before whether other clubs plant people in an attempt to spread negativity or derail us? That #hastag the other day is a prime example.

In all seriousness though, I wouldn't put it past Levy to be funding AFTV in the background, the stakes are high enough.

 

[yiddopaul]

To be honest, I think it's more important what the players and the management think. The fans' opinions are largely irrelevant – annoying sometimes - but on the whole, are just rants. I want us to win trophies, as indeed all Spurs fans do (especially the FA Cup – holds a special place in my and I'm sure an entire generation's heart), but I just love watching us play, I get excited when we score, even in a friendly, I love to see us playing entertaining football, even if we lose (which of course, I hope we don't). I remember watching us in the 80's, all those wonderful players: Hoddle, Ardiles, Villa, Archibald etc etc. Wonderful times going there with me dad, the thrill of seeing the Spurs put on a show. If we didn't win a trophy at the end of the season, we didn't bleat on about it. We took it game by game, each game an event. WE HAD FUN even if we didn't win anything.

We've lost that side of our support. I'm sure social media is largely to blame. People are always so angry now with this player or the manager or Levy. Everyone's looking to blame someone. Quite sad really. It's actually some fans – if I do have a gripe – that ruin football for me.

Oh, and it's harder now to win trophies than at any point in history – thanks to City and Chelsea. So when people say, we MUST win a cup this year, that's really unfair to expect that. I believe trophies will come, I don't know when, but they will. But I don't follow Spurs just for the trophies.

 

[soflapaul]

We all want more. We all want to win trophies. We were all disappointed at losing the cl final.

Some of us don't whinge about it and realise that as a club we are getting bigger and better. We realise that we are not entitled to anything. We realise that 99% of football clubs in the world would kill to be in our position. We realise that we are battling against clubs with far more resources than us. We realise that even without trophies we have a great team, great stadium and just need a bit of luck to turn those defeats into wins.

We also realise a negative atmosphere will not help the team win but a positive one might.

Dele Alli - great question to ask and there is much to agree with in your post but Lilbaz gets one thing absolutely spot on. We are not entitled to anything. One thing that appealing about Spurs is that historically, we don't have that sense of entitlement that has infected so many of the EPL teams. One only has to look down the street a few miles or turn on AFTV to see how corrosive that atmosphere can become during a perceived rough patch. Or look at Real Madrid. They are the pinnacle of demanding. So many of their fans can't enjoy their football because their egos and identity are so wrapped up in the perceived success of the club. When i hear ex players such as VDV wax lyrically about his time at Spurs, you realize that this is a special club and for the most part SC reflects that as well.

So we should always be driven to improve regardless of whether we are fourth, first or 20th. Bill Nicholson drove for perfection and he set our standard. So we won the league? Good, go win a second time and third time. Create a dynasty. But there is a huge difference between driving for perfection and demanding perfection. "Demanding" can often devolve into negative backbiting and bitterness especially when things don't happen in the person doing the demanding's time frame. Now how you put pressure on the club in a positive way is quite a bit harder to do, but in the end, we at Spurs aim higher. That is in terms of football and in terms of who we are as people. Just one man's opinion.

 

[ebzrascal]

Going to be a tad controversial with my first post. But am keen to gauge whether I am in the minority of spurs fans?

In my opinion the attitudes of a lot of our fans need to change, there seems to be an acceptance of mediocrity from a large number. I am getting a bit fed up with some supporters for example being just happy that we got to the champions league final. Sure, it was an achievement no one denies that but at the end of the day in a few years no one (apart from spurs fans) will remember the losing finalists, we are now in the same bracket as the likes of Bayer Leverkusen, Monaco, and Valencia as losing finalists. It’s nothing to be proud of in my opinion and only winning counts. Spurs fans should have been more annoyed with the performance that night. Liverpool were poor and certainly were there for the taking, but unfortunately like most of our fans the players seemed to be happy with just being there.
It is now 11 years without a trophy the longest period of non success since 1950. This isn’t good enough for me. Arsenal, Chelsea, Leicester, Liverpool, city, United, Portsmouth, and Wigan have all won a trophy since our last and we have lost what 8? FA Cup Semi Finals on the spin? That is not good enough for a club of our stature, yet the "pressure" doesn't seem to be the same as other big clubs in my view.
We have the most expensive ticket prices in the world, we have a magnificent brand new stadium, and some world class players, however there are glaring holes in the squad, namely fullbacks and backups to key players like Kane & Eriksen (If he stays, which is a separate conversation). So far for me the transfer window has been a disappointment. The signing of Ndombele looks a great one, but it was 6 months too late! We needed him as a replacement for Dembele.
We lost 20 games last season and our squad proved to be not good enough as we barely scraped Top 4. We need new players, it's as simple as that. Our squad was depleted last year, and we've lost Trippier, Vorm & Llorente meaning we're currently weaker in terms of numbers. If we don't sign anybody else, it'll be a disaster given the stadium is finished, we announced record profits last year, made nearly £100 million from the Champions league alone and also recently announced our biggest ever kit deal with AIA.

But come on spurs fans we need to demand more, put more pressure on the owners. We aren’t some small plucky club that is performing miracles. We are a huge club, huge support, and all the parts in place to be a huge European force. Start acting like it! Demand more from your club. All this happy to be there rubbish needs to stop, Watching the parade in Liverpool made me sick, and I was desperate to experience it as a Spurs fan with my kids. The last time our great club with such a rich history had a parade was nearly 30 years ago!

Spot on !!! Spurs fans have forgotten what winning is like. We don't even demand it anymore. We take pride in not being upset when our club just continues on the nearly path.. If we don't get what is required this window i'm gonna be really pissed off...

 

[yiddopaul]

We all want more. We all want to win trophies. We were all disappointed at losing the cl final.

Some of us don't whinge about it and realise that as a club we are getting bigger and better. We realise that we are not entitled to anything. We realise that 99% of football clubs in the world would kill to be in our position. We realise that we are battling against clubs with far more resources than us. We realise that even without trophies we have a great team, great stadium and just need a bit of luck to turn those defeats into wins.

We also realise a negative atmosphere will not help the team win but a positive one might.

This. Don't be like Liverpool.

 

[Lilbaz]

Spot on !!! Spurs fans have forgotten what winning is like. We don't even demand it anymore. We take pride in not being upset when our club just continues on the nearly path.. If we don't get what is required this window i'm gonna be really pissed off...

What is required?

 

[Gb160]

Spurs fans have forgotten what winning is like. We don't even demand it anymore.

This is just straight up entitlement, you're not owed anything mate...perhaps you should stop behaving like you are.

 

[Lilbaz]

I hate to break it to some of you but the club doesn't owe you anything.
It is entertainment that's it. You might have gone your whole life with your dad etc... and have wonderful memories. You might love the club, you might love the players and atmosphere and a million other things. But it is entertainment.

If you are not happy stop paying.

 

[Deli alley 61]

What is required?

A couple of decent full backs would be a good start..

 

[Johnny J]

I hate to break it to some of you but the club doesn't owe you anything.
It is entertainment that's it. You might have gone your whole life with your dad etc... and have wonderful memories. You might love the club, you might love the players and atmosphere and a million other things. But it is entertainment.

If you are not happy stop paying.

You're not wrong, but I do think there's something to be said for the social bond between a club and its fans. There's a social contract there, though admittedly it's been weakened by the globalisation of the sport and the now overriding financial aspect.

Clubs don't owe success to their fans. But I think it's perfectly legitimate to argue that a club does have a responsibility to act...responsibly in the way it goes about its business, particularly with regard to its local community.

To put it another way, the relationship between a club that millions support - tangible and intangible - and identify with as a defining part of their life goes two ways. Again, this was more obvious when clubs really were the heart and soul of a community, but the romantic in me (and I'm a lawyer) still believes that reciprocal bond exists in some form.

 

[ebzrascal]

What is required?

New players in the positions we need to improve, who have quality, desire and want to play for us. At this moment I say get Lo Celso and Bruno Fernandez(we need to find 25 more goals if we want to challenge), sell Eriksen, keep Rose add a right back if possible. Probably sell/loan Wanyama,Lamela(both injury prone) and Nkoudou probably too late now to do what's needed

 

[worcestersauce]

Going to be a tad controversial with my first post. But am keen to gauge whether I am in the minority of spurs fans?

In my opinion the attitudes of a lot of our fans need to change, there seems to be an acceptance of mediocrity from a large number. I am getting a bit fed up with some supporters for example being just happy that we got to the champions league final. Sure, it was an achievement no one denies that but at the end of the day in a few years no one (apart from spurs fans) will remember the losing finalists, we are now in the same bracket as the likes of Bayer Leverkusen, Monaco, and Valencia as losing finalists. It’s nothing to be proud of in my opinion and only winning counts. Spurs fans should have been more annoyed with the performance that night. Liverpool were poor and certainly were there for the taking, but unfortunately like most of our fans the players seemed to be happy with just being there.
It is now 11 years without a trophy the longest period of non success since 1950. This isn’t good enough for me. Arsenal, Chelsea, Leicester, Liverpool, city, United, Portsmouth, and Wigan have all won a trophy since our last and we have lost what 8? FA Cup Semi Finals on the spin? That is not good enough for a club of our stature, yet the "pressure" doesn't seem to be the same as other big clubs in my view.
We have the most expensive ticket prices in the world, we have a magnificent brand new stadium, and some world class players, however there are glaring holes in the squad, namely fullbacks and backups to key players like Kane & Eriksen (If he stays, which is a separate conversation). So far for me the transfer window has been a disappointment. The signing of Ndombele looks a great one, but it was 6 months too late! We needed him as a replacement for Dembele.
We lost 20 games last season and our squad proved to be not good enough as we barely scraped Top 4. We need new players, it's as simple as that. Our squad was depleted last year, and we've lost Trippier, Vorm & Llorente meaning we're currently weaker in terms of numbers. If we don't sign anybody else, it'll be a disaster given the stadium is finished, we announced record profits last year, made nearly £100 million from the Champions league alone and also recently announced our biggest ever kit deal with AIA.

But come on spurs fans we need to demand more, put more pressure on the owners. We aren’t some small plucky club that is performing miracles. We are a huge club, huge support, and all the parts in place to be a huge European force. Start acting like it! Demand more from your club. All this happy to be there rubbish needs to stop, Watching the parade in Liverpool made me sick, and I was desperate to experience it as a Spurs fan with my kids. The last time our great club with such a rich history had a parade was nearly 30 years ago!

 

[tiger666]

New players in the positions we need to improve, who have quality, desire and want to play for us. At this moment I say get Lo Celso and Bruno Fernandez(we need to find 25 more goals if we want to challenge), sell Eriksen, keep Rose add a right back if possible. Probably sell/loan Wanyama,Lamela(both injury prone) and Nkoudou probably too late now to do what's needed

I'd rather we try to do what Poch wants, rather than what you want.

 

[Lilbaz]

You're not wrong, but I do think there's something to be said for the social bond between a club and its fans. There's a social contract there, though admittedly it's been weakened by the globalisation of the sport and the now overriding financial aspect.

Clubs don't owe success to their fans. But I think it's perfectly legitimate to argue that a club does have a responsibility to act...responsibly in the way it goes about its business, particularly with regard to its local community.

To put it another way, the relationship between a club that millions support - tangible and intangible - and identify with as a defining part of their life goes two ways. Again, this was more obvious when clubs really were the heart and soul of a community, but the romantic in me (and I'm a lawyer) still believes that reciprocal bond exists in some form.

I would agree if the owners was asset striping the club and not trying to build. The problem is fans are unhappy with the way we are doing it and want short term rather than long term investment.

Don't get me wrong, i said last season i would like new investment as i could see the stadium payments hindering us for the next few years.

But i don't moan about it and slate the club, owners or players at every opportunity.

 

[Johnny J]

I would agree if the owners was asset striping the club and not trying to build. The problem is fans are unhappy with the way we are doing it and want short term rather than long term investment.

Don't get me wrong, i said last season i would like new investment as i could see the stadium payments hindering us for the next few years.

But i don't moan about it and slate the club, owners or players at every opportunity.

Not suggesting you had. Was just some thoughts.

 

[Khilari]

Spurs fans have a reputation as moaners who feel entitled to good football and success on the back of incredible football 60 years ago and some teams who played well.

Barring the odd season, my whole life we have been a mid-table / top 10 side with the odd relegation scrap, cup win and stunning solo goal.

Now, for the last 10 years we've been on an upward trajectory (since Martin Jol took over) to what was the greatest moment of our recent history in beating Ajax and reaching the CL final. We won nothing and yet, from my perspective I could not believe we got there because this type of thing did not happen to the club I supported. I was used to being "Daniel Amokachi'd", or "Frederic Piquionne'd" (that Pompey striker who knocked us out of the FA Cup SF in extra time when Daws slipped). THAT was all I knew.

So whilst it's great that there's been a mentality shift to wanting and demanding more, because it underlines how much better we've become - just cos you want it, ain't gonna make it happen.

[And then I watch "Sunderland Till I Die" on Netflix and feel content that all is good at Spurs.]