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Was there always a plan ?

mil1lion

This is the place to be
May 7, 2004
42,338
77,592
always wished i was 10 years older to of been able to witness the 60's
The early 80s was a wonderful time. My old man had a mirror celebrating all our achievements in the hallway - UEFA cup winners, FA cup winners in consecutive years, four FA cup finals in a row, a league cup final, two 3rds and two 4th place finishes, all within six or so seasons.

As a late 70s kid, who missed the relegation year, I grew up expecting us to be competitive. We were the sexy team in white, the British Real Madrid who were up there in the league but always in for cups. I cried at the 87 cup final as I was genuinely stunned we didn’t win. It was expected, we held the record for FA Cup wins and everything.

I’m not the oldest fan by any stretch but sometimes I think younger fans don’t realise how big a deal we were in the 80s. The Europe ban, the then owner’s financial mismanagement and then the Premier League punched the gut out of the club and only in the last decade have we got back to what I see as Spurs’ natural place. While Poch is the end point of that, it’s undoubtedly Levy that’s made it happen - Spurs should never have been slumming it that way we were and he turned it into an actual business empire.

And while the 95-05 death decade is fresher in the memory, for me that will never define Spurs, as we were punching below our weight as much as we’re punching above now.
Saying that it must be good to be a new fan during this Pochettino era. With all this young talent and an amazing stadium on the way. Football tends to go through eras. Liverpool, Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea and Man City have all had theirs in the past 30-40 years. Maybe this is the start of ours again.

We play our 1000th Premier League game tomorrow along with 5 others. It's funny that even with those dark years we still hung in there. We never got relegated and we had some incredible legends. We might not have had great squads like we do now but it was a pleasure to watch the likes of Klinsmann, Ginola, Davids and Bale. So I'm certainly not complaining too much about my time as a fan. It's normal to always want more and be the best. Finishing 3rd tomorrow though would still be a great achievement and our first Champions League season at the new Stadium awaits. Exciting times. COYS!
I know, much more of it and the padlock will come out :cautious:
Levy out!
 

Lsgbalancethfc9

New Member
May 12, 2018
1
1
Was just looking at our league finishes and thinking exactly how did we go from mid table obscurity to now being a consistent top 4 team. Because the only other clubs that have done that over the last 30 years are chelsea and Man City and they spent billions.

I’m sure most of us old enough will remember the complete wilderness between 1990-2005 where we were a mid table club occasionally flirting with relegation. In all honesty not a million miles off where West Ham or palace are now. That’s the magnitude of what weve actually achieved on a very conservative budget. Imagine me telling you in 10 years West Ham will be a solid top 4 outfit without oil money you’d think I was bonkers.
The training ground and stadium clearly show there was plan from the get go. The total net spend from 2005 is around £180m which over 12 seasons is hardly anything. Although I didn’t realise 2007-9 we actually net spent £120m when we bought bale and modric that’s what got our moneyball rolling. People say the bale money was wasted but really it wasn’t we got Eriksen from it one of 3 most key current players. Plus Lamela and the rest was re cycled again.
Honestly think what weve done is unparalleled in the modern game without a billionaire owner. Yes other clubs have had the odd season of success from nowhere. But I can’t think of another club that’s made such a dramatic transformation and continued to grow it for over a decade in the modern game. Yes I guess there’s been elements of luck along the way. Jol was key to get the ball rolling. Bale modric Redknapp at a key time. And obviously Kane dele Poch. But I do believe you make you’re own luck. We set out a definite policy of buying talented youth and it paid off big time. The whole evolution over the last 12 years is actually pretty fascinating. And with the new stadium now we Hopefully will go to the next chapter. Add silverware and really be able to look at the next 10 years as a defining period in the clubs history. In the way that Liverpool united had that established them as the clubs they are. Chelsea and city kind of cheated.
Great post, completely agree and if we can win something in this modern day of football it will mean so much more compared to what for example Chelsea and then more recently Man.City have achieved with just tons of oil money. I think the football purists appreciate how we are run and would like us to win something, people like Gary Neville are big advocates.
 
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