Have you ever felt more disconnected?

[Goobers]

I have definitely felt more disconnected with the club then now. Absolutely.
ESL aside - there have been times when my club have been trying to tear each other apart in the press and courtroom. Mr Scholar. The way we ended with BMJ. Tim Sherwood. They all felt far worse than this.
Here's the context though - the last five years I have enjoyed better than I ever thought I would as a Spurs fan growing up in the nineties so I am a little spoilt now but that success. We have had a car crash of a season and yet could still end up with European football. We have some world class players in the squad. Our infrastructure is that of a super club now which is unlike anything I have seen from Spurs since I was a fan.
I am hugely down in the dumps about what has happened over the last 2 years and this season but I don't feel as disconnected. I do think our trajectory is upwards despite some obvious shithouse moments like we are in.

 

[WhiteStripe]

A few reasons for that, I think, all of which have been mentioned in this thread.

- The internet barely existed in the early 90's and was still in its relative infancy by the time that Sugar sold up in December 2000. Twitter and other social media didn't exist at all. So we didn't have failure and discontent thrust down our throats; and regurgitated; and argued over again and again; 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.

- We were younger; not as world weary.

- Our expectations were much lower. If we hadn't hit the relative highs under Poch, this relative low wouldn't feel anything like as bad.

Whilst all points are definitely relevant, it’s probably just the way I felt about football back then. I think football peaked in the 90s in general. Before too much of the sky money and commercial decisions started changing, tweaking and influencing the game. I loved our old stadium. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the process we needed to go through to move forward, and the new stadium is immense, but it’s not white hart lane. It doesn’t have paint peeling off the walls, shitty old TVs mounted on dodgy brackets, the bagel cart, pillars right in front of me, behind which you could guarantee the action would be happening. It all get so much more authentic. So whilst my hatred of Levy and ENIC and their “ways” does certainly influence my feelings of how I feel about the club, I think a lot is down to the way football is in general. This could be no more clearly emphasised by the ESL debacle.

 

[cjbyid]

I'm still pissed about the whole EPL thing and the club joining that.

But apart from that there's been worse moments. I remember during the poch era (we had it so good then) thinking this will all implode at some point which happens to be now, so I suppose I was ready for this

Just got to go again!

 

[spursfan77]

Yes. Under sherwood. I still want us to win now, then I didn’t. Wasn’t bothered in the slightest if we lost.

 

[Chimbo!]

Trust me, NickHSpurs, it was far, far worse in the 1990's. Today is a walk in the park by comparison.

Sugar and his pitbull, Claude Littner, had absolute contempt for players; for staff; for fans; even for football.

People think our approach to player and manager recruitment is scattergun and shambolic now... it's nothing compared to what it was back then. People think Levy is miserly... he is Father fucking Christmas compared to Sugar. People complain that we can't compete with the biggest clubs now...we couldn't even compete with Sheffield Wednesday or Middlesbrough under Sugar.

We were charged sky high prices to finish 14th instead of sky high prices to finish 6th. Everything about the club was cheap save for tickets and merchandise.

Truly, the atmosphere surrounding the club was poison.

Now only seems worse, perhaps, because we have the internet and twitter and all the many echo chambers within it.

You hit the nail on the head.

 

[Grapo2001]

It's weird, but I actually enjoyed the club more when we were pushing for top 4. Maybe buying one mediocre player a transfer window and having the excitement that they may change our fortunes.

Look at the spammers now. They are loving this season and that's where we were. Back when we could enjoy being the underdog scrapping at the top table.

Being a club dining at the top table but knowing you won't ever be king is far far worse.

 

[midspur]

Disconcerted rather than disconnected.

 

[ShayLaB]

I took off my yellow away top after the match and shoved it in a drawer.

My Adam & the Ants t-shirt came out instead. The wife said something to which I replied something like "They never let me down like Spurs did tonight, not even with Ant Rap".

Worse than Ant Rap.

A damning indictment.

 

[thebenjamin]

Trust me, NickHSpurs, it was far, far worse in the 1990's. Today is a walk in the park by comparison.

Sugar and his pitbull, Claude Littner, had absolute contempt for players; for staff; for fans; even for football.

People think our approach to player and manager recruitment is scattergun and shambolic now... it's nothing compared to what it was back then. People think Levy is miserly... he is Father fucking Christmas compared to Sugar. People complain that we can't compete with the biggest clubs now...we couldn't even compete with Sheffield Wednesday or Middlesbrough under Sugar.

We were charged sky high prices to finish 14th instead of sky high prices to finish 6th. Everything about the club was cheap save for tickets and merchandise.

Truly, the atmosphere surrounding the club was poison.

Now only seems worse, perhaps, because we have the internet and twitter and all the many echo chambers within it.

Agree. The 90s also had Arsenal as the best team in the country.

 

[king26]

seen worse

 

[Hot-Spur]

I just feel disillusioned, and like I've fallen out of love with us a bit, there is no passion or excitement anymore. And this season honestly feels like it's lasting for years, when I can't wait to see the back of it.

I've been a fan since 1990, and while the 90's were pretty grim, I didn't really know any better, and that's why this feels worse to me, because it just seemed like we were so close, the big trophies were within touching distance. I loved it when everyone was so positive about us and the way we played, when teams used to be frightened to play us, it made me proud to be a Spurs fan. And all it would have taken was a couple of world class signings, just pretty much what Liverpool did, when they won the CL, to push us over. But I don't really know when it started to go so badly wrong, but it just seemed to be one thing after another, a complete downward spiral, and I think these past 2 seasons at least, could have set us back years. And now yet again we are faced with our one truly world class player probably wanting to leave. It's just rinse and repeat, that's all it is, the same thing over and over.

We'll have to just start from from the beginning yet again, but how many times do we have to do that, before we get to the top? We need someone ruthless to come in, and clear the decks, and not worry about upsetting anyone. We need players that are proud to wear the shirt again, and just want to impress.

But honestly I think any manager that wants this job, needs his head examined, because sadly I think it will be a while before things start to look rosy again.

 

[shelfboy68]

I just feel disillusioned, and like I've fallen out of love with us a bit, there is no passion or excitement anymore. And this season honestly feel like it's lasting for years, when I can't wait to see the back of it.

I've been a fan since 1990, and while the 90's were pretty grim, I didn't really know any better, and that's why this feels worse to me, because it just seemed like we were so close, the big trophies were within touching distance. I loved it when everyone was so positive about us and the way we played, when teams used to be frightened to play us, it made me proud to be a Spurs fan. And all it would have taken was a couple of world class signings, just pretty much what Liverpool did, when they won the CL, to push us over. But I don't really know when it started to go so badly wrong, but it just seemed to be one thing after another, a complete downward spiral, and I think these past 2 seasons at least, could have set us back years. And now yet again we are faced with our one truly world class player probably wanting to leave. It's just rinse and repeat, that's all it is, the same thing over and over.

We'll have to just start from from the beginning yet again, but how many times do we have to do that, before we get to the top? We need someone ruthless to come in, and clear the decks, and not worry about upsetting anyone. We need players that are proud to wear the shirt again, and just want to impress.

But honestly I think any manager that wants this job, needs his head examined, because sadly I think it will be a while before things start to look rosy again.

The one thing this club does consistently is miss opportunities from pushing on when Harry was in charge, followed by the lack of investment after we came runners up in the league.
This then was compounded by the two windows of nothing which again was insane, then finally after the CL final I thought maybe we would invest like Liverpool had the previous year when they lost their final but it never came and here we are now.

 

[Hot-Spur]

The one thing this club does consistently is miss opportunities from pushing on when Harry was in charge, followed by the lack of investment after we came runners up in the league.
This then was compounded by the two windows of nothing which again was insane, then finally after the CL final I thought maybe we would invest like Liverpool had the previous year when they lost their final but it never came and here we are now.

I know, If there was a "Missed Opportunities" league table, we would definitely be top.

 

[dondo]

To answer the post question, no I haven’t.
If I could I would like to get out of this broken relationship but I’m like a fly to the light bulb I’m already looking forward/dreading the Leicester match like some kind of sadistic

 

[Metalhead]

In short no. I started supporting spurs in 1990 as a 6 year old who had one side of the family as spurs fans and the other a mixture of glory whores that unfortunately my younger brothers fell into with united and chelsea. Since then there has always been tough periods some very tough periods but you could always see a plan and a desire to please the fans and in general it has been a story of slow and steady progress. Now it feels like we are going backwards year on year with no plan and no desire to consider the fans at all. I don't blame Harry for wanting to leave its hard for even the most die hard fan to gather any enthusiasm for our games imagine how soul destroying it is for him to try and carry this shambles week on week.

I don't blame him either.

 

[Dov67]

Yes, during the Sugar-Venables war

 

[SpursAddict]

I used to be so pissed when we lose matches. Now i'm just used to it and unbothered really. Oh how we have fallen.

 

[joelstinton14]

Not too much. Maybe modern football as a whole. Becoming disillusioned with the game because of the money involved, high transfers, wages, agent fees. I really hate how social media and the likes of Talksport as altered the way people think and talk about the game. I don’t like football banter. I don’t like the instant gratification and obsessions over transfers. I really don’t like the vilification of player who aren’t playing well (lamela, trippier, Sissoko in recent years). I don’t like how fans are happy to sell their soul for success (some fans wanting oil owners, Newcastle fans happy to have a person who happily kills journalists amongst others, as well as presiding over appalling human rights record for example). There isn’t too much to enjoy about modern football. It’s a grotesque circus at times.

What as kept me going in recent years is Spurs. A team that I really adored under Poch in his first couple of years. It was anti modern football in many ways. Young side. Academy players. 100% commitment. A football ethos. A life ethos instilled in the team and fans that life was something to enjoy. Every moment of it. The way we achieved success (relative) through doing it the right way. We saw that under Jol when we challenged the top 4 for the first time. Saw it under Redknapp with a Brilliant side when we did qualify for the CL for the first time. To be honest, aside from a minor blip with the end of Avb and when we had sherwood in charge until the end of the season we havehad it pretty good for 12 or so years. First time since 2008 where we been in a bit of trouble. Which is quite remarkable really. So not too disconnected with the Club. Not compared to the mid 90s when our only redeeming feature of a season was perhaps beating Utd 4-1. But then we lived for those one of performances. Watching Ginola light up a dismal side was as good as it got. This may turn worse or just get better again. Who Knows. But when you support a side you have to take the pain as well as the wins. We just got so used to winning we generally forgot how to feel when we lose (repeatedly).

If wasn’t for Spurs i probably would have abadoned football a long time ago. Save for my local side. Just become more passionate about Cycling and F1 in the last 10 years. The former especially. It’s easy to love something when you see people put everything on the table. Spurs under Poch especially tapped into that. But what we had is rare.

I always said that Liverpool fans were entitled because they always expected to win and demanded they did so. Their fanbase has an arrogance that I didn’t like. No one is entitled to win. It must be earnt. Sadly we’ve become those fans. But growing older I just realised its a symptom of success.

The stadium build, Covid, the ESL as made it difficult at times, sure. But it wasn’t that long ago we played our last game at WHL and that connect from the fans through to the board was there. It wasn’t that long ago. It was a remarkable day. We may have lost sight of that a little bit but I think we can get that back. Have to believe so anyway. Other wise what’s the point.

 

[Bobbins]

It feels similar to the Sherwood period to be honest, and that whole end of the AVB era. Directionless, bloated squad of trouble-making wasters, complete reset needed.

We didn't really have much in the way of superstars at that point with the exception of probably Eriksen and Vertonghen, and then we absolutely lucked out by getting Poch, who completely transformed the mentality of the team (if not the club).

We'll need to be that lucky again with the next appointment.

Having said all that, this still isn't as bad as the 90's, when I spent my school days being routinely mocked for Spurs being genuinely a joke club, particularly since all my mates supported Arsenal, Chelsea and United. Those were dark days for the club.

 

[Hotspur33]

Not too much. Maybe modern football as a whole. Becoming disillusioned with the game because of the money involved, high transfers, wages, agent fees. I really hate how social media and the likes of Talksport as altered the way people think and talk about the game. I don’t like football banter. I don’t like the instant gratification and obsessions over transfers. I really don’t like the vilification of player who aren’t playing well (lamela, trippier, Sissoko in recent years). I don’t like how fans are happy to sell their soul for success (some fans wanting oil owners, Newcastle fans happy to have a person who happily kills journalists amongst others, as well as presiding over appalling human rights record for example). There isn’t too much to enjoy about modern football. It’s a grotesque circus at times.

What as kept me going in recent years is Spurs. A team that I really adored under Poch in his first couple of years. It was anti modern football in many ways. Young side. Academy players. 100% commitment. A football ethos. A life ethos instilled in the team and fans that life was something to enjoy. Every moment of it. The way we achieved success (relative) through doing it the right way. We saw that under Jol when we challenged the top 4 for the first time. Saw it under Redknapp with a Brilliant side when we did qualify for the CL for the first time. To be honest, aside from a minor blip with the end of Avb and when we had sherwood in charge until the end of the season we havehad it pretty good for 12 or so years. First time since 2008 where we been in a bit of trouble. Which is quite remarkable really. So not too disconnected with the Club. Not compared to the mid 90s when our only redeeming feature of a season was perhaps beating Utd 4-1. But then we lived for those one of performances. Watching Ginola light up a dismal side was as good as it got. This may turn worse or just get better again. Who Knows. But when you support a side you have to take the pain as well as the wins. We just got so used to winning we generally forgot how to feel when we lose (repeatedly).

If wasn’t for Spurs i probably would have abadoned football a long time ago. Save for my local side. Just become more passionate about Cycling and F1 in the last 10 years. The former especially. It’s easy to love something when you see people put everything on the table. Spurs under Poch especially tapped into that. But what we had is rare.

I always said that Liverpool fans were entitled because they always expected to win and demanded they did so. Their fanbase has an arrogance that I didn’t like. No one is entitled to win. It must be earnt. Sadly we’ve become those fans. But growing older I just realised its a symptom of success.

The stadium build, Covid, the ESL as made it difficult at times, sure. But it wasn’t that long ago we played our last game at WHL and that connect from the fans through to the board was there. It wasn’t that long ago. It was a remarkable day. We may have lost sight of that a little bit but I think we can get that back. Have to believe so anyway. Other wise what’s the point.

I don't know how old you are, but considering the references you've made in your post, I'd say you're maybe a similar age to me (35).
But what an excellent post. I was about to post something similar, but couldn't have said it better.