Good morning.
Ten games in and the mood in the camp is best described an eclectic mix. Players on Twitter have been abused before they’ve even finished playing games and fans attending home games are reportedly setting up their own union SAS (Supporters Against Support).
This group, spearheaded by 3 fat blokes in the Coach & Horses public house who describe their association as, ‘Somewhere staunch fans can inflict their contempt for all they hold sacred about Spurs without being interrupted. Divorced and separated welcome.’
Ringleader Teddy Wind told me, ‘We’ve had enough mate. Levy’s only it for the money he sold Modric and bought himself an aeroplane I bet you didn’t know that? And don’t even get me started on that ginger ponce. Taking off that Defoe was a liberty. No wonder we’re squaring up to a relegation scrap. We predicted the dark days of Santini were coming back and this is straw that broke the thing.’
For more details on joining the SAS.
Does AVB know anything other than 4-2-3-1? Worrying things about Wigan – we made them look very good, we had no creativity, once the Bale and Lennon threat was stopped (after minute 2) we had no idea how to break them down. None. Walker’s defending is catastrophic. There was no argument, Wigan were much much better than us on the day. Wigan. Not Man U or Arse or Chelski or Citeh – Wigan. We were clueless (by we I mean AVB and team). Clueless for 90 mins. Could not even pick up a clue at half time. Do not know what a clue looks like. Harry, I think crowd aren’t booing the team, they’re booing the people responsible for serving that deeply frustrating and disappointing and negative c**p up.
He has no choice. He said early in the season that 4-2-3-1 isn’t his his ideal system but the ones the players feel most comfortable with, in having a number 10.
He said he’d like to switch it eventually but wanted to phase it in slowly.
Ideally I think he’d like to play 4-3-3 but in this system it will be Bale or Lennon (Bale then) and a wide playing attacker who we don’t have.
He also doesn’t have the midfielders.
It’s all very well saying play 4-4-2, but he’s not had the strikers to play that either.
I actually think 5-3-2 with Bale and Lennon as wing backs might solve a lot of Ade/ Defoe / Walker problems – but this is all theoretical and not sure now is the time to change something that radical with players confidence and understanding so low.
Harry, the problem you have is that by castigating Redknapp and throwing your weight behind AVB your credibility and consequently your website is based totally on the success of AVB.
Afraid the blog immediately after the Spurs game berating the crowd imo revealed your anxieties.
If AVB is eventually a success then your readership goes up along your respect as a football commentator plus the revenue via click-thrus increases. If it all goes down the pan its the opposite.
Even you Harry must admit it was fun going to see Spurs over the last 2 years when we saw some magical football at times.
That feel good factor has left and even against Chelsea, a massive local rival, it was like a graveyard at WHL. The crowd has lost its enthusiasm for the drivel we’ve had to put up with at WHL this season.
I’m afraid the outrageous substitution of Defoe summed it up for me. Believe me I would have booed my head off had it not been in my hands in shear disbelief !!!!
With AVB its like watching a series of The Apprentice, each week making the same basic errors. For start off, lets play 4-4-2 at home as we simply dont have the players to do otherwise.
agreed. if we want to point the finger it has to be at ourselves. Whateveryou thought of HR, you only get rid if you can replce with better and out of all the names being linked not one was any better. Infact, worse than that, we didnt even pick the best of the bunch. Poor show from the fans and from Levy. Cant blame AVB, not his fault he was given the job. Give him the season, see how bad we look then and then get rid.
Paul,
What a strange comment.
This is a Spurs blog, but more importantly I’d draw your attention to that fact that it’s my blog.
My remit is that I love amongst other things in life Spurs, football, people clicking on ads and buying merchandise.
So it’s not surprising I’d back AVB, he’s our manager. If I was bitching about him after such a short period of time I would sound like a Chelsea fan. Which I am not.
My problem with Arry was based on his problem doing his bloody job properly. Nothing else.
My readership is not dependent upon a particular individuals performance and to use the word again I find this a strange conclusion you’ve arrived at.
This blog’s mission statement is not complicated. ‘Always occasionally a good read.’
You by contrast have not succeeded in posting a single good read on here yet. All your remarks do are point you out as someone with a childlike view of the world.
You seem desperate to shout, ‘I told you so!!!’ at someone. Ten games in sweetheart makes you the sad victim of an embarrassing condition.
Premature speculation.
oh dear, just when I thought you were putting together a logical argument you resort to type, just a bitchy old wind bag.
I’ve made plenty of constructive comments and opinions on here both about AVB, Spurs and football but if you dont understand the game as youve never played it, I guess I cant help
I hope AVB succeeds (really!) but his continual basic errors are deeply worrying
Paul
We all had our head in our hands on Saturday. It was awful.
But if you think our football was any better in February, March and April then I’m sorry but you are wrong.
The difference is that at the moment we are playing for position. The last three months of last season we were playing for third.
And we should have achieved it but for unfocussed, distracted management.
This season we are starting something completely different.
We sit fifth.
We are playing crap.
Give it a chance, ffs.
And if you think this blog has any influence over events then I pity your inverted megalomania.
It’s a blog. Not an indoctrination tool and certainly not a Spurs First Team “must read” training aid.
Bruxie, I was referring to the 2 years in general not the period when it started to faulter (Watford away in the Cup I seem to recall). I completely blame Redknapp (and some bad luck) for not crystalizing 3rd. HR is as dodgy as you make them but Levy had no problem jumping into bed with the devil when it suited him. He (Levy) should have told Redknapp to say his piece about England and then shut TF up. Somehow I feel its not his style to do things face to face like that.
The author of this site is trying to make out that He supports whatever new manager would have been appointed. A bit cheeky as He was promoting AVB during the elections.
My main critcism of his appointment is that there was absolutely no need to change the squad wholesale. A few tweaks was all that was necessary to maintain the brand of football we all love with priorities on a striker, and playmaker to replace the outgoing Modric.
To let a rookie take over this position was a massive gamble let alone allow him to change the style of play.
We have to support whomever is put in front of ud.
Otherwise we become Blackburn Mk.II.
Elections?
I don’t remember them.
I was worried we get Moyes!
There’s your starter for ten!
Bait taken!
I would have had Moyes myself. Good pro, knows the game inside out, has done well at Everton on a shoestring budget & a bit like Redknapp in that he coaxes the best out of players.
All intelligent spurs fans know that we have only played 2 decent teams so far this season, one we had the lady luck on our side for once which was against Man utd the other good team beat us without really breaking into a sweat, the rest of the games even with injuries should have warranted at least another 6 points.
I for one would like to see good attacking football, rather than the drab style adopted by AVB, football at the lane over the past few decades has been mostly entertaining, my hard earnt wages would be easily parted to watch the true spurs style of football, even when under Ossie the games were worth watching, due to the excitement of real football, with a good defence back then i feel we could have won things, but it was not to be as the defence was awful back then, now however we could have a great defence with the players at AVB’s disposal, another playmaker in the middle of the park would create a good choice of attacking football as in theory with no injuries Sandro , Parker and Huddlestone can make the middle hard to break down, then lose Defoe bring in 2 quality strikers one of whom can play as a lone striker if need be, and with Ade the front is sorted.
The team is suffering badly due to the sale of Modric and RVD, a few injuries and a manager who does not know how to approach the premiership style of play, saying that has not really excelled in the europa league either.
I was glad to see the back of Rednapp but was hoping for Blanc or even Martinez, i will not become one of the annoying boo boys, but i am becoming a member of the growing fans who are becoming frustrated with negative tactics, and lack lustured profomances at the lane.
How long do we wait for AVB to work out the spurs style, because as the fans we have made this club over the past hundred years or so and followed the team through the good times and the bad, and only ask for spurs style of football win or lose,which is pass and move with attractive attacking football, not the old 1-0 to the gooners style.
i believe we are facing big problems at the moment. We lost some quality and have not replaced it. What we replaced it with is looking like another Darren Anderton at the moment. Without Dembele, creativity is nil, Having fast wingers and one up front defeats the purpose a little. My issue, while we are all waiting for thuis masterplan to unfiold, Bale will be off and who are we going to attract from other clubs without champions leagure football to offer or even Europa Cup the way we are going. AVB had better change his mindset about the way the side is playing. they are unattractive in their style and this f**kinf negative attitude of defending leads is about to drive me beserk. What does drive me crazy is being one nil down and taking off your striker! This is not f**king rocket science Andre !!!
Can you just clarify what you mean by the Anderton comment? Do you mean injuries or taking a half a season to play well? And do you mean Sig or Dembele?
Sig is 22 and not performed or settled, though coming into this team as is surely hasn’t helped. Putting him into the same XI as last year in place of VDV and I’m sure he would have settled much quicker.
Dembele has had one injury. He is not as creative as Modric, few in world football are, hence him being Real Madrid’s no.1 target…though from what I’ve seen Dembele is a brilliant footballer, and skilful enough to get the ball forward, though I’d like to seem him release it quicker.
I didn’t hear people complaining about 1 up front last season, though the problem is that 1 is now Defoe and it’s not his game.
There hasn’t really been much of an alternative with the system, and with defensive substitutions – again Hudd is usually exhausted after 50-60 minutes. He’s slow to begin with, so he has to make a chanage. I’m sure he’d love to bring on Dembele, Moutinho, Willian, even Parker – all he has is Livermore. He has to make a change, so why crucify AVB that?
Taking off Defoe or Dempsey on Saturday, they were both rubbish and much of a muchness for me. Defoe ain’t great when teams are defending deep and getting men behind the ball – he probably wanted more threat in the air from Dempsey. Who knows. Heindsight may have proved it wrong but there wasn’t that much in it. Defoe wasn’t having a good day, and has been off the boil for 2 or 3 weeks.
Our problems were in midfield, our play making, and when Sandro went off, leaving the back 4 over exposed.
The fans and the media are all pointing out the problems, but nobody has come up with one solution.
Seriously, lets assume you can’t have Ade to start as he was coming back from illness. What would have been your team, tactics, substitutions?
My position is clear:
I understood why we got rid of Harry.
I understand why we chose AVB and I believe in his ‘project’.
I was at the game on Saturday and the only thing that bothered me more than our play was the people sitting around me who were the worst kind of ‘fan’. Unhappy if we passed the ball around the back, unhappy if we kicked it long. Booing Walker. Swearing at Gallas when he got a ball in the privates and calling him Gooner scum. Well mates, you’re the ignorant scum.
I think that considering over half last year’s team have been sold or barely played a minute of football this season, we’re doing remarkably well.
HOWEVER
This doesn’t have to be an entirely polarised debate. Most fans who are calling for ‘Arry’s return are idiots, and it’s making anyone who doesn’t agree with them become vehement on the other side of the argument. Some balanced criticism of recent performances can be valid. AVB is young and hopefully he can learn and he does need to.
Our formation and system are suited to playing on the break, which requires pushing men forward. When we have a lead, we stop pushing men forward and this leaves us overly defensive and invites pressure.
This is exacerbated by AVB’s recent late defensive substitutions and I think he needs to be very careful about doing this.
Defoe may have had very few touches on Saturday but without the option of any other strikers on the bench, taking him off was risky and playing two up might have brought him into the game more.
At home, against teams who are set up to be very compact against us, there is no space for Defoe to run into and his hold up play is not as good as Ade’s. Away from home he has his uses, but once Ade is fit, he is a better pick for home games.
It’s time for Hugo. Brad is very reliable, but Hugo is our future and whilst it is noble to stay faithful to Brad, I think Hugo is also our present.
Come on Spurs, come on AVB and please piss off all you boo boys – it achieves nothing.
Chaza, I bow low to your wisdom. I’m a veteran of 35 years at the Lane. Have suffered relegations and thrashings at the hands of the evil ones from Woolwich. I’ve never booed the boys in my entire time.
My first few visits to the Lane this season (I normally average 10-15) could well be my last for a while as I found the atmosphere absolutely poisonous. It seems that our bit of time in the sun has gone to our heads and that reason has gone out of the window.
It comes to something when you can say that a few of the WHL crowd could learn a bit from Anfield but the supporters there are behaving with a class that belies some of the recent activities of the club. We are talking supporters who have seen European Cups and Championships in their lifetime watching while a side has to rebuild.
They somehow seem to understand (i.e. Know how to engage brain) in footballing terms what a task Rodgers is facing there and they are backing him while he tries to turn it around.
It seems some of our lot aren’t prepared to do that and want infant results. In their minds he has exactly the same team as last year (Yes if you exclude VDV, Modders, Kaboul, Parker and just about everything that made us tick it’s exactly the same) and only 4th place or higher despite this will save his job.
Frankly, we’re acting like City/Newcastle or Blackburn fans rather than Spurs and I find the whole thing very depressing.
I think all fans have had their spells of boo-ing. Arsenal, Chelsea, Villa, Blackburn, City, even Liverpool under Hodgson.
In fact I’d say the only fans who don’t boo are those vastly exceeding their expectations or winning silverware.
It’s a terrible shame we’ve become one of them, but that’s modern “consumer” football.
Chaza, I think you’re right in terms of how we are set up for away games.
I think when we bought Dembele, AVB thought he was doing a Van Der Vaart for Moutinho switch on the last day – thus pushing Dembele further forward, benching Sigg to understudy and ease him in. He could even have played his 4-3-3.
It would have allowed us to play more or less the same attacking football as last year but with better pressing – and allowed Huddlestone half a season to get fit (either here or on loan) before making a contribution.
I rate DL as a chairman, but his decision to muck about with that transfer really has undermined his new manager when he needed to be backed.
We thought we could wing it, now with injuries his new manager – loathed by the media, and some Harry loyalists for “not being Harry” – is being hung out to dry.
They somehow seem to understand (i.e. Know how to engage brain) in footballing terms what a task Rodgers is facing there and they are backing him while he tries to turn it around.
May I suggest, by way of engaging my own brain somewhat, that this may be because a. Liverpool are accustomed to under-achieving after a few years now in the wilderness so this is nothing new to them, and b. they can see what Rodgers is trying to achieve being implemented on the pitch and are generally welcoming about a style of football which is ‘pretty’ as well as hopefully effective in the longer term. Neither of these conditions apply to Spurs at this precise moment.
Lastly, if the Fenway group walked onto the pitch at Liverpool, I’m sure there would be audible boos from Anfield back to Boston
Great post chaza
We need to stick together on this and hopefully we will get it right
Avb needs to keep it simple though and hopefully confidence will build – on Saturday we played without surity and fear – with confidence we can beat anyone e.g. First half at OT