Having supported Spurs for 52 years I am fortunate to have grown up in an era when we were a top 5 side regularly winning trophies, albeit not being consistent enough for many tilts at the title, but capable of fielding exciting flair players, playing football with elan and finesse, and buying big, big names every season. We WERE a glamour club but what inspired me was the aura of the place and I readily bought into the values and ethos of “glory”, “daring to do” and “aiming higher” as espoused by Blanchflower and Nicholson. Sadly as time went by those values were eroded by those more intent and interested in the pursuit of filthy lucre and the likes of Scholar and Sugar set us on a completely different road, which I believe led to the ignominy of the 90’s. This has been continued by the current owners and sadly the introduction of the Premier league and the arrival of the oligarchs, oil and gas barons has resulted in football being a totally different ball game from when I was a young man. I’m not naïve enough not to alive to the realties of the modern game and sadly there is no going back, this is irreversible unless our current owners invest more heavily than they have done to date or we find our own billionaire benefactors. The former scenario though is extremely unlikely as whilst Joe Lewis is a seriously wealthy businessman, ENIC is an investment company whose primary objective, like that of Scholar and Sugar before them, is the acquisition of wealth, not a successful football club. None of them seem to realize that the two aims are not mutually exclusive. A few years ago when we flirted with the Champions League, but were not prepared to finance our pursuit, I actually thought we were capable of breaking into the cartel that had come about, given that we actually had a few players who were almost on a par with some of the legends of our more illustrious past. That opportunity has gone, as sadly have the players, but I still cling to the hope that we can rise again as to do otherwise would undermine the whole object of supporting the club. What I find so depressing nowadays though is the acceptance of many of our younger fans of the status quo who talk more of “financial stability” than of what goes on on the football pitch, seemingly perfectly content for us to drift along in 5th to 7th place, have never ending “transitional” seasons and never actually seriously challenging for trophies. Where’s the ambition in that I ask? I’m not knocking the modern day fans you understand I just don’t get their perspective I still believe in those old values, and if that makes me a dinosaur so be it, but I will never accept mediocrity and neither should any Spurs supporter. No doubt I will gets loads of rebuke regarding my standpoint but can I ask that we keep it reasoned and objective and not descend into the banal, abusive and offensive. We all after all I would hope want a successful THFC conquering all before us though we probably have a hundred and one ideas as to how this might be achieved. I’ll admit I’m old school but would dearly love to be there with mu sons and grandson to see us win the Premiership and Champions League in my lifetime. Not much to ask is it?
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 15:34:44 +0000
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