Nuno; another potential accidental hero

Nuno Espírito Santo. Welcome. To what? I’m not sure. There used to be a football club over here. There still is. If you look close enough you can see it masquerading as a meme. But beyond the self-depreciation and the banter and regardless of how we’ve got here…we are now HERE. We have a new head coach and pre-season is almost upon us. The work finally begins.

I’m not going to dwell on the shambles that preceded all of this. I think you’ll agree that we have exhausted ourselves, hating on what our club is turning into. Or rather what it has anchored itself to; £1.2 billions worth of debt and concentrated statue, brand and commercialism. We are a business entity, one that has progressed over the past twenty years at a steady rate. One that now boosts an epic modern stadium and (players gonna hate) a State of the Art Training Facility. I jest, but it’s true. If you take Mauricio Pochettino out of the picture, we’d probably not be expecting more than we deserve. That’s to say, we want to contend and we want the football to take precedence. But Poch distorted things in quite a glorious and cursed kinda of way.

I wonder whether we should just end the conversation here and opt for another accidental hero, bit like when I distract myself with william hill free bets. Alas, no. Let’s keep talking.

See, Poch went above and beyond all of our expectations – including Daniel Levy’s. And because of this, the only stature the fans are interested in got elevated to new heights. Except we’re not built for it. For all the property portfolios, the stuff on the turf was circumstantial. Accidental. A wonderful and astonishing and unexpected high. Think back to that final season at the Lane, unbeaten. Imagine another season at the Lane with that team. No move to Wembley. No destruction of our ‘home’. Imagine.

Everything that’s followed since has been far less of what we appeared to promise. But I digress. 

Nuno, in bed with Jorge Mendes, all of them in an orgy of self-gratification together along with Fabio Paratici and our chairman. All in need of each other. I’m sure Mendes (regardless of his relationship with Paratici) won’t be able to ship countless footballers on his books to Hotspur Way. But the fact we find ourselves at the mercy of the super-agent tells you more about the sheer desperation of the situation. Levy’s scripted video interview was the most telling piece of media this summer. An acceptance that he himself knew he could not hide behind the bullshit (so he basically created more bullshit to hide the bullshit behind).

Everyone is now a buffer for Levy. An excuse. But again, I’m not going to linger on this. In fact, the past is done, it’s history. The mistakes, often ones of a repeated nature, will haunt us no doubt. But here we are today with a new coach. So what of him?

Started well at Wolves, ended badly. Lost key players. His football, at times pragmatic but at its best, expansive too. Again, I don’t care. Not that much. Here’s the crux of how I’m feeling:

I just want to enjoy football and enjoy Tottenham. So I’m going to clean slate this entire prior calamity and start afresh. I’m not punching the air with delight with the appointment. I don’t get ‘gonna win cups’ vibes. Not yet. But Nuno comes across as, well, likeable. And if you read his interview on the official website and watch the snippets of video content shared – I don’t dislike him. In fact, I like him.

And the mantra (whilst discussing terms) would have stipulated that Spurs need to bring back the swagger. That as head coach (note not ‘manager’) he will work with Fabio on the only rebrand we want right now – the football, and thus the players.

Stating he wants to make us feel proud had the touch of the original Poch interview when he was appointed. Remember that? We all thought, why is this cuddly Argentine making me feel ASMR tingles down my spine? Now I’m not getting giddy and I’m bored stiff of the olde Spurs DNA* thing too. But clean slate. It’s time to embrace positivity.

*What exactly is our DNA? I’m going to podcast this.

Now you might be underwhelmed and still feel bitter towards Levy. I respect that. But you’ll get nothing back from this escapism if you fixate on this. I’m going to sit back (post England winning the EUROS) and enjoy our pre-season. The gentle rebuild of Spurs selling the deadwood and targeting players to bring back that aforementioned missing swagger.

See, all we need right now is hope. To have faith in something. To believe. To enjoy the football and to bind together the club with the fans (that’s the club as in THFC the team, its style and the affinity we desire with the ‘manager’). We want and we need togetherness. We need to feel that there’s a journey ahead. A perchance to dream. 

Yeah yeah, romantic notions. I love them. I think after the last two years we deserve something and I’d rather buy into that something happening than dwell on the possibility this is all just another illusion. There’s no fun in that.

The ultimate crux of it all is that once again we have found ourselves here with no grand design shaping our present to look towards the future. Because Nuno was not our first choice. But again, this doesn’t matter now. Modern appointments are no longer project length endeavours. Spurs need to stabilise and if we feel the need to upgrade in time, then we can do so without a difficult transition (hence the role of Fabio). Mourinho darkened the mood. Conte would have dealt similar body blows. Spurs need to be at the forefront of what it means to be Spurs even if this is why we never push on. Poch got that. And he nearly got that something out of it.

Right now, we don’t need Poch levels. We just need a level. Any level above where we stand now. 

For now, I’m cautiously backing Nuno with both eyes on Fabio and also a keen interest in how detached Levy remains throughout this.

Now this is done, cue Harry Kane to City rumours.

COYS