I think that people are massively overreacting (so surprising as this is Spurs) to how our season is playing out. Almost everyone said we had no chance at top four and now we look set to finish 5th or 6th. Makes sense. We also are probably going to have the Player of the Season plus it looks like we actually have a few players that look like top four quality or will develop to that level over the next couple of seasons.
However, if we once again bottle it this summer I think we need to start accepting the fact that ENIC are the problem. IMO, in sport, it is nearly impossible to win while having poor owners. We have one trophy in 13 years under ENIC and Levy's stewardship. While they have undeniably moved the club forward on the financial side, it reaches a point where if the financial success doesn't really help the footballing side then what is the fucking point? Football tickets have increased 700% in price since 2000 so it certainly isn't helping myself as a fan either.
If we have a problem it is in the boardroom. ENIC has had control of the club for 13 years now and we've had 9 managers all achieving very similar results. Yet, many continue to complain about Pochettino like he is the problem. What kind of club with "goals of top four" signs a new manager and then proceeds to spend 24m in his first summer? The only other club to have a negative net spend this summer was Southampton and they spent almost triple what we did.
Now we're supposed to supposedly wait for the stadium and that's why we aren't spending. We're set to move into the stadium in 2018 and then assuredly the excuse for not spending will be that we are still paying off loans. So are we looking at 2022 before we are financially in a place to compete. 20 years after ENIC took over? Doesn't seem like that would have been a particularly effective process.
Ultimately, I'm mostly pleased at what has happened on the football field this season. There has been a lot of progression from our young players and it looks like we've learned who can easily weeded out. But we'll always be dealing with the specter of ENIC when it comes to the progression of the footballing side. It is not hard to see this summer going massively left (or any transfer window). We have a long track record of selling our best players, this summer we were massively outspent not only by our rivals but also by QPR, Hull, Newcastle, West Ham and Swansea, and we have a negative net spend over five seasons.
It is not complicated, if this is the club's blueprint for running the football side of things then it will take massive amounts of luck to compete at the top four level that the boardroom have continually stated as the goal.
Still, I remain proud of the football that has been played and the joy of watching young players like Kane, Bentaleb, Rose, Mason, Eriksen, and Dier start to come into their own. We have a decent core but if we stand pat players will leave, we will fail again, and we'll be left to press the reset button once again as we always seem to be doing. If we want an improvement in the football it won't come from the touchline or pitch but from the boardroom and executive boxes.
It's funny, growing up, supporting Spurs in the late '70s, '80s and beyond we were
always a 'Top 6' side with a decent chance of a Cup run... nothing's really changed (except the odd season of madness in 1982 and again in 1989'ish where we were either somehow challenging for the top two or three... or facing a genuine threat of a mid-'90s relegation scrap; Klinsmann's
half-a-dozen goals in that crucial match at Wimbledon springs to mind!!)
For me, I have always supported a Top Six side... it's just the other 5 teams have changed occasionally...
it used to be the 'Big 5' (remember them?) Liverpool,
Everton, Us, Man Utd & ArseAnal... that was more to do with 'Powerhouse clout' and the '80s version of 'having money' in Football...
Then Chelsea, and after them Man City came along and changed the landscape... pushing Everton and ourselves to some extent out of the way.
But in my mind, we're still in there... a Top 6 side who occasionally pushes on every now and then and has a decent crack at the Top 4 (not always with the rewards they deserve... thanks Bayern!)
By the look of it, we're gonna finish 5th or 6th gain this season... it may not represent 'progress' but it certainly shows stability, and not slipping out of the reckoning altogether...
...and believe me, having had a couple of heart-stopping/heart-wrenching finishes to recent seasons when we
have been going for (and missing out on) the Top 4, you just see what a nice relaxed, no pressure, sunny end to the season does for morale of some of the younger players... and the fans!
Tottenham Massive
says could become a reality & only time will tell . If KANE is sold in the next 2 years, should he continue to progress, then I think it'll be plain to see for everyone that this is the ploy . The huge difference if Harry goes is that he's one of our own whereas as Bale, Modric etc weren't . Selling him on would be a massive blow to us the fans .
