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Saturday 19th May 2012 could not
have been a worse day for Spurs fans.
Not only did West Ham regain their
Premier League position by winning the play off in the last five minutes
of their game against Blackpool, but Chelsea won the Champions League
and with the last kick of the club season, they condemned Spurs to
playing in the Europa League. A competition akin to the Euro-Zone
in that everyone is pressured into thinking they should take part as
there are benefits to be had, but as soon as they are in it, they can't
wait to get out of it.
But for Spurs, who finished fourth
in a Champions League qualifying spot it has wider ramifications.
A new ground almost underway and
with clubs around them crumbling, it was an ideal time to push into the
top four and establish the club there, with the money that Champions
League brings. But the falling away in the early part of 2012 left
Spurs scrabbling for fourth place in the end, when they should have
comfortably been third or higher.
The excuses of this don't really
hold water.
Harry's court case was obviously a
factor that affected him and maybe the future of the club (dependent on
the outcome), but the others in the management team could have coped
while Harry was away, much as they did while he had his heart operation.
The fuss over the England job was also cited as a distraction, but in
reality, the decision was never that clear cut, with Harry not being the
sort of manager that the self-styled "Team England" organisation could
work with.
Admittedly, there were moments in
the second half of the season (as there were in the first half)
that went against Spurs. The Manchester City away game could
easily have gone in our favour if Howard Webb was half the referee he
thinks he is. The last three minutes of that game was as bad as
the last three minutes of Chelsea's last game.
Then there was the goal that never
was at Wembley. With Martin Atkinson showing judgement akin to
that of the man who turned down the Beatles for Decca back in the 1960s.
But as Tottenham supporters we
should be used to this. We are still awaiting "things to even
themselves out" from the Pedro Mendes goal.
But the interesting thing for me
is that now there is not Champions League football again, some of our
top players may seek moves away to ensure they get to play in this
competition. While Daniel Levy's stance with Luka Modric to make
him stay at Tottenham looked beneficial to the Croatian for so much of
this season, as the Pensioners self-destructed, in the end they won the
Champions League and Modric might hold that against Levy when he comes
back from Euro 2012 (or before as I am foreseeing his agent issuing come
and get me statements while the tournament goes on).
Bale might be in the same
position, although his agent has said that he is happy at Tottenham.
But these are a couple of the
players who were part of the team that went through February and March
only winning two games in the league. They were part of the reason
we didn't finish higher than we ended up doing. So, what happens
next is in the hands of the Spurs players who got us in this position.
some of the blame must shift to Redknapp for playing the core of the
team week in, week out and when it came to the point when we had
injuries and suspensions, he claimed the squad was not as strong as it
should be. The lack of spending this season also looks odd when
viewed in hindsight. Hardly anything (in comparison to previous
years and maybe a result of making up the shortfall for not making the
Champions League in 2011-12) spent on permanent signings, but with
youngsters and free transfers brought in to supplement Scott Parker's
cheap purchase.
Perhaps the reason was to balance
the ridiculous amount spent on the fruitless pursuit of the Olympic
Stadium. Was there a real determination to move to a new ground
that would have to be rebuilt for football or was it something to use as
a lever against Haringey Council and the Mayor of London to get what
they wanted for the new White Hart Lane ?? Whichever it was, it
probably cost as much as we ended up getting out of the Northumberland
Park development. Permission was granted on most of the things
Spurs wanted out of the scheme, but having a shiny new ground and a
state of the art training ground does not a top team make.
It is what happens out on the
pitch that counts.
Filling 56,250 seats will be
difficult if the team fail to get back into the Champions League next
season, as that might be the only way we hold onto Bale, as in my
opinion, Modric will push even harder to get away this summer. In
my view, any "gentleman's agreement" that Levy should have with players
is to say, "Get us into the Champions League and then you can go.
If we fail, you are part of that failure and you have to stay until you
put it right." Controversial, but surely, you should reward
success and motivate players to perform. That way, if you get
Champions league football, you can say to players, "Do you still want to
leave ?" or if they do, then it sends a message to other clubs that we
can sell our best players at top prices, allowing significant
replacements to be brought in while they have the carrot of top European
football to tempt them to come to Spurs.
This summer, all those players who
have been linked with us strongly so far since January (Loic Remy, Eden
Hazard, Jan Verthonghen, etc), may be looking elsewhere, but in doing
so, what will they necessarily be doing with their careers. We
have seen players in the past move to big clubs (Shaun Wright-Phillips,
Steve Sidwell, lots of Arsenal purchases and to some extent, Scott
Parker) and not fulfil their potential, so moves to the Manchester
clubs, Chelsea and Arsenal will only see them play a peripheral role in
their season, while transfers to Liverpool, Newcastle United and Everton
could be balanced out by managerial or player movements in and out of
the club.
Tottenham does offer something
tantalising (as is often the case with this club !). We are on the
doorstep of a new era at the club and the investment in the future in
the coming season is a very important one. While Manchester City
won their first title under the Abu Dhabi money and look set fair to
dominate English football for a while, there are still treasures to be
gained. Shopping at Harrods is where City go for their purchases
now, but while Spurs are not quite on Kensington High Street at the
moment, the future looks solid. That could be spectacular and with
the Financial Fair Play rules coming in soon, Spurs are well placed to
make the move at the right time. The top clubs have all had their
injections of cash and we are poised to suddenly get money coming into
the club from the right income streams as far as UEFA are concerned.
Buying youngsters for the future
is just part of the plan. Getting capital investments out of the
way now also helps generate more income in the longer term. But
there is always the need to be mindful of playing success and I am sure
that Levy keeps his eye on that ball permanently. The
disappointments of this season show how close we are to being a very
good club. FA Cup semi-final (the score-line aside) shows that
when we have a decent run, we can go close to winning domestic honours.
The league campaign was lost in that period of February and March, but
perhaps as much with some timid away performances, whereas earlier in
the season we went and played our game to impose ourselves on the
opposition on their own grounds. Bold play may not always get it's
reward, but turning a couple of drawn games into wins this season would
have put as third at least. Easy to say on paper, but remember the
club motto !!
Daniel Levy has done very well by
the club during his tenure as chairman, although he has made some
mistakes, but they can be forgiven if he gets the next step right.
Not only has he to think about the new stadium, but soon, he will need
to sort out Harry Redknapp's position. Of all the clubs he has
been at, perhaps this is the one where he has been controlled the best
by his chairman. Levy is no Rupert Lowe or Milan Mandaric.
His profile is low, but his expectations are as high as any fan and
releasing the money for Harry's transfers has not been a problem, but
the next contract for the Tottenham manager is a vital one for the club.
At the end of it, we need to be Champions League regulars. A high
ideal, but when you are looking at replacements when Redknapp decides to
call it a day (or Levy does it for him), we need to be situated in a
position where we can call upon the top managers in the world ..
otherwise, we will in a situation where we were when Harry was going
through his court case and through the farago of the England manager's
appointment. We will be linked with the likes of David Moyes,
Brendan Rodgers and Roberto Martinez. All good managers, but what
"next level" would they take us to ? Moyes would grind out results
and perhaps end up around where we are now, while Rodgers and Martinez
would play attractive football, but how would they cope at a club with
the expectations of a fan base like Spurs have ??
Harry is right, it was a very good
season and with the amount of money we have paid out, you could say that
we are punching way above our weight. But having been given a
tantalising taste of what it feels like to make even a slight challenge
at the top of the table, the fans will want much more of that next
season and in season to come.
Have a great summer (transfer
dealings aside) and it will be soon time to resume our league battles
and the Europa League campaign. Our youth team are probably
excited at the challenge that poses and hopefully, the club will
sensibly price the tickets for these games, otherwise they might as well
be youth games, as they will be played out in a two thirds empty White
Hart Lane.
Keep the faith.
MY EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY OF THE CUPS AT WHITE HART LANE
MY EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY OF THE CUPS AT WHITE HART LANE
MY EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY OF THE CUPS AT WHITE HART LANE
AND THE SPURS GO MARCHING ON.
BRUCE
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