From that time, to quite recently, I always believed he left because he did not want to play in Division 2. Which meant him going to the Goons made me feel even more . On learning he was forced out, he became flawless in every way. Here is a thought for the oldies ... In 1981-82, when Spurs were pushing hard in all competitions and twas even talk in the press of doing the quadruple, how much further could we have gone if Pat was still in goal for us (he was still playing and even had an ok WC performance in 1982) ??
"It's been over 30 years since and we still haven't learned not to sell our best players." In the clubs' defence (vaguely) , there could have been a wage bill issue. Pat would have been one of the highest-paid players in the squad, and I doubt there was anything close to the luxury of the relegation payments that PL departees get now.
Truth is since moving Billy Nick upstairs we have been grossly mismanaged at exec level The worst thing a manager could do was show signs of success When he did he was gone
Jennings wouldn't of made much of a difference in 81/82, we had Ray Clemence in goal then and he certainly won us a few points that season. What cost us was a ridiculous fixture pile up, playing something like 8 games in 18 days or something stupid like that!! And we also lost Ossie & Ricky due to the Falklands that season.
Ray Clemence was not that brilliant when he first came, there used to be a joke about putting a bell in the ball for him, he did improve though. I still feel the hurt when Pat 'defected'. He always used to say 'the day I leave Spurs is the day I hang my boots up' so to hear he had gone to Arsenal was one of the biggest shocks we had ever had. I think this was the one big mistake made by Keith Burkinshaw if it was his decision. I seem to remember him being asked about it some time later and he agreed. As Keith won 2 F A Cups & a Uefa and he was a very nice guy it was not resented as long as it might have been.
Hi Maggie, Spot on that Clemence made some howlers that season -Villa in the Charity Shield and Barca at home in Europe were 2 of the worst! He did improve massively and I remember seeing him pull off some cracking saves and winning us points. If I remember rightly, Jennings made a costly mistake in the FA Cup 3rd round at the Lane that season! But the way Jennings was treated by the club was shocking, and to sell him to Arsenal was just as bad.
Hi Junction, I agree Jennings treatment was disgraceful but I do not understand why? He said the directors blanked him. Why? I cannot believe the players would blank their teammate even if they did know he was leaving. He said he only chose Arsenal after that humiliation so that couldn't have been the reason. Would be so interested to find out more details. I don't remember Jennings costly mistake in the FA Cup 3rd round as I have a habit of dismissing the heartbreaks from memory and remembering the 'magic moments'!
The mistake by Jennings came in the FA Cup 3rd when we entertained Arsenal. Jennings was in goal for Arsenal and let a very soft "shot" from the edge of the box under his arms to put Spurs ahead. Jennings didn't get much stick for that from us, and to be fair he didn't get much stick from us throughout his time at Arsenal.
Cheers SD. I was at that final and the replay but have no recall of Pats howler! (wonder if he done it accidently on purpose?)
I was at the final too (dull game). Two years running I was at the final and never saw us lift the cup, despite us winning both ties! Pat's faux pas was of course in Round 3.
