So basically there is this person at work who is a Spurs fan and since the summer we have been doing the standard exchange about football, essentially taking the piss out of our respective teams. This has all been fine, with me thinking that majority of the time I have come away the winner of our little exchanges more often than not. But then he said something which I have no answer to and I was hoping some of you guys could think of a better reply than me. Perhaps it is because there is an element of truth in it that I was lost for an answer. He said, not word for word but basically, "Spurs have been utter **** this year, only been a couple of games that I have watched where Ive thought "yeah we are a decent team", Saints have been incredible, media plaudits all over the place, everyone banging on about how great they are and Koeman getting loads of praise, yet Spurs are still above you in the league and at worst will finish like 5/6 points below you, just shows how smalltime and irrelevant Saints are" So yeah, what can you say to that? As I said I think there is an element of truth in that statement.
Spurs fans are arrogant and believe that they are title contenders so are always disappointed when they finish in the top 6. We are on the up and achieving more every season, i know who I'd rather support!
Are you sure want to keep speaking to this man...sounds a right piece of work. Reminds me of a United fan I had to contend with at work. I always wondered why a supporter of a top side would feel it was necessary to decry the triumphs of a lower league side (as we were at the time). I would never use the term 'irrelevant' for any side, even down in non-league. If you can judge a team by its supporters, Spurs are North London yobbos. What can you say...nod wisely and say, 'Time will tell, because we are on the up. Are you sure Spurs are?'
In my experience it is part of football, especially seeing as I was born and raised in Bristol where most people do not support a local team, they will have a preference for either City or Rovers, but follow a team in the PL aswell, usually one of the top sides. I don't take anything they say to heart as it is just your standard mickey taking that happens. My response was similar to your suggestion, I said "this is just the beginning"
Spurs may have been ****e but they have also been very lucky. Without Harry Kane who was an unknown quantity before the season they would be nowhere near us. Imagine if he'd had an injury!
My brother in law is a Spud and says similar. Here is basically my retort: Season one back in the Prem we finished 14th. Where did they finish? Season two, we finished 8th and were a drift of them from about January. This year we will finish 5th, 6th or 7th and it is April and we are one point behind them with Four games to go. They know so much about us as they keep looking over our shoulder. Ask him where he thinks this trend is heading? Ask him if they have had a record breaking season? Ask him if their season has been a target achieving success? I said a few days back that they have our song, our old manager, our old and now most expensive player in the world and they have our head of recruitment. This all points to Levy realising that we are doing things better than them and thus are becoming better than them.
I thought this was the preserve for the stuffy politicians on the Andrew Marr Show!! Or a breakfast plate in New York!!
Tell him we're catching up with Spurs a hell of a lot quicker than they're catching up with Arsenal. That usually does the trick.
When did they last win a trophy? Jeez. They're in a position to throw everything they have at Europa, but they a manager who wants nothing to do with it. What's the point of Spurs right now? On the other hand, being a Saints fan at this moment in time is pretty exciting.
This is obviously the cultured response that one should use if said Spurs fan is a colleague whom you otherwise value. If on the other hand the guy is an absolute tool, I would consider remaining aloof and uncommunicative, but only after you've taken an anonymous dump in his lunchbox.
What do the players make of a manager not interested in a trophy such as the Europa? Now our team will do their absolute best for Ronald and us, because we really really want it (and no, I don't think we are going to win the Europa, but the team should try as long as it is possible). P.s. If Spurs really don't want to be in the Europa, can they please finish 7th and ensure that we do.
All you need to say is "Johnstones Paint Trophy - You'll never win that" He will either appreciate the irony, or be puzzled.
As of next year, winner of Europa automatically qualifies for the CL group stages. That's a pretty good incentive to throw (nearly) everything at winnjing it.
There are several teams in the Premier League who I hope have the chance to win the Johnstone's Paint Trophy one day.
