Maybe just maybe AVB has a point. We sit 3 points off the top with posters complaining about so much. If everything the posters say was rectified ASAP then we would and should be clear at the top. Not going to happen is it overnight? Every team is blipping and we are bound to with our new team. So maybe we should be optimistic and fully backing the team and being that 12th man. We are not doing too badly with massive room for improvement in the areas a lot of posters have pointed out. So now isn't the time for negativity to be filtering onto the team and management. It must be hence the manager's comments.
Spurlock, I know it may not seem it, but fans are human, and as humans we need the team to set the mood, and when that happens the fans will respond or help pick up the players if the team is struggling. Under Avb, his teams set a dead atmosphere, there's a lack of drive or urgency, if he wants a better atmosphere then show us more urgency, start the game with some purpose.
There seems to be a lot of negativity posted on the board let alone the ground,prehaps AVB is right,good job he doesn't read this site
I think we are just used to free flowing attacking football. It is great to watch but maybe we need to re evaluate our ethics as a club and recognise that the only way to achieve some kind of footing and true recognition is to become like we have been under AVB. Very technical and military like in our performances. I recall under our free flowing philosophy we were always wary of a collapse, a major mistake etc etc. As the West Ham match showed we are not there yet however we are certainly a very tough team to beat. I understand the fans are human but maybe we need a word with ourselves so we start to recognise that we are a work in progress and for all our boring football etc etc. we sit 3 points off top and we haven't even touched anywhere near 3rd gear.
The only way Avb can change our ethics and demands, from a fans view is to silently get on with his job and make us a success. Which I know needs time and I'm not even thinking about him being sacked, yet it's quite early in his Spurs career to be insulting the fans. Sure he probably woke up this morning and regrets what he said, and he is desperate for the fans approval, he says the team needs support. This is his team, his methods and the lack support are aimed at his style of management. What happens if we gain 4th? Are we going on an exciting European adventure or will we bore our way through Europe? Do you care? Maybe not but we're meant to do things in style, that's why we all follow football, for entertainment and passion for the club.
I totally understand where you are coming from. We pay to be entertained. This is our best start to the PL..if it continues and we just end up having our best finish...I certainly won't complain. Plus if we are into this time next season and still plodding ill voice a concern but right now i see it as 2nd gear comes before 3rd...I believe when we are in 4th...I say when because I can see our gradual improvement, then our trademark football will no doubt creep back in... We certainly have all the ingredients for it. For now I'm just glad we got someone who can score penalties lol.
We're not entitled to be entertained or for our team to win. We can want it, but we're also more likely to get it if we get behind the team. My objection to AVB's comments is not that he's wrong, but that coming out with that is likely to be counter-productive
My on-pitch anxiety is the feeling that opponents have completely worked out how to thwart AVB teams, and that for all the winning and clean sheets, results are on a knife-edge, even with all the talent available in the squad. The Europa game last week was a case in point. I felt that could have turned into another Spanners at any moment. Similarly yesterday. Couple that with concerns about the financial prospects of the club in preventing the Sky 4 and Sugga Daddy FCs from slipping away forever when we are so close, no wonder some of us "have anxiety" .
I think next week's game will be vital. Everton won't park the bus at Goodison and are a good team in good form. I will be very interested to see how AVB sets the team up for this one. It will tell us a lot about how the rest of the seaspon will go (the performance more than the result)
Anxiety comes with high expectancies. If we were happy with mid table we would all be happy. It's a territory we must get used to. We don't have a sugar daddy and we are not United that we have set our own precedent .
Everytime I have sat on the train at Liverpool street to WHL this season I have heard, I expect a draw or I don't think we will win. I have heard people saying what's his name again or I don't even reconise the team. In four trips so far this season I do not think I have heard one positive comment on route or around the stadium. It baffles me.
Like to offer my 2p worth. Think what AVB might be saying is when the team is floundering, like yesterday, it would have been preferable to try and rev them up rather than stay quiet. But as 'Arry learned quickly its dangerous ground when you start to have a go at the supporters.
AVB is completely right in this, even if he could have used a bit more tact when going about it. The hardest thing in football is breaking down teams who come to play behind the ball with a fast break on the counter. It's not unique to Spurs - Barca, Real, etc slip up to it. If you look at Chelsea, the 100mil we spent galvanising the team looks like pocket change, yet you still see Jose urging the fans to make noise and cheer the team. Even the best managers understand the importance of a supportive crowd. No it's not easy with "dull" football (I use "" because I don't agree) but it's what you get when you play an essentially new front 6. So many fans calling for time for them to gel a few weeks ago are now demanding so much. 4th place when we've barely hit a stride? I'll take that, even if it is through fortunate Soldado Pen 1-0 wins. It's how the other big teams win their titles so why not Spurs?
I too was sitting in the stands yesterday, i know exactly what he meant by the atmosphere, it was nervous, horrible, and unhelpful to the players... As the Spurs faithful at home, it is OUR JOB to make the lane a fortress, i pride myself when i travel with the Spurs faithful at a) how loud we are, and b) win loose or draw we stay behind the team.... Sure you get matches/groups of matches when it is a slogging and dull to watch but think how more intimidating it is for visiting teams if they are still faced will a WALL of SUPPORT from the home fans encouraging their team with everything they have..... We are not CHELSKI for goodness sake, this has to stop and we as the fans have to sort this out.... we have a proud history that this talented group of players are trying to add to...get behind them....COYS !!!!!
To be fair I think it's been blown out of proportion a bit, he said he knows you can do a lot better, not that your support was poor full stop. However, drab football or not I do believe fans should get behind the team and when it looks as though they're struggling to win especially. I don't get the point in buying a ticket if you're not going to make some noise and support the team.
Essentially agree with Mr Microwave and Spurs4life here (and Drogs), although I understand a lot of the resons why fans can't get excited as well. It wasn't so long ago that after a long time of getting nowhere, we finally achieved Europa League football. At the time, because of the failure of many years previously, it was seen as an achievement. The atmosphere at the first EL games was very good. But people's expectation changes so rapidly in modern times that suddenly EL has gone from an achievement to a minimum expectation (and even a nuisance). How quickly people forget that it wasn't too many seasons ago that we were a mid table team. There is a lot of acceptance, in writing at least, that there are a lot of new players getting to know each other, but that acceptance is not expressed at home games, because they need our support not our silence *regardless* of what football is being played. I can also remember from personal experience what the atmosphere was like in one of the first seasons I went regularly - the season we were relegated. People just "supported" back then, because it was the right thing to do if you are a supporter, and we were terrible a lot of the time. And I haven't changed my mind, a supporter supports with vocal encouragement, and does not hold back while making some calculation based on the dent in his bank balance compared to what football is being played.
Couple seasons back there used to be a rowdy drummer in the stands, who would regularly start the songs going ,the not so fashionable "y" army chant and i remember the numerous occasions when i had to rest my voice on the Monday at work (even when we played mostly on the Saturdays !!!).... Common thing about this thread is our collective love of Spurs...maybe we should remember that the only possible help we can give those guys on the pitch is our support, so just decide individually to sing your hearts out every time we get into the lane.... I for one would much prefer that, than having to listen to complete idiots (who are not and never will be, part of the coaching staff) barking instructions to the players from the stands. We need an alternative to the "y" chant, cos whereas the majority of us actually used it before, only a minority of the crowd do now, which is another reason for the silence !!! We need a new song writing contest !!!! were is Chas and Dave when you need them !!!!
Spot on. He's not wrong but it's hard to see how coming out with this is going to help. I don't know what it was like yesterday but unless we're playing a side the fans consider to be a challenge then it's about 5-10 minutes of singing at the start then everyone gets nervous or impatient and goes quiet. Redknapp was right, some fans won't be happy unless we win every game 3-0.
Oh you wont stop singing, why don't you give it a rest. It all sounds a bit one sided to me. You will turn up for the game. You will support the team. You will sing. You will pay £60. You will enjoy it... Doesn't work like that any more in the world where everyone wants a slice of my paycheck in exchange for something else. Just what do THFC want for my £60? Just what are they going to return in exchange? I can watch Swindon Town for £15 and the game's are rarely dull. It's not about winning 3-0. It's about flair, excitement, aggression, commitment, skill, passion... and maybe glory. AVB - want to hear the fans? Get Soldado to score a quailty goal against the goons, kiss the badge, jump in to the crowd, get a yellow and then do the exact same thing 2 minutes later. We'll sing his name forever.