It's just not the case, the positive reviews on Amazon far outweigh the negative. Restaurants it's maybe the opposite with many negative reviews. The last few years have been some of the most successful (league wise) in Spurs history. and that's the clearest example of the negativity of posters. People now expect Spurs to be chasing top 4 whereas for most of the 50+ years I have been following Spurs they have been top half and even relegated. Football fans by and large are as happy as their last result, most of us feel better after a win so there is not so much to say. Spurs though for most of their history have been on the edge of the top. It's true we were known as a cup team and that HAS been missing in recent years. We would have been a lot happier as fans if we say had finished 8th but won the FA Cup and that used to happen a lot with Spurs. Now the FA Cup does not carry the same importance it used to when it was often the ONLY game you could watch on TV. Plus now money has polarised the league and the same 3 or 4 clubs tend to win everything. Spurs are now generally recognised as one the top 6 'BIG' clubs and that's quite new. Overall most Spurs fans should be happy with the progress made in the last 20 years but they're not because the goal posts have been moved and we expect top 6 at least.
Another factor is that as Spurs fans we used to console ourselves on the fact that Spurs played attractive football. That's not always the case now so for many our attitude is; well if you're going to dish up this defensive crap and bore us to death you'd better bloody win something and of course so far we haven't. Even I become negative when presented with football from our 3 former Portuguese managers. They have a lot to answer for. Not forgetting George Graham of course.
One weird thing about Spurs is that we have an amazing historical record of being mid-table yet winning cups. We've been outside the top 4 in the League for 7 of our last 8 Cup wins. That's actually very unusual and I don't think it was the result of any sort of strategy. League position is usually a very good indicator of probability of winning cups but our cup wins have dried up during our best ever run of high league finishes.
I think it was because we played our exciting brand of football which lent itself to cup football and one off games whereas winning the league required a more careful and studied approach, you know Portuguese
There were no penalty shoot outs (which I still dislike) all games had to be decided on the field and if not a replay and if the replay was draw another replay until a result was achieved No time for that these days and part of that blame is the existence of the League Cup which for me has always been a bloody waste of time and was just set up by the football league because they hated the FA. and wanted to get one over them.
Yeah this is definitely true, If you have a pragmatic and defensive minded manager then the entertainment side suffers, suddenly the results are the only enjoyment of your team and then if the results go bad too then what’s left to enjoy?
Yes the team has improved its league positions in the last 15 years but time moves quick and the last 3-4 years has seen the club finish lower and lower. I’m sorry but we can’t say we’re happy to finish 8th or 9th this season because the club got relegated 50 years ago? I don’t see the correlation with that. Yes of course things could be worse and Spurs are one of the best sides in the country and we’re lucky we don’t support a club in turmoil like Derby or the likes of Pompey or even Bury. But that doesn’t mean we can’t want success or be upset when we can see the club making mistake after mistake. Also the club charge the fans a huge amount of money to attend games, if you’re charging top dollar then why should the fans accept anything less than the best?
That's putting words into my mouth. I said we WERE happy or appeased despite a mid table finish if we won the FA Cup. Now, as I said, the goal posts have moved. I am sure we will still be happy if we were to win the cup but we EXPECT better than mid table in the league. I agree with you on the price of supporting Spurs, it's outrageous really but of course it's a direct consequence of trying to live in the top 6. I just hope we don't end up in the hands of some murdering thieving bastards using their ill gotten gains to fire their egos. like City, Chelsea and now Newcastle. I really would prefer 8th to that.
We're now getting booing in the stadium at half-time and full-time. People I know, who are still going to games, tell me that there's lots of frustration at the first sign of a poor performance and are more negative than I can remember since before the appointment of Martin Jol. The problem is that the anger/disappointment/frustration is cumulative. The Wolves performance and result, and Spurs fans' reactions to those, don't exist in isolation to other events. Games like Sunday just top-up what was already there after the appointments and predictably rapid sackings of Nuno and Mourinho, Poch not being backed and having to be sacked, that day in the summer of 2019, ENIC's lack of ambition and the late and terribly poor investment in the squad, the price of the tickets, Levy's end of season statement about DNA and attacking football, the actual quality of football for a number of seasons...and there are a whole load more. Most importantly of all, lots of fans are losing hope. They rightly sense that should Conte decide to leave, that replacing him will probably result in the appointment of a significantly lesser coach, the departure of Kane and a long-term rebuild, with a period back in mid-table. Our short to medium term future is dependent upon the club signing 5 or more, first team ready players, this summer...when Sunday's starting line-up only managed to contain 4 such players, since we signed Lucas, in January 2018...2 of which were Sessegnon and Doherty! As you correctly pointed out, I'm more positive...because things are finally coming to a head. Either ENIC change and invest significantly to address their failures since the stadium build, or there will have to be changes at a high level within the club. Both would be welcome...but one will do...
Levy cannot afford to let Spurs become mid table so I fully expect them to try to keep Conte and meet his demands. But sure ENIC will be happy with top 6 because that will keep the fans coming and expecting. A positive bottom line and top 6 is enough for Levy but his ego will want more.
Sooner or later Levy is going to have to commit to a rebuild. IMO THFC fans will not accept being usurped by West Ham - that's on the verge of happening despite THFC having the better coach and the better star players. At least with Chelsea and Arsenal you can point to their expenditure and wage bill. There is no legitimate reason for West Ham to be above THFC in 2022.
Same as Leicester too. They’ve won the PL and FA cup in the last 6 years and financially they’re nowhere near Spurs
West Ham's dodgy stadium deal should give them a financial advantage over a lot of sides. I don't think that the current mob have used it yet, though. They're due to sell up soon to some random ****bag, so it'll be a problem then.
That might be a thing of the past for all teams though, not just Spurs. Sure there will be exceptions like Leicester, but generally I think its more likely that the cups these days are also going to be won by the top four league teams (except us it seems!)
Rightly or wrongly I don't expect West Ham to make top 4, I think it will be us or United or Arsenal and right now we are the outsiders of those three.
Arsenal don't have any cup games and Utd have a massive squad. The Spam are still in Europe and the FA Cup. Some of their players have played a lot of football. Rice and Antonio's international commitments could also complicate things for them.
Sadly I think Arsenal look best placed at the moment to take it. Their run in is kind and no fa cup or Europe to distract them
