It has felt for a while like Spurs are always in the sights of the press and journalists. I am never sure however if this is just a perception as a Tottenham fan or if this is real. Taking a look however I think I have worked out why it seems we are so often targeted and to be blunt, its because we are an easy target.
Under Harry Redknapp we were not a consistent team however we did have a team that on our day could beat anyone in European football with the likes of Van Der Vaart, Modric and Bale grabbing the headlines while King, Parker etc did the work making us a tough team to play.
While we had Harry as the manager though there is one thing he did with regards to the press which kept rumours about our players and squad to a minimum and that is he put himself in the press all the time. Be it leaning from a car window to talk transfers or just generally being a tabloid darling – either by design or ego – it took some of the focus away from the club as it was all about Harry.
When we parted company with him suddenly the press that had seemed so supportive of the club before turned and suddenly the focus was on Daniel Levy; why would this man get rid of Harry! Article after article attacking the club was written and then when we appointed AVB – due to his brief stint at Chelsea previously – his tenure had no honeymoon from the press, from day one he was attacked and therefore so was the team.
“These Tottenham players deserve Champions League football” some wrote and then agents would give interviews, suddenly Champions League football was the be all and end all of football – every player if they thought they were good had to leave as they wanted to play it. Modric went to Real Madrid and as we all know following a truly great season Bale followed him to sunny Spain.
We all remember the calamity that was the following season. Seven big signings, several humiliating defeats and a manager sacked…. a temporary manager then promoted even when he had no experience and to be blunt we became a laughing stock. Bad decision after bad decision made us that laughing stock. The players didnt look interested in playing for us, the fans were booing more than cheering – the press loved it.
Story after story about players wanting out, new managers being linked not being up to it, the board needing to go etc .. just fuel to the fire.
Spurs were linked with several top names in management but opted instead to go with Mauricio Pochettino from Southampton – a decision that prompted one tabloid to say that once again we were showing zero ambition and players wanted to leave.
Now under the Argentine he has transformed the club, building a team that we as fans can connect with and building a team that is able to challenge for major honours – yes they are still a step away from winning – however we are now moving forward again.
Despite this we are still confronted with headlines on a regular basis about this player or that player wanting out… even though we are in our second consecutive Champions League campaign suddenly its all about money; lots of players signed new deals on improved money – so players want out as they want to win things!
Honestly, reading it all could make your head spin but as I said at the start I think the reason we go through this is because we are an easy target. Everyone knows we do not pay top wages due to our infrastructure (currently) not allowing it and as we have not won a trophy in a long time that makes us an easy target too.
However many clubs pay less than us in the Premier League… many clubs have won less and have gone longer without winning a trophy… So why us? My answer… our ambition.
Pochettino makes no secret about wanting to win the League or the Champions League. Our players talk about it. Our board are building the best stadium in Europe to go with the best training facilities – so we as a club are ambitious – THAT makes us an easy target.
The best and probably only way to silence this is to win things and then, maybe, the vultures will look for a new target – might I suggest Liverpool.
-SJ
