So last night we did it. We beat Newcastle 1-0 in a game you could see the players were racked with nerves; however sometimes you just have to win a game, result is what matters and I was delighted that with a little luck and Hugo back to his shot stopping best we got through it.
Add to that Chelsea drawing at home to Huddersfield (bottled it then yeah?) and we are third in the league with a game to go and top four secured for another season.
In recent weeks I have read so much from press and fellow fans, bloggers, vloggers, podcasts and pundits saying how Pochettino job is at risk and how we as a club are stalling. Not won a trophy they say… hey even our fans are on that bandwagon. We cannot post anything on our Facebook page without a Spurs fan replying; “We don’t get a trophy for that” or some other super smart ass remark. I expect it from Gooners looking to troll our page however what has surprised me is its actually more common for our own fans.
So here are some facts. This is now, in the league, our most consistent era since the 1960’s … Bill Nicholson and his team did this and they also won trophies. However, the great Bill Nich and his team existed in a VERY different era of football. It was before mega money for players…. it was before agents bleeding clubs dry and it was before the super rich decided football was a great place to dump funds as a tax dodge… sorry, I mean invest in clubs.
You see everyone wants trophies and the glory glory days and so whenever we talk about a positive in how the club is progressing that is thrown at us. As I said above, not always by opposition fans either – its actually a growing voice amongst our fan base.
So, do people simply forget what we are up against or not realise? or perhaps people have no actual conception of how football is a business and how it works? You see we are all fans of a football team… so we want to see us win every game, lift every trophy. However, football is a business, now more than it ever has been and so when it comes to investing and improving it is the business side of things which matter.
Manchester United had success throughout their history, however their real glory era under Sir Alex just so happened to happen when the money in football went through the roof – the Premier League launched, Champions League and Man Utd as a brand went global.
Arsenal sadly also managed to have a good era at the right time, allowing them to build a new stadium and earn mega money.
Chelsea as we know were rocket strapped to the top by the blood money of a Russian mobster / billionaire who laundered … sorry invested over £1bn into the club. Following that blueprint Manchester City some year later had the same thing happen, just this time oil backed Arab family who have a global football domination plan (if you have not read about this, its actually kinda scary, look it up, The Guardian did an amazing piece on how they are going to kill football by owning a major team in every league in the world).
So imagine if Bill Nich had his run from the 60’s in the 90’s or 2000’s when the money was crazy. We would already have the new stadium, we would already have a global brand and we would be likely a team with superstars and winning trophies even during “poor seasons”.
However, that did not happen… and we did not get billionaire owners who wanted to launder… sorry, again a slip… invest in a team to write off their massive overseas profits… I mean because they love football. We have owners in ENIC who look at all their business’ as separate entities who must be stand alone profit centres.
So love him or hate him Daniel Levy does that. He makes sure he complies with the FIFA rules and ensures that as a club year on year we are in the black. He is an employee, that is his job. He is also a Spurs fan and having read the rare interview with him where he is being candid its clear he wants trophies and wins more than anyone (okay maybe not more than some of our fans who seem to live and die based on our performances but he wants it a lot).
Keeping it simple then. If any of you reading this has ever run your own business I can guarantee at some point things have been a bit shit. You have likely had to make decisions and choices to keep the business going that were not popular or just downright painful. Longevity of your business being most important. Short term pain for long term gain is an expression used a lot.
When it comes to Tottenham we are not ever going to out spend the elite clubs and we are never going to be able to afford to pay the same wages. Does that mean we should give up? No, we should fight, we should work hard and we should try our very best to win against all of the odds.
Coming back full circle then. We are once again in the Champions League. This means that once again despite being out spent in every aspect and despite having not even a fraction of some of the resources for wages some of our rivals have over a long season we have proven to be as good and often better than them.
People calling for Pochettino to go just because we have not won a trophy yet. Its the final hurdle. It is the thing he and the squad know they need to now do. The final monkey to be thrown from the clubs back but I am going to say this here and now and all of you reading please remember it as you will see it come true:
If we win the League cup it will be ‘mickey mouse trophy’ … if we win the FA Cup it will be ‘doesn’t have any real meaning anymore’ …. if we win the Premier League it will be “pfft first time in how long, lucky, even Leicester won it” and if we win the Champions League it will be “Lucky and a one off fluke like Porto, wont happen again.”
AND if we won all four in one season the press would say; “Pochettino and star player Kane need to leave for a new challenge.” Everyone needs to realise if you take your job from supporting football from the press opinions you will always be left feeling empty.
Enjoy finishing above Arsenal again. Enjoy being the top London club. Enjoy Champions League qualification for a third season in a row. Enjoy (if we finish 3rd) our best run of league places since the early 60’s and should we ever win a trophy, any trophy enjoy that too.
Pochettino has given me a team that I enjoy watching (last few games been a ball ache I wont lie) the vast majority of the time. He has through hard work killed most of the Spursy myths and by beating Newcastle the last “bottle jobs” one has gone. Only one left and I know he can do it. We can do it.
-SJ
