The Spurs Way. Attacking football on the front foot. Played with style and a flourish, not sitting back waiting for the others to die of boredom. It’s a familiar precept for Spurs fans that invests meaning and purpose in our passion.
We all need something like this, if only because watching 22 players kick a ball around is essentially hollow and futile without it. It’s been important for Spurs fans in my lifetime, initially because it characterised our approach to the game and latterly as an ambition to cherish during long periods of mediocrity.
It’s live – Tuesday night, first half, centre circle, Bissouma in space, opts to pass back. Hardly the most serious error in a season filled with catastrophe but the South Stand roared in anger. Thomas Frank, all season, doesn’t get it, can’t handle it, out of his depth to the point where even our board can see it. Out the door 6 weeks too late.
I believe in the Spurs Way but realise it has another function in masking the reality of a parallel truth, that Tottenham in modern times are a club with a history of failure, embedded in poor organisation and owners bereft of the capacity to efficiently and effectively run the club. Sum up the last forty years in a couple of pithy phrases: missed opportunities and unfilled potential. There are three fundamental elements to running a successful football club at any level: the coach or manager, recruitment and finance. Those in charge have never consistently shown the will, ambition, structure or capacity that enables this triumvirate to function smoothly together, united in direction and resolve. In short, this is who we are, and this is why we have ended up in the damned mess we are in, near the bottom of the table and staring at the abyss below.
This dates back to the early 1980s, when the club under chairman Irving Scholar put themselves in the vanguard of a new commercialism. The drive to maximise income, in Spurs’ case through floating on the Stock Exchange, non-football manufacturing, the new West Stand with executive boxes, merchandising and television advertising, was intended to generate funds for transfers and wages. In fact, it had two related consequences, in that the expenditure incurred led to mounting debts, so increasing income became an end in itself for club survival.
Keith Burkinshaw’s wonderful team sustained and entertained us into the middle of the decade. Scholar’s predecessors, the Wale family, were perceived as amongst the fusty blazers holding back the development of the game in England, out of touch and highly protective of their own status. Yet their old-school approach led to Burkinshaw’s promotion within the club and allowed him several years following relegation to rebuild, with money spent firstly on the midfield with Ossie and Ricky, then later up front with Crooks and Archibald. Burkinshaw’s famous passing shot ‘there used to be a football club over there’ was probably written by a journalist but it accurately expressed his views, seen here in this post-match interview from 1982 where this normally taciturn man, complete with de rigueur managerial sheepskin, calmly articulates the problems of the contemporary English game, truly ahead of his time.
The warning signs slowly became apparent. Off the pitch, executive boxes displaced the mighty Shelf, while on the field, the skilful teams built by Pleat then Venables began to take shape only for stars to be sold and replaced with frankly inferior footballers. We build again only for the cycle to be repeated. Stars like Sheringham and Klinsmann were never supported by a squad of sufficient talent, or as Colin Calderwood famously put it, “we’ve got the Famous Five [attackers], what about the shit six?”
Sugar, then Levy and ENIC, but the same pattern. The choice of manager unsuited to the club and in many cases to the task as well. Managers never adequately supported in the transfer market. Promises made to fans as the prices went up that were never kept. Pochettino is the outlier in terms of his suitability but the board’s failure to fully support him in the market remains an era-defining error.
And here we are again. New board, new supposedly vaunted backroom staff, same old problems. The search for a manager last summer produced a man unsuited to the club in so many ways, leaving the bloke out of his depth and no intention of throwing him a lifebelt. He’s gone now, but not for the first time, I’m left to ask the question, what were those in charge of the club seeing when Spurs played? Apparently not the shapeless, tactically deficient football we all saw. What in Frank’s approach did they see that gave them cause to believe he could turn things around when we fans saw nothing of the sort? Why wait this long – do they have access to another Premier League table in a parallel universe, because their inaction is that absurd.
Lange in charge of recruitment knows his up and coming players but we needed some experience too. He says they didn’t want a quick fix. Except we need a quick fix. And if we can’t get our top targets, where is the list of players next in line, and where is the sense that we recruit to fill gaps and create a coherent team rather than be opportunistic?
Ventkatesham schmoozes the fans at a meeting and writes some corporate rubbish in the programme. He says the culture needs to change, right, but he needs to start that, because that’s his job. And where has the £150m funding injection from the board gone? Not on players, because we sold our top goalscorer in order to fund Gallagher’s purchase.
Spurs are sleepwalking towards relegation. Lousy form, shattered confidence, no structure. I hear that the squad is more than capable of staying up. It is, except half of them are injured. Players who thought they would be competing for honours are not ready for a relegation fight. The current hierarchy is riven with complacency. It could spell disaster.
As I write, Spurs have appointed Igor Tudor as a temp until the end of the season. Good luck – he has my best wishes. I only know what you know after your frantic googling, same as me. I quote Wikipedia: “On 13 February 2026, Tudor agreed a deal to become Tottenham interim head coach until they get relegated from the premier league in the 2025/26 season.” David Ornstein, a reliable source, says that the process was led by Ventkatesham and Lange. That does not fill me with confidence.
On Tuesday night, the booing at full-time was full of righteous fury. What received less attention, but is just as telling, was that as many fans, if not more, shrugged and wandered silently home. Perhaps I’m over-interpreting, but I’ve seldom heard as many non-football conversations going on around me during and after a game, given that stakes were high and despite being excruciatingly bad, we were never more than a goal down. Injury time, ball in their box, there was no excitement in the stands, no tension or jeopardy, and for the first time this season, the players looked utterly dejected as yet another aimless cross went weakly by.
This has been going on for years and we are drained of enthusiasm. Watching Spurs is joyless. It’s the ultimate criticism as far as we fans go. If Spurs can stagger through to the end of the season and avoid relegation, that’s all I care about. But the long-term problems are structural and chronic, and they won’t go away.
TOTTENHAM ON MY MIND 
A bit of a rewrite of history. I actually think Burkenshaw was the third best manager in Spurs history (after the two that won the league title). But the fact our third best manager was incapable of winning a league title tells you the sorry story. Scholar was bad news but to pretend it was sweetness and light before his arrival is just wrong.
LikeLike
The whole club stinks from top to bottom. Until we have a proper board and proper owners we will never be anything. We are a global laughing stock. Built a shinny new mansion and decorated it with ikea furniture. Our owners are liars. Does Lewis really care?? We get relegated they raise 500m on player sales. They will cover the financial hit.
Mikey moore, souza, danso about to become our fav players…..
Sad sad times…
LikeLike
I hear you, but despite the potential windfall from player sales, the overall club value will plummet. The board, despite their gross incompetence, absolutely do not want the team to get relegated
LikeLike
I totally agree with your feelings the club has drifted aimlessly for years with false promises, I would have given Ange the 8 months that Frank had to see how things went, the Lewis don’t want footballing success if they did they would have gone out and bought top grade players and showed their intent but no all they want is the money coming in from other sources they’ve never replaced Kane/Sonny adequately and I’m afraid this squad will not keep us up also teams with a losing mentality love to play Tottenham , Romero isn’t good enough to be captain and his discipline is a liability for his team mates I hope we manage to stay up but unfortunately I cannot see it happening
COYS
Gray 78
LikeLike
Well said – hopefully the drop can be avoided and thereafter the true test of the new regime will be the willingness/ability to meaningfully address the underlying issues.
LikeLike
I don’t watch games live anymore on tv here in Canada. I wait to see the score and then decide if it’s worth my time. That’s sad after 66 years of support.
LikeLike
No More, Mr. Nice Guy, as Alice Cooper would have it. There was no justifiable reason to prolong Frank’s torment (and ours). And even though he suffered cruel luck with injuries he was still fielding a team with seven, eight, nine internationals each week. There was enough talent on display to deliver decent results – but when the players have given up on you and can’t be bothered then it’s time to go.
Ange’s comments this week were revealing. Admittedly we have to separate the cream from the self aggrandising insights but he confirms the fragility of the entire structure even to the point where defeats were accepted if the right excuses could be found. As you mention, Alan, the core of the club is rotten and when Lange and Venkatetc failed to back Frank (and the team) with added backbone in January then that fragility reappears.
Is this leadership group fit for purpose?
At the moment I am numb to the news that Tudor has got the nod. Interestingly very little has been made of Frank getting the team to 4th in the Champions League table (!) and the leadership (sic) must be wanting someone who has sniffed that rareified air along with building some sense of team spirit along the way. But he comes in with just 12 games to go and it feels more of a gamble than an inspired appointment. The last thing we need is another gamble. But if he can cobble together 15 points out of the remainder of the season then we should be okay. (What an ambition!)
My last impression is of having a mental picture of a circus clown car pulling up outside the stadium and sundry idiots getting out and falling over each other as they stagger and tumble towards to the entrance. Say hello to the board of directors..
It’s just dawned on me that No More, Mr. Nice Guy was lifted from the album ‘Billion Dollar Babies’. ‘Nuff said.
Eaststander.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Igor. How appropriate given the Frankenstein’s monster that we’ve become. Our team is bits from previous eras stitched together to try and make a functioning body. Partly why we’re so disjointed – no manager has remained in post long enough for a team to become entirely his with players bought for his system. Our recruitment’s been consistently dire, anyway.
I don’t want to turn into one of those Ange disciples that still claim he was a good manager, but I simply don’t agree with much of the discourse around Frank. Particularly the utter nonsense that he was out of his depth. Hello years of success at Brentford. Hello acceptable performances in the Champions League. I’m bored of all the Tottenham way, glory glory expectation. We haven’t played like that since Poch and we haven’t had a team good enough to play like that since Poch. You can’t expect a Robin Reliant to perform like a Ferrari.
Frank inherited a mediocre team, with a second-rate leadership group, that was beset by injuries, and was attempting to compete across multiple competitions with no squad depth. Was the football good enough? No. Was this surprising? No. Was this down to Frank? I can’t be arsed to cite the stats or comparisons with Ange. Let’s just say I think Frank performed about what could be expected of him, give or take. We’ll see if sacking him keeps us up, but it seems a risky decision. All we’ve done is lose a manager just starting to familiarise himself with the players, and replaced him with an interim with no Premiership experience and no knowledge of the players. I hope the coaches that remain will give him the support he’ll need.
I’m wary of the fanbase clamour for Poch 2.0. Don’t get me wrong I love the man and actually stopped being a season ticket holder after he was knifed by Levy, because I was so hacked off with the way the club treated him and its lack of investment in a proven manager and team that had played such wonderful football. But Poch inherited a good side with some superstars in the making that he helped to develop. If he comes into this shit-show with our same recruitment strategy of not-quite-good-enoughs or ‘prospects’, he will not turn us around. Personally I don’t think it’s ever a good idea to rekindle an old romance.
LikeLike
Frankenstein: You know, I’m a rather brilliant surgeon. Perhaps I can help you with that hump?
Igor: What hump?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mel Brooks would definitely be a Tottenham fan. He’d appreciate the comedy.
LikeLike
We are up cack creek without a paddle. Blazing Paddles.
LikeLike
My first match was 1963, home against Wolves, we won 4-3 ( disappointingly for me Greavsie didn’t score). In all those years since I have experienced a number of wonderful moments and even more disappointments but nothing like we have had to endure the past two and a half seasons. Ange was a fraud (a snake oil salesman) and Frank absolutely out of his depth. Can we all now forget about these two and move on. Get behind Tudor and save our club. Oh also appoint Iraola in the summer – his brand of football is wonderful. COYS
LikeLike
My first match was Spurs 5 – Villa 5 sometime around 1965 – and I never got to see it! My dad took me to London to visit a sick relative in hospital in north London. He could see my disappointment at making the trip from deepest Wiltshire and not being able to make the game so he took me to the ground in the morning and slipped the gateman a couple of quid to let us in. We toured the ground as it was being prepped for the match. On the way home dad got an evening paper (the pink ‘un?) to read the match report and he wouldn’t let me read it, knowing my reaction at having missed ten goals (!) Good times.
LikeLike
How was Ange a snake oil salesman? The definition of snake oil salesman is someone who knowingly sells fraudulent, ineffective or exaggerated products. How does this apply to a man who has done the exact opposite throughout his career? A proven winner who employed a clear method, conveyed that method convincingly to his players and has ultimately delivered what was written on the tin.
With great respect, I think I will place more weight on the opinions of the players who believed in Ange last season and formed the strongest of bonds with him than those of the haters who have taken against the man with a truly staggering level of venom.
LikeLike
Delivered? What did he deliver? He has the worst League record of any Tottenham manager. The Cup was won due to injuries preventing him from playing and setting up as he would choose to, against vastly inferior opposition. He is possibly one small aspect of the issues Frank faced in trying to instil some tactical nous into our squad. Postecoglou won things previously in tinpot leagues. A proven winner in tiny ponds. So what? This kind of loyalism to the myth that he was in any way competent in the Premiership baffles me. The misplaced criticism that Frank was out of his depth, despite a relevant proven track record, is undeniably true of Postecoglou. He was a terrible, unambitious appointment, but hey he played the Tottenham way…if you think the modern game is based purely on attack. His posturing as a winner was laughable. Conte and Mourinho could at least wear that hat.
Nobody knows the dressing room relationship a manager has with the players, unless they leak or throw a hissy fit like Salah. If professional players appear to down tools then they are directly responsible for poor performances…which, of course, they are. Managers are part of a collective effort, but boards, owners and players get to hide behind them too often when systemic failure is obvious.
I think we all believe that a root and branch reset is urgently needed. That starts with calling a spade a spade. We’ve been down numerous managerial routes since Poch, but only Conte and Mourinho could be decribed as winners…just not with us! I don’t want to see another second rate manager from a weaker league at Tottenham.
LikeLike
IMHO I think we got incredibly lucky when Amorim dropped Garnacho for the Europa final. He was the only United player, along with Fernandes, who could have hurt us and I couldn’t believe he was dropped on the night. Thanks, Ruben! So Ange benefitted hugely enabling him to do just enough to grab the trophy. Other than that Ange was a total dud in the league, responsible for some of the worst performances from a Tottenham team that I have had the misfortune to see, the nadir being the six goals we shipped at home to L’Pool.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Don’t totally agree that Frank was not good enough, he got us 4th in CL, albeit with only couple hard games on paper, plus he was able to beat City with full squad and somehow draw with a depleted one so he is capable. But if the players are not playing for you then not much he can do.
However if you take out any teams creativity players as well as having 7+ senior long term injuries to any team in EPL then they will struggle. The board and recruitment are to blame with our lack of depth and experience players available, while Frank can be blamed for not just going for it each week, if we gonna lose, lose by playing exciting footy.
But we the fans need to step up, we need to back the team at home games firstly, create an atmosphere that lifts our players, not make it toxic, players feel this and play according to our feelings. We saw this against City and Liverpool, we cheered them on, roared them with more energy and they responded unlucky not win one and get point from other. They players need to realise they are only ones who can keep us up, it’s world cup year and I hope Tudor can relay this to the squad, if you don’t play you be dropped, play someone who will run for the team even if it’s an 18 year old. If we all get behind the team,give them the lift they need then we can stay up, if not then we are going down and not many of those players will care if they feel the fans hate them and they leave anyways to stay in top league while we struggle for however long it takes to get back up.
Regarding next season, if we still in EPL, I doubt many top players would be joining us without European footy or known what manager, although can’t imagine Lange and co buying early in window anyways.
p.s Igor Tudor was Paratici pick in summer instead of Frank, so maybe they just decided he was right.?
LikeLike
Tudor is a firefighter. He has a very good record in the first dozen or so games of his many tenures. I hope and pray that he can replicate that with us.
Please do check out this new Spurs site, which I am a contributor to:
http://www.whitehartreview.com
LikeLike
so why did we fire Frank for? Looks as though it’s not the manager it’s the squad that’s shit as it’s half depleted and half they don’t care as don’t wanna be here next season. Thought Igor was supposed to come in and not play defensively. Says beforehand that can only play formation that is available yet played 3-4 players out of position, Gray, Palihna, Simons and in a way Spence…why did we buy a left back then not play him at all but play a right back in his position? Why not play 4-2-31 if you have 2 DFM, a number 10 and 3-4 strikers instead of 3 at the back with only 2 defenders, a midfielder at right back and Simons up front with a striker…sorry guys big if this is Frank’s replacement then I’m not looking forward to visiting Millwall and Charlton next season.
anyone who thinks we gonna be safe from drop need a wake up call. Apart from Wolves, we are bottom in all departments. No wins in 2026 in EPL and it’s nearly March.
i get that it was his first game and against Arsenal not gonna be easy but we screwed, I’m sorry but I cannot see us win without half team. Like last season we all saying, “but when we get our players back we be fine” but we weren’t, more got injured. We have Liverpool, Chelsea and Villa away,so no wins there, we can’t win at home, so that’s more no wins, Fulham been beating us at their ground and Sunderland look decent at home, so that leaves Wolves away. Wonder how long before Igor gone too. I’m not convinced at all in any way that he the guy to keep us up.
LikeLike