Hear that? The sound of straitjacket buckles being undone. Locked doors thrown open, barriers crashing down. The cracking of Conte’s concrete boots. That bloke who used to stand behind JM with his clipboard being ignored by the players, his pencil lead breaking.

Not that you could hear anything over the wall of glorious noise crashing out of the Park Lane to fill the stadium for 99 minutes to visibly lift the players. The old guard were surprised, the new guys lapped it up. All the players plus the manager were genuinely moved and inspired. None of these self-indulgent in-joke choreographed goal celebrations. Sarr leapt in delight and piled in towards the fans in the corner before being engulfed by his team-mates. Unconfined spontaneous joy, on the field and in the stands.

Someone should tell the new guys that it’s not always like this. Or maybe it will be. Kudos to the new singing section at the back of the south. If you build it, we will come, and join in.

This hullabaloo marked more than a fine win over benchmark rivals, excellent though we were in the second half. This was an uproarious celebration of us, of being Spurs, a triumphant sustained roar to exorcise demons and a rediscovery of who we are, of being Spurs, an identity and belonging that had been stifled and repressed by successive regimes.

Players inspired, raising their game, led by a manager whose values chime with ours. Get on the front foot, take the game to our opponents and if that doesn’t work, do it again only better. Ange gets us. JM and Conte paid lip service to the club’s heritage and to us, because in their hearts and heads, they were more important than the club. But Ange believes, so we believe in him. We sang Conte’s name, he thought, well yes of course you do. Sing Ange’s name, he is humble and proud. Such praise is earned. In Ange and his team, we see a reflection of ourselves as supporters, of who we want to be and how we want our team to play.

I like the relative peace and quiet of the close season where normally a measure of hope and optimism are the dominant emotions. This summer, I brooded in anguish over seasons of dull, unambitious football to be endured rather than enjoyed. Hardly an original observation, but the depth and consistency of the numbing awfulness of it all was inescapable. A lack of ambition was coached into our players. There was certainly no coaching to improve them as a team or to develop young players, and we have many of those.

And with a single bound Ange set us free! I read a quote from a manager over the summer, think it was Arne Slot, who said he didn’t like defensive football because it encouraged players not to think or take the initiative. I present Conte’s Spurs as a case study in evidence.

That’s all in the past now, than goodness, although I do fear for our defence while the manager coaches wing-backs to be full-backs and the promising Van der Ven settles. Romero had a good game, clear-headed and committed, more please.

With the leggy stride of the thoroughbred he is, Sarr was outstanding in midfield alongside the excellent Bissouma, who has found his form once free of injuries and through a manager who believes in him, who asks him to do what he does best, not confirm to rigid, cloying and outdated tactics. Good at holding the ball under pressure to help team-mates out and allow our shape to reset, just as the mighty Dembele did under Poch. Maddison on the ball to create chances, he does things a fraction quicker than the rest. With ball at his feet comes the thrill of expectation. Something is going to happen, how I’ve missed that feeling. And Udogie looks a real prospect, not just raiding with pace and strength from the back but the timing and positioning of his runs shows maturity way beyond his age.

This is a young side and there will be setbacks as they learn by doing, as well as successes. Being honest, the manner of our victory was the most significant part of the day, and I would be praising them even if we hadn’t won. That second half shift was remarkable and put United’s expensive midfield to shame. But we were fortunate that United missed those two first half headers and that Davies’ cunning plan to take everyone by surprise and shank the cross worked as well as it did.

But we have something to look forward to. My anticipation levels are off the scale, and fans will be alongside them win or lose because this is right way to play football. The team spirit and togetherness is energising in itself.

Ange hasn’t sorted out the front three yet. Richarlison is clearly being told to stay central, so he spends a lot of time waiting for the ball to come to him, rather than moving or interchanging with Son, which could make it harder for defenders. Son’s talents are not best served by expecting him to play as a wide man.

So a great day out at the Lane, all the sweeter knowing the promise of more to come. Strap in and enjoy the ride. It will take time, and patience can be our gift to the manager in return for the promise he brings.

By the end of the window, I’d like to see another striker and centre-back as a minimum. I’m leaning towards spending the Kane money on class and buying the best as opposed to skimping, that’s assuming the money hasn’t been spent already, but enough of the board in recent articles, I’m not going there for now.

There’s some concern about the number of players we need to move on but the reality for Spurs and every PL club is that the real business gets done to the sound of the window closing, when minds are focused as ifs and buts fall by the wayside. Happens every window, this will be no different. I think Dier and Hojbjerg will go, and will do so with my thanks and good wishes, sentiments not shared by others judging by social media.

N’Dombele will be somewhere, anywhere, other than N17, and the board have to take a big hit on such a poorly judged purchase. We scouted the football but not the character. I suspect they are waiting to see who can come in before selling Sanchez, he will stay if they can’t improve, and fair play to him for making the effort to play for a place when he could understandably want to get away.

It’s also worth noting that Spurs seem to have upped their game to compete for younger talent, both  buying potential in young men like Phillips or paying the going rate for salaries for top young talent, however unpalatable that may feel.

Getting to games isn’t guaranteed these days for various reasons I won’t detain you with. Last season, after 56 years, it didn’t seem to matter so much but on Saturday, another reminder of how precious it is to me, with the family, being there. Tottenham til I die is a cliched chant, heard it all before. So well beyond the final whistle, as players and fans linger to unite in celebration, why does it bring tears to this old man’s eyes? Bloody football.

Decided to stick with the football this week, given that it was a grand day and several recent articles have focused on my criticism of the board. But I must add that I fully endorse the Trust’s campaign against the ticket price rises and I was glad I took part in the pre-match demo. Stop exploiting loyalty. Maybe more on this and fans in the coming weeks.

And thanks so much for joining me for another season of Tottenham On My Mind. It does not evolve – same design, focus on the words, an old man shouting at the clouds in N17. I can’t write every week so stay in touch via twitter, Threads and subscribe via the button near top right.

Welcome Ange. Hope you know what you’re letting yourself in for.

Cut to the chase. I’m optimistic. Then again, I hoped Nuno would be a safe pair of hands in the short-term.

Postecoglou’s teams play on the front foot, taking the game to the opposition and making things happen. I can’t speak to sophisticated tactical analysis (try the Extra Inch for that), but I’m sick of waiting, Spurs teams set up to wait to see what happens. Sick of sheltering in a low block, hacked off with cowering from kick-off to some point in the middle of the second half when it dawns on the manager that we might lose. Take them on, be something. Show some self-respect.

While he cuts a genial figure, popular with fans, he demnads his team play at pace with a high degree of intensity. Maybe that’s become an overused word but for a reason. We finished 8^th – all of the teams above us go at it for extended periods whether or not they have the ball.

Plus, intensity is going to shake any complacency out of the players, something which is long overdue. Postecoglou does not accept players coasting. There are opportunities here for players with undeniable talent but who found themselves on the side-lines to show their worth, and this is what our new manager is seeking, I suspect, the chance to impose his own philosophy and approach on willing minds. Shades of Poch here, where he made every player better than they were before, and if they didn’t meet his demands, they were gone.

The criticism that he hasn’t managed at Premier League level is unavoidable but mitigated by other accomplishments. He’s the oldest prospect in town, lessons learned over a lengthy managerial career, often in adversity, ready to be put into practice at a higher level. The issue is not what he did before, but rather, what he can achieve with better players. He’ll make the most of untapped potential.

One of my sustained criticisms of the club over the last five years is that we have lost our identity. The board do not appear to know who or what they want us to be. Finishing 8^th is a stark but timely and necessary response to that. We are not a top four club. We can be but for now, reality bites and we’re not, and we won’t get there through vanity managerial appointments. We have to fight to get back there, just as we did after Levy’s early planning failed and Martin Jol took over, effectively by default, but he restored pride in the team and built us into a top six club, his role in creating a platform for the progress that followed often neglected. And we need a fighter to take us there, someone with something to prove. He’s a good fit – we’re ambitious and so is he, because he’s 57 and not in spite of it. He can fulfil his ambitions at Spurs, if things go right. We need someone who wants this job as a step up.

Not that it’s likely the club have taken notice of arguments like that if past form is anything to go by. My cynicism about the board’s judgement is such that I’m tempted to say, if Daniel Levy chose him, he can’t be much good, and the suspicion persists that he feels his new man will not make undue and expensive demands in the transfer market, an attractive quality as far as our chairman is concerned.

That’s not entirely fair. Even someone as emotionally unintelligent as Levy cannot avoid the calamitous, divisive legacy of his last three choices. While he takes little notice of supporters, he’s sensitive to his public image and he has been subject to a barrage of sustained criticism from mainstream media outlets, many of whom have recently discovered the same problems fans have been complaining about for several years. Also, he’s been rejected by more established figures such as Nagelsmann and Slot who do not want to work with him and his methods.

Postecoglou has a four year contract, longer than predicted last week. It could mean Spurs have a long-overdue medium and longer-term plan, or simply that he’s on a much lower salary than JM or Conte, so compensation if he leaves will be similarly cheap.

It’s Spurs, and his success stands or falls in the way he is supported by the board and his yet to be appointed Director of Football. Failing to get manager, recruitment and finance to work smoothly together is Levy’s responsibility and the single biggest impediment to progress. Hopefully the appointment of Scott Munn to oversee the football operation will improve matters. It’s not a question of throwing money at the team but it is essential to make funds available to buy decent quality players in key positions like goalkeeper and centreback, beating competition from our rivals.

The other problem Postecoglou faces is not of his own making either. He carries the weight of past mistakes and broken dreams. When the fans express their frustrations if things aren’t going well, it’s not just about disappointment in any given game or with any specific player, it’s also the collective expression of years of dissatisfaction and justified discontent. It’s something that can’t be compartmentalised away, but he seems a big enough guy to deal with that. He forged a warm relationship with Celtic fans who responded to his commitment and energy, plus the fact that he acknowledged them, spoke of them and took them into consideration.

We need that. Spurs need a deep clean to sterilise the toxicity of Conte’s last season. He requires time to change the atmosphere as well as the tactics, so we have to show patience, by ‘time’ I mean at least a season but I fear people will want tangible progress more quickly. Let’s get behind Ange. I think we’re really going to take to him.

The season’s over and good riddance. Out of Europe, no manager, no director of football, no manager for the women’s team. Supporters who pay among the highest prices in Europe are angry, disillusioned or overwhelmed into apathy. I’ve been all three at various times. For now, add relief it’s over. Later, add fear, the fear that the board’s continued ineffectiveness will lead to a chaotic summer precisely at the moment where we need calm, clear thinking to lead the necessary and overdue team rebuilding.  Supporters can see what’s happening and feel our loyalty is taken for granted, exploited as a commodity the club can trade and if necessary, disposed of.

I read that Spurs are a club in crisis, that we’ve reached rock-bottom. This is patently untrue, a distorted perspective that comes from the arrogant entitlement that sadly characterises an increasing number of fans of the top PL sides. Bury, Rochdale, Scunthorpe, the fans of these clubs truly suffer, and my heart goes out to them.

But I support my team the same way they do. I go to games, my support is integral to my life, my emotions, to family, friendships, to who I am. My disappointment this season is crushing and debilitating. It hurts, and so much of it could have been avoided.

The protective gloss of big-name managers at a big club lost its sheen to lay bare the vanity that led to their appointment and the board’s incompetence when it comes to running a football team. To repeat an analysis that I first wrote about a decade ago, any football club depends on three elements, a manager/coach, recruitment and finance. Seldom in the twenty-two years he’s been in charge has Daniel Levy successfully aligned all three, and when he has, those fleeting moments now seem like outliers.

The underlying fundamental problems have become ingrained in the club’s fabric, which is motheaten and rotting away. There’s no plan, and there’s no plan because the board still do not know what they want this club to be. They want success but do not know how to create and sustain it. They do not understand how to pick the right coach or how to support their chosen man. This season, these faults have been exposed game after game, just like our defence.

To repeat, it’s not a question of throwing money at the problem and to be fair to the board money has been spent. To say that it hasn’t is an outdated narrative. It’s just that we have talent we valued at around £200m out on loan when gaping holes in the squad remain unfilled. This is a consequence of disruption and change, and comes back to the element of recruitment. Six managers in four years, each with different ideas about how to play and who to play, a squad with players from all these eras. It is also reasonable to ask at what point our much-vaunted stadium income will be used for the transfer budget.

Conte lifted the side to the fourth in his first season but could not sustain it. He was no doubt unhappy with the quality of many of his squad but appeared unwilling either to coach promising younger players to improve or to adapt an inflexible playing style that stifled creative instincts and, more significantly, opponents found straightforward ways to counteract. I wonder if the last straw for him was the ultimate for a manager of his record and for his self-image – he was unable to get through to them and to motivate them. And so he left because he had no reason to stay. Why bother, separated from his family, the loss of three dear friends and on a short-term contract. You can’t motivate your players if you can’t motivate yourself.

Contemporary football is tactically sophisticated, but I lost count of the number of times I bemoaned basic errors endlessly repeated. This was the ‘surely season’, fans saying, ‘but surely we won’t do that again?’ Outnumbered in midfield, starting games cautiously surrendering the initiative to opponents, failing to block shots from the edge of the box. My worst image of the season is that blocking move obviously coached where defenders stay static, turn sideways, put their hands behind their back with one knee high.

It was dull to watch but more than that, it was ineffective and outdated. I can’t recall the last team remotely successful in the league who did not play on the front foot. In passing, I read an astute quote from Arne Slot (whatever happened to him?) saying, I paraphrase, that he doesn’t like a consistent low block because it dulls the senses of the players. It’s boring, it doesn’t challenge them and they become worse as a result.

The Milan home leg was the low point in this respect. Champions League, the Lane packed and expectant ready to lift the boys and overcome a 1-0 first leg deficit. So we sat back for an entire first half. That’s not the Tottenham way in Europe.

Even worse was the lowest of low points this season, away to Sheffield United. Ahead of us was a game against a championship side resting several key players, only 4 PL teams left in the cup. The team selection was born of hubris, the performance complacent. It also represented the lack of connection with supporters, 5500 fans travelling hundreds of miles midweek because it’s Spurs in the cup.

So it’s February, Conte’s contract is up in the summer and his disillusion with the club is becoming ever more apparent, except to Daniel Levy, who sits on his hands. The club finally make a public statement via the infamous Paratici ‘hostage’ video, shot on a mobile with lighting straight out of a low budget horror film. Paratici is banned from football because he’s dodgy, a probability known to everyone who follows football, except Daniel Levy. The club wail, ‘but, but nobody told us…’. Levy shares his thoughts not with supporters but at the Cambridge Union.

It’s tough being a leader, I understand that perfectly well, but hiding is not a good look. Such fireproof self-protection communicates weakness and indecision, as do his choices about managers. This runs right through the club, a lack of direction or plan. He has the vision and no idea how to achieve it, even after all these years. His capacity to not see what is happening around him smacks of remarkable self-delusion and lack of insight.

Then, Conte torches his bridges as well as the boardroom, the players and of course we the fans, who don’t understand him. Levy acts, and appoints Stellini on a temporary basis. When change is required, the board appoint a man so steeped in his mentor’s methods that he might as well be his shadow. Stellini’s legacy is that the defending turns from dire to embarrassing. Spurs go from conceding the initiative and the first goal to conceding the first three.

We then move to our second caretaker of the season, Ryan Mason, always one of our own and passionate and articulate about what the club needs and should be, but his inexperience shows. I prefer a back four and hoped the change would work. It’s understandable that Mason wanted to make an impression in the short time available to him but it would have been better to settle for a three with extra beef in midfield.

And so here we are. The disappointment comes not merely from a poor season but from knowing what might have been, maybe what should have been. Pochettino was by no means perfect but whatever we had then has now been thrown away with no lessons learned, except that we appear to be looking for an up-and-coming man with some experience but for whom Spurs are a step up, and who plays attacking football.

I say ‘appear to be looking’ because with this board, there’s no plan. Rather, they are rootless tumbleweed, buffeted in the breeze and blown whichever way the wind blows. Names come and go, as do the theories why we, apparently, have not appointed them. However outlandish these theories are, the past behaviour of the board gives them credence. Haggling over a release fee, not allowing them freedom to bring their own people in, pretending they haven’t spoken to candidates when it seems they have, not even ringing Poch because someone had a row with him, I have no idea what is true but all this and more is perfectly possible given their past ineptitude.

Moreover, their choices are limited as a consequence of their own behaviour. Word is out that Spurs is a toxic place to work, where promises are not kept. With all due respect to Dutch football, you’d come to the Premier League if you had the chance. You’d come to the world-famous home of the Spurs, except now, you wouldn’t. Who could blame Slot for the choice he made. It might change if Munn has some influence over the football side – it could indicate a change of tack by the board but frankly, history makes me sceptical. I hope I’m wrong, but to paraphrase the words of Logan Roy, someone also concerned about succession planning, “I love the club but you’re not serious people.”

The players need a jolt up the backside too. Some are decent footballers but jaded. They’ve been here too long, and we, and they, will do better for a change. Not to let them off the hook, but modern players expect coaching and familiar patterns. I watch games as a fan not as an analyst, but look at Villa, Newcastle and Brighton, Brentford too, all of whom achieve their potential because of good coaching that suits the players they have available.

But if we don’t have a manager, what do we need? What’s our shape, what are our tactics? Once more, we are way behind our competitors, and next season, it will be even tougher because the top six all have something to build on, whereas we have no foundations. And that’s before we think about the transfer budget.

I read we’re not far off being competitive again. I’m not so sure. We need a new goalkeeper, two centre halves and some extra creativity in midfield. Bentancur, his status enhanced by his absence, is not back at least until November. He plus Bissouma, Sarr and Skipp give us something to work with in midfield. I still see Kulu as an attacking midfielder and hopefully there’s more to come from him, that’s assuming we pay his fee as he’s still on loan. We also easily lose sight of the absence of a midfielder who is comfortable and best suited in defence, as opposed to players who can fill in.

Up front, Richarlison has more to give, Sonny’s still there and Harry, we’ll have to wait and see. Full-backs are a big problem if we go four at the back because we’re overloaded with wing-backs. To inject some optimism into what I concede is an article full of pessimism, we have the nucleus of an up and coming set of younger players, including Porro, Spence and Udogie, that a coach could work with and impose his ethos. There’s real promise there.

We need to move players on. I wish Sanchez, Hugo, Moura and Tanganga well. I would keep Davies – he’s underrated, covers centre back in a three and full-back and is loyal to the club. Hojbjerg has been poor lately and there is apparent interest in him so he could be sold to generate transfer income, as could Sessegnon, who has not progressed significantly and we have alternatives, although to be fair the same could have been said before Christmas for Emerson. Dier has been injured – while he could one of those who has gone stale, I wouldn’t sell until we had a replacement, and keep him if not. Same goes for Perisic, who I doubt would move anyway given his salary.

N’Dombele, Reguilon, Winks, Rodon, Gil and Lo Celso are all talented players with a future elsewhere They don’t feel part of the club and I can’t see how motivated any of them will be, given their experiences with us.

And so like our season, this piece drifts away into oblivion. Sincere thanks to everyone who has read TOMM this season and who has commented, apologies for not replying to you all. I’ll be back at the Lane and in these pages next season. Where else would I rather be?

Lots of love and good vibes to my good friend Pete Haine and to Jilly. Pete, I’m sure you won’t mind if I end with a word about Harry Kane. Harry is a marvel. Watching greatness is hard to judge at the time, without the perspective of history, but he is a true Tottenham great, a wonder, a marvel, a delight, one of our own. This is arguably his best season. 30 PL goals in an average side, time and again lifting us bodily from the floor, rising above the chaos. Arguably our best midfielder too, best at heading corners away.  All this after virtually a year of non-stop football including the pressures of being England captain at the World Cup, bearing in mind those dodgy ankles and the number of times he gets kicked.

On no account sell him. I don’t care about cashing in with one season to go, anything he gives us outweighs that a hundredfold. Pay him a fortune – he is the marquee signing we need, a message to football that Tottenham matter and are worth playing for.

The opening twenty minutes were a dereliction of responsibility, a trashing of everything supporters hold dear. I’ve never seen anything like it since I started going to White Hart Lane in 1967. Bad football I can deal with, the same goes for opponents being excellent, as Newcastle were. I am profoundly shocked that professional footballers can defend so ineptly, not just for one or two goals, we’ve seen that enough times this season, but for five. I’m not prone to hyperbole or rash statements, but this was an utter disgrace and the players should hang their heads in shame.

The frisson of anticipation when a 4-3-3 was announced (trying something different!) dissipated after a few moments thought. Playing a good, organised side, away from home, with a lucrative top four place at stake, so we go into it with two young midfielders, a defence that have never played in that formation before and no full-backs, because Porro and Perisic are wingbacks, a very different role.

So tactics and team selection naive and misguided, but international players watching, and that’s how ineffective they were, watching opponents waltz through, without closing down or even the bare minimum of getting in the way, that’s beyond me and it’s down to the players. Get in the way is not asking too much. Is it? Hojbjerg waving them through, Romero dreaming he was in Argentina, Porro ball-watching, I had no idea what Hugo was doing and neither did he. On the touchline Mason all urgency and agitation, Stellini, in charge, with a death mask for a face, his mind as blank as his gaze.

Credit where it’s due. Forster has been impressive in the way he’s stepped up (Hugo’s muscle injury – yeah right) and Sanchez too. I wonder if the shameful booing at the last home game – never abuse an individual Spurs player in the ground – was a factor in team selection. We always play 3 at the back, he was fit but maybe they thought he wasn’t in the right frame of mind. If so, that’s down to the booboys.

The worst thing of all? We knew something like this was coming. Fans could see it, smell it, even if the media and pundits did not. Like a pear that’s been sitting in the fruit bowl for too long, Spurs are rotten to the core. Looks good enough to eat but pick it up and your hand is a mess of pulp.

I’m beyond angry. I’ve been angry so often this season, the match to match grind of predictable, avoidable and repeated mistakes, dull, cautious football and the sense of marking time until Conte left. Such a waste. Now, I’m numb with the futility of it all.

I have to make a concerted effort to remind myself that it is only a few years since Spurs were one of the most admired teams in the Premier League, albeit grudgingly by our rivals. Dashing football in front of packed houses, English record crowds sustained through all that time at Wembley, then back home to our new stadium, all done without breaking the bank.  That was what, four or five years ago, yet I see through a misty-eyed haze of nostalgia, a different era.

We might be rotten inside but the blight spread from the top down. Countless times I’ve written the same story. I shy away from simplistic explanations but at the heart of it is a chairman who has been in football for over twenty years and knows nothing about the game. He talks sincerely about the club DNA without having any sense of our identity, of what he wants the club to be. Be prudent with transfer funds, I get it, so find a manager and recruitment team who can operate under those circumstances and build a team, rather than appoint vanity celebrity managers who will swiftly move on if conditions aren’t right for them. And right for them says it all, they didn’t have the club’s interests front and centre.

Complete due diligence on a director of football, rather than being the only person in football who was surprised that Paratici was facing charges. Don’t keep changing the manager, and the playing style, and the transfer targets, so we have squad made of choices of what, 5 managers? Apologies but I may have missed one along the way, easily done at Spurs. Don’t sack the manager then appoint his disciple as caretaker, because, you’ll never guess, nothing will change. Or why not speak to the fans, not the Cambridge Union?

Not that this is new. Santini couldn’t speak English, let alone communicate his tactics to players. Redknapp needed a striker when we really only had one, so we ended up with Frazier Campbell on loan, then Saha up front and Nelson at the back. This is the culture at the club. Any football club at any level has three essential elements in the way it is run – coaching, recruitment and finance. The board have hardly ever aligned the three in the last 22 years. They are incompetent and negligent, and the stench runs through the entire club, including Sunday’s unmotivated, passionless players. 

Plus, don’t charge the highest prices in Europe then be surprised that the fans are restless. When the prices for the new ground were announced, I wrote that this was all well and good, riding the good vibes of Poch and the new place, but it stored up problems for the future if the team should be less successful. When we become fans, there’s an unspoken but tangible bargain between the club and supporters. We will take the bad times, we’ll stay through thick and thin, just give us something back. A trophy would be nice, but if, not, play with some pride and acknowledge our presence and our value. It’s an emotional rather than a financial transaction. It is natural that fans ask, as so many diehards say to me, what are we getting back? And at these prices, money enters the equation. It jacks up resentment just at the time when the team need a boost from the stands. Again, that’s an consequence of board decisions.

So it all came to a head in 20 minutes at St James’s Park, not just a humiliating team performance but years of neglect and missed opportunities. Another aspect of being a Spurs fan that I wrote about pre-Poch was the alienation many supporters felt, that the club and fans were disconnected and far apart. I read some stuff last week questioning whether this had any meaning. I think only a non-fan could seriously sustain that argument but here is the evidence. Spurs fans travel hundreds of miles at great expense. Away tickets always sold out. Delays of over an hour coming back, another hour of your head and heart full of that wretched performance. There’s no respect for fans, although they’re happy to take our money. Give us a plan, pretend you know what you’re doing (and remember we can see right through you if you don’t), respect us and respect the shirt. Be honest. Play honest.

For now, understand how hacked off we are and do something about it. The atmosphere on Thursday is likely to be toxic, and frankly the board need to be faced with the consequences of their actions in really the only way fans can be heard, voices raised at the ground.

Sack Stellini and appoint Mason. Oh hang on, they just have. Signed by Daniel. Mr chairman, you’re not my mate. You can’t get round me by using your first name.

Here’s a novel thought – choose a manager that suits us. You know those dull job descriptions us mere working mortals have, essential this, desirable that. But why not write one? A manager for whom Tottenham is a step up, not a consolation prize or a stop en route to another job. Able to build teams over time. Bring on young players (we’ve got some talent). Front foot tactics. Then go and choose a bloke who fits. Radical I know. Wait til I tell you that I also want the coach to choose a DoF who he can work with. Right now, though, the media are full of names but it ignores one question – if you were any good, why on earth would you want to manage Spurs?