Everybody Just Chill Out - AVB's Got This

Article by Chris Mecoy

Guess what? Ever since I can remember, I've had memories, and one of the worst that immediately springs to mind happened just after Christmas when I was fourteen. Over the holidays I finally got the Playstation I wanted, I was with my family, stuffed on Turkey and Quality Street and was present at the Lane to watch our obligatory Boxing Day win over Southampton.

Then it happened, 28th December 1996. A dismal, dark, miserable, gloomy day when our beloved Spurs made the long trip up to St. James' Park to face the out-of-form Newcastle. I remember like it was yesterday. Goal after goal after goal saw us 7-0 down and not even a nice consolation from the brilliant Allan Nielsen was enough to raise our spirits after our biggest ever Premier League defeat.

"One of the darkest days in the history of Tottenham Hotspur" boomed my radio, tuned in to 1548AM Capital Gold, as Jonathan Pearce (back when he was still a half-decent commentator) summed up the situation in perfect clarity.

Not only was it hard to listen to, let alone watch I'm sure, but you couldn't escape the feeling that it probably wasn't a one-off. The man in charge was Gerry Francis, a man whose biggest achievement as a MANAGER was MANAGING to persuade Alan Sugar that it was the man to take us to the next level. We had a squad filled with players the calibre of Nielsen, Anderton, Mabbutt, Carr and of course Teddy Sheringham. All of whom were injured for much, if not all, of the season. That left our first team constantly featuring the likes of Dean Austin, Ruel Fox, Jason Dozzell and Stuart Nethercott. Not even the passion of players such as Edinburgh, Howells and Calderwood could make those four look good.

This was against a team who hadn't won a match in seven games and they humiliated us, making us look like a bunch of fools. A truly memorable day for all the wrong reasons and emotions I never wished to go through again.

FAST FORWARD NEARLY 17 YEARS

Sunday, 24th November 2013 and we are on the wrong end of a six goal thrashing again. This time at the Etihad at the hands of Manchester City. Unfortunately I didn't listen to this one on the radio. I had the misfortune of watching this live on my TV. IN HD NO LESS!! So not only did I see my beloved boys get their backsides handed to them, I got to see it with a really bloody clear picture as well!!

No-one performed as they can, it was rubbish, and painful to watch, apart from a 25 minute spell in the first half when we looked the much better team. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, eh?

AVB OUT?

Honestly, is that really necessary? It was one game. As Jose Mourinho said (surprisingly), "It's better to lose one game 6-0 than six games 1-0". I've noticed a lot of Spurs fans are seriously saying that our manager should be sacked. That is totally ludicrous in my opinion, and let's be honest, getting my opinion across is basically the point of these articles, isn't it? AVB CANNOT be sacked before the season is over. We have one of the best squads in European football, but, lest you forget, I shall remind you. IT IS A BRAND NEW SQUAD. 7 new players, of 7 different nationalities, have come from 6 different leagues to join the Spurs revolution this season. Add to that the fact that we have players like Townsend and Rose who have become established members of the first team squad this season. How about Kaboul and Sandro, who both missed huge parts of last season?

The squad is almost unrecognisable to the one that beat Sunderland on the final day of last season!!

OF COURSE IT'S GOING TO TAKE TIME.

Something else to consider of course, is that this wasn't Hull, Cardiff or Norwich who beat us by that score. It was Man City. A team who, at home, have scored 3 against Everton, 4 against Newcastle and the current champions of England Manchester United, 5 against Wigan and CSKA Moscow and 7 against Norwich. It would have been incredibly difficult to pick up anything on Sunday at the best of times, but let's not assume that the end is nigh and a relegation fight is in our future, because it isn't.

Unlike 17 years ago, we can put this down to a one-off. We are still just two points off top 4 and this time round we have an excellent young manager and a squad of players who are capable of challenging for trophies.

So, to the fans who are demanding AVB be sacked, please relax, give him time, and join the rest of us who are still firmly 100% behind him, but it will be interesting to see what the "VILLAS-BOAS OUT" brigade will say if we turn United over this weekend!

The man is a class act who swallowed his pride after Sunday's match and admitted that he and the players should be ashamed of themselves. But never fear, because I for one have no doubt that.....

AVB'S GOT THIS!!

COME ON YOU SPURS!!

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