The Two Headed Cockerel

Article by Paul Glanfield

We, the Spurs faithful, seem very much divided at present. We seem split over our current and previous manager, our chairman, our transfer policy and how on earth we deploy the talent in our squad in a way that will get us into next season’s Champions League.

Firstly there are the AVB lovers, hoping the last few weeks have all been a dream, clamouring for the deep voiced Portuguese genius to return from his negative spiral and balance our dimensions on the way to completing the long term plan which seemed to have been set in place by Levy.

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At the other end of the scale are the Harry lovers, flummoxed by AVB’s tactics and how any long term plan could ever result in a 5-0 home defeat to our rivals along the way, they were desperate for an end to the jargon and some more good and proper ‘running around a bit’ from our side.

The Old Trafford and Emirates games of late gave both sides their chance to crow. And inbetween these two extreme viewpoints, sit the rest of us, unsure where the good ship Tottenham is heading at the minute and equally unsure what is in the best interests of the club.

For the record I would count myself in neither the Harry nor AVB camp. I respect the work both men did for the club. Harry brought us the best times I can ever recall us having, but I would argue the final few months of his reign when we capitulated in the league amid the England job speculation and then had the heartache of missing out on the Champions League to Chelsea was among the lowest points I can remember in supporting Spurs. The mid-table anonymity of the nineties and noughties wasn’t pretty, but it never hurt like that.

Whether Harry needed to go after that I am not so sure, but in came AVB and to be fair to the man after a dodgy start I was won over by what appeared to be thoughtful tactics, an ability to correct things that weren’t working out and a never say die attitude as evidenced in our numerous late shows last season. Disappointed as I was when we finished 5th in the end, there had been enough positive moments in the season to feel AVB was the man to take us forwards, no doubt.

This season started and we all know how it’s gone. I’m still not sure whether losing the manager was the best decision or not, but things were just not going the way we’d all hoped. The heavy defeats pointed towards deeper lying issues and despite a small revival after the City game, the Liverpool result was very hard to take.

The Premier League style and form since Sherwood took over has been more Redknapp-esque, an attacking line up scoring goals more freely and general being far more pleasing on the eye. The victory at Old Trafford, whilst being applauded, must be carefully reeled into context in light of the hosts own issues this season, and for that reason the victory achieved by AVB last season was more impressive. Nevertheless, it was a great result and keeps us in the hunt for a top four finish.

Twitter seems to swing like a pendulum of Tim hating to Tim loving at the moment, with some Spurs supporters verging on all out hatred for the man, and others christening him as the second coming of Billy Nic. In truth at the moment none of us know where the gut churning experience that has been the 2013/14 season to date will take us over the course of the rest of the campaign. Whilst there’s some hope in that statement, there’s also a good deal of dread. The positive league results achieved under Sherwood to date are still not nearly enough to hide lingering doubts about his ability to truly deliver as a Premier League manager, and I think even the man himself would have to respect that. This is his chance to prove himself to the football world. If Sherwood somehow takes this chance by the reins and, whether by tactical genius or purely putting the right pegs in the right holes, propels / stumbles us into the top four come the end of the season, it would surely have to go down as the greatest managerial achievement in the clubs recent history given that he took the job on with a deficit to close on our rivals having just been humiliated by one of them in our own back yard.

Where this season seems to differ from our other recent campaigns however, is hopes of a top four finish are not backed up by the usual confidence that our consolation would probably be another 5th spot at worst. This season if things start going wrong again there is the very real chance we could find ourselves down in 8th come the end of May, well off the pace and marooned in the insignificance of mid-table that used to be our comfort zone for much of the last 20 year period. Even coming 5th this season would almost certainly result in a number of our players being linked with moves away, this time not just the one star man of the team as has been the case for the past three summers. The squad we have assembled is undeniably Champions League credible, but even with that array of talent qualification via one of the toughest leagues in Europe is nowhere near assured in the next few seasons and some of our players may decide jumping ship is the best option for themselves.

The great fear I harboured back in April 2011 when our Champions League run ended against Real Madrid was that ‘this is it’, that in Crouch’s header against Man City the previous season and then the same player’s goal at the San Siro I had somehow just witnessed the highest points Tottenham would achieve on the Premier League and Champions League football ladders in my lifetime. Glorious as those moments were, they were not enough. And they will not enough should that be all we achieve.

Despite valiant attempts, to date we have not repeated those feats. Sure, we can talk about another top four finish and a record points total, but these facts are meaningless when reviewed against the actuality of what they brought us. Despite promise and some amazing mid-season high points since that Champions League run in 2010/11, ultimately we have ended each season with disappointment and a failure to fulfil our objective of qualifying for the Champions League once more. Whilst we can hope this season might finally be the craved for return to glory, it would take a very optimistic Spurs fan to assume we will be in the top four mix still come May. If we are, fantastic, but there is no doubt the great fear still hanging over the club is that this season could still become a complete farce well before the warmth of the spring returns to us.

And, so, reluctantly I guess, we return to the old adage - ‘take one game at a time’. Sherwood has his chance and if the performances and results continue in the same manner league-wise for the rest of the year then we should at least have something positive to reflect upon, starting with another three points on Saturday against Palace. Much has been made of the formational changes and what system should best be employed to get the best out of our pool of players – it’s not a question I could even attempt to answer to be honest. But what we are seeing now is certain players beginning to establish themselves in the first eleven as first choice (Adebayor, Erikssen for instance), and ultimately it is the performances of the players themselves that will help to answer a lot of these questions, providing of course where possible they are given a fair crack of Tim’s whip.

Despite a somewhat melancholy tone at times here, I am positive things can still turn out ok for us this season. I do believe with the way Tim sets the side up we should be more successful in our home games against the smaller teams, something AVB never really got a handle on. The fear for me is despite the 2 away wins to date that our sturdy away form under AVB might come undone with this more attacking approach and we’ll go back to being ourselves of perhaps the late noughties for example, where we could turn teams over at the Lane but never looked a top four contender on the road. All in all, let’s take it as it comes and see where we are come May.

Given our season to date and current position, what would you take as acceptable if you could bank it now? 6th place and the Europa league? Or is a top four finish still the only acceptable end point for this season?

COYS

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