Eyes down as
we blow another one.
In my
previous article, I said that I was an
“optimist”. That optimism is being pushed
to the limits. Granted, the season has only just begun, and we’ve played our 5th
game, but that also applies to Liverpool, Chelsea and City, and apart from City
(who drew one match) the other two have got 100% records.
We are sixth
in the league, on the same points as United and Arsenal. They must be feeling
chirpy. We are six points behind the top two title challenging teams. It isn’t
good enough… The first three matches gave us high hopes, more so when we
thrashed United 3-0. Then a big nose dive into a quagmire that I had talked about in my previous article.
The way we played on Saturday and against Watford we will struggle to get
into the top four, never mind title aspirations. Maybe we should take the
League Cup seriously as that might be our only hope of getting some silverware
this season.
I am near the Tottenham bench, and you could see the frustration all
around, including from the fans. We started off poorly and struggled to gain
control, then briefly we got back into it, but then we dropped back and allowed
Liverpool to show why they are title contenders. They wanted it more than us.
Pochettino said after the match "I am not disappointed…” he then
continued with “ the game showed how competitive the Premier League is and we
played a really good team who started very well.” No, they/ we played a team
that wanted it more than us. Of course, it is competitive, that is the nature
of the beast. That is why we should have upped our game… we seemed to have just
sat around and thought “competitive, is that us?” and the answer came back in a
non-positive manner, so we just sat back.
So far we’ve been beaten by one of the top challengers (Liverpool),
Watford, as I predicted, have fallen away (but still higher up the table than
us). We’ve beaten United, and now we must dig deep to take on and challenge
City, Chelsea and Liverpool, and not forgetting those other ones that make up
the numbers; such as West Ham, Bournemouth, Huddersfield, Brighton and the rest
who are dying to give us a good kicking.
Maybe their minds had already made the journey to Inter Milan and left the
bodies to do the job on Saturday. They might have considered Liverpool a done
deal or not as important as the Champions League and thought that they could
always recorrect if there was a blip (i.e. make up the points). Who knows what
they are thinking? Another loss on Tuesday and some serious thinking will need
to be done by the management team. Crap happens, but we mustn’t make it a
career choice. Every year, so near, but so bloody far.
A new 62,000 seater stadium isn’t a stadium for Europa league football or
even mid-table hanging around. We’ve seriously got some issues. We must ask
ourselves, what are our objectives? A club that slides downwards won’t fill
stadiums, no matter how grand that stadium is. A combination of a top-four spot
and trophies will bring in the money that will secure our future and pay off
our debt (that is the debt of our stadium).
After five matches their report card reads; must try harder, engage brain
at the same time as the body turns up to play. As for the manager, substitutions
and getting it right can make a big difference. Shit happens, but continue shit
happening is diarrhoea, and that means flies hovering. Top managers have been
sacked for a lot less.
Don Scully
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