Do you remember the fan I wrote about in the Fulham report?, who asked me for an uplifting report?
Well, he has written to me, and kindly allowed me to publish his article here. After all, everyone should have a "right to reply", so many thanks to Mark Butcher for his comments, and permission to publish:-
Hello Paul,
I am the unnamed fan who requested an 'uplifting report'. Here are my (sometimes uplifting) thoughts.
At a critical time in the club's history, I feel that true Spurs fans need to get behind Martin Jol and the players. Is it any coincidence the team's form has slumped since the unsettling, behind the scenes machinations at the club? At half-time against Everton, the funereal atmosphere from the fans did not inspire a second half comeback whereas the rousing support at home to Sevilla last season stirred us all and nearly produced a miracle. We have to fish for the positives and move away from the fickle stereotype of the Spurs fan that has seen managers arrive and depart with the frequency of Big Brother contestants.
We have finished a creditable fifth in two consecutive seasons - playing 38 games and not 5 - and only at the end of the campaign can we truly assess what has gone wrong or right. Have we quickly forgotten the dire relegation struggles with Gross and 'caretaker' Pleat?
Clearly, the fan behind who was bemoaning Jol's substitutions had a point, but after an initial, frustrated grumble about the inevitably of it all there is no point repeating the same negative rant on a loop and making people feel worse than they already are. I know this as I used to be that sort of fan and rightly had my ear chewed off on a couple of occasions. In thick or thin, get behind the team or spend your Saturdays or Sundays trawling through Homebase with your wife, girlfriend, partner or whoever needs paint.
Spurs lack a snapper in midfield who can close these games down and preserve a lead. This sort of player can be an eyesore, but without one the balance is wrong and someone like Huddlestone lacks the mobility and drive to suit this sort of role. Is the lack of this key ingredient because Comolli is choosing skill players more suited to Ligue 1 in France than the trenches of the Premiership? Possibly.
Clearly, Jol was wrong to take off the hardworking Keane who had linked our forward play so effectively and weaken the midfield by replacing Malbranque with a defender in Dawson when 'Comolli's man' Zokora would have been a more suitable substitution or even Taarabt who might have provided that spark for a game-killing fourth goal. We do not possess good enough defenders or a solid enough goalkeeper to preserve leads. But sometimes substitutions work (see Taarabt at West Ham last season) and sometimes they fail miserably. This is football.
I would prefer to concentrate on the mature excellence of Gareth Bale who has been a revelation in his first two games and is the genuine left winger we have all been crying out for. Let's hope that we beat Arsenal in true Tottenham style on September 15th and Saturday can be put aside as just one of those days. Football is not one game, but an odyssey after all.
Yours sincerely,
Mark Butcher
Ed: I liked the last line! Mark has now joined the Spurs Odyssey message board. Would you like to join in? Send me an e-mail for details, confirming your love for Spurs.
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