A bit of White and Blue for the Dads (Tottenham Hotspur F.C.)

Name: matt1979

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Product:	Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Date:	20/07/04 (673 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great Team , Great Support, Great Potential

Disadvantages: Poor of Late

I feel I should apologise to those of you who don’t like football but hey – I just read a massive review on a graphics card that bored the pants off me so I feel I can get away with this.

I’ve always thought it a bit odd to write a consumer review on a football team, I’m thinking not too many of you are in the market for a premier league outfit and that anyone with a spare 100 million is going to be shopping in slightly different circles to the commoners. However, having been inspired by a recent review by Mr ‘Thespurs’ and a current revolution down at the lane (Tottenham’s stadium) I decided that there is a consumer perspective that warrants a review. After all, I scrape the barrel all year to raise the £700 for my season ticket so I would like to provide my justification for doing so and to perhaps help persuade the more open minded that the promise that Spurs are showing for the next football season would be a good reason to spend your £30 (£16 Junior, £25 Senior citizen) to go and see Tottenham Hotspur Football Club play a game of football, or even £700 to watch a whole season.

What you get for your money

I don’t think the casual supporter should go for a season ticket and instead go along to a few games just to see what its like. An average match day ticket is £30 this season and it is will worth buying one if only to sample the exciting atmosphere of a premiership game, to share the enthusiasm of 35,000 fans and to watch quality players at the peak of their game. However I really do believe that to truly appreciate the experience of being a Tottenham supporter you need to buy a season ticket. For the less enlightened I should explain a season ticket is a ticket that effectively buys you a seat in the stadium for all the teams home league games for a season (and 2 of the cup matches). The prices you are looking at range from £525 for the cheapest up to £1300 for the best seats, I feel t
hough that you can get a good seat for £680 (that’s how much mine costs). Not only do you get a season ticket for this but you also get all the additional extras that really give you the warm glow that accompanies being a fully fledged Spurs supporter. These include:

- A guaranteed seat in all of the 19 Home premiership games and 2 cup matches of your choice (in the first 2 rounds of either competition)

- Being a member of the club with access to ‘special ‘ areas of the website and more information about he team

- Pre and Post match hospitality

- Priority in getting tickets for the big cup games (a rarity of late but could be vital in the near future)

- You get to see all the youth, reserve and away matches (on a screen) for free

What its like to be a Spurs fan

I’m going to make an assumption here, if you have read this far you probably have an interest in football and therefore know that Tottenham haven’t had the best of times of late so I’ll to try and explain why we’ve been moaning about the team all this time and more importantly why this is going to change. Being a Spurs fan over the last 20 years has to be honest, a pane in the arse. Spurs fans are often chastised for complaining all the time about the team but I feel it is justified. Traditionally Spurs have been an exciting team to watch, always providing excellent entertainment and challenging for honours. This was (usually) the case all the way up to 1991 and was what first attracted me to the team, apart from their relative close proximity I used to love the excitement and feeling the team generated. I have fond memories of Gary Linekar, Paul Gascoigne and Gary Mabbot winning us the 1991 FA cup, good times. Since then however Tottenham have done nothing. People may say we are fortunate not to have been relegated and we achieve often respectable league positions so why the complaints? I would argue it
may have been nice to have been relegated at one point because to be honest Tottenham have been by far (bar Sheffield Wednesday) the worst team to support from a viewers perspective, at least Leeds and Manchester City have had a bit of fun, the highs of European football, the excitement of a relegation dogfight and the galvanising spirit and passion of a team striving to push for re-promotion. Spurs have had none of this, they’ve just been good enough to avoid a dogfight but not good enough to push for Europe or a cup (bar once). Its mid –table, season over by Christmas disappointment every time. Season after season there have always been the hopes of a new, brighter era but every time, bar a lame Worthington Cup win its just been frustrating. Its been going on for so long that it now seems there is no longer any heart in the club, the players just don’t seem to want to win for the team. Our best player, whom I believed to have the spirit and passion to lead Spurs to glory, a Mr Sol Campbell, strung the fans along pretending he would sign a new contract and left on a free transfer. No one would blame a young man with ambition wanting to move onto a bigger club and the fans would still love him if he were a £15 million Manchester United player but for him to go to bitter rivals Arsenal, on a free, leaving Spurs in the pan just to earn even more silly money for himself I think ripped the soul from the club and has been indicative of past and previous Spurs failures. So Yes, I feel I can moan about the club as much as I want.

That would be the downside then, not a particularly convincing argument to go and buy a ticket but I shall now and justify why Spurs do have a bright future and why next season will not be another false dawn.

The Non – Playing staff

The main reason for my hope for change is based around the change of non – playing staff. Finally Mr Alan ‘look – you can see the clubs doing well be
cause we’re not losing money’ Sugar is gone to be replaced by Daniel Levy and ENIC. At first I was slightly dubious as they have dealings in a number of other teams but they do seem to be investing. I have no Idea what it means to underwrite £15 million worth of shares but if it buys us Defoe, Davis, Robinson and Mendes with a few million to spare I’m not going to complain.
Further to the new chairman there has also been a new coaching staff brought into the lane. Into replace the whinging David Pleat and Glen Hoddle have come Frank Arneson and Jaques Santini. Arneson would appear to be an excellent signing as Director of football, anyone who managed to discover Ronaldo and Ruud Van Nistleroy must be doing something right and there seems no reason why he cant bring this touch to the already promising Tottenham youth setup. He also has excellent knowledge of players and a number of good connections (Ronaldo sees him as a father figure) so hopefully he will be helping us make some excellent signings in the near future. Santini’s appointment as coach may be a little less inspiring but there is reason to be hopeful all the same. Santini managed to win the French title, with Rennes, in a league dominated by larger teams and he did win all the Euro 2004 qualifiing games with France. Although it was against smaller sides he still got the team playing well together and did it in style with what is an ageing side.


The players


The reason for most of my enthusiasm comes from the potential of the players. For years now there has been loads of untapped ability in the side crying out for a good manager to bring it out.

Goalkeepers


Kasey Keller has become a regular in the team over the last couple of seasons and no one can have any serious complaints about him, he is an excellent shop stopper and commands good control of his box. In the past though he has suffered all too regular lapses in form that
often coincided with the teams’ loss of form as a whole. Keller has not been able to inspire a shaky Spurs defence of late and as has been seen in the past, with Manchester United building a title winning team around Schmeichal and Arsenal emerging to greatness with Seaman, a top premiership team needs a world class goalkeeper to get them there. I do now believe that we have that goalkeeper in Paul Robinson. 1.5 million is a ridiculous price for the best young goalkeeper in England and one of the best in Europe. Considering Buffon cost over 30 million its clear people can appreciate the value of a good goalkeeper and Paul Robinson I believe will be a figurehead in Tottenham’s future successes.

Defence


Tottenhams defence managed to go from being its greatest asset to its weakest link in just a few months last season, the only encouragement being they are young and inexperienced and were at least able to show the potential in the first place. I feel that Ledley King and Anthony Garderner could become the strongest central defensive partnership in the league over the next 2 seasons, King has consistently shown great form for England and with new midfield arrivals he should no longer be needed out of position. Dean Richards also provides quality back up while have the more experienced Captain Stephen Carr, currently the best right back in the premiership to aid them, a more stable line up should pay dividends for the defence. The only area they struggle in is on the left, with Ziege leaving and Tarricco being erratic they need a good experienced left back. I’m sure we will sign someone and we have been linked with a number of players, including the excellent Bixente Lizarazu and I think this position may well become key to Spurs success next season.

Midfield

The Tottenham Midfield struggled for much of last season, with our mix of young and injured players every other team just seemed to walk over us. The additi
on of Michael Brown over Christmas helped galvanise the midfield a little but with Redknapp and Anderton always injured, Dalmat being erratic, King playing out of position and Johnny Jackson showing some promise but looking a little inexperienced new midfielders were always going to be the first target for Santini and Arneson. The addition of Sean Davis to the team was an excellent one, I have no doubts that he will help fill the position of the battling midfielder as he was the catalyst for much of Fulhams success last season. The signing of Mendes will also further help to strengthen the team with his European experience. I feel that the team may need an extra one or two more midfielders and it was disappointing not signing Davids but a line up of Jackson, Redknapp, Davies and Davis would be enough to scare any opposing team.

Forwards

Tottenhams strike force however is the reason for most of my enthusiasm because a genuinely feel that we have one of the best attacking line ups in the league. To have 3 top class goal scorers in Robbie Keane, Freddie Kanoute and Jermaine Defoe is a big bonus because, as it has started to show these players are competing for positions which motivates them. Defoe was another steal at just 7 million, he should have gone for double that and I am sure he can go on to become one of the best in the league. Why he didn’t go to Euro 2004 will remain a mystery and all as he is a special player, something widely acknowledged by many people in the game. Playing alongside the stronger and more experienced Keane or Kanoute will provide him with an excellent foil for him to be one of the top scorers in the league next season.

My only slight worry at the time of writing is that Spurs may lack a bit of strength in depth. I will always support a policy of signing good new young players and I have little doubt that Defendi, Leigh Mills and Martin Fulop will be good additions to an already promising youth set up but the
se players are not ready to step into what is an injury prone Spurs side (I have little confidence in our new team doctor – I think its something in the water). If Tottenham are to succeed they well need an extra left sided player along with some quality back up but they do have the cash available and I now have renewed faith in the backroom staff with Santini announcing there will be 4 or 5 new signings before the start of the season.

I am convinced that a season ticket for Tottenham Hotspur may be an extremely big outlay, but it is easily worth it to watch good football and just to feel part of a team that’s time is soon to come.

My Spurs side for the European push next season:


1. Robinson 2. Carr 3. King 4.Gardner 5. Tarrico 6. Simon Davies 7. Sean Davis 8. Redknapp 9. Jackson 10. Defoe 11. Keane


Information

Prices:
Matchday tickets: £30 adults, £16 Junior, £25 Senior citizen

Seaon tickets: £525 - £1300

All the ticket information and forth coming fixtures for Tottenham are displayed on its website at www.spurs.co.uk

Ticket Information: Tel :0870 420 5000 Fax 0870 420 5001

Tottenhams stadium is called White Hart Lane and is situated in north London.

To get there by tube you should get off at Severn sisters tube station (victoria line and catch the train to White Hart Lane (special services on match day) then just follow the crowd.

To get there by car you take A406 North Circular Road to Edmonton and at Fore Street traffic lights follow signs for Tottenham (A1010, High Road) and for White Hart Lane Stadium.

The season restarts at 12.45am on saturday the 14th of August with Tottenham playing Liverpool at home.

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