Levy and his mid-term revolution- So far so good

By Gary Beaumont
June 16 2004

Would you say being optimistic immediately constitutes being blindly optimistic? Would you say being positive automatically means being over-confidant & perhaps unrealistic? Just how do you gauge optimism?

These are all very valid questions and are particularly relevant when referring to Tottenham fans.

The fact we have had a very successful history, yet an unsuccessful recent history causes awesome fluctuations in regard to expectations and quite often morale.
As soon as there is chance to make light out of any situation (especially considering we are perennial underachievers) many appear far too over-zealous and this is often our undoing- just like on Sunday when the English fans were heard singing “Are you Scotland in disguise!”

The constant seesawing of emotions does not really endear us to sections outside of Tottenham Hotspur world- mainly rival fans & sections of the media and as soon as the club’s form takes a nosedive we immediately become paranoid and fear the worst; this is probably why we are often referred to as “fickle”…

…And who can blame us?

It’s a tag we need to shake off, as it far too many fans are jumping onto the “anti-Spurs” bandwagon, looking for any opportunity to put us down.

Maybe last season was a turning point, our failure was compounded by the realisation that we were finally no longer regarded as one of the top teams- certainly footballing wise. A radical shake up WAS required, and the club finally understood the need to start from scratch, this was the only way for us to progress.

Changes to the playing staff, to the coaching staff, to the medical staff…even to the backroom staff have already occurred, but we all know that this revolution shouldn’t cease there.

The “realists” may argue that this vibrant optimism is not warranted, yet. However make no mistake these recent changes are changing this club and are hopefully re-laying the foundations for success. It would also be unfair to suggest that these changes from Levy are only a tactic from the board to “mask” & appease their wrong doing in the past.
It would also be easy for me to pick up on silly errors Levy HAS made in the past, I could quite easily dwell on these and I could even justify why he did make some of those decisions. But it’s easy to look back and criticise certain aspects especially in hindsight. Like the last 12 seasons we should forget about these, learn from them, but not allow these to cloud our judgement or interfere with our progress.

The job isn’t done yet, we need MASS strengthening and I am not expecting too much this season…but this pragmatist understands what is required more than most….






….oh yeah, whilst I am here I wont say whom Levy should bring-in (well maybe one name, which I mention later) and I wont give my opinion on the senior appointments recently made- whilst I would have personally selected differently- I still believe Levy has picked very wisely indeed.

However I WILL say something about Paul Robinson- He is quality, mark my words. With Ledley & A.N Other ahead of him we should finally say goodbye to our defensive worries- the words corner & free kick will never-again strike the same fear into us as supporters as it has previously done.


Hats off to Levy and to the work he has done so far.

P.S Message to Levy: Please bring us Sneijder.
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