It’s not all bad

After getting a few things off my chest yesterday, I wanted to breathe some positive vibes onto the front page of the blog.

The good news is that, despite the incohesive fan-base, the lack of strategic vision from the top of our club, and significant issues within our first team coaching staff, there are reasons to be cheerful.

On Friday night I watched an Under-21 side comprehensively beat Arsenal. Some of those involved were playing well above their age level, and the performance was encouraging (and, in truth, it could have been 4-0).

Then, on Saturday morning, I saw our Under-18s put in a controlled performance away at Liverpool to record a 1-0 victory. This group of Under-18 players (including Onomah, Miller, Oduwa, Ogilvie and Winks, none of whom played in this match) are without doubt the best I’ve seen over the past decade. And supposedly we have more hot prospects ready to step up next season too.

The first team squad has been a bit of a shambles at times this season, but some intelligent player recruitment and an experienced managerial appointment could quickly turn things around. Contrary to the belief of some, we do have plenty of talent at our disposal, and the new signings will no doubt find their second season far easier.

And, of course, we have 1882. Another brilliant night on Friday showed why 1882 is the envy of other clubs. This season, 1882 has been a beacon of light and the 1882 matches have been by far my most enjoyable experiences of being a fan.


Join the conversation

  1. That looks great.... Until upper managment get a plan together that they are willing to stick to. Until the fans show some patience and accept we are going to need to go backward before we go forward, only then do I see THFC buliding the world class stadium and putting a team on the pitch that deserves to grace it. We desperatly need a quality manager, Sherwood is not the answer , his team selection yesterday said a lot about him, having said that we will get no were, without giving a manager time.
    1. Yeah, I pretty much agree. Out of interest, what team would you have picked yesterday, bearing in mind Sandro declared himself unfit to start, and Dembele had been so unfit the previous week?
  2. what is the point of a club with no vision, no guts and no-class, with supporters who also lack vision, patience and general football sense (if you don't believe me just consider how easily led by the nose the majority of them are by the sun, talksport etc who told them that AVB was no good and that sherwood is the new messiah in the form of a full english ) having successful under 18s and 21s? Pointless I would say! We should give all our promising youngsters away to clubs that will support and nurture them.
  3. I would say with the youngsters winning this week and having relatively successful seasons in general, this reflects Sherwood's work and strengths in his previous role, more than it does his ability as a manager now. School boy appointment by Levy, but that's old news!
  4. Great to hear about the under 18's and 21's. With the damp squib that the season has become it's made me think more about them. I hear a lot that English youth is stuck in the championship and we should ban foreign imports, that doesn't magically make English talent premiership quality, just makes the premiership championship quality. Youth football needs more competition, more exposure, screw the league cup, make it 24 and under so teams have to develop the kids they trawl in academies, keep the rewards for winning it as is and clubs will play it, fans will pay for it, quality will raise because of it, or something else, something that get's youth football to a level that can generate a second income through success and sponsorship for clubs beyond the train one hundred kids for three years, sack off 99 and sell one for enough to pay for another hundred scheme Women's football suffers the same, it's not watched much because it's not shown much because it's not watched much and so on, there's not much kudos to be gained by partaking or supporting the events, not much point in sponsoring and we're missing out because of it, if the clubs thought it was exploitable revenue it would change and the quality would rise because we would be more selective, and they would be more driven. So as a fan, who wants to see Spurs do well, and well in the future, and see the game standard raised all I can do is show my interest. So with that in mind... To the football bosses of the various levels: I want to see more youth match reports, more youth player profiles, more tactical analysis and what it may mean for the first team, more youth player highlights and interviews on youtube I'll happily watch them on the other side of whatever adverts they can get revenue from. More websites like Windy's, not just Spurs ones but our competitors, I want to see more reason to want my team to win, the nextgen series was genius, we need more like this. While this is a football in general problem, Spurs should lead the way, we have a stadium to build and we can't sell Gareth Bale every year.
  5. Windy, I tweeted you this last night but I notice you've given twitter a rest for now (can't blame you). Now that this season is pretty much washed out, do you see a benefit in saying to the youngsters give it a go in the first team for remaining games? 5-6 well placed youngsters among some trusted 1st teamers to get some feel of playing in the 1st team in the premiership. Hopefully then, that hunger for more in the coming seasons will push them on in their development. We might even unearth a gem or two.
  6. Windy thanks for the blog. I have a question. Was Spurs NextGen series success down to Sherwood's management as Technical Coordinator or was it due to another member of the Spurs Academy staff such as John Mc Dermott or Inglethorpe? Honestly what do you think. You mention "significant issues" within the coaching staff now. I am just wondering on what success Sherwood was promoted to First Team Manager having no previous experience of management.


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