Some will argue that our rise begun before Harry Redknapp entered the picture on October 26th 2008.
But Redknapp was the manager that dragged us from obscurity and languishing at the bottom of the Barclays (at the time) Premier League table, to finishing 8th with a run to the League Cup final in only seven months.
From what could have been a potential banana skin for any new manager to take on, Redknapp arrived and soothed fan and player worries by installing a brand of football that is synonymous with Tottenham.
With this electrifying brand of football pulsing through our second season under Harry and a renewed mentality, we… well, we made Tottenham history by securing a seat at the table of the elite courtesy of a Peter Crouch header.
The first manager in our history to bring us to the paragon of European football, the Champions League.
No one knew what was going to happen, but what a performance it was… we showed everyone what Tottenham from White Hart Lane could achieve, and demonstrated what a team free of inhibition could accomplish – a run to the quarter finals full of zest and arrogance that a novice shouldn’t possess.
We left Inter Milan and AC Milan as casualties (it’s funny how their fall from grace coincided with us humiliating them).
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The Real Madrid knock-out in the quarter finals left the fans and the team wanting more, and fed this delirious desire to improve, now.
And at the end of the 2011/12 season we secured Champions League football once more. Christmas came early, but instead of presents we were left with a lump of coal and the glistening gift of Champions League football was stolen from us on a technicality by our rivals, Chelsea.
At this point, Harry had lost the team and his head had turned towards the dream of managing the English national team.
Levy knew Redknapp wasn’t the man to push Spurs forward and showed it by letting him go at the end of the season.
THE NEW DAWN OF ANDRE VILLAS-BOAS
With Harry Redknapp focusing on his golf and leaning out of a car window, Levy moved quickly to appoint a new manager before the start of the season.
Enter, Andre Villas-Boas.
After a successful stint with FC Porto, Chelsea brought AVB to the Premier League and shipped him out 9 months later (The BBC).
It was a gamble that Levy thought was worth the risk…
In AVB’s first season we witnessed subtle growth, the real Gareth Bale and a 5th place finish with a then-record points total.
For all the good work in his first season, the following season AVB’s star player, Bale was ripped from the squad and a gaping hole was patched over by 7 players that the majority couldn’t keep together.
A time of settling was surely to follow…
However, with Spurs trailing the top four and heavy defeats to Manchester City and Liverpool, AVB was given his marching orders after a meeting with Levy in December. (The BBC)
In came Tim Sherwood to steady the ship…
Thank god for Pochettino.
BEFORE POCHETTINO, LET’S TALK DANIEL LEVY
Where we are today can be attributed to many things, Mauricio Pochettino being one of them.
But as so many would love to deny this existential fact, without Daniel Levy’s blood, sweat and bald head we wouldn’t be in this position.
If not for Levy, we would still be a mediocre team with no state-of-the-art training facilities or stadium, and only a hope of being one of European football’s elite.
Now, Levy and Enic have their faults, but would you rather be the team they took over 20 years ago? Or the European giant that has the pull to sign some of the most promising young talent Europe has to offer?
Before you argue. Yes, Levy has managed to annoy many of us (including myself) since the Enic take over, but with hard graft and lack of sleep he has dragged us through mediocrity, frustration, failed stadium moves and riots.
And now, we are an established worldwide football club that has no need for a sugar daddy, because thanks to his dedication to our beautiful club, we are self-sustainable.
As well as the £30 million per year kit deal with Nike, a £35 million a year shirt sponsorship with AIA and a 10-year partnership agreement that will see the NFL host a minimum of two games a year at our new home. (NFL)
Levy has built a stadium that is providing revenues of £800k per match for our vast dining options… on average we host around 19 home games a season, that’s an additional £17.6 million a year. (The Sun)
Our new stadium has promoted us from the waiters of the elite, to us pulling up a chair, weathering the glowering looks of disapproval and putting our shiny new shoes up on the table.
We’ve shattered the “money means everything” fable surrounding the big boy’s table by succeeding within our means, of which, many teams are now trying to replicate.
For all the gibberish the media and pundits have provided over the years:
“Tottenham won’t be able to keep their best players, Tottenham can’t afford the wages, Tottenham won’t be able to attract the best players, they haven’t won anything”
Okay, the last one is true for now. But the rest, they’ve certainly changed the playlist to:
“Spurs are looking to sell, Spurs are offering improved contracts to, Spurs are moving for (enter some of Europe’s top talent here)”
Levy has made this club into the envy of our rivals and they will deny that through gritted teeth.
The elite may have the money to buy the greatest players and provide wages that border the ridiculous. But for every money driven, hollow cup triumph they muster, would you trade the moment we lift our first trophy under Pochettino with the circumstances surrounding our rise? I wouldn’t.
Our patience will be rewarded, and when it is… it will be beyond anything money could have bought.
And Levy will have played a large part in that success.
THE MESSIAH, MAURICIO POCHETTINO
To sum up Pochettino’s affect on the team would be ludicrous.
Instead, I’ll tell you how the man has made myself and I’m sure many others, feel.
I remember the late 90’s and early 00’s too well. The pain of mediocrity and not knowing where our final position would be or whether this year was the year we would go down.
I remember being slightly embarrassed when I would have to answer the question “who do you support?”
It would always be the same answer no matter how many Arsenal, Manchester United or Liverpool fans laughed.
Tottenham are my team, I may not have been proud of them, but by god I loved them. So I weathered the laughs and jeers and the “come to the right side of London”… I won’t lie, the silverware being picked up by United was enticing. But I stayed loyal.
Things did get better, first Jol picked us up and made us believe things could be better.
Then we were back to the bottom of the table with jeers of “you’re back where you belong”.
Then Redknapp changed everything and this is when the mindset of the club and the fans changed. We wanted it all.
We grew delirious and illogical when screaming for investment for any player the media linked us to.
Some, even grew entitled and turned on Enic and Levy for “what they are doing” to their club. Their fantasy driven fanaticism’s attracted the delusional and gave them a voice.
Then came Pochettino.
He implanted a mentality within our team that spread throughout the club and leaked into the very fabric of the fan base.
A fragile mindset in the stands grew conscious of what was happening and absorbed talks of winning titles and the Champions League with an invigorating gusto.
And those very fans shouting “Enic out” reduced in numbers as they bought into the promises of Pochettino.
There are still those that would love to see Enic out, just to say “I told you so”, but there are far fewer than there were before.
Poch has not only changed the mindset of the team, the club and fan base, but he has also changed the view of Tottenham in the media, of rivals, the elite and of new signings.
We can walk into negotiations with some of the top talent in Europe and sign them because of what this man has helped build on the field.
THE FUTURE:
VIVA LA POCH!
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