are we being unfair ?.

[JohnLaceysDiscopants]

this time last season we qualified for champions league and it was absolutely a fantastic achievement roll on a year and we are out of top 4 and to all intents and purposes its 6th place for us however is this a direct result of harrys inept managing or a set of circumstances beyond his control aka not being able to play his 1st choice centre halfs all season playing sat wed sat week in week out a good chunk of 1st team players missing large parts of the season with all sorts of injuries and a fair slice of bad luck on numerous occassions in prem games this season. ok its a total disappointment but should we not remember how bad it was before harry got here and maybe give him a chance to get the good ship spurs back on track next season . i know i;ve given out here bout harry and the team but now that i;ve thought about it maybe its just one of those learning curves we needed to happen in order to come back stronger and better what do you guys think ?

[aspursfan]

I think we're a bit disappointed, but you're right. I honestly didn't think we would qualify for the Champions League until it actually happened last season. It does seem unfair to think that top 4 is now the standard or all is lost. I've said this before, but I'm sure we've all tolerated plenty of years as disappointed Spurs fans to look at what has happened over the past two seasons or so and find something to be optimistic about. We could have done better, but it just didn't happen this season. I think we only need minor changes such as a couple of players in and a handful out, not major ones such as a new manager.

[Guitar Dad]

To expect us to be in UCL year after year was plain wrong, especially after Man City's cash outlay. Next year, assuming we improve, it will be more competitive with Liverpool now back in form. The simple fact is that we didn't score enough goals this year. We had way too many draws. Another 5-10 goals over the course of the season and we would have been fine. But, Defoe was injured, Bale was injured, and we still can't figure out where and how to play VdV. 'Arry is right when he says we're a few players away. We need strikers that score, a goalkeeper that doesn't foul in the box, and a right back. Even that may not be enough for 4th next year!

[COYSacrossthepond]

I think expectations were set a little high, but darn it all, WHY NOT! we have a talented enough squad; we may not equal the Man U's and Barca's of the world, but we're certainly as talented as Man City and Liverpool, and younger to boot. While we certainly could get better and deeper, there's not a huge talent gap between us and the best teams in Europe; we need "a few players" to be challenging as a top Euro side. So, as much as it is a little unfair that we're "expecting" champs league football year in year out... I think that it's in some ways a good thing. We have a team that's good enough to make that happen; we should expect to challenge for it, and to be perfectly honest, we had it all to lose in January; then we went out and lost it. And, as you said in your original post JohnLaceys, that's down to Harry's bungling management.

[Spurs218]

I just keep looking back and thinking about "what might had been". We needed to take a risk and gamble and we failed.

[aspursfan]

I just keep looking back and thinking about "what might had been". We needed to take a risk and gamble and we failed.

There were so many what might have beens this season that we had absolutely no control over and that went against us. I know it doesn't excuse our results, but I feel like we've had some really bad luck this season.

[Spurs218]

Yea we've had some bad luck but we've also has some good luck which has won is at least four points.

At the end of the day, in a 38 game season we can't be blaming luck.

[Holtspur]

To keep saying look what it was like before 'Appy 'Arry was 'ere is nonsense. We were in a mess because of the Spaniard Ramos. Before him we got 5th twice in the short tenure of Martin Jol FACT. (and what are we looking at now?)
Whether we should expect CL football? Why not? We are supposed to have one of the top squads in the country - so something is very wrong. Things were looking good in January. Then we had the Blackpool "blip" (according to 'Arry), then Wolves, then Wigan then West Ham then West Brom it goes on and on. Chaps that is NOT a blip. Chelsea had a blip and fell behind us, but they came back and look at them now!
We cant keep on about "just missing out" and having "bad luck". A manager is measured on results, not activity. 9 points from the last 10 games equates to 34 points in a season - thats not a relegation battle, thats surefire relegation! Things have to change and fast.
I have been looking at other sites and the number of postings that are repeating the sentiment is immense and 'Appy 'Arry must now start to feel to pressure. So no, its not being unfair. The club should be producing far better results and having been in a brill position to actually qualify and probably hit 3rd (as per where we were in January with weak teams coming up fast and thick - see our own posts here!) 'Arry just simply blew it - he's in charge - he has all the tools to do it - if he got us back into the CL he would be a hero - but he didn't and the buck stops with him.
Furthermore, I believe there to be some serious dressing room isuues and that maybe he has lost the faith of the players - his treatment of certain players is a disgrace - Lennon/Kranjcar and even Bentley - plus publicly humiliating Darren Bent and these are just want we know about.
It all adds up, so no, fans are not being unfair

[Holtspur]

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[Colspur66]

Its quite easy to see where we blew it this season. 5 points out of 24 against Blackpool, Wigan, West Ham and West brom. We should be looking to take 18/19 points from these games.

I wrote off our chances of top 4 when we couldn't beat Blackpool on saturday. That was worse than losing last night. After City lost to Everton we had a real chance again but after the draw on saturday even if we had beaten City last night it wouldn't have been enough.

Prefering now to look at the few positives of last night. I though Danny Rose was fantastic. He keep going all game and also provided a threat going forward. Playing out of position I thought he was superb. I'm even prepared to overlook the moment of naivety when he failed to react quick enough and was caught our by the short corner for the goal.

I thought Lennon did well so did Sandro, he is looking better every game. Have to give a lot of praise to William Gallas. I wasn't really in favor of his signing but I think he has fully justified his place in the team and has shown real commitment to our cause and I'm sure his experience is a help to some of our younger players. You could see he was struggliing with injury last night and playing in pain but he kept going and his goal line clearance was brilliant.

I hope we can put up a fight at Anfield on Sunday and then end the season with a home win. Looking forward to a nice break from football for a couple of months.