Annus Horribilis

Audere est facere? Annus horribilis is what should be slapped on everything in the Spurs shop right now.

Two big derby wins against West Ham and Chelsea should have been another springboard to have a successful season.

Sigh.

Under the bright lights of a midweek FA Cup game at Bramall Lane - attended by 5,000 Spurs fans for our biggest game of the season - the management and players served up a car crash against a promotion chasing Championship team who started their own fringe players.

There can be no excuses for not taking this game seriously considering we haven’t won a trophy for what will be 16 years next February.

If injuries and fatigue were a reason, then many Spurs fans would have preferred to have won this game to set up a home quarter final tie against Blackburn Rovers.

It would have been a golden opportunity to get to a Semi-Final at Wembley.

Of course, we would eventually run into one of the Manchester clubs. But at least we would have had something to look forward to in the business end of the season.

The Sheffield United game was simply thrown. Again, a mixture of arrogantly looking past our opponents, and looking towards financially bigger games against Wolves and Milan.

Despite a spirited 45 minutes against Wolves we again failed to score, hitting the crossbar twice. Then, from the 55th minute onwards it was clear that Spurs had run out of ideas.

To his credit Julian Lopetegui introduced five substitutes that changed the game before Spurs inexplicably realised the game was going away from them.

Then the inevitable happened. Adama Traore – once linked with Spurs – scored in the 82nd minute to condemn us to our 9th Premier League defeat.

Despite the apathy, we still followed the club on social media with keen interest. Perhaps it would be better for our sanity if we just deleted Elon’s app.

I hoped that those big words and statements would spur us into a special performance in that all-white kit for yet another big European night at what we call White Hart Lane.

After all, the boss was back from his forced medical hiatus. Apparently, re-galvanised for being close to his family after an ‘annus horribilis’ of his own.

60,000 people parted with well-earned money with the expectation that Spurs would overturn the deficit against what was a beatable Milan side.

What we got served up was yet another drab 90 minutes where the management failed to recognise that we were 1-0 down from the first leg instead of 1-0 up.

Harry Kane’s headed effort in the dying minutes of the game was our only real chance. As a result, we limped out of another competition without a fight. A penny for his thoughts.

However, this game will be remembered for Antonio Conte’s bizarre decision to take off Dejan Kulusevski for Davinson Sanchez rather than an another attacking player.

Regardless of Christian Romero’s stupid red card and the thought process behind the substitution, it felt like Spurs threw the towel in.

There was no ‘to dare is to do’ or that ‘echoes of glory’ mentality that the club like to eulogise about. It felt like the management and players had just surrendered under the weight of a physically and mentally exhausting season.

Then came the aftermath.

The players were booed off the pitch much akin to the dying moments of Nuno Espirito Santo’s reign.

Conte would then exacerbate the frustrations by going back to his trusted method of telling the media that his squad are not sufficient to compete with bigger clubs.

To be fair to the manager, this kind of capitulation (except for the miracle of Amsterdam) has been the modern history of Tottenham Hotspur.

It should also be said that I have appreciated Conte putting pressure on ENIC to do more to fix the plethora of issues that weigh down the footballing side of the club.

However, it is obvious to anyone with eyes that this manager’s criticisms have weighed heavily on these players. Especially when Conte continues to trust in a system that is unworkable for the squad he does have.

Richarlison’s post-match outburst to Brazilian TV seems to indicate that the player’s patience with him is also thin.

However, his thoughts should have stayed in the locker room rather than being expressed in the heat of the moment after another woeful defeat.

Instead, his quotes have been purposely lost in translation and used out of context by some in the press and online to be used as click bait.

Nonetheless, it feels like the end is near for Conte. After all, it is plainly obvious now that he wants to leave.

Regardless of his contract expiring in June, it is no good for any party for this impasse to continue.

Particularly for supporters who continue to attend matches in large numbers just to watch a style that is now unwatchable. To do so will only continue the apathy.

Now, this is not just Conte’s fault because there are several players in that squad who are well past their sell by date.

I have no doubt that the ones who are leaking stories to the media about being unhappy with training and working 13 hour days are still the same poor little lambs that saw off Pochettino, Mourinho and Nuno.

I don’t want to rant but when I read those articles it should come with a small violin playing in the background.

After all, I’m sure the fanbase that has watched consistent awful performances from the same suspects have worked more than 40 plus hours every week to fund supporting the club they love.

I digress….

With Fabio Paratici’s future also in question, what happens next is ultimately on the board and Daniel Levy.

With any hope he is now back from the Bahrain Grand Prix and figuring out where Spurs go from here rather than making deals with Formula One executives (one for another time).

With Conte wanting out, now should be the time to abide him. Is this hypocritical? Of course.

Spurs fans desperately wanted and believed he would bring success to Tottenham. However, accusations of impatience amongst the fan base would hold more weight if he signed a long-term deal rather than feeling he is doing Spurs a favour.

I would love to watch Spurs play Champions League football again next season. But perhaps the bigger need is the need to hire a progressive forward-thinking manager who can shape this club from top to bottom.

Di Zerbi, Poch and Luis Enrique have all been mentioned so far. Whoever it is, we should also look to link the academy to the first team and be consistent with style of play throughout.

Any coach or manager who is hired should represent these values. After all, Spurs have this amazing training ground that we should be getting more out of than we are now.

I probably sound like one of those football hipsters but should Spurs not be trying to build their own La Masia?

Any rebuild with a new manager will be painful in the short term but if we aren’t going to win much then I would at least prefer to go to White Hart Lane and watch Spurs have a go.

With any hope, the new manager can clear the underperforming players out - even if it is at a financial loss - and replace them with fresh legs that we would be excited to watch develop.

My worry is the board opting for the status quo. To appoint another cheque book manager, who will demand players on cheque book wages and transfer fees. Inevitably one who used to manage Chelsea.

Reports of new investment or takeovers have gone cold. As a result, Daniel Levy cannot waste another two years pretending to be something we’re not and magically hope the new financial fair play rules equal the playing field in 2025.

To do so will mean there will be more ‘annus horribilis’ to come.