REACTION: Fulham 2-1 Spurs - Too Little Too Late

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1:29So there we have it. Spurs have lost again. We've lost a game that I think many of us thought we probably would. We've lost in a fairly... The problem is, how do I dive into this? There's a lot of like... Yeah, we didn't win. And this is kind of out the back of Arsenal. and this has been a lot of like this season in general, there's often a lot of, I saw enough in that performance to suggest that we have enough fight. But when does that point, like when do you cross the Rubicon on that? Because you can only keep showing patches of fight and getting enough from games that we lose to suggest that we won't go down so many times.

2:22Because I can't sit here and say, I'm absolutely livid about that because by the end, I do think we finished in a pretty spirited fashion. I thought Sousa looked really good. Start him. Just start him. We signed him. Just start him. Just play him. He looks bright. He looks technically solid. He looks quick. He looks determined. Play him. Tell. Play him. Play him. I can't be bothered for this whole back and forth now. Is he good? Is he not? I've seen him enough times with my own eyes now to know that Mathis Tell is good and Mathis Tell brings a lot to this side. He might not be perfect. He might not be everything you ever dreamed for in a footballer, but the situation, the mud that we're in right now, Mathis Tell is good.

3:12There was a tangible uptick in our performance the second he came on the pitch. Richarlison, somebody who I have dug... Anybody that's watched this pod, listened to this pod for a long time, will know I have dug out Richarlison time and time and time again. I've complained about the amount of money we spent on him, about how he's never available, how he's not very good, all this type of thing. I will concede and whatever, whatever egg there is on my face, I couldn't care less. The guy has to start every single game he's available. Richarlison is literally probably the only player in this side who understands and is equipped with the tools to help us out of this situation because we are in the mud i didn't actually i'm gonna i need to have a quick look now i don't i didn't see how the forest game ended um just what i'm talking forest lost good you know like forest lost west ham lost fine that's it's a bit of a breather but it's also a missed opportunity to add some points you know even that point i know fulham are a good side but even that point um richardison has to start start tell start susa um gallagher you know not an impressive performance there's plenty of people with plenty of takes about Connor Gallagher today, who will be able to break down the issues that they feel they have with him, probably in a more succinct fashion.

4:52I do think you have to at least give him the fact that he was being played out of position today. Of course, he's not going to be that effective as a right back come right midfielder type player. Of course, he's not going to be that brilliant at that.

5:16But, you know, he wasn't. Palinja, look, I think Palinja is getting a lot of flack. I know the reasons why people don't like Palinja. Honestly speaking, and I mean honestly speaking, maybe as a wider point, yes, he's the type of player that's symptomatic of our poor transfer strategy, all that type of stuff, right? Yes, maybe in a bigger sense. In the dialed down sense today, in terms of did I think he was one of our biggest problems? No, I didn't. Like, I really didn't, and I can't pretend that I felt that he was. I'm not saying he was particularly good, but I didn't think he was as bad as I've seen being made out, if I'm, like, totally honest.

6:07but look, we're in trouble. We're in trouble. It's another game where we've started to play when we've been two goals down. Igor Tudor, yep, you know, he's got a job on his hands. He's juggling who plays where, who goes, you know, all those things, all those things, right? Equally,

6:37what was that today like what what what was that team he was starting you know so much over complicating of things just stick just just bring it back down to basics stick players in a in a position that is more suited to what it is that they can do he said prior to this game in his pre-match um press conference yeah everybody will have to dig deep everybody will have to do things they don't like to do everybody will have to play in positions that aren't their best fine yeah okay we are in a dogfight and all these type of things but at least play your hand in as like strong a way as possible i i don't know man i just i can't i don't i don't really want to dive into these type of conversations i just want to stick on the and i think this is like what this space this space this podcast and everything is is most for at this point is the emotional beats of this is the emotional beats of these games the ways I'm actually feeling about Tottenham the performances and what we can do going forwards and

7:46I'm just yeah I am I'm you know I'm really getting to that point and I I don't know what to say to you guys, man. Like, you know, people don't like me being negative. You know, it's been, the question's been asked, like, do you think podcasters are to blame for part of this and stuff? And I think like, I think the question was like, I don't really think it was asked in bad faith. I wasn't getting like pelters from somebody, but, you know, it was one of the listeners just asking, like, do you think, you know, you're being quite down in the dumps about Spurs. Do you think that contributes to this?

8:21And I just think like, I know we sort of like, like fighting like what is it you know scrapping about in the dark looking for things to blame for this but like do you like do you genuinely think like melts like me sat here doing this is part of the reason why spurs are not like do we like are we is that where we're at like genuinely you know it's kind of like the thing when you tweet something like oh we're probably going to go and lose from now or whatever do you know i mean the thing that comes into your head and then when we do go and lose, people sort of give you the, well, you know, it's because of that.

8:54It's because of fans like you saying this stuff. I'm just, really? And like I say, I get it. We're all just thrashing about. Nobody wants to accept what's kind of getting closer and closer to us, which is Spurs maybe being in the championship.

9:12I've never, do you know what I will say is I've never felt so acutely this like worry about Spurs. I've never felt this feeling of like, I don't know what the future holds for us. I don't know where we go from this point, especially if we go down. I've always like, and this is my entire life supporting Spurs. My entire life has always been looking up. Basically, it's always been looking up. It's always been this sense that things will get better from where we're at. Let's dream, let's believe, you know, dare us to do all that type of stuff. Maybe that's why most other fan bases hate us, you know.

9:54It's not just some like thinly veiled anti-Semitism or something like that. It's this, you know, we hate Spurs because they have ideas above their station. And as I always say on here, I don't think Spurs fans sit there and have an entitlement. I don't think we sit there and say we are literally the best team and we should win everything. we're just like one of the few fan bases that like i personally feel will allow ourselves to be browbeating into believing that our lot is our lot we do continue to believe and always have done that one day one day maybe we will you know next year rodney will be millionaires you know and i don't think that comes from a sense of like i say like any sort of smugness or whatever that people take it's just that that's what we want to believe but it's it's mad like we're in this position now where if like and i mean this genuinely like you know 41 years old my birthday yesterday yeah thanks for saying thanks thanks for the happy birthdays everybody yeah um 41 years old and the first time i'm sort of in my life thinking

11:07I don't know what the future holds like I actually don't know where we go from here if we stay up this season if we manage to just scrap our way to staying up I don't trust I don't trust the people in charge of the club I know they've had their thing the other day where they were saying yeah we'll scrap everything we're going to overhaul this I believe it. I believe it when I see it. You know, I can't, I can't, I can't any longer. Like I just, I don't, I don't have that capacity to believe in this ownership anymore. I don't have the capacity to believe in Tottenham. And I'm going to say it like, I'm going to say, I don't have the capacity to believe in Tottenham being fairly refereed.

11:55like how how like how acutely ridiculous is it how acutely ridiculous is it that we see that Mawani goal disallowed last week and then Fulham get pretty much exactly exactly the same goal this week and you have Sky Sports falling over themselves to excuse it to say it's fine to say it's not the same. It's exactly the same thing as last week. And this does this stuff, honestly, I don't even want to start tapping into this stuff because this stuff does make me feel quite tinfoil hat. We've seen that whatever, Scudamore, whoever it was, from the Premier League come out and say, you know, we've got ways and means of keeping the league exciting, keeping it fresh.

12:45You know, a Tottenham relegation battle. Does that affect... I know, I get it. I know that's quite potty. But what I'm saying is this stuff now, I can't... No penalty all season?

13:01Like, again, I'm pretty sure for the last couple of years, two, three years, we've had no penalties. The point is that... Let's dial this back, right? Let's get away from the conspiracy crap and all that type of stuff. Let's get away from that intrusive thinking. because the reality of it is that's more likely is there is a confirmation bias that is set out by the likes of Sky Sports, by your Gary Neville's. Tottenham a week, Tottenham a this, Tottenham a that. We had Gary Neville leading a concerted effort the past couple of seasons going on about how Vicario is weak. Vicario can't do anything.

13:35Vicario needs to be stronger in the air. And then what we saw from that point on, what we saw from that point onwards was week after week, Vicario being fouled. Just straight, and I have issues with Vicario. I do. Don't think he's the best goalkeeper. But we saw week after week after week Vicario getting fouled. And there was nothing being done about it because no referee wants to go against what Gary Neville's saying. Because Gary Neville has so much power within football in this country now. And I know it sounds potty and I know it sounds ridiculous to be sat here going on about it. But him, Carragher, the lot of them, they sit around, And that's why I was so wound up with Ange Postacoglu, because he knew that.

14:15He knew that when he was here at our club and he managed us. He knew that. But he sat there with that grin on his face because he was at the big boys table and he played into all of the bollocks that they say about Spurs week after week after week. They say that same stuff about us all the time. And for anybody that thinks it doesn't have real world consequences, it does. And it just absolutely does. because all that we see now is referees scared to give Spurs decisions. Spurs are weak. That's why it's happened, because Spurs are weak. Their players are weak. Their players get knocked off the ball.

14:50They need to be stronger. So Spurs don't get those decisions. And the thing is, you can continue to say, oh, this is just you being a triggered fan or this or that. Week after week after week, we see decisions go against us that when we do it to an opposition team, they'll get a penalty or they'll get a, we'll get a goal disallowed. Case in point last week. It's only so many times you can watch this stuff. And I do think, look, I'm sure other clubs will say this happens to us, this sort of thing happens to us as well. I'm sure there are other examples of it. But all I'm saying to you is we're a club that faces so much scrutiny.

15:31Everything that we do constantly is under this spotlight. You know, for all that lot on the overlap, for your Roy Keane's, for all of them to sit there and forget about the Ange stuff. Week after week, whenever we come into the conversation, you've got Keane, you've got this and that, going on about Spurs aren't a big club, Spurs are this, Spurs. Stop talking about us then. We're a big enough club that you know we're going to get you views. And I know I'm foaming at the mouth about this, but this, like, I'm sick of, like, going on about our club and I'm sick of going on about our owners who are appalling.

16:05Make no mistake, I don't ignore that for a second. I don't ignore the effect that the negligence of Enoch, Lewis family, whatever you want to call them, Daniel Levy, prioritising off-pitch stuff rather than the actual football on the grass. I don't for a second, and anyone that's listened to this podcast for any amount of time will know I don't do that. I don't for a second ignore that. But I'm also tired of just having this feeling of being like this wobble-headed person when week after week, year after year, we see the same stories perpetuated about our club. They're bottlers, they're this, they're that, they're useless.

16:42All these things that people continue to say about us when we're the one club, we're the one club that for years has challenged the established elite, right? We're the one club that's done it. We've done it in a self-sustaining fashion. We haven't had a sugar daddy. We haven't had a buy-in. We're the one club that has come close to challenging that established order without absolutely bankrupting ourselves to do so. And all that we get told is that we're bottle jobs. It's not Spurs are putting a valiant effort. Look at Aston Villa this year, right? Look at the plaudits they received for it. Hundreds of millions of pounds they've spent.

17:14The wage bill, off the scale, a ridiculous wage bill that they've got, right? And they're falling over themselves. They issued a title challenge for about two minutes and now they're losing to all and sundry. I hear nothing about it. Nothing about it. Newcastle have won one game, ironically enough, against us in the past, however long. I hear nothing about them. Nothing. Yet we constantly hear about Tottenham. Useless Tottenham. Useless this. Useless that. Tottenham bought all this. You can get at Tottenham. You can do this to Tottenham. And that's enough said this for years. We talk about DNA.

17:52We're always going on ourselves. But I'm saying the amount that these narratives play into things, when we do get an FA Cup draw against somebody, how the players are emboldened with this knowledge that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. When opposition players feel they can go into a game against us and give it some, when if they played the same way against teams bigger than us, they'd probably still be able to win a lot of the time. God, this is a rant, innit? This is a rant. But look, when am I going to do this? Half of you lot probably aren't going to watch me when we're in the championship.

18:25and I'll still do it. So I'll go down swinging. That's the way I look at it. I'll go down swinging. I'll show some of the fight that I want Spurs to that I think we did do in part. If muggy, melty podcasters or whatever, if our negative takes, if our negative takes like bare fruit into what's going on out there, then maybe me showing a bit of fight will do it. Yeah, there we go. Main character syndrome, all that nonsense, whatever. I don't believe that at all for a second. And I'm just trying to be smart. And I'm just trying to be smart. And I'm just coming across as like a spittle firing lunatic in this one.

19:03But I'm frustrated. I'm frustrated, folks. I'm annoyed. I'm really annoyed. I'm really annoyed at the place we find ourselves in. I'm annoyed for a plethora of reasons, as I think I've clearly stated. I'm annoyed with Javi Simmons. I'm annoyed with Xavi Simmonds. I think he's a brilliant player. I think he's talented. I don't think he's been given the best circumstances with which to succeed. Equally, we're in a relegation fight, mate. Just pass the ball. Just pass the ball. You know? Stop trying to look for the cute flicks. Stop trying to, like, beat two, three players. Get the ball. Move it forwards.

19:48So I'm annoyed with him. Even though I really like him. I really like him. And I think he's brilliant. I think he's really talented. But he's really wound me up today. I can't help it. I've sat there like fuming watching him play today. Proper Alan Brazil meme, you know? Annoyed me. Connor Gallagher. Why did we do it? I said at the time, you know, English hoi bier. I'm not the only one. There's plenty of people. It's just a headless chicken, man. Like, it's...

20:54I'm annoyed that the ownership have put us in this position I'm annoyed they're sat there talking about Newcastle being a category B game next season when they don't even know if we're going to be in the division next year they're not taking this serious there's just too much there's too much to be frustrated about and yeah there might be these pockets there might be these pockets yeah we showed a bit of fight towards the end of this game we did We did. I'm not going to deny that. Spurs showed some fight towards the end of the game. But what's the point? What's the point of having 10 minutes of fight?

21:28We're going to get relegated. Like we are going to get relegated. It's not because people are saying our underperforming players are underperforming. That's not why we're going to get relegated. It's because our players are underperforming. It's because we've got loads of injuries as well. Like, we can't ignore that. And that's something... Again, that's something that Sky don't like to pick up on. The ridiculous and inordinate amount of injuries that the club has got at the moment. They don't want to pick up on that. They don't want to talk about that. They don't want to spotlight that. They just want to give it all to, this is Spurs, this is what they do, this is blah, blah, blah.

22:17this is coming dangerously close to one those pods i might just delete from the internet tomorrow because i'm i'm actually embarrassing myself here you know like this is this is pathetic but it's just how it feels it feels it feels suitable for the occasion like and don't get me wrong i wasn't i wasn't expecting us to turn up to quave and cottage and win i wasn't for anyone that says were you expecting you know that that'll be one it'll come but at the same time you know surprise me surprise me once in a while tottenham you know oh that's it what was i expecting so we'll just i'm just having a fight with a straw man now aren't i oh man this is just it's like i i was talking about this with charlotte earlier in the respect that like in a rational logical sense it completely stands to reason that we are here when you take a step back from it all the things that we've said you know the way in which the the the footballing operation at this club has not been prioritized blah blah blah blah blah you take a step back from all of this and you see 100 % why Spurs are in this situation but on an emotional level what i'm saying is this whiplash from feeling like the worst of the tottenham experience right for the next few years is having to get over the fact that we didn't capitalize when we had mauricio pochettino's wonder team right that we didn't win anything with that and we didn't make more of an effort to win something with that that's going to be our cross to bear our cross to bear is going to have to be that we're a sort of Europa League side team again, you know, Europa League level team again.

24:03And if we win that every now and again, like we did last year, great, you know, fine. There are far worse places to be. And we can maybe get an FA Cup here or there. And we might have to watch Arsenal win the league. But that's that, you know, that's going to be our cross-to-be. The fact we've gone to like, Saturday having conversations about Tottenham getting relegated. like are you supposed to catch up with that sort of whiplash emotionally this is mental man this is just

24:39um toast malone says afternoon mate we're done that's all um beast of tottenham hotspur says we're done Stephen Lucy says feel pretty dead and buried Zorba the Greek says we must beat palace no one gained on us we have to quite simply I sort of I've said this like to my mates and stuff to me I feel genuinely that palace is the marker palace is the I honestly I genuinely think if we get anything less than three points against Palace, I think we're done. Like, that for me is almost like the line in the sand moment. I feel that like three points against Crystal Palace is like, is the minimum. That's all we can take.

25:34It's not about taking heart from a plucky 2-2 draw or something like that because Palace went 2-0 up and we come back and equalize and it's 2-2. Doesn't matter to me, man.

25:48keep a clean sheet win beat them 3-0 you know we got to we got to beat but we have to um fran mulvaney says i think we will beat palace uh but he should have started tell agree ben matthias says richardison tell and solanke need to be starting every week from now on yep 100 joe batty says i feel sick jack sick to my stomach the only thing keeping me going is that We're always bad at Fulham. Palace is the real test. Yep. We need some luck. The refs aren't going to give it to us. They're not, mate. And yeah, I agree with you entirely. Stuart Venner says, just play tell. Yep. Beat Plate says, on paper, you'd say, yeah, we could beat Palace or Forest and be fine.

26:35But we are the team now that everyone looks at and thinks they can beat Burnley, Bournemouth, West Ham or breaking their duck. Yeah. and the other thing about all this mate is as well is that when you've got wall-to-wall coverage talking about how terrible we are other teams use that as a yardstick in the respect that like they will say well Spurs are terrible so we have to beat them because we have to show that we can't lose to a terrible side because what does that say about us

27:06Evan Newell says you were on the relegation worry bus long before anyone else I thought you were overreacting at the time turns out not at all look I'm not I'm not gonna sit here and be all told you so and I'm not I'm genuinely not because I wasn't the only one saying it but the thing that made me really worry was just looking at our form I think it was Nathan A. Clark somebody like that that had shown you like a form trail from Spurs over like the past three, four seasons or so. And it's just going down. It's just going down and down and down and down. You know, look at, you know, I think the games that we have coming up, aside for the teams that weren't actually in the Premier League last season, I think we got two points last season from these games that we have coming up that we're supposedly going to save our season with.

28:03Deuces Wild says, the hatred I have for Dragosin is unhealthy. I don't hate Dragosin. I hate his agent or whoever he is, his handler. I hate that bloke. I hate the noise that there's been around him ever since he signed for us. I just think he is a bang, bang average player. He's a bang average player, and there's no other way to look at it than that. And that's kind of been the story of Spurs, hasn't it? This is the story of the Tottenham. So one thing I did want to talk about, if you haven't yet listened to it, it's still evergreen. You can listen to it. Flav did a pod with Dan Kilpatrick on the lab.

28:47So that's Flav's other pod. And on the lab, he basically, they were talking, the pods in title was Conte Wright. And I'm guessing that's the kind of like, you know, slightly clickbaity thing that you think it's going to be all about the Southampton press conference and everything like that. But, you know, Dankio Patrick was actually like showing you a number of press conferences and a number of things that Antonio Conte said down his time at Spurs. And Flav said on that pod much like I felt at the time I was, I hated Conte. I hate the way he was speaking about the club. I saw it as you're the guy that's here to change things.