Perspective

 Now, I'm no artist, but I'm going to attempt to paint you a picture here.

Okay. By some freak turn of events, I don't know, maybe you won the FA Coaching Badge lottery or something, or Levy lost the plot and decided to hire you... anyway, this isn't important. Somehow, you're Tottenham manager. In AVB's shoes, July 2012.

Ledley King has retired. A sad day for everyone even remotely involved with Tottenham. Ledley was one of the greatest central defenders many have ever seen, and that's not from a biased perspective. If not for injuries he could have easily had 100 caps for England and played for Barcelona. So you're immediately at a disadvantage.



We'll all miss the King.

It's August. Luka Modric has just signed for Real Madrid. So, right away, you're going to be dealt a worse hand than your predecessor. You've lost possibly the most talented midfielder in the league. Right. Things can't get much worse, can they?



"Ooo, look at me, I play for Real Madrid"

Wrong. Rafael Van der Vaart's constant pining for lover Sylvie (how's that working out by the way?) has led to his exit. You're now three world-class players down. You've managed to sign a few really talented players, but of course the players coming in aren't as good as those leaving. Realistically, you probably have the 5th, maybe 4th best starting line-up in the country.



Thanks for the memories, Rafa

Don't worry, you're planning a late swoop for a world-class player potentially capable of replacing Modric. Oh, what's this? You're stunned by a late development which has left the Moutinho negotiations in tatters. Third party ownership, apparently. So now you've got to get through the next six months or so without the one player you so desperately sought after. You've signed players, yes, but they'll take time to gel and the starting XI (on paper at least) is weaker than what you began with.



I don't know who the fuck owns me

That's before you're dealt yet another blow as it turns out Younes Kaboul is out for the season. Unbelievable. You're not going to see your best starting XI all season now.



How to follow the Tottenham centre-half trend

January. As if by some minor miracle, you're still well in contention for a Champions League spot. Great. Now is where you need the backing of the chairman, Mr. Levy and his secret wallet. You need to pull out all the stops and buy the players necessary to cement third place.

Another blow. Sandro, virtually the undisputed lynchpin to our midfield success, has suffered an injury which has ruled him out for the rest of the season. That's two injuries you have no control over which will no doubt impact upon the success of the team.



Cue every Spurs fan punching a wall

Deadline day. You've signed Lewis Holtby, a talent young German midfielder but arguably one for the future. Now for the striker. But it doesn't happen. Yet again, you're not able to bring in the player you want to spearhead the attack. Maybe this is a lack of funding by chairman Levy or perhaps a lack of availability in the transfer market. Either way, you're at a disadvantage by no real fault of your own. Combine this with Defoe's later injury and Adebayor's abysmal form and you have no right to challenge the top four.



The striker we signed in January

 

April. You're two points off of Champions League qualification. This is now nothing short of a miracle. After the terrible hand you've been dealt, you've managed to pull some great results out of the bag and get us within touching distance of the Champions League again.



Hope.

 

If you were the Tottenham manager at this point, you'd still be relatively pleased with the progress you've made after some unfortunate circumstances. I think we all need to look at this with perspective, and that even if we finish 5th, it isn't the end of the world. Sure, Gareth Bale might leave. But Berbatov left before. Luka Modric left. Van der Vaart left. We moved on. We'll be back again. 3rd, 4th or 5th. We're Tottenham Hotspur, we will never die.

(Apologies for the ridiculously cheesy ending. I just thought I'd try to lift our morale)

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