Route A: Tottenham's Demise
A season fucked up by AVB gets worse under Sherwood. After a solid start to his managerial career, we begin to fall away from the hunt for fourth place. A loss at Norwich is followed by a swift exit from the Europa League and, after losing to our main Champions League rivals in the league, we find ourselves in a mediocre seventh place. We've even been overtaken by plucky Everton and Moyes' boys. Spurs fans revolt, Sherwood is hung from the gallows and no manager wants to take a chance on us. Hugo Lloris and Jan Vertonghen begin to get disgruntled, are absent from preseason and force through August moves to Champions League sides. Dawson continues to captain the side and we're left with another two-bob manager and an underachieving finish.
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| Stare into the face of defeat. Go on, stare into it. |
That's certainly one outcome, and I wouldn't call it entirely unrealistic. What about the optimist's prediction?
Route B: The Rise of Tottenham
Tim 'Tactician' Sherwood turns it back around for us. We knock Dnipro out of the Europa League and go on to achieve a modest semi-final finish in the competition. Adding to this European run, we put in some truly heroic performances in the Premier League; away wins at Anfield and Stamford Bridge propel us into fourth place. Sandro and Kaboul shake off their respective injuries and solidify the side defensively and Soldado finally starts to find the back of the net. Fuck, even Lamela manages to put in a performance. Sherwood is given a small pay-off and returns to obscurity where he belongs. Van Gaal takes charge in the summer and, as well as keeping our star players, we add in one or two world-class signings to give the side a much-needed injection of quality. Things are all looking rosy.
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| Fuck yeah! |
Perhaps more unrealistic than the pessimistic route, it is nonetheless a possibility. However, perhaps there is a third route worth exploring.
Route C: The Realist's Path
We continue the season much in the same way we've been going all campaign; stopping and starting, turning in the odd good performance but largely underperforming. As expected, we finish in fifth or sixth place, and Levy removes Sherwood in the summer. Perhaps a key player wants to leave, but after the World Cup we manage to hire Van Gaal. There is reason to be cheerful as he keeps the core of the side and adds one or two of his own signings.
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| Dear Lord... I tried. |
I presume the majority of us are resigned to Route C, perhaps with the odd fan subscribing to the pessimistic option. Of course, this article is based on pure conjecture, as with most predictions. We can only hope that things work out for the best. Whatever happens, it will be an exciting finish to the season, one way or another... and, as always, "Up the Spurs!" /Paul Coyte voice/
Links:
Player's exits:
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11675/9183193/jan-vertonghen-hints-at-exit-if-tottenham-fail-to-qualify-for-champions-league
http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/tottenham-goalkeeper-hugo-lloris-hints-at-white-hart-lane-exit-9086068.html
Louis Van Gaal joining:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-2566232/Louis-Van-Gaal-drops-biggest-Tottenham-hint-Euro-2016-draw.html
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