Hooray! Hooray!

Hooray!  Hooray!  Tottenham Hotspur are still in the Premier League!  Much to the chagrin of many pundits, commentators and sports writers, it seems.  The pathological hatred of Spurs in the media continues unabated, with many headlines carrying the implication that Spurs were somehow unjustified in avoiding relegation at the expense of West Ham.  'West Ham relegated despite winning final match' was a common theme amongst the headlines.  Yeah, so what?  Spurs also won their last match of the season and finished above West Ham because they already had more points.  It's that simple.  West Ham winning would only have mattered if Spurs had lost.  Which, much to the annoyance of the pundits, they didn't have the good grace to do.  Once more, where Spurs are concerned, the media conveniently ignores the facts in favour of manufactured outrage.  And don't get me started on Gary Neville's rant about how everybody at Spurs should be apologising to the fans for such a shitty season.  Yeah, it was a shitty season, due largely to poor decision making at the top, but surely his foaming at the mouth fake anger should be directed at those running the clubs that were relegated?  Shouldn't they be apologising to their fanbases?  But, as Ange Postecoglu, our former and Europa League-winning manager, noted, when it comes to Spurs, the media just go completely crazy and lose all sight of reality.

But hey, we survived to face another season in the Premier League.  Sure, it took three managers to do it, not to mention a down-to-the-wire finish on the final day of the season, but we did it.  We start afresh again in the 2026/27 season.  Will we be any better?  Will the ownership have learned the hard lessons of this disaster of a season?  It's highly questionable that they will.  Sure, they're saying all the right things now, but we've heard it all before.  Still, at least we'll be going into the transfer window and new season with a manager who seems to know how to win matches and play attacking football.  I'm still not entirely convinced that DeZerbi is the long-term solution - I'm still wary as to his volatile temperament - but there's no question that he's done well so far.  When he arrived, with seven matches to go following that strange Igor Tudor interlude, Spurs looked doomed, incapable of stringing together a coherent performance and wracked by injuries.  Despite yet more injuries to key players, DeZerbi actually managed to get some decent performances and results from the team.  Which all goes to show, well, something.  We started the season with Thomas Frank who, on paper at least, looked to be a decent choice and a safe pair of hands, but he just seemed out of his depth from early on.  The club's ownership really should have put him out of his misery far earlier than February and, with a decent interim coach, might have avoided Spurs' flirtation with relegation.  Still, that's all in the past now and we need to look forward to next season.

Oh, before we go, I suppose I should address the question of whether I feel sorry for West Ham, at whose expense we survived.  Nah, I don't give a toss about them.   Just as they wouldn't give a toss if the situation reversed - in fact, they'd be gleefully dancing all over our relegation.  So they can fuck right off.  Them and all their celebrity 'mockney' fans who like to believe that supporting West Ham gives them some kind of authentic 'common man' credentials.  They can cry all the way to their banks - I wonder how many of them we'll see attending matches in the Championship?  Middlesborough away doesn't have quite the same cachet as Liverpool or City, does it?