Looking at the draw for the quarter and semi-finals in Europe (Liverpool Reds in the quarters, and Chelsea maybe in the semis) it is interesting to reflect on not only our chances but also where other teams have got to.
Thinking back to the predictions made at the start of the season by several billion journalists the near universal consensus (Charlie Nicholas being the only odd-man-out) was that Totteringham would move into 4th position in the EPL, get to the final of the Little Euro Cup, and generally do good.
Arsenal meanwhile would sink without trace in the league, and be knocked out of Euro in the qualifying round. Debts would mount as we would be unable to pay the mortgage on the stadium. (All the extra income from property sales being overlooked for the sake of a headline).
And now: poor old Tottenham. Another manager, another £23 million spent on the transfer market in January, following the £30 million last summer. A little cup and at last, for the first time since Abraham played centre forward for God, they have beaten our reserve team. Next summer, another £30 million. And who knows, their first team might even scrape a draw with our all-conquering ladies.
But meanwhile, no grand Euro adventure for Tottenham, but they will avoid relegation and get mid-table finish. Not bad for £50 million plus a year.
As for us, who knows? At the start of the season a discussion on RedAction resulted in several hard-core fans saying “If it were offered, I’d take 4th place now.” We might win the league, we might not. We might win the Euro Cup, we might not. But what we can be sure of is the fact that we have done far better than anyone expected. The team is young, and it will stay together. We have new young players coming through all the time, and surely cannot have such a bad run of injuries again. Players who we thought looked dodgy are coming good (notice Senderos of late?).
The future is bright – which is more than can be said for Tottenham (debt and failure), Liverpool (debt and failure), Chelsea (not the best performance in the cups from a team with more money than some countries), Man U (with a manager who looked increasingly more unhinged by the day) and Fulham (although anyone who can call the Duke of Edinburgh a pimp gets my sympathy vote). West Ham are not so hot at the moment either.
Victory through harmony. Sounds better by the day.
