John F. Kennedy once said “Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.” Never has a quote seemed so apt for our beloved football club. Watching from my vantage point in the Park Lane I experienced a feeling never felt before whilst at Tottenham, complete and total detachment…not from the side on the pitch but from the fans in the stand.

I came in to the game riding on the crest of optimism from the mid week demolition of Asteras Trioplis, still eulogising about that rabona and the local lad done good bagging a clinical hat trick. Not to mention the admirable work once again from 1882 to generate a superb and audible atmosphere despite the lack of numbers inside the ground. Newcastle in all honesty seemed more of a speed bump that we would glide effortlessly over rather than the hurdle we ended tripping over and landing flat on our face. The away side not having recorded a victory on their travels since March 1st talk amongst the crowd was of 4’s and 5’s, with the more pessimistic going for a narrow home win but a win nevertheless. The outcome could have been much further from the prediction.

I experienced a feeling never felt before whilst at Tottenham, complete and total detachment…not from the side on the pitch but from the fans in the stand.

Kick off came around after a nostalgic tribute to the great Bill Nicholson and almost simultaneously the mood seemed to switch. From my eyes we controlled the game nicely without creating too much, in my opinion it only seemed a matter of time before we found the killer pass and broke the deadlock.

However it seems my view must have been obstructed by something as all around me the once famous Park Lane roar was replaced by the all too familiar White Hart Lane whinge. With barely 10 minutes on the clock came the calls “F***ing up it, Tottenham”, “Speed it up”. If only Mauricio had access to such brilliant tactical advice! Despite this we managed to make the breakthrough, another home grown hero in Ryan Mason standing the ball up for Adebayor to guide the ball home and end his own goal drought. In all honesty there was little to report up until the break, Tottenham in complete control but creating little, sounds familiar doesn’t it.

Perhaps due to this control the players presumed the game was already won, perhaps Newcastle’s form meant they would just roll over in the second half and we would be looking at a QPResque score line.

Seven seconds in to the second period and any such thoughts were vanished with a swipe of Sammi Ameobi’s left foot. Those in the stands looked for someone to blame and they found him. Eric Dier. The 20 year old centre back, filling in at right back, making only his 5th Premier League appearance. And according to what seemed the majority of people around me the player who has only ever had one good game and is completely out of his depth. While I am not defending Dier, as he didn’t seem to be defending from the kick off I ask those who were calling him to be brought off and stuck in the reserves for a couple of years till he’s up to scratch what was the alternative? On the bench I saw only one other defender, Vlad Chiriches, was this the answer?

Quite simply no, Dier is the only option until one of the Kyle’s return. Yes, be disappointed, but don’t heckle every touch or challenge he makes for the remaining 45 minutes. The pressure got to him and he produced a very uncharacteristically poor performance. Still there’s 45 more minutes to play yet, plenty of time to get behind the lads and get the 3 points.

We ask for work rate, effort and passion from players. Well it’s time to see some in the stands.

Yet instead what followed was one of the most uncomfortable 45 minutes of my life. Not only were Tottenham one paced and fell behind to another poorly defended goal, but the atmosphere turned poisonous. Reports of three Spurs fans being ejected for fighting each other, frequent moans groans and completely ridiculous snipes at players and then most disappointingly of all, the 61st minute arrived.

On a day which had been marked out to recognise the passing of the greatest manager of this clubs proud history all fans were asked to applaud the life of Bill Nic on the 61st minute. Pockets of fans, myself proudly included rose to their feet and clapped. Clapped out of respect of a man who helped make Tottenham great. Nevertheless many fans stayed seated and silent. Others even telling those close not to clap. Appalling. We had been asked to show our respect to a club legend, we weren’t asked to applaud the failings on the pitch, no we were asked to applaud a man who took Tottenham to the heights our generation can only dream of. Yet so hate filled were many towards the current crop that they ignored this and shoved two fingers up to Bill and refused to acknowledge him. I can only hope his family, who were there, were unaware of this show of petulance

Many of the aforementioned fans then decided to call for Pochettino’s head and claimed it was different under Redknapp, forgetting that under Harry we lost at home to Norwich, Wigan, Wolves, Stoke. Drew with Aston Villa, Hull, West Brom, West Ham, Sunderland. All of this with the hugely talented squad that he inherited with the likes of Bale, Modric, Van der Vaart, Lennon in his prime and perhaps the biggest miss of all, Ledley King. Not only this but we have had 3 managers since Harry, why are we pining for a man who hasn’t been associated with the club for 2 and a half years? Why show this man so much love when you can’t applaud the greatest we’ve ever had? Forget the past, focus on the present, look forward to the future

I’m not saying we should be happy in defeat, I left just as disappointed as everyone else, but I’m a supporter. That’s what I pay to do, support. Creating a negative atmosphere only creates tension and anxiety within our ranks and shows our opponents a weakness that they can exploit. Let’s get behind the team when we fall behind, let’s roar them on to victory. Let’s not boo at the end of every defeat, even the best teams will lose games on paper they should win, and we certainly aren’t one of the best teams anymore.

Forget the past, focus on the present, look forward to the future

Supporting is the only way we can positively affect Tottenham. Anyone who believes that atmosphere doesn’t count for anything look at Crystal Palace. Undoubtedly the best supported team in the Premier League, and also the most over achieving team in the Premier League. They managed to finish mid table last year with a very mediocre squad. How? Through unity.

Yes they were guided well by Tony Pulis but are you telling me that a player won’t run that extra yard, sprint that little bit harder if he’s got 25,000 people cheering him every step of the way? We ask for work rate, effort and passion from players. Well it’s time to see some in the stands. Let’s turn this cesspit back in to the cauldron it once was.