When it rains, it pours, and Tottenham remain trapped in the club’s worst deluge in recent memory.
Monday night’s 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Nottingham Forest marked the north London side’s 18th league defeat of the season.
Nottingham Forest became the last side to inflict defeat on Ange Postecoglou’s men[/caption]
If you had been out of the loop, you’d be forgiven for thinking the roles had been purposely reversed by a prankster telling you Forest were third and closing in on Champions League football and Spurs 16th with five defeats from their last seven league games.
But watching Monday’s clash was enough to purr over Nuno Espirito Santo’s impressive side while trying to figure out what on earth is going on at Tottenham.
Shameful, shocking, and atrocious are just some of the words attributed to Ange Postecoglou’s underachieving side in recent weeks, while others have preferred to vent their dissatisfaction with their feet.
And former Spurs midfielder Jamie O’Hara added a few extra damning words to the ever-growing list of adjectives.
“I don’t know what to say, it’s so painful,” he told talkSPORT on Monday night.
“I can’t defend it, the league form is a disgrace. I think some of them (players) should be ashamed of themselves because the Premier League is where it’s at and 18 Premier league defeats is disgusting, it’s unacceptable.
“Some of these players are on a lot of money. Have some pride in your performance for crying out loud, you’re playing for Tottenham in one of the best stadiums in the world.
“No heart, no passion, no desire to win a game.”
With Postecoglou unable to find a way out of the slump, his players unable to deliver the performances expected of a quintessential big-six club, and fans’ discontent at an all-time high.
The Australian appears to be hanging onto his job by a thread helped by the club’s Europa League hopes.
AlamyIt is likely to be a win or bust situation for Postecoglou in the Europa League[/caption]
Spurs face Bodø/Glimt in the semi-finals and with the Norwegians being far from European heavyweights, they will fancy themselves against Postecoglou’s dysfunctional side.
Spurs look tired, physically and mentally, something Bodø/Glimt are not considering they are just three games into the Norwegian League season.
And if Tottenham do the unthinkable and fall short, then a change in the dugout is inevitable.
And it seems that some fans are already formulating their list of possible successors with one Spurs fan proposing an ambitious move for a true managerial legend who could be on the market soon.
“When people are talking about managers, [Carlo] Ancelotti’s going to get the sack isn’t he? Would you go to him?” Tottenham fan John asked O’Hara on The Sports Bar.
But an already frustrated O’Hara was in no mood for bold suggestions and ranted at the fan.
“Who are you on about? Spurs?,” O’Hara replied. “John, are you having a wind-up? He’s going to get the Brazil job, what are you talking about, he’s been at Real Madrid.”
The fan responded saying: “Yeah, but he went to Everton.”
The talkSPORT host hit back: “Because he was on £18million a year and he dipped as soon as Real Madrid phoned him.
Like many Spurs fans, O’Hara cut a tired and drained figure during the show and continued to rant at the current state of play at the club.
“You can’t lose like this every week,” he added. “The manager can’t stay in the job even if he wins the Europa League. You can’t lose 18 games in the Premier League and be a Tottenham manager.
“Every game, we’re 1-0, 2-0 down, there’s no pride. It costs good money to watch Tottenham play, it’s not cheap down there.”
He then finished with a damning parting shot, saying: “He’s probably the worst Premier League manager Spurs have ever had.”
