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The move risks a third national lockdown. And with vaccines on the way, who wants to be the Wilfred Owen who dies just before the armistice?
Monday
I fear I may be in danger of going over to the dark side. When Jose Mourinho was appointed Spurs’ manager a year ago, I felt profoundly depressed. For me, he was the epitome of “anti-football”: negative, destructive and a man who made every club he managed all about him rather than the players. But it’s hard to argue against his style when Spurs – much to my surprise – are top of the table nine games into the season. To put this in perspective, the last time Tottenham headed the top division this far into a season was in 1985. Long before anyone had dreamed up the idea of a Premier League. So it’s undeniable that Mourinho must be doing something right. The truth is, though, that I am torn. I have grown attached to supporting a club that hadn’t won anything apart from a couple of League Cups for 30 years and I was quite happy being there or thereabouts – a Champions League final, and a few top four finishes – because the team had achieved those heights by playing an attractive form of football. That was a level of success with which I could cope: indeed in some ways I even found it reassuring that Tottenham never won anything because I had so few expectations to be crushed. But now even serious pundits are talking of Tottenham as possible title contenders and winners of the Europa League, I can feel myself getting sucked into the excitement. I still find it weird that we are paying Gareth Bale £600K a week to sit on the subs bench, but I can excuse that, and the painful experience of watching the team play most of the game in its own half, if we carry on winning against the likes of Manchester City 2-0. If we beat Chelsea and Arsenal in the coming weeks, I might even find myself a Mourinho believer. That’s a big if – as is Spurs still being top of the table next May. But watch this space. Continue reading...