It has gone down in Spurs folklore that when Keith Burkinshaw left the club after securing the UEFA Cup in 1984 he turned round and remarked “There used to be a football club over there.”
A year previously Spurs had become a publicly owned company and were listed on the stock exchange, in the process becoming the first football club to do so.
Whether Burkinshaw did say the quote that is attributed to him as he walked down Tottenham High Road has never been confirmed, but the myth has stuck and 24 years later his comments are as true as they have ever been.
With all the conjecture surrounding football clubs these days it is difficult to separate the important statements from the enormous amount of drivel. But last week was an eventful one at Spurs.
Nearly a quarter of a century after Burkinshaw’s famous quote, Juande Ramos intimated that Spurs would be willing to sell their star strikers Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov because “we are on the stock exchange and have to balance the books.”
This was then followed up by Daniel Levy’s so-called attack on Manchester United and Liverpool. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the Spurs Chairman calling Sir Alex Ferguson a “hypocrite,” the most important paragraph of that statement was missed by the mainstream press.
Levy publicly told the whole world that “Both Dimitar and Robbie… [have] made it clear that they wish to leave for Manchester Utd and Liverpool respectively.
Most Spurs fans can reconcile themselves to seeing Berbatov leave the club. After all it has been known for some time that the Bulgarian is unhappy at White Hart Lane, his agent Emil Danchev has made this abundantly clear since last summer. And the gifted Bulgarian is going to Manchester United, the current Premier League and Champions League holders who it must not be forgotten have done well with ex-Spurs players in recent years (Teddy Sheringham and Michael Carrick).
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But, Robbie Keane’s move to Anfield is a lot more difficult to understand. The Irishman has found his home at Spurs. Over six years he has endeared himself to fans of the club and in the process scored over 100 goals.
His passion and determination has been crucial to Spurs becoming a team who “could” break into the top four. And coming in for him are Liverpool, a big club for sure, but if Spurs have any ambition, this is a side they could be finishing above in the coming seasons.
So Spurs fans are bracing themselves to see arguably the best strike partnership to ever play for the club leave at just a time when they seemed to have solved any worries with their goalkeeper, defence, and midfield. And in the nearly quarter of a century since Spurs were listed on the stock exchange Spurs fans have been faced with similar incoming and outgoings at crucial times.
When Terry Venables signed Paul Gascoigne in 1988, Spurs fans braced themselves for the Geordie partnership of Gazza and Chris Waddle in the midfield. Weeks later Waddle was sold to Marseille to “balance the books.”
The last great partnership at the Lane was yet more proof of how the club continually takes one step forward and then two back. Teddy Sheringham and Jurgen Klinsmann were sensational in 1994/95. But Klinsmann stayed for just one season and two seasons later Sheringham joined Manchester United.
And the examples just keep on coming. Sol Campbell could not be persuaded that he would be joined by other quality players and joined Arsenal whilst David Ginola’s feats at Spurs came due to his own brilliance rather than thanks to many of the other players around him.
This is another pivotal moment in Spurs’ recent history. If Berbatov and Keane remained at the club, the top four would be a seriously realistic possibility. In the last campaign Spurs lacked guile in midfield, and Juande Ramos has plugged that gap with the signings of Luka Modric and Giovani Dos Santos.
So, despite the progress being made under Ramos, and the amount of quality young players already at the club and the brilliant strikers that continue to be linked with the club to replace Berbatov and Keane (e.g. Diego Milito, Roman Pavyluchenko, Samuel Eto’o, and Andrei Arshavin) this feels like yet another example of one step forward, two steps back.
And the situation at Spurs is being played out at many of the other “middling” clubs this summer, Aston Villa will lose Gareth Barry and Arsenal have and could still lose some of their most important players.
It says a lot about the state of the Premier League when Everton, the team who came closest to breaking up the “Big Four,” appear to have no troubles holding on to their best players, mainly because no one wants them.
The irony about the situation at Spurs is that it is often remarked that the game is killing itself, that the introduction of vast amounts of money is ruining the game, but in the case of Tottenham, this has been going on for nearly 25 years.
This article was originally published on 101 Great Goals.
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about 1 month ago
This is really true. And it is sad to see it happening in a situation where Spurs looked so promising for the first part of the summer, but losing these two would be too much to overcome—no matter how good the other upgrades were.
Thanks for the great article.
about 1 month ago
As a Liverpool fan, I would be happy to see Berbatov stay and Keane leave!!
about 1 month ago
What a fantastically written article. Very thoughtful and taking a much longer view of Spurs than many others are capable of. I think your assertion that the glory glory years ended with the club being floated is a fascinating one. I also think there were some serious management issues. Alan Sugar got scared away from foreigners after the Klinsmann/Popescu/Dimitrescu experiment failed with all three leaving. But just as we got less ambitious, that's exactly when Arsenal and others opened the floodgates to foreigners like Bergkamp. And while Arsenal and Man U have had the same two coaches for donkey's years, we went on follies with Gerry Francis, Christian Gross and Jacques Santini that all failed. So there have been lots of factors involved, but your point about being a publicly traded company as a limiting factor is extremely well taken.
about 1 month ago
I think that the key to it is Keane wanting to leave; he wants to leave because he knows he's over-valued now and can sign a huge long-term deal. He won't make it at Anfield because he's really not that good. The league table doesn't lie (well, much, anywya), and Spurs finished last season in the bottom half of the table, 10 points from relegation. If all the Tottenham squad were as good as the fans say they are, then they'd have been challenging for the title; thus, they are overhyped. The most over-hyped of the lot is Keane, so sell him if anyone wants him.
I suspect that Rafa doesn't really want him anyway - he's just hoping to make it harder for Utd to sign Berbatov.
Why Berba would want to go to Old Trafford to play the Saha role is beyond me; same for Saha, though, and every other reserve at a top team who could be first choice at a mid-table side. I suppose he feels that he has zero chance of winning a real title with Tottenham so he might as well be at Utd; realistically, there is next to no chance of Spurs breaking into the top five on a consistent basis within the next 5 years.
about 1 month ago
Lets not get too hung up on Keane and Berbatov eh (ignore the nice looking goals, it was only 13 each in the league). And where would we be without Levy, hence the whole 1984 argument is a little subjective... we are where we are. We will be fine. Sell aging stars buy younger cheaper replacements. Ramos is the key to all this. Modric, Leds, Bale, Gomes, Dos Santos are all effective improvements. Let Utd waste their £30m
about 1 month ago
Josh, you twat. Spurs were fifth twice in a row and europe anyway this year. Their season ended the day they beat Chelsea in the cup (bet you wish you had done that!). From Ramos' arrival to that point Spurs were sixth in the league. Now he has a full season I would expect them to be anywhere from 3rd to 7th next year. Good luck winning a real trophy yourself by the way! (wont happen)
about 1 month ago
GREAT article. It's good to see so many great points made by someone about Tottenham. Not everyone around here has that much knowledge about Spurs. But you're right, Spurs aren't going to make the grade with a bunch of new untested and unproven youngsters.
about 1 month ago
I have to say I am actually a big fan of Levy and think that he has never shirked from investing in the club and made some great decisions the problem remains that inevitably if we play well clubs will be interested in our players and surely it is a sign that we are achieving and that things are going well that we are offered so much for our signings. Ramos is a great cup manager and lets face it he saw the true colours of a lot of our fringe players last season especially towards the back end - I think he will get a whole new team and the real emphasis has to be on that word - spurs have always had individuals but never functioned completely as a team. If Berbatov and Keane have to go for the sake of team morale then fine but lets replace them wwith people who ramos can mould not over priced prima donnas like bentley
about 1 month ago
The press always like to bang on about how spurs are in 'crisis' but I think we are in pretty good shape as currently we have the right manager in charge and a policy of buying quality players such as modric, dos santos, gomes. I think Commoli has learnt from his mistakes and there will not be any panic buys so unless we can buy suitable replacements, Keane and Berba are staying. I would take Ashavin from Russia and Fred from Lyon as reasonable upgrades and I believe with one or two extra signings funded by the sale of dead wood such as bent et al, we will have the quality to compete with the top four. Why all the doom and gloom? - Ramos only knows how to win!.
about 1 month ago
Excellent article. I think Spurs these days are a 'stop-gap' club. They have a big name, are regularly in Europe, have a lovely stadium and excellent support, but the big players only go there when the other top clubs around Europe are not interested.
Much has been made of Dos Santos, but if he was THAT good, one, why have Barcelona sold him for such a smallish fee, and given the fact that his fee was so small (even the likes of Stoke and Bolton could afford him on the fee alone), why was their so little competition for his signature?
Likewise Modric was expensive, but why were Newcastle the only realistic competition to sign him, if he is that good?
Now I am not saying either of these players will not be top-class, I am just posing the questions. My point is that if either player stars in the Premier League, expect them to move on within 3 seasons to a club that is really at the top table of European football, and the likes of Bale, Lennon, Hutton, will all do the same.
Spurs are in a vicious cycle, they can't keep their best players because they are not in the Champions League, and they can't make the Champions League because they can't keep their best players.
Ramos has already proved an excellent manager, he will need to be a great one to end this cycle of players using Spurs to improve their name before deserting them just when Spurs need them to stay.
about 1 month ago
This is a really interesting article as I had never heard of the "There Used to Be a Football Club Over There" quote, losing Keane and Berbatov would certainly be a major blow, and the names that are being mentioned for replacements aren't good enough in my opinion... Diego Milito and Roman Pavyluchenko would be big gambles, and would almost certainly fall short of the standard of Keane and Berbatov from the past couple of seasons.
I also have to point out that you referred to Arsenal as a middling club... hmmmm.
about 1 month ago
Once players state they want to leave, it's better for the club that they are moved on. Getting over £50m for the pair of them is good business on that front. This is how football is going. The best clubs snatch the important players from all the other clubs and hoard them, until their value diminishes and their ability wanes. Look at SWP and Sidwell at Chelsea. There is NO loyalty in football anymore. It's money, money, money.
Spurs obviously have ambition. That is not in question. Unfortunatley, there are four clubs who have more to offer and heads get turned very easily.
about 1 month ago
This article sums up my feelings exactly. I've loved and followed Spurs for decades but don't have much more hope for glory than the occasional good cup run. We'll never come as close to breaking into the Premier League elite as when we missed out to Arsenal for fourth spot on the last day of the season. That was THE chance we had and the Champions League football funds and the players we would have been able to attract if we'd made it would have established Spurs in the elite. However, it was not to be and we'll always be "one step forward, two steps back" middling club, especially when we're selling our best players to the genuinely elite teams to balance the books.
Mind you...will be glad to see the back of Berbatov as I don't think I've ever seen a lazier player when his team isn't in possession. I can't wait until the first reports of him getting the "hairdryer treatment" emanate from Old Trafford.
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