I'm just a guy trying to tell the guy who manages his football club to leave him alone
Or "The Reason I'm Writing"
Welcome to The Hiatus: a Tottenham Hotspur Diary.
My name is Vincent but people call me all variations of that name so for the sake of brevity, feel free to call me Vin.
I named this newsletter The Hiatus for two reasons: one, because that is what I hope reading it provides for the reader, a break, if only for a moment, from a world that does not wait nor weaken for any of us. Since 2008, Tottenham Hotspur have been that escape for me, a diversion from the thumping backbeat of modern life. And in taking those breaks Spurs have given me entertainment, community, and space to dream. What if Mario Balotelli had been sent off for stamping Scott Parker at the Etihad? What if João Moutinho’s transfer had gone through and Andre Villas-Boas suddenly had a link between defense and attack? What if Giovani Lo Celso, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, and Tanguy Ndombele all hit the ground running this season?
The list could go on forever, but that’s the point, isn’t it? If it were all straightforward, would we love it as much? And, god help me, I do love it. The drama, the rush of adrenaline to the head, the release of emotion as the ball hits the back of the net. And yes, with time, even the disappointment.
Which brings me to the second reason this space is titled as it is: I am taking a break. In fact, I’ve been taking a break. Not in the sense that I don’t follow or keep a finger on the pulse of the club, but in the way I support. I cannot watch the team on television while José Mourinho is the manager so I listen to radio broadcasts now, and will for the foreseeable future.
This all started when Mourinho was hired. As much as I wanted to buy the warm, fuzzy act early on, I was skeptical. I could detail, point by point, the reasons for my skepticism, but as this diary is meant to improve my mental health, not to drive it to subterranean depth, I’ll assume my dear readers are aware of the scorched earth he’s left across Europe while, to be fair, winning pot after shiny pot along the way.
To be clear, however, the final straw was the post-match interview after our 1-1 draw with Manchester United on June 19th. By complaining that we “had no bench” thus could not make substitutions to keep up with United, I finally understood my rejection of his appointment. When I see Mourinho talking about our players, disparaging them, I do not process it as our manager trying to motivate our players. I just see Mourinho, the monolith, the manipulator, trying to sell us a reality (in this case that we had no bench) that clearly did not exist. Feel free to check the unused subs that day if you must. As for me, some foolishness, or a Mourinho agenda, is best left to the past.
Now make no mistake, it’s difficult to ignore Mourinho when watching on NBC as we do in the United States, or Sky and BT in the United Kingdom. Even I can admit he is a brilliant public speaker and debater. Couple that with swagger and charisma and it’s no wonder that he’s captured the imagination of the media for the better part of two decades.
But, for me, someone who does not buy into the actual words and philosophies he transmits with those clever words, it’s too much. Forget his pre and post-match comments which speak for themselves. His on-field antics are weaved into the narrative of a match like few other managers and it took away the happiness that I used to feel when watching my club. Embarrassingly, on a few occasions my frustrations and annoyances took the form of anger and belligerence with those I call friends within the Spurs community. Something needed to change. So I turned the television off, and turned the radio on.
Of course I am aware he still manages the team, but for whatever reason, the radio media are not beholden to his every movement as box office entertainment. And that lack of inundation helps to deal with the cognitive dissonance of wanting nothing but the best for our club while simultaneously despising the manager of it.
So here I am. And here we are.
As a subscriber to The Hiatus, one can expect one article a week, coinciding closely with the weekend’s match. It will be experiential and confessional. It will be fun and silly and maybe even make you mad from time to time. In other words, it will be Tottenham, through and through.
If there is enough interest, I have a plan for Europa League previews as well as the occasional—and I mean occasional—retrospective or think-piece. Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose, right?
Sign up now to get the first, proper issue next Wednesday. Teaser: with no games for another month, it’s a rumination on a role that I hope develops for a controversial member of our squad.
Thank you for reading and I hope to see you again next week. COYS
In the meantime, tell your friends!