Hello, Hoddlers! This is my last day as interim Hoddler in Chief; Matty will take tomorrow and up to the weekend.
Who was your first Tottenham Hotspur love? This is a very personal question and it will vary from person to person based on how long you’ve been a Spurs fan. A lot of players have come and gone over the years, and we all have our favorites, some because they were excellent footballers and some for reasons much more personal or even stupid.
My first season as a nascent Tottenham fan was the 2007-08 season. I started watching Spurs just after Martin Jol was sacked and Juande Ramos took over, which means my first FULL season was the infamous two points from eight matches which saw Ramos sacked and Harry Redknapp brought in to right the ship.
But that 2007-08 season was me finding my feet as a Spurs fan, getting to know the team and the history and the players, and figuring out if this bad team with the funny name was really the right fit for me. Benoit Assou-Ekotto was on that team but barely played, and so I didn’t learn to love him until later on. Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane scored all the goals and that was fun, but while I liked them they weren’t my first Spurs love either.
No, my first Spurs love was Tom Huddlestone. That tall slow guy at the base of the midfield. Huddlestone wasn’t especially mobile. He wasn’t flashy, he didn’t score a lot of goals or provide a lot of assists. But my god, that guy could pass. It was so much fun watching him ping balls from deep to onrushing attackers in Jol (and later Ramos)’s tactics. I remember Jol comparing him to Franz Beckenbauer (I had to look him up too). For me, a baby soccer and Tottenham fan, Tom Huddlestone just exuded cool. I loved him. Still do. He’s now an assistant coach at Birmingham City and my heart wants Big Ange Postecoglou to poach him next season.
So who was the first Tottenham player who really captured your heart? Put your answer in the comments.
Song of the Day: “Gotta Cheer Up” by Cotton Jones
Your Daily Tottenham Links
Jonathan Wilson unpacks fan protests and ownership unrest amongst Premier League fanbases in the Guardian.
The Athletic crew (£) ponders whether Spurs have a better chance to win the Europa League if they sack Ange. (The answer: probably not)