Forbes

‘Spursy’ is defined in the online version of the Collins Dictionary as a performance where a team has “success in reach” but “ultimately chuck[’s] it away.”

The resource adds that: “this word is associated to Tottenham Hotspur FC, you will find numerous examples of this on twitter, from supporters of most if not all top flight teams.”

To some degree, every single soccer fan feels their team is ‘Spursy.’ Supporters remember the painful defeats grasped from the jaws of victory more than easy wins. Probably because shame is the most powerful feeling, or as legendary psychiatrist Carl Jung said, “a soul-eating emotion.”

But, as the name suggests, few clubs have an association with this phenomenon more than Tottenham Hotspur.

As Anna Howells, content creator for Spurs XY, told the BBC after a painfully unpredictable run last season, the term 'Spursy' was “not a fun word but an accurate one. We have been incredibly inconsistent. Somehow both really good and really bad."

And so it was that after a convincing 0-2 win against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium Tottenham Hotspur found themselves losing at home to Bournemouth after 5 minutes and looking thoroughly unconvincing.

As the players left the field at half-time, boos cascaded down from the stands at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The negative reception failed to stir the players and the game was lost.

"I prefer them not to boo, but I understand,” said coach Thomas Frank after the game.

“It was not a good performance today and they have high expectations, which is absolutely fair. I think let's say if we perform even better and still lose the football match today, I don't think we hit the level we should.

“I think the players gave everything and then that's the foundation and put their hearts out there, but football-wise wise we didn't hit our top level today."

Bournemouth, it should be said, are no pushover; they showed time and again last season that the team is more than capable of punching above their weight.

Frank acknowledged this in his postgame remarks.

"We played against a very good Bournemouth team that we know can make it difficult for any team in the league. They played to their strengths. They did that very well and we didn’t handle it well.

“We knew exactly what they came with and we trained for it. We just didn’t handle it well enough in terms of the balls in behind, the second balls, duels in the middle of the park.

“That’s the defensive side and on the offensive side we struggled to find good enough solutions to get through phase one and two so we could get up there and put a bit of pressure on them.

“We only did that in the last 15 where we put on good pressure and could have equalised. I think over the game it was fair that Bournemouth won.”

It’s been well-documented that this has been a transfer window when Tottenham Hotspur has failed to add targets that would boost the squad’s creativity.

Moves for Morgan Gibbs-White and Eberechi Eze have collapsed in embarrassing fashion, much to the annoyance of the Spurs faithful, although the recent addition of Netherlands international Xavi Simons will help.

Having failed to score against Bournemouth, Frank admitted that a lack of creativity was an issue.

“That’s why we signed Simons to have an extra offensive player but I also think on the day with all due respect to our offensive players, none of them hit a high level and that happens sometimes. I’m very aware. I don’t want to say it’s okay, but it’s natural,” he said.

Frank was also at pains to point out that the poor result that followed a statement win wasn’t necessarily a ‘Spursy’ failure but a reflection of the different challenges the team faces.

He said: “It’s also for us to not manage, but play different games. There's one game against City, one kind of football, different kind of football against Burnley. Bournemouth completely different third kind of football and all kinds of football you need to be able to perform against, and we struggled with it.”

Transfers and money are often the focus when a team falters, but the truth is that it’s not new signings that make a difference long-term.

Tottenham’s problem is that, in the past decade, they have regressed from a side with realistic title ambitions to one where Champions League qualification is the most they can hope for.

But, really, there is no reason the club shouldn’t challenge for the Premier League, at the core of the team are players of a quality to match Arsenal or Liverpool.

The problem really has to do with mentality, the fact that even after securing its first trophy in over a decade, the idea of being challengers, the Spursy curse still rears its head.

If Frank is to truly be successful in North London, it will not be because of what happens in the transfer market but by dismantling the idea that the club is inherently inconsistent.

Sometimes, when it comes to bitter feuds between soccer teams, victories off the field can be as sweet as the glories on it.

For several days, Eberechi Eze appeared to be heading to Tottenham Hotspur from Crystal Palace in an $80 million deal. However, just as the move was set to be sealed, there was a twist.

Arch rivals Arsenal swept in at the last minute and hijacked the deal.

It’s the type of transfer that will feel like a derby day win for fans of the Gunners, especially as it also appears to have been enabled by sluggishness.

As Sky Sports News chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol put it: "Today’s a great day to be an Arsenal supporter.

"They have pulled off a real coup here. At the last minute, they matched Spurs’ offer, and it's important to remember Eze himself is an Arsenal supporter.

"His wish was very important in this - Arsenal matched Spurs’ bid of [$80]m including [$10]m in add-ons. Remember, he had a release clause which expired last week which was worth up to $91m.

"I have some sympathy for Spurs. This is not football manager, this is real life. I don’t want to kick Spurs when they're down - I'm trying to see it from the perspective of their hierarchy.

"I think they did everything they could to try to sell the club to Eze. A lot of Spurs fans are asking why they didn’t trigger his release clause before Friday, but maybe they tried to do that and the player could've dragged his feet. Maybe he was keeping his options open.

"Spurs fans are very angry and criticising Daniel Levy and the owners, but I think we should keep things in perspective; these kind of things happen all the time in the window.

“Why didn't Spurs trigger the release clause? It might've needed paying in one lump sum. They might've waited until it expired to get a better deal.”

It didn’t take long for the gushing statements about Eze being the final piece in the jigsaw for Arsenal to emerge.

"Eze is a brilliant signing for Arsenal," former Gunner playmaker Paul Merson said. "It’s a game-changer and a perfect fit.

"Arsenal struggle when teams come to the Emirates and put everyone behind the ball. Teams want to limit the space Arsenal have to play in and they have struggled to break teams down with those tactics.

"We’ve seen it over the last few years where they have struggled to break teams down when it gets right to the business end of a game and the business end of a season.

“For me, that's where Eze comes in at Arsenal. He's got the X-factor and in tight, tight games, he has the ability to break a low block down.”

Yet Again Spurs Are Outflanked

The frustration for Tottenham Hotspur fans is that this is far from a one-off.

A similar scenario occurred when Arsenal swooped for Leandro Trossard in the January 2023 transfer window. His agent claimed Spurs had been in contact for two weeks, but the Gunners struck an agreement in 24 hours.

Spurs were in advanced talks with Porto one year earlier regarding a move for Luis Díaz. However, negotiations dragged on, and the club was beaten by a more efficient Liverpool, which wrapped up the transfer in a matter of days.

Those are just a few of the most recent examples; the club also lost out on Michy Batshuayi in 2016 for dithering and Adama Traoré in 2022. However, the most embarrassing last-minute gazumping was Willian, who’d completed a Spurs medical only to wear Chelsea's blue.

The failure to sign Eze represents the second transfer slip-up of the summer after a move for Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White collapsed spectacularly.

Writing in the BBC’s Fans' Voice section, Spurs supporter Bardi expressed this frustration.

"It’s not so much the player, it's what the failed transfer of Eberechi Eze means long-term for a club that at some point has to negotiate with other Premier League teams.

"Daniel Levy’s reign has seen an upturn in fortune and fortunes at Spurs, but they still seem unable to compete and complete transfers.

"With Morgan Gibbs-White’s move to Spurs in pieces, Eze seemed the next logical step, especially with top-four rivals out of the equation, but somehow Levy and Spurs failed to get it over the line.

"Who moved the line depends on where you stand in the great Levy debate, but what’s clear is that he seems unable to work with other Premier League clubs.

"Levy’s self-promotion over the years as an "always-on" figure, someone involved with every aspect of the club, has made him a trophy. Over his 24 years at the wheel, he's broken relationships across the league and Europe. Just compare how easy it is for Arsenal to pry players from Chelsea and now Palace.

"Premier League chairmen know what to expect from him. They expect to be "drawn over the coals," and they’ve had enough. People want to move quickly and get on with the business of selling and buying players. Once so adept at negotiating, Levy is now a VHS in a streaming world—everyone has moved on."

Levy's defence is that Spurs are very rarely short-changed. But you can hardly argue that the times a rival has outflanked them were a blessing in disguise; in most cases, the players went on to great success. Tottenham Hotspur fans will just pray that isn't the case with Eze.

Eberechi Eze is a man in-demand. The 27-year-old is wanted by both Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur with the two North London rivals hoping to complete a deal for the England international before the end of the summer transfer window. Eze could cost as much as $80m, reflecting his match-winning quality.

Last season was an excellent one for Eze who registered eight goals and eight assists in 34 Premier League appearances. He was also a key figure as Crystal Palace won the FA Cup, sensationally beating Manchester City in the final to lift the first piece of silverware in the club’s 119-year history. Eze is a legend at Selhurst Park.

Such a talent, however, deserves a higher platform and Eze seems destined to be granted this before the summer transfer window closes. However, it’s yet to be decided whether he will be wearing an Arsenal or Spurs jersey. There’s reason to believe the 27-year-old would be a good fit for both North London outfits.

Arsenal has been forced into the market for a new attacker following news of Kai Havertz’s knee injury. Eze is capable of playing as a number 10 or on the left wing, but his signing would free up Gabriel Martinelli to operate through the middle. He would also give the Gunners a different dimension with his dribbling ability.

Spurs could also be a good fit for Eze. Thomas Frank is remoulding the Europa League winners in his own image with Tottenham already apparently stronger having pushed Paris Saint-Germain all the way in the Super Cup and beaten Burnley in the opening game of the 2025/26 Premier League campaign.

Frank likes his teams to attack open space at speed and this is where Eze could offer a lot. Tottenham also needs to find goals from other sources and Eze would bring plenty in this regard with his willingness to get forward and shoot from in and around the penalty area. His positivity would improve Spurs as an attacking proposition.

Eze might be more of a key figure at Tottenham than Arsenal. However, at Arsenal the 27-year-old would be part of a team that is targeting the Premier League title. Spurs, on the other hand, is merely aiming to finish in the top five and put itself in a position to build on last season’s triumph in the Europa League.

At 27, Eze is at a critical juncture in his career. His route to the top of the English soccer has seen him progress through the lower leagues to the point he is now a proven difference-maker at Premier League level. Arsenal and Tottenham would both be lucky to have him, but only one can.

His trademark pigeon celebration is the same. Richarlison quite possibly isn’t. The number nine was one of the leading lights from the opening weekend of the Premier League, scoring twice as Tottenham Hotspur defeated promoted side Burnley on Saturday. The reinvigorated Brazilian, with the momentum and backing to finally become a prolific forward at Spurs, best embodies a team on the up.

It’s worth noting that a similar tape has played before. Richarlison has previously been an effective striker, while Tottenham, at the beginning of ex-coach Ange Postecoglou’s tenure, picked up 26 points from a possible 30 to start the 2023/24 league campaign. In both cases, neither developed into a genuine force in the division. And it’s only the first match this time around.

Richarlison’s character arc is significant, though. Fewer than 18 months ago, the Seleção international spoke bravely about his battles against depression following the World Cup in 2022 to ESPN. Being a professional athlete, with its expectations and incessant scrutiny from the stadium to the digital space, brings challenges regardless of the attractive pay packets. He now looks in a much better place, which is great to see.

Many (guilty here) would have chosen his striking partner, Dominic Solanke, as the apex of their Fantasy Football teams. However, the ex-Everton frontman seems to have the advantage over Solanke, spearheading the lineup and swivelling his long limbs to net two excellent goals and start on the right footing. Richarlison has rough edges to his game. Still, you don’t rack up half a century of caps for Brazil without having clear strengths.

Someone key to the 28-year-old’s fortunes is Spurs coach Thomas Frank. In Richarlison, he likely sees a physical competitor from whom he can extract the best for the function of the lineup. Away from the tactics whiteboard, the Dane—once a teacher—could be the mentor Richarlison requires. Ivan Toney, Yoanne Wissa, and Bryan Mbeumo were the beneficiaries at Brentford—Frank’s former club.

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“I always liked Richarlison,” said Frank when asked about how the South American fits his plans amid talk of him leaving this summer. “I always thought he was good when he played for Everton. When he came to Tottenham, we all knew he had struggled with some injuries or been unlucky with them. So, we’re very aware that we need to build him up and protect him. We can’t say, after playing two games back-to-back, where he did well in both, that we are out of the woods. We need to prove it for a longer time. But the early signs are good.”

Watch Out For Dark Horse Tottenham

Tottenham is not even at the periphery of discussions around which names are best-placed to compete for the Premier League title this term, with Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, and Chelsea getting the most attention in that regard. Having won a rare trophy in May and being nearly guaranteed to upgrade on its 16th-place league finish, Spurs can approach the season without any major weight on their shoulders. The only pressure could be financial, namely qualifying again for the Champions League and the riches it brings.

If only the Premier League table were considered, Morgan Gibbs-White's move from Nottingham Forest to Tottenham Hotspur would be a total non-starter.

It's inconceivable that the talisman of the 7th-best team in the division would be pursued or persuaded to join a side that finished just above the relegation zone.

But glory in the Europa League final against Manchester United means Spurs is more than the worst team in the league that wasn't relegated. Victory provides the club with Champions League soccer and evidence that silverware can be won in Tottenham.

In reality, it is an asterisk that obscures the greater overall trend from last season, which was that the Reds have a better trajectory than the Spurs.

As speculation about his future swirled, Gibbs-White reported back for preseason training with Forest and has already featured in friendly games for the club.

Perhaps the use of a player wanted by another team shouldn't come as a surprise, given how reluctant the Reds are to let him leave.

Forest's position is that Gibbs-White is not for sale, and it's even been suggested that the club could take legal action against Tottenham Hotspur over its pursuit after Thomas Frank's side triggered a confidential release clause.

According to his teammates, Gibbs-White has not let the furore affect him on the training field.

"Morgan is a professional. I don't really know the ins and outs of that, but he was here today, he was playing, training with us, staying fit as normal," said fullback Ola Aina.

"At the end of the day, we're all professionals. We've got a job to do and that's what Morgan's doing right now, keeping it professional."

The pain of Gibbs-White's potential departure is worsened by another recent departure from the East Midlands.

Anthony Elanga, another of Forest's key men last season, recently agreed to move to Newcastle United for around $70 million.

Losing two of their most important players has understandably caused concern for Nottingham Forest supporters, who are keen to build on their recent success.

"[The Gibbs-White transfer is] certainly one that Forest could have been doing without and one that has got the fans worried," BBC Radio Nottingham's Colin Fray said on the local station's Shut Up And Show More Football podcast.

"On the back of the exit of Anthony Elanga to Newcastle, fans were willing to accept that a big sale might be necessary this summer because that's life in the days of PSR and the Premier League. Although disappointed with that possibility and subsequent reality, people accepted that.

"But, to have this right on the heel of the Elanga deal caused a lot of concern among supporters, and still is. It is a moving situation and things may change quickly - but it is messy, it is horrible, Forest don't want to be there in that situation. I'm fairly sure Gibbs-White doesn't either."

"It's going to be interesting to see how it plays out from here.

"Most thought it would be ironed out and the transfer go through. Not many were expecting him back at training and here he is. That is another twist in the story.

"Forest have set their stall out that they aren't looking for a quick resolution. They want to keep him."

As Fray correctly points out, Forest's decision to dispose of its most talented players is not driven by either a financial imperative or a sporting decision.

Profit and Sustainability Rules require the club to keep losses at a certain level, and the Premier League has already docked points for past failure to reach the required threshold at the specific deadline.

Although European soccer promises to bring revenue next year to help counteract any expenditure until those games are played, the cash remains a future rather than a current benefit.

But it's frustrating. Forest were one of last season's most exciting English soccer disrupters. They were outsiders from the established status quo whose exceptional performances put the more established order to shame.

Just as Aston Villa managed to gatecrash the Champions League places and were forced to sell key personnel, Forest find themselves in the infuriating position of not being able to build on last year's success.

Like the Birmingham side, they have a storied history that includes European glory and fans who feel they have the right to dream of sustained improvement.

But the function of rules on spending has consistently demonstrated one thing: the upwardly mobile will have their wings clipped.

Since PSR was introduced, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, and Nottingham Forest have improved the Premier League's competitiveness by challenging at the top of the table, only to plateau or regress because they were unable to invest in that potential.

Meanwhile, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur have wasted vast sums as they blundered downwards. However, they remain unlikely to be overtaken by more dynamic rivals because PSR will always slow this progress.

However, BBC Sport football news reporter Nick Mashiter is one of the few willing to offer Forest fans reason to be optimistic.

He highlighted that there has been a good track record of reinvestment in recent years.

"It sounds very very boring, but Forest know exactly what they are doing," he explained in a BBC article.

"It sounds strange when you are selling two of your best players, but they have targets - long-term targets in the likes of PSV Eindhoven's Johan Bakayoko, James McAtee of Manchester City and Liverpool's Harvey Elliott.

"Bakayoko was on the list when they signed Elanga initially. So, I think it is a case of 'trust the process' with Forest because over the past couple of years they have shown they know what they are doing.

"It is worth pointing out that Forest have always improved on what they had. Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi came in for a combined £16.5m and they replaced Brennan Johnson, who went to Tottenham for about £47.5m.

"They have improved since then. That was two years ago and they have done the same. Orel Mangala left, Elliot Anderson came in. Moussa Niakhate left and Murillo came in.

"So they have always improved on the players they have lost."

Forest fans will be hoping that proves to be the case, but it is a shameful indictment of PSR that they cannot build on the success they so brilliantly delivered last year.

The fascinating managerial dynamic of summer 2025 is, undoubtedly, Ange Postecoglou and Tottenham Hotspur.

Having delivered a European trophy and the team’s worst league finish in decades, it’s almost impossible to think of another situation where the two measurements for performance are so extreme.

The club is weighing up whether to persist with the man who’s just ended years of pain whilst simultaneously piloting the team on an alarmingly downward trajectory.

In 2011/12, Roberto Di Matteo guided Chelsea to its inaugural Champions League success whilst finishing 6th in the division, and a year later, Roberto Martinez won the FA Cup the season he got Wigan Athletic relegated from the Premier League.

However, in both instances, the managers had significant mitigation. Di Matteo was drafted in halfway through the campaign and also won the FA Cup.

When Wigan finally dropped out of the league, most people accepted Martinez had consistently performed miracles in keeping such an under-resourced club in the top flight for as long as he had.

Postecoglou has no such excuses.

He has done something remarkable by breaking Tottenham Hotspur’s 17-year wait for a trophy.

But he’s also overseen the worst Premier League finish in the club’s history.

In addition to some truly awful results, there has been a downturn in performances so terrible it’s hard to see how the club can turn things around.

Then there is Postecoglou himself. At times, he has stuck too faithfully to his philosophy only to see it fail, but he has also abandoned it for certain games in which the team looked equally awful.

In addition to those struggles, he lost touch with the media and fell out so badly with the fans that there have been multiple confrontations with the terraces.

Having not been a manager who’d attack the hierarchy or lowered expectations, as predecessors Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte had done, Postecoglou also let this asset slip when he broke ranks in January and moaned about a lack of reinforcements.

But, and it’s a giant, but how do you fire the guy who’s just broken the nearly two-decade wait for silverware?

It’s a point made by the man himself.

“I will be honest, I have been finding it really weird talking about my future when we have done something unprecedented,” Ange Postecoglou said.

“I have had to answer the questions because no one else at the club is in the position to do so, I guess.

“I have got no doubt, though, that this could be a real defining moment for this club because wherever I have been, I have made an impact where I have brought success to a club that hasn’t had it for a while.”

“You just have to look at those clubs’ trajectory; even after I left, they are still competing for things. I really think this is a moment in time where this club could push on and be a real contender for honors on a yearly basis.”

The Fan Divide

The SB Nation Tottenham Hotspur community website, ‘Cartilage Free Captain,’ provides a fascinating insight into the divide among Tottenham Hotspur fans.

The editorial team got the two sides of the debate to each pen an opinion piece arguing what they believe should happen to the Australian coach.

Dustin George-Miller offers the ‘Ange In’ perspective, praising his adaptability and claiming there are caveats to the awful league form, namely the squad’s lack of depth.

“He’s maybe the only Spurs manager in my fandom who actually seems to get what it means to be a Tottenham Hotspur fan,” George-Miller wrote.

“After several years of managers like Mourinho and Conte, is it wrong to want to stick with a manager who is a supremely good guy?”

On the other side, Ben Daniels scathingly rejects the idea that winning a trophy changes more fundamental problems.

He said: “Before the Europa League final, Ange had delivered the worst domestic season in our history with a record number of league losses so staggering that no team in the Premier League has ever survived them.

“He coached a team that largely played insipid football, lacked any tactical identity beyond “run fast,” couldn’t balance multiple competitions, and suffered an injury crisis severe enough it’s hard to imagine he’s not at least somewhat responsible for it.

“Firing him would have been the least controversial decision an owner has ever made.”

Tellingly, the Cartilage Free Captain team member who penned the piece also takes an ‘agnostic‘ position, not siding with either.

You can sympathize with that perspective because being a fan is an emotional business. The elation or despair that soccer brings has a habit of shutting down the rational elements of the brain.

The harsh reality that would push a Spurs fan to nail their colors to the mast would be to rewatch the final and then decide.

In a thoroughly awful game, Spurs played poorly but managed to just about sneak past Manchester United with an incredibly scruffy goal.

As Guardian sports journalist Jonathan Wilson told the Off The Ball podcast, Tottenham fans who shifted their position based on the outcome of that game should question what about the match they saw that wasn’t known before.

“Why has that two hours of essentially random football [changed things],” he said, “Tottenham completed 115 passes and the game was 99 minutes.

“So they completed a pass every 52 seconds, which I would say is on the low side. Even in a sort of [poor] Sunday kickabout that’s on the low side. They completed 62% of their passes. If you kick the ball randomly, you complete 50%.

“And that’s convinced you he should stay?”

There is only one way Frode Thomassen can describe FK Bodø/Glimt’s run to the semi-finals of this season’s Europa League.

“It would be wrong not to say it’s a fairytale, because it is,” the CEO of the club from northern Norway tells me in an interview.

On Thursday, May 1, Bodø/Glimt travels to London to play Tottenham Hotspur in a stadium that could fit the entire 55,000 population of Bodø with space for several thousand more. The return leg will take place in Bodø (Glimt means “flash”), a town 140 miles north of the Arctic Circle, on Thursday, May 8.

No Norwegian club has reached the final of a European club competition. These are not only the biggest matches in Bodø/Glimt’s 109-year history — they are arguably the biggest ever for Norwegian club soccer.

The difference in revenue between Bodø/Glimt and Spurs shows the financial chasm between the clubs. Bodø/Glimt turns over about €30 million ($34.1m) annually. Spurs’ most recent accounts showed revenue of £528 million ($707.8m) — about 20 times higher.

But Thomassen is not fazed.

“Luckily, we do not compete about how much money we have,” he says.

“We shall compete 11 against 11 on the football pitch.”

A Fairytale Eight Years in the Making

The Norwegian champions’ remarkable run to the semi-finals has included victories over FC Twente, Olympiacos and, in the quarter-finals, a dramatic penalty shootout win against Lazio.

“I think young people, when they go into a home for the elderly in 70 years, they will still remember that night,” says Thomassen, who was in Rome for the “emotional roller-coaster” match.

He sees the season not as a one-off success, but the culmination of a plan to transform the club and its culture.

In 2016, the club’s centenary year, Bodø/Glimt suffered relegation from Norway’s top flight. The following season, it was promoted and survived with an annual budget of €4.2 million ($4.78m).

After relegation, the club had hired Bjorn Mannsverk, a former fighter pilot with the Norwegian Air Force who served in Afghanistan and Libya. As the team’s mental coach, Mannsverk was tasked with helping the players recover from the “collective mental breakdown” that came during the season the club was relegated.

Mannsverk was not a soccer fan. Despite being based at the Bodø air base for 20 years, his first day working with the club was just the second time he had been to Bodø/Glimt’s Aspmyra Stadion stadium.

But using techniques he had learned with his squadron, including awareness training and meditation, Mannsverk worked with players to nurture an open, trusting culture, where “performance” is valued above results.

“We can win games and be disappointed (with our performance) and we can lose games and be not that disappointed, but more happy with what we did,” he tells me.

Players are encouraged to practice mindfulness, share feedback and challenge one another without fear.

There is a focus on continuous improvement, with a mindset that “the best performance is always ahead.”

“If it works for a fighter pilot, I believe it’s going to work for a football player,” Mannsverk says.

“You can always become a little bit better. What we did yesterday is not necessarily good enough for tomorrow.”

With a reputation for playing free-flowing, attacking soccer, the club won its first Eliteserien league title in 2020. It won again in 2021, 2023 and 2024.

Qualification for European competitions has brought memorable matches against historic giants of European soccer like AC Milan, Manchester United and Celtic. Bodø/Glimt has not been making up the numbers. As well as twice beating Celtic, it secured a 6-1 win over an AS Roma side managed by Jose Mourinho in a 2021 UEFA Conference League match.

The club is currently ranked the best men’s team in Scandinavia.

“I think mindset is the most dominant factor,” Mannsverk says.

“It shouldn’t be possible what we’re doing. But it’s not a miracle — it’s hard work and mentality.”

What Spurs Can Expect From Bodø/Glimt

When Spurs travels to Norway for the second leg, the players will find an artificial grass pitch in an 8,270-capacity stadium open to the elements and with a stand from 1966.

The stadium sits only 400 metres from Bodø Airport, surrounded by mountains. The nearest large towns are 10 hours drive to the north and south.

Before the first-leg match against Lazio, which Bodø/Glimt won 2-0, snow had to be cleared from the pitch before kick-off.

“I don’t think it will be snowing (for the match against Spurs). (But) Of course it can be snowy in the first week of May,” Thomassen says.

“When Tottenham or Lazio take a flight to Bodø and come to Aspmyra, it must be like going back in time 50 years. You meet nature and you meet football in its purest sense.”

Even if the weather is not, the welcome Spurs receive will be warm. English soccer is popular in Norway and even some members of the Bodø/Glimt staff are lifelong Spurs fans.

Thomassen could have sold out the home leg “seven times” and many more fans wanted to travel to London for the first leg than the 3,000 allocation. For the group match away against Manchester United last November, 6,714 fans filled the away end — more than 10% of the Bodø population.

‘The Pressure Is On Tottenham’

Before the biggest matches of their lives, the Bodø/Glimt players will prepare as if it were any other game.

“That's important for us. Don't do something special with special games, because that will introduce some more stress. So we would like it to be kind of business as usual,” Mannsverk says.

Awareness training has taught players it is normal to feel nerves, but they have learned how to put them as “background noise”.

“You can change your perspective and say that if I'm not a little bit nervous then I'm doing something wrong,” Mannsverk says.

“The pressure is on Tottenham. We have to be brave enough to play our game.”

As revenue has increased from additional match receipts and European prize money, Bodø/Glimt has moved away from a successful player-trading model to focus more on performance in European competitions. Yet it remains committed to financial sustainability.

Last year, soccer finance publication Off The Pitch named Bodø/Glimt the most “financially-sustainable club” in European soccer.

Some of the revenue from recent seasons will be reinvested in a new, 10,000-capacity stadium, to open in 2027.

Since re-joining the top tier of Norwegian soccer in 2017, the club has played about 80 European matches with a settled squad and backroom staff.

“It’s many people carrying the same values, the same way of thinking, the same way of playing,” Thomassen says.

“We have met teams from many countries that, in one way or another, should be better than us. When you meet teams from the five biggest leagues in Europe, of course a club like Bodø/Glimt will be the underdog.

“But we have survived and we believe in ourselves. We’re going into a semi-final against Tottenham and we really believe that we can go to the final.”

There is a scenario where Tottenham Hotspur supporters’ pain and misery becomes a distant memory.

Perhaps as they relax on the sun loungers on vacation at the season’s end, the tepid, disjointed performances that have seen the club languishing around the relegation zone won’t feel that important.

The problem is Spurs need to win the Europa League for that to happen. Not that this is an impossible event.

There’s a decent chance of success; the North London team is better than semi-final opponent Bodo/Glimt and would fancy its chances against Manchester United or Athletic Bilbao.

But the insipid Premier League displays that have pushed the club to the lower reaches of the table mean there is a scarcity of belief that such an outcome will come to pass.

Fortunately, the man who appears most convinced sits in the Tottenham Hotspur dugout.

Having been interpreted as promising to win a trophy this season, thanks to a comment about consistently delivering silverware in his second campaign, Ange Postecoglou appears to see it as a point of personal pride.

“Our fans have been through a tough time. Hopefully this gives them something to look forward to,” Postecoglou said in the aftermath of his side beating Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter final.

“I’m the same coach that I was yesterday. The players have never lost belief. People like to mock and diminish my achievements, but I’ll leave that there.

“I don’t care; it doesn’t bother me; it doesn’t affect what I do. For me, it’s always about the dressing room. Do the players believe? Do the staff believe?

“That’s much more important than what others may make of me.”

In a manner that has become expected in the past few weeks, the Australian coach added a barbed comment about his future.

“So, unfortunately for a lot of you, you’re going to have to put up with me for a little bit longer.”

The Austrian manager is ireful because he believes he’s been receiving unfair criticism from fans and journalists in the past few months.

However, doubts about Postecoglou have arisen because his team appears less sure of his methods this season.

Last year, there were some moments when Tottenham Hotspur’s bold approach got them into trouble, but you could rarely argue that the team hadn’t bought into the patterns of play.

This year, the same methodology is in place. However, the players don’t move as fast or with the same level of conviction.

As with the first season, it’s arguable that injuries have taken their toll. Postecoglou’s problem is that this excuse is starting to wear thin.

As Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher pointed out, listening to the coach speak can sometimes feel like we’re listening to the same thing on repeat.

“I think like when you listen to managers, you feel like you get the same interview because he’s talking about the same problems, but it’s his job to fix them,” the ex-Liverpool defender said.

“We shouldn’t forget they are in poor form – they lost last week at Wolves 4-2. The worry for me a little bit if I was a Spurs supporter, the manager’s talking about we play good football, we’ve let ourselves down with a couple of mistakes.

Unsurprisingly, Postecoglou refutes any suggestion that his team doesn’t have the same faith.

“They’ve been so united in believing in what we’re trying to achieve here,” the Australian said.

“And that is what gave me heart all along that if we got our own slice of luck in terms of getting some players back [from injury], that I really believed this team could achieve. That is what keeps driving me.

“Not at any stage have I felt they lost any belief in me or what we’re doing. That is crucial when you’re having a difficult season, but there is also a season of opportunity there.”

Spurs’ plight under Postecoglou is somewhat baffling, but only to the extent that Antonio Conte’s implosion and Jose Mourinho’s vicious self-laceration before him were mysteries.

On paper, the club has so much going in its favor. It has one of the division’s best and most profitable stadiums, a vast global reach, a young squad filled with talented players, and a reputation as one of the Premier League’s biggest teams.

Financially, few compare to Tottenham Hotspur’s astute business acumen, as football finance expert at the University of Liverpool Kieran Maguire pointed out on Rio Ferdinand’s podcast recently.

“They are the most profitable club in the history of the Premier League. By far,” he told the ex-Manchester United star, “Best stadium, lowest wages compared to the money coming in.

“As a business, if I take away my football hat and put on my business hat, it’s absolutely perfect. And also they don’t have to pay any bonuses for winning trophies.”

Some would argue that this profitability hinders the club’s success. But that doesn’t really bear out when you look at the money it has spent in comparison to other teams. The club shows plenty of ambition and, contrary to popular belief, hasn’t been afraid of the transfer market in recent years.

If you look at the managers the club has attracted in the past four years, you will see that they include some of the most sought-after coaches in the game.

But for some reason, things keep souring. As if they are cursed, the men in the dugout at some stage start turning anger inwards, either at the hierarchy or, as has been the case quite often with Ange Postecoglou, supporters.

It’s hard to suggest any concrete reason that explains this. It is intangible; a vibe or culture causing the curse.

Yet you can’t help but feel that if silverware is delivered for the first time in around two decades, it is something that can be changed.

“If people want me to change my approach, it is not going to change.”

Ange Postecoglou, the head coach of Tottenham Hotspur, has made it clear he will not compromise the beliefs that have previously brought him success.

The hierarchy at the club must decide if it still believes in Postecoglou.

Spurs’ chairman Daniel Levy faces a familiar crossroads: stick with a head coach or appoint a new man to lead another “new era”?

If Spurs part ways with Postecoglou this summer, it will be searching for a fifth permanent manager in five-and-a-half years. Under Levy’s 24 years leading the club, Spurs has cycled through various managerial styles. José Mourinho and Antonio Conte, proven winners with pragmatic but effective styles, were appointed to deliver the club its first trophy since 2008.

When that failed, Levy pivoted back to a project-focused approach with Postecoglou. The idea was to develop the squad instead of expecting instant success and, importantly, return the attacking philosophy Levy calls part of Spurs’ “DNA”.

Postecoglou joined Spurs in June, 2023, and made an impressive start. But with hugely disappointing results and performances this season, patience, a virtue rarely associated with Levy, is wearing thin.

The decision to keep or sack Postecoglou is one of the biggest calls Levy has had to make. Fans have largely turned on him rather than the Australian coach, intensifying the pressure to make the right choice. Levy deserves a huge amount of credit for the way he has transformed the club, especially off the pitch. But a perceived lack of investment on it, coupled with a lack of silverware, has seen some fans turn on the chairman.

Another managerial change could further alienate supporters who are weary of “new eras” that fail to deliver trophies. Yet sticking with Postecoglou carries its own risks. If Spurs were to start next season poorly, it could be forced into the less-than-ideal scenario of finding a new coach mid-season.

Should Levy decide the time is right for another new head coach, Andoni Iraola would be an attractive appointment. The Spanish tactician has been linked with Spurs thanks to the excellent job he is doing with Bournemouth. He shares similarities with Mauricio Pochettino, whose tenure at Spurs is fondly remembered. Both got opportunities in the Premier League after managing Spanish clubs, and both have proved themselves with smaller English teams.

Appointing Iraola — assuming he would be interested in the job — would still be a significant gamble. He tactics may need to be adjusted for the Spurs squad. And a slow start would pile even more pressure on the players and Levy. The Tottenham Hotspur stadium could quickly become a toxic environment.

The frustration among supporters is understandable. After a promising start last season, when Spurs briefly looked like title challengers, Postecoglou’s team has badly underperformed this campaign. Spurs currently sits 14th in the table and seems unlikely to finish in the top half —potentially its worst season for two decades. It is a far cry from playing in the Champions League, a competition fit for the club’s state-of-the-art stadium and world-class training facilities.

Mitigating factors exist, most notably a brutal injury list that has deprived the team of key players for extended periods. But even with a near full-strength squad, Spurs has lost the attacking verve that defined Postecoglou’s philosophy. Defensively, the team remain fragile and far too easy to play through, a recurring problem that has not been addressed.

One glimmer of hope remains for the season to be a success: the Europa League. Winning it would secure the trophy Spurs so desperately crave and, more importantly from a business perspective, qualification for the lucrative Champions League. Two matches against Eintracht Frankfurt are to come next month, but given Spurs’ current form, few would bet on them going all the way.

If Postecoglou does stay, Spurs must back him in the summer transfer window. Reinforcements are essential for the head coach’s high-intensity style to be effective across a full season. The squad is crying out for a disciplined defensive midfielder capable of breaking up opposition attacks and progressing the ball forward. The forward line also needs reinforcements. Son Heung-min has been a tremendous servant to the club, but at 32, his influence appears to be waning.

Another summer of uncertainty looms for Tottenham Hotspur and Levy’s next move will define the club’s immediate future. If he believes it is worth persevering with Postecoglou’s vision, he must back him. If not, he needs to be as certain as he can be that a new appointment will take the club forward.

Spurs fans are tired of false dawns. If the manager won’t change, the club must decide if it is time, once again, to change the manager.

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