......long live the king!

Today I woke up to the news that Glenn Hoddle and John Gorman have been fired by Spurs. It came as a bit of a shock really - even though we've had such an appalling start to the season. Even on Saturday - our second thumping at home in as many weeks, the crowd were still singing 'Glenn Hoddle's blue and white army'.

I have such mixed feelings - I agree that the performances have been dire, I agree the team don't seem to play like a team - they've undoubtedly got talent and it's the first time in my memory that we've actually got enough strikers in the squad to make them compete for a place - for years now we've managed with two or three strikers and, as one was usually injured, the other two never had to compete - they knew they would get a game however poor their performance the previous week.

BUT my life-long love of Spurs was fuelled by Hod the God on the pitch. He was truly a magical, gifted player whose performance would make you gasp with its sheer brilliance. I loved him. I fantasised about having his babies when I was a teenager. I remember one day, waiting outside the club after a game he signed my poster - I've still got it. It's a treasured possession. I have seen many of the truly gifted footballers in my years of watching the game - Pele, Best, Charlton etc etc and I still rate Glenn amongst the true greats. He had a way of making it look effortless. When he left us and went to Monaco I cried - I knew the man was 'Spurs through and through' and it seemed so wrong, as indeed it did when he came back to the UK and played then managed a bunch of other clubs.

I realised I didn't want his babies when I realised he was..... well how can I put this, slightly bonkers - all that stuff with faith healers, then his hugely offensive remarks about the disabled that cost him his England job, then the indiscretions in his personal life all added up to a man who probably wasn't/isn't that nice - but who am I to say - I've never met the man other than a few fleeting seconds when I got his autograph.

So today? I'm incredibly sad that such a great hero of the Lane is unceremoniously dumped, but I also think his tenure as manager wasn't going to bring us the glory that every Spurs fan believes we have a right to. I'm fickle. I want us to win....but I do feel sadness and a sense of loss that he'll probably never feel at home in White Hart Lane again. I want to revive that new season hopefulness and see us win again.

BTW - the scarf and shirt - yes, the scarf is the one bought by Paul Williams and the shirt is an original, not a modern copy. Yes, I was there at a truly glorious occasion!