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Spot the connection: at Stamford Bridge, José Mourinho laments what he describes as an “empty stadium” as the Chelsea spectators quietly observe the overture of a derby game against QPR. |
A couple of weeks later at White Hart Lane, the PA controller slams up the volume to eardrum bursting levels the very second the final whistle blows on Tottenham’s demoralising home defeat to Stoke City.
The explanation from the club is that they had a new person manning the PA system who was on their first day in the job. Although it did seem slightly fishy that they handled the equipment normally until that sudden blast to coincide with the exact moment Spurs fans might have wished to voice their discontent.
The relationship between Premier League teams and their supporters is in a strange place. It has become easy to feel disconnected and distanced. The combination of heavyweight ticket prices and a prevailing sense that fans who express their feelings are viewed from the top as some kind of minor irritant – “Thank you for your interest in our affairs,” as the former Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood so memorably put it – can be a discouraging mix.
Emmanuel Adebayor’s admission about how inhibited some Tottenham players feel about playing at White Hart Lane emphasised how thorny this issue has become. While some Spurs fans could empathise with how difficult it is to shake off the malady that has settled at White Hart Lane, others quite reasonably feel they have been patiently supportive for a long time and pay more than enough to be entitled to express their displeasure.
The Mourinho observation was particularly interesting as he queried a fanbase that should be the happiest in the land given the quality of football and positive results that are flowing at Chelsea. His comments reflected the concept of the crowd as an audience, there to be entertained rather than fuel for the energy of the performance and an essential part of the show.
Clubs, however, cannot have it both ways. They want an atmosphere that thrills as well as one that serves the PR perception that the Premier League is unrivalled in terms of
excitement. Yet if fans bring a more critical voice, well, it is blind-eye and deaf-ear time from on high. That is where the disconnect is so keenly felt.
According to the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust, a couple of Levy Out banners were confiscated by stewards at White Hart Lane over the weekend. Meanwhile, a couple of hours later, outside the Liberty Stadium, a pair of Arsenal fans vented thinly veiled disgust at one another’s contrasting views on Arsène Wenger. But even the most heated debates have no impact on the unerring support the majority owner Stan Kroenke maintains for the manager.
At the AGM, when the narrative turned to why another defender was not signed, Sir Chips Keswick’s response outlined how Wenger was never questioned by the board. “If he has a plan, we back him. If he doesn’t we won’t say anything.” And so the status quo goes on.
The storm clouds are hovering over north London and covering both football clubs. Part of the frustration is in the stasis. It is not particularly surprising to see those cutaways of Daniel Levy with his hard stare as Tottenham strain to show progress under another manager. It is par for the course to see Wenger looking thin-lipped and irritated by the effects of predictably vulnerable defending.
Fans of Tottenham and Arsenal do not tend to agree with each other on many things but they appear to be linked in feeling similarly vexed about why their clubs experience Groundhog seasons and seem to have their heads in the sand when it comes to breaking the repetition.
Both clubs tick over so healthily from a financial perspective it is hard for either board to accept any finger-pointing. However, the question of whether they have put in place the healthiest environment for their clubs to flourish is valid. It is a question that comes from completely different angles – Wenger has such an incredible amount of power he seems to be beyond questions from above at Arsenal and Tottenham’s relentless managerial turnover is a completely different story.
Both clubs seem stuck in their cycles, though, unable to improve beyond the annual chase for fourth or a Europa League position.
Being financially viable is not success and fans have every right to say that loud and clear.
