Shame is one strong word. It covers an even stronger emotion, of course, true shame being, as the philosopher said, “soul-eating”. Shame sparks corrosive introspection. It can do lasting damage.
Shame is not a word or a concept to take on lightly.
We are long-familiar with the inflated language of sport - the use of “tragedy” or “horror” or “beauty” for the everyday – but even so, there was still something ear-pricking about Andre Villas-Boas last Sunday.
After his Tottenham Hotspur team had been assailed 6-0 by Manchester City, AVB said in that croaky bass baritone of his that he and his players should be “ashamed” of the performance.
That Villas-Boas included himself in the collective responsibility could well have been sincere, but it may be only for the record because if the noises emanating from White Hart Lane reflect the feelings inside, AVB’s willingness to accept blame has not convinced.
The Premier League season is not yet one-third complete but the book is open on AVB’s successor.
There has been early money for Michael Laudrup and Glenn Hoddle, for what it’s worth. This is not how it was meant to be in N17 this season.
Last season Spurs were one point off Champions League qualification with their highest points tally (72) since the Premier League went to 38 games in 1995. Gareth Bale scored 21 goals, seven of them winning matches that were drawn until he intervened.
Bale was sold but seven players of first-team quality were signed. In August Tottenham looked ready; Villas-Boas had a strong hand in this his second season at the club.
Not scored
But the 6-0 defeat at City came after a 1-0 home loss to Newcastle and with the league game before that being a 0-0 draw at Everton, it means Spurs have not scored in the league since Roberto Soldado converted an 80th minute penalty against Hull on October 27th. Not how it was supposed to be.
That Hull game was the third time in the league this season that Tottenham, the glory, glory club, had won 1-0 due to a Soldado penalty. The decision to award the late penalty was so ropey that Villas-Boas came as close to apologising as managers get. He deserves some credit for that.
However, AVB’s honest opinion of the penalty was overshadowed by another, one directed at Tottenham supporters. It was about the edgy atmosphere within White Hart Lane that afternoon.
“We weren’t getting any help from anybody and the stadium reflected that,” AVB said. “It was very tense. I don’t intend to send them a warning or hurt their feelings. This is a feeling that invades us in fixtures like this.”
It takes a generous fanbase to forget being ticked off by your club’s manager. Again, Villas-Boas merits praise for being honest, and some fans might agree with him, but it is a delicate path to take and if longevity is an aim, it’s best to find safer ground quickly.
In this era of zealous scrutiny a modern manager must calibrate these things. He has to manage upwards, downwards and sideways. If only the job was about picking an XI and developing a squad over, say, three seasons.
The reality is different and AVB is at a club where he is the eighth manager this century. That is another consideration, the existing culture.
Previously, at Chelsea, AVB was sacked after nine months. Does that experience and this suggest he requires lessons in diplomacy, restraint?
Maybe the 36-year-old feels he has shown enough of both. He was not the sole voice in either Bale’s record departure or in the names of the seven new recruits. But to use “ashamed”?
Latest issue
The power of the word struck again later in the week when reading the latest issue of the Manchester United fanzine United We Stand.
It contains an interview with United’s new ‘executive vice-chairman’ Ed Woodward. Woodward made a curious reference to this United regime’s rapacious search for sponsors and seemed quite happy to say: “All we’re doing is selling diamonds”.
Really quite strange.
But it was later in the fanzine, reviewing United’s recent matches that the following came up.
Describing the deflating 1-1 home draw with Southampton, it was written of David Moyes’s team: “This side may be transitional but into what?”
In its own way “transitional” is as loaded as ashamed. That line could have been written by critics of Andre Villas-Boas, or by the man himself.
“Transitional” may be balsawood compared to the teak of “ashamed” but it has its own freight. It is seen as an excuse as much as an explanation. No fan wants to hear in November that a club’s season is transitional.
Tomorrow at White Hart Lane, Tottenham Hotspur host Manchester United. Both have had seemingly calming midweek wins in Europe – United’s rather more impressive.
With shame hanging in the air down the Lane, Spurs cannot afford to lose without style. United, who drew 2-2 at Cardiff last Sunday, before the romp at Bayer Leverkusen, cannot afford to win without style.
Yes, there is transition, but Tottenham and United have the diamonds to cope. Or they should have.
