As the summer continues and we steamroller on towards the start of the Premier League season, I am already beginning to feel the weight of expectation. It started when Tottenham finished fifth in the 2005-6 season and then followed it up with fifth last season.

Now the ‘Special One’ Jose Mourinho is expecting Spurs to challenge for the title and even the likes of Rafa Benitez and Sir Alex are making reference to Tottenham in the mix for the league. As expectations increase, I worry whether we will actually achieve anything or if we will crash and burn like so many other Spurs sides of such promise.

It started with Gareth Bale choosing Tottenham over Manchester United and was followed by the headline-grabbing £16.5m purchase of Darren Bent and then the reported outlay of £8.1m on Younes Kaboul. Tottenham are a club with a proud history and you only ever quote that if you are devoid of recent success. Yet suddenly, they are being tipped to break into the Big Four and potentially push Arsenal into UEFA Cup obscurity in the process. Message boards up and down the country are bombarded with “Spurs for the title?” discussions, there is a huge feelgood factor around the club and bigger expectations. Are we about to look ahead instead of back?

'As the fixtures were announced for the new season, I was absolutely distraught at the prospect of playing Sunderland away first'


The bigger they are, the harder they fall. It is what parents tell their kids about the bullies at school but it should be what Tottenham fans are telling themselves. I would probably see myself as an optimist, but pessimism is easier! It would be nice to think we can kick on this season and under “He’s got no hair and we don’t care, Martin Jol", finally achieve Champions League football. The problem is, I feel the whole Premier League is stronger this season and it is going to take some effort, over 38 games, to end up fourth. Equally, so much is expected of the squad you just know they are not going to cope.

As the fixtures were announced for the new season, I was absolutely distraught at the prospect of playing Sunderland away first. As a Tottenham supporter who lives in the North East, this represents a brilliant opportunity to see the squad kick off the season, but the Black Cats are the worst possible fixture. The Stadium of Light will be packed, Keano (as in the Roy version) will have them hungry and ready, Sky will be there hoping for an upset and Spurs are generally slow starters.

However, from a Spurs point of view, this is most certainly a winnable three points and against one of the new teams coming into the league, we should be winning the game. It could be three points, it should be three points.

So what will we do next season? Will it be a top-four finish? A Cup win? I am not sure, I will be too busy hiding behind the sofa afraid to watch the television just in case we do not live up to expectations. It is like sports day all over again when you are expected to win the egg-and-spoon race. The nerves get to you and you have drop the egg five times before the race even starts and the little kid that never wins anything strolls past you and picks up the rosette for first. Oh the shame. It’s not that you came second and got your own rosette (although not as big as the winner, of course); it’s the fact you were expected to win and you did not live up to expectations.

The weight of expectations, it gets to us all.