Wanting to Win Isn’t a Mentality. It’s a Delusion.

Regular THBN reader Adrian Bell sums it up perfectly: With such 'supporters', who needs an opposition

You Wouldn’t Treat Your Family Like This — So Why Do You Treat Your Football Club This Way?

Well, well, well, the children certainly spat their dummies yesterday.

Amazing how the crap we have bought have taken us to a major European Final.

Spurs have reached one major European final in the last 40 years!

You have to be 'challenged' to come up with that one.

Or still at school!

We haven't reached two semi-finals in one season.

We have done that once in the last 42 years.

Losing mentalities look for the negatives.

What everyone comp,laining is saying is that they do not want us to win a trophy.

Or winning a trophy is irrelevant.

Yet that's what they have been screaming for.

And now they are saying "I don't like the price."

So the shouting was never about winning a trophy.

Which just totally negates their years of argument against Daniel Levy.

Pure hypocricy.

Our own fans frightened to death of winning something.

Total proof I have been right all along.

It's about an agenda.

It's about their own ego.

They have proved they support themselves, not Tottenham Hotspur.

OK, on with today's educational piece for them...

Which takes the form of 7 sections.

Tottenham Hotspur retained the FA Cup in 1982

Section 1: “Support or Sabotage — It Starts in the Mind”

When I played sport, I used to ask myself one simple question:
What’s my role — and how do I make myself essential?

Not flashy. 

Not headline-grabbing.

Essential.

I wasn’t the fastest bowler, but I trained to be the most accurate. 

I wanted the opposition to think they were getting a break from the tearaway at the other end — only to fall to my mind games, swing, seam and slower balls.

Every over, every shot, every run… was mental warfare.
And I trained myself to win that war.

Now compare that to some Tottenham Hotspur fans today.

They talk about loyalty. 

About mentality.

About supporting the club.

But the moment we prioritise cups — as they themselves demanded — and our Premier League form dips as a result of 60+ games with a fatigued injury broken squad…
they collapse.

They abandon the project. 

They turn on the players.

They turn on the manager.

They sulk like schoolchildren because things didn’t go their way.

Let me ask you this:
Would you treat your wife like that?
Your child?
Your business partner, when they’re giving their all but running on empty?

Of course not.

You’d help them. 

You’d think. 

You’d support.

But when it comes to their football club, suddenly the mature, strategic adult vanishes.
Replaced by a 10-year-old mind in an adult shirt.

Spurs supporters are cry babies

Section 2: “You Demanded the Cups. Now You’re Crying About the League?”

This is where the whole thing collapses for the fans with fragile minds.

Because when Tottenham Hotspur crashed out of the cups under previous managers, what did they scream?

"Prioritise the cups!"
"Take the FA Cup seriously!"
"No more bottle jobs!"

So Ange Postecoglou did exactly that.

Injuries and the resulting fatigue ruined the Premier League campaign.

He therefore prioritised. 

He is managing the squad through 60+ games.

He has taken Spurs to a major European final — something this fanbase supposedly dreamed of.

It's only happened once since 1984, before many of today's fans were even born.

And how do you respond?

“Disgraceful performance against Palace!”
“We should be smashing West Ham with our reserves!”
“Ange’s out of his depth!”

They’re not fans.

They’re mental lightweights, looking for a fix.

They don’t understand the game — not really.

And they’ve never understood the grind it takes to win something.

They demand perfection from a backup XI, while refusing to accept reality:

Kulusevski admitted he had 40–50% energy.

That means others did too.

And you want to win games like that?

Get real.

Understand the context.

You don’t win with tired minds, tired legs, and weak mentality.

You win with preparation, vision, and belief in a long-term mission.

Exactly the way I did in my cricketing career — match by match, field by field, tactic by tactic.

Exactly the way I let you know the right way to achieve success.

The fans claiming to have a winning mentality?

They’re not even in the ballpark.

They’re spectators confusing emotion for excellence.

When you're given a chance, don't bottle it

Section 3: “You Were Given the Chance — and You Bottled It”

Ange Postecoglou didn’t just rotate.

He opened the door.

He gave chances.
He gave game time.
He told players: show me you belong in the first XI.

And most of them?

Didn’t show a thing.

Djed Spence — once hailed by fans as the next Cafu — was abysmal.

Lazy. 

Disinterested.

Remember where you were warned about this.

Yeah, that's right, right here.

Because you guys can only see the surface...

You're not strategists.

You don't have that winning mentality thinking.

He had a spotlight moment and shrunk.

That’s not down to tactics. 

That’s mentality.

And you either have one — or you don’t.

I’ve seen it first-hand.

As a teenager, I marshalled players older and bigger than me.

I told them where to be, how to play. 

I led the back line, then I led the front line.

I’ve made strikers look like stars just by telling them where to run.

I’ve shaped school teams into balanced, structured units with attacking patterns — and that was just when I was playing  5-a-side.

I lived it.

That’s why I can spot when someone’s bluffing.

And I can smell the bluff from a mile off — in Spence, in certain squad players, and especially in the fans who think wanting a trophy is the same as preparing for one.

It demonstrates why I'm so hot on mentality training...

It's a difference maker.

Spurs fans stab the club in the back rather than actually support

Section 4: “Fans Who Preach Loyalty — But Wouldn’t Back a Friend This Way”

Let’s get real.

If your wife was struggling… 

Would you scream in her face and threaten to walk out?

If your kid came home with a bad report card after a year of illness, would you turn your back on them and say,

“You’re not good enough for me anymore”?

Of course not.

You’d support them.

You’d ask what they needed.

You’d help them through it.

Because that’s what love does.

That’s what loyalty looks like.

So why does all that vanish the moment a football club hits adversity?

Why do some of you become hostile, spiteful, and toxic the moment Spurs need patience?

It’s because your version of support is conditional.

It’s not built on values — it’s built on ego.

You don’t support Tottenham Hotspur.

You support your own emotions, and when the club doesn’t reflect them, you lash out.

“I’ve supported this club for 40 years!”
“I deserve better!”

No. What you deserve is self-reflection.

Because real fans don’t jump ship when it’s hard.

They stay. 

They encourage. 

They think.

I’ve supported players who were better than me, worse than me, and clueless — but I gave them a structure, I gave them belief, and more often than not… they exceeded expectations.

That’s what leadership is.

That’s what a winning mentality actually looks like.

So next time you preach about mentality or standards, ask yourself:

Would I treat my loved ones the way I treat this football club?

If the answer is no — then you’re not a supporter.

You’re a saboteur in club colours.

You don't have a winning mentality

Section 5: “Wanting to Win ≠ Winning Mentality”

Let’s put this to bed once and for all.

Just because you want to win… doesn’t mean you have a winning mentality.

Every loser wants to win.

Every pub pundit wants trophies.

Every protestor wants Ange Postecoglou to succeed — on their terms.

But that’s not how winning works.

You don’t manifest trophies through tantrums.

Winners don’t just feel the desire to win — they take responsibility for creating the conditions for it.

When I captained my 2nd XI cricket side, I was up against a committee who told me who I could and couldn’t pick.

They judged players by appearances.

I judged them by roles — what we needed to win.

The same as Sir Alf Ramsey when he selected Jack Charlton for England.

When Charlton heard, he thought it was a joke, because he wasn't the best centre-back in the country.

Bit Ramsey told him he had picked him to do a role.

Result.

England won the 1966 World Cup.

The committee were animated that I can't pick this opener.

He was an unfit, ageing batter from the 3rd XI who was a liability as a fielder.

But I had a plan: we needed an opener who could punish bad deliveries and shift momentum early.

I told him nobody in the committee wanted him in thee side so go out and prove them wrong.

He scored a century. 

They moaned at the next committee meeting.

I told him again.

He went out and scored a 50.

They didn’t mention it after that.

I gave another lad license to swing freely at #6.

Told the rest of the team that was his job, and he wouldn’t be judged for getting out.

Why?

Because I wasn’t running a vanity project.

I was building a strategy.

I even tracked how many singles we ran — less than 40 in a 40-over game. 

Not good enough. 

I set the standard at 80.

I really wanted a 100.

Before T20 existed — I was already raising the tempo.

That’s a winning mentality.

So when Spurs fans claim they have a "winner’s mindset" because they’re angry after a defeat?

I’ll say it again:

That’s like me claiming I know what childbirth feels like because I’ve read about it.

You don’t know until you’ve lived it.

Until you’ve carried a team. 

Built one. 

Coached one.

Made unpopular decisions for the sake of victory — and stuck to them.

Wanting to win is universal.

But winning — consistently — requires vision, control, and sacrifice.

And most of the people shouting loudest have none of those things.

Spurs need to adopt compulsory mentality training - so do the fans!

Section 6: “Why Mentality Training Should Be Compulsory — For Players and Fans”

We talk a lot about tactics in football.

We talk about formations, systems, recruitment, running stats, pressing angles…

But do you know what we don’t talk about enough?

Mentality.

Not just as a buzzword — as a trainable skill.

I've been banging this drum for over ten years.

And again, those fans who haven't lived it, don't have a clue.

None of these reporters know what they're talking about.

According to Alasdair Gold, Josh Onomah has the right mentality!

He didn't like it when I told him he hasn't, we never saw Onomah again.

To someone with a winning mentality, it sticks out like a sore thumb those that don't.

So tell me this:

When Ange Postecoglou says certain players didn’t take their opportunity — is that a talent issue, or a mindset issue?

When Djed Spence strolls through a game and disappears — is that physical, or mental?

When fans cry for cup runs, then flip when the league form dips — is that strategic confusion, or emotional immaturity?

The answer in every case is mental.

And that’s why mentality training can’t be optional anymore.

It needs to be compulsory — baked into daily football education the way tactics and fitness are.

Because without the right mentality, all the technique in the world counts for nothing.

Let me tell you this from experience:

I was a 5’6” teenage centre-back leading the back line.

I was captaining a 2nd XI team by overruling the committee.

I was bringing in players others had written off and turning them into match-winners.

I was reading batsmen's body language.

Out-thinking opponents.

Dictating how my team would play, even when I was thrown into a new position mid-season.

That wasn’t talent.

That was mindset.

So when I say Spurs need compulsory mentality training, I’m not just talking about getting better results.

I’m talking about creating players — and fans — who don’t fold under pressure.

Players who seize their moment.

Fans who understand the long game.

A club culture that doesn’t fracture when things get tough.

Because if we’re serious about becoming winners…

Then we need to stop acting like passengers and start thinking like pilots.

Tottenham Hotspur are evolving, but the fans aren't

Section 7: “Tottenham Hotspur Are Evolving — Are You?”

You can feel it, can’t you?

This isn’t the same Tottenham Hotspur you’ve followed for the past two decades.

It’s changing.

There’s a philosophy now.

A structure.

A vision that goes beyond panic buys and boom-bust cycles.

Ange Postecoglou isn’t here to win you over with empty promises.

He’s here to build a footballing culture — one rooted in bravery, belief, and long-term identity.

And that kind of evolution doesn’t happen overnight.

It’s messy. 

It stumbles. 

It hurts.

But it grows.

The question is — are you growing with it?

Because if your idea of supporting this club is throwing tantrums when fringe players don’t deliver in a meaningless league game after 60 matches…

If your idea of analysis is “Ange out” because you didn’t get your dopamine hit on a Sunday…

If you still think wanting to win = being a winner…

Then you’re not part of the future.

You’re part of the problem.

Let me be crystal clear:

Tottenham Hotspur are building something.

Mentally strong players.

A club identity.

A culture that no longer folds when the wind changes.

If you can’t match that vision — if you can’t evolve with it — then step aside.

Because this isn’t about you anymore.

It’s about something bigger.

Something braver.

Something better than the excuses and outbursts we’ve seen for years.

This is Tottenham Hotspur.

And the question is:

Do you have the mentality to be part of it?

COYS

A topical article given our own fans are trying to prevent us from winning the UEFA Europa League: WARZONE of NEGATIVITY - a lesson in how to perpetuate failure!

Even Ange is talking about my article subjects!

And 'Change For Tottenham' and followers prove it to be true.

Why Tottenham Hotspur’s Youth Strategy is Finally the Real Deal - a discussion about the youth policy at The Lilywhites

The Golden Key Spurs Are Still Ignoring: Spurs’ Young Stars Are in Danger - Why Spurs youngsters are in danger, like so many before. The trap revealed

MAJOR article The 'How To' of winning - Another must-read THBN piece: Forget Talent – This Is Why New Zealand Wins and Tottenham Doesn’t (Yet) - Exactly what Ange has been talking about recently, a winning culture

Tottenham Hotspur are guilty of: The Elastic Band Principle and Tottenham Hotspur’s Coaching Identity - yes, Daniel Levy is partially suffering with this

The Tottenham Hotspur Culture Problem: Postecoglou: The Culture Problem Is Created By The Fanbase - Change For Tottenham prove it ahead of a final!

Another hard-hitting THBN article: You Booed the Sub Who Scored: Spurs Fans, This Is Why You Lose

Proper Supporters Support Bill Nicholson Style

Readers' question answered:

Children who have lost their dummy - more hypocrisy from a leader who ignores the fact Spurs are in a major European final

Reader Comments Addressed: The Lion's Reply to the Mouse's Squeak - more comments exposed

The Club Responds to Your Abuse - tearing the abusers apart

What kind of "winning mentality" thinks losing league games doesn’t matter? - you think you know what a winning mentality is, but you don't

Tottenham Hotspur Are Building a Lancaster Bomber – Not a Mosquito - Spurs' Lancaster Bomber is still in the factory and we are having to deal with deserters

COYS

Further THBN links to recent posts