Saints head to White Hart Lane to resume a love hate affair which due to circumstance has mainly been hate recently, at least on our side.

Saints supporters havent liked Spurs much over the past decade or so, they had the knack of bursting our bubble back in the 90's and when they behaved like a bunch of North London Yobbo's as famously quoted by Rupert Lowe back in 2001 as they stole Glenn Hoddle from us in a fashion that was underhand, not to mention coming back for Dean Richards the die was cast for the next few years.

Our victory at White Hart Lane in 2003/04 which saw Hoddle sacked the next day should have been some sort of closure for us, but the lingering animosity from Saints fans towards them was reignited when Harry Redknapp became manager and we all wondered how a squad of 25 Internationals could so often be down to the bare bones.

Redknapp made it hard to want Spurs to do well and personally wanting them to win is a trait Im struggling to come to terms with post Redknapp.I sit down and think rationally I would much prefer Spurs in the fourth Champions League spot than Chelsea and have therefore become a closet Spurs fan over recent weeks, much as it has gone against the grain.

Sadly the new found love hasnt been reciprocal, they still continue to seemingly deliberately throw my support back in my face, I dont ask much from them, surely beating Wigan away wasnt that much to ask, but it was and it felt like when someone forgets to send you a birthday card, do they really care ? a last minute equaliser at Wigan perhaps showed they did, but it felt like the card arrived but they forgot to put in a tenner.

So this weekend's trip to White Hart Lane is not going to be the simple trip I hoped it would be, a week ago if Saints had beaten West Brom and Spurs trashed Wigan, we would be safe and could almost leave WHL smiling if they won, knowing they would be keeping up the heat on Chelsea, but now its different, we really could do with a point or three and although its probably likely that they will beat us, we wont smile and wish them luck against Chelsea, we will have to fret and worry and try and find out the Wigan result at West Brom.

Spurs have been a club that I have perhaps always tried to like, after all unlike their local rivals Arsenal, in the main they have always tried to play attractive football, but there has always been that thing about them that rankles and cant quite let me like them in a way that I should, I dont know if fans of other clubs feel the same, but when I think back, its more than Redknapp, its more than Hoddle, its more than that FA Cup replay at the Dell or the behaviour of their fans at the Dell in 1977, its something that I just cant put my finger on, however I would still like them to leapfrog Chelsea, in the Premier these days its perhaps not so much about who you like, its about who you despise less.

Photo: Action Images

Chesham_Saint added 11:30 - May 3 Maybe its the fact that their ground is in such a schithole of a place and is a real pain in the ar se to get too? That and the fact that their fans go on and on about any year with a 1 in it and how they're the biggest team in London (which they no longer are). OH, and lets not forget that uber turd, Alan Sugar!
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SanMarco added 13:31 - May 3 I have lived in Tottenham for thirty years and within 300 yards of the ground for over half of that time so thanks Chesham Saint. I hope you like where you live. I think the year with a 1 thing has been abandoned as a 20th century thing - a bit like our 'we always win in December'. The reason I have never particularly warmed to Spurs is that they have never really been successful enough to live up to their own estimation of themselves. I actually prefer Arsenal as in some funny way, despite their history, they are more of a north London club. Spurs, as was said the other day, are more of a team of the northern towns such as Cheshunt and Waltham Abbey - although they would have to rename/rebrand themselves if they ever headed that way. I think 'hate' is an overused word in football - I want us to win tomorrow because I am a Southampton man, not because I hate anybody. Hoddle wanted to go to Spurs just like Bally wanted to go to City and WGS wanted just to go. I can see the point in disliking the large mega-corporations that 'big' football clubs have become but I have a feeling that our 'next level' talk means that this is the direction we wish to be heading in...??

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Chesham_Saint added 17:45 - May 3 Sorry Marco, but that walk from the tube to the ground isn't the most attractive. Let alone out the back of WHL by the 5 a side pitches. I'm sure there are some nice spots around there though (Broadwater farm maybe? - just joshing!). Of course where I live in Essex is just luvvaly - especially as there is a nice convenient Spurs shop in Chelmsford town centre (which I guess supports your contention that they are really an out of town team).

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harrapuk added 23:03 - May 3 I was born in Enfield and lived there until my parents moved to Southampton when I was 6 yrs old. I had a short crush on Spurs when I was about 10 yrs old before I became a Dell regular and Saints convert. Now about 60% of me is totally indifferent to them. 30% of me dislikes them a little, 9% of me dislikes them a lot but I must admit that about 1% of me still keeps an eye out for their result - you can't help where you were born. Incidentally I can't remember much about their fans in 1977 - I was there. What happened?

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