Rule The Roost - A Tottenham Hotspur Podcast

Jack is joined by The Athletic's Jack Pitt-Brooke for a monumental episode of Rule the Roost, as we finally breathe a massive sigh of relief: Tottenham Hotspur have stayed up. We kick things off by discussing the bittersweet nature of our survival, admitting that while we shouldn't really be celebrating avoiding the drop, the sheer emotional release makes it impossible not to. The conversation quickly shifts to the magnificent job done by Roberto De Zerbi. Having spoken to him in recent press conferences, Jack Pitt-Brooke shares his firsthand reflections on the manager's immense emotional intelligence. We dissect how De Zerbi managed to take a squad that looked completely dead in the water and turn them into a combative, resilient unit for the final stretch, and ask the golden question: has this late surge inspired the likes of Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven to actually stay and fight next season?

Attention then turns to the boardroom, as we unpack the open letter issued to fans today by non-executive chairman Peter Charrington. Reacting to his promises to address the deeply rooted issues that led to consecutive seventeenth-placed finishes, we debate whether his vow to compete at the very top once again provides genuine cause for optimism or if it is simply more cheap talk from the hierarchy. Finally, we look ahead to a pivotal summer, outlining exactly what the club needs to do to achieve that promised success and setting our realistic, grounded aims for next season.

Theme is Ghost Cat by Gillen
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I LOVE THIS FOOTBALL CLUB

Never in doubt....

Give Roberto De Zerbi whatever he wants
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

WARNING: This episode contains an unfiltered, emotional and deeply cathartic discussion about the state Tottenham Hotspur currently find themselves in. If you’re after a clean-cut rallying cry ahead of the weekend, this probably isn’t the energy you need right now. But if you’re feeling drained, furious, disconnected, bewildered, or simply need to hear a couple of Spurs fans say out loud what so many of us are thinking, then this one might hit home.

Jack and Phil unpack absolutely everything as best they can: Arsenal’s title win, Tottenham’s long-term decline, the club’s failure to properly back Mauricio Pochettino, the obsession with commercial growth over football, fans increasingly being treated like “the problem”, the Everton game, the very real fears around where this all goes next, and how it’ll feel when the dust finally settles, whatever happens.

It’s an honest attempt to make sense of a football club that currently feels completely broken.

This one is angry. It’s emotional. It’s passionate. It’s raw. It pulls absolutely no punches.

Proceed with caution.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jack is joined by Billie T to dissect yet another miserable defeat at Stamford Bridge, kicking things off by trying to make sense of the latest refereeing controversy. With images clearly showing the ball was in play for the penalty that wasn't given, we vent our frustrations at the officials before confronting the harsh reality of our own underlying numbers. Spurs once again displayed a total lack of quality upfront and in the final delivery. This leads into a painful discussion about Randal Kolo Muani, debating whether he will go down as one of our worst ever signings and what his failure says about the utter lack of care in our recent scouting and transfer policy.

Attention then turns to Sunday and the terrifying prospect of the biggest game of our lives against Everton. Knowing we only need a single point to secure survival, we discuss the sheer dread of relying on our rotten home form against a competent side. We examine the recent statement from Change for Tottenham calling for total support for 90 minutes followed by a clear message of discontent towards the owners, before asking whether executives like Johan Lange and Vinai Venkatesham should be sacked immediately if we stay up, or if that would set the rebuild back even further.

Finally, Billie tackles a brilliant and bleak selection of the listener questions we managed to squeeze in. We explore coping strategies for a doomsday summer scenario, debate if the club's culture is genuinely beyond repair, ask whether keeping Johan Lange makes relegation inevitable next season, pitch an alternate reality television show where Tottenham are actually functional, and wonder which retired players could genuinely do a better job leading our line right now.

Theme is Ghost Cat by Gillen
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You didn't really think Tottenham would get something at Stamford Bridge did you? Spurs getting done by Chelsea, making our end of season even less comfortable, as Arsenal win the league - truly the nightmare timeline. It was a game that never really got going, and yet another example of why we're in the mess that we're in... quite simply, we're not very good.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices