{"id":1903,"date":"2026-04-28T21:27:58","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T21:27:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=1903"},"modified":"2026-04-28T21:27:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T21:27:58","slug":"an-important-win-in-wolverhampton-five-words-that-split-the-tottenham-fanbase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=1903","title":{"rendered":"‘An important win in Wolverhampton’ – Five words that split the Tottenham fanbase"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\"\/ Add as preferred source on Google<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Tottenham posted five words after beating Wolves on Saturday. \u201cAn important win in Wolverhampton.\u201d The comment section split down the middle instantly. And honestly? Both sides are completely correct.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The post went out at full-time. A picture of Joao Palhinha celebrating in front of the away end at Molineux. The caption: \u201cAn important win in Wolverhampton.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

The reaction was immediate. One half of the comment section celebrated: first win since December, De Zerbi\u2019s first three points, a lifeline in the relegation fight, exactly the right response to a horrible run of form. The other half was furious: tone-deaf, premature, nothing has changed, you\u2019re still in the bottom three, put the trophy cabinet away.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the thing: Both groups are right.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Wolverhampton<\/div>
Photo by Stuart Leggett\/MI News\/NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Why the Tottenham celebration makes sense<\/h2>\n

Palhinha\u2019s winner in the 82nd minute ended a 118-day winless run in the Premier League. Fifteen games without a victory. That\u2019s not just a stat. That\u2019s a psychological weight, and De Zerbi himself acknowledged it had become a genuine problem, not just for results but for the mentality of every player who pulled on a Spurs shirt.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you don\u2019t win a game for a long time like us it becomes a problem,\u201d De Zerbi said after the game. \u201cFor the head, the mentality, it is important this game.\u201d He\u2019s right. The winless run had become its own story, separate from the league table. A narrative that every opposition manager cited as evidence that Tottenham were broken. It colored every press conference, every build-up, every moment of self-doubt inside the dressing room.<\/p>\n

That run is over. That\u2019s worth acknowledging. Before this win, Spurs\u2019 probability of relegation was sitting at 71.4% at various points during the game itself. Palhinha\u2019s goal pulled it down. Three points felt like three points in a way they hadn\u2019t in months. The fans who celebrated had every right to. This wasn\u2019t nothing.<\/p>\n

Why the anger from some Spurs fans is equally valid<\/h2>\n

Tottenham are still in the bottom three. Still two points from safety. Still facing Aston Villa, Chelsea, Leeds, and Everton in their final four games, a run that\u2019s more demanding than anything their rivals face over the same period.<\/p>\n

The win came against an already-relegated Wolves side playing their last games with nothing left to fight for. It came in a match where Tottenham didn\u2019t register a single shot on target until the 69th minute. It came with Xavi Simons stretchered off with a ruptured ACL and Dominic Solanke limping off in the first half with what looked like a hamstring injury. <\/p>\n

And here\u2019s the kicker: it came on a day when West Ham\u2019s Callu5 pmm Wilson scored a stoppage-time winner against Everton to ensure the table looked exactly the same at 5pm as it had at noon.<\/p>\n

Tottenham won. The situation did not change. The fans who felt the post was premature weren\u2019t being negative. They were simply being accurate.<\/p>\n

What actually matters for Tottenham Hotspur<\/h2>\n

The post doesn\u2019t matter. The reaction to it doesn\u2019t matter. What matters is what they represent for the psychological state of a club that desperately needs to believe it can survive.<\/p>\n

De Zerbi gets this. \u201cNothing has changed in the table but we can prepare much better for the next four games,\u201d he said. That\u2019s the exact right framing. Acknowledge the reality (the table hasn\u2019t moved) while extracting every gram of psychological benefit from the win itself. Not for the social media numbers. Not for the optics. For the dressing room.<\/p>\n

The fans who are angry are right that a win against an already-relegated side doesn\u2019t make Tottenham safe. The fans who are celebrating are right that the psychological reset this result provides could prove decisive over the next four weeks. Both things are true. <\/p>\n

The post was neither tone-deaf nor premature. It was a football club reminding itself, and its supporters, that it just won a game. Given how long that took, the eight words feel just about right.<\/p>\n

Now go and win the next one! COYS!<\/p>\n