The View from the Lane reaction: Brennan Johnson’s vindication and comparisons with 1984

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What had been one of the most turbulent, toxic, and disappointing seasons Tottenham Hotspur had endured in decades was turned completely on its head at Bilbao’s San Mames on Wednesday night.

Spurs’ 1-0 win against Manchester United in the Europa League final not only secured them a spot in next season’s Champions League, but also finally ended their 17-year trophy drought and gave them their first piece of European silverware since 1984.

On this immediate reaction episode of The View From The Lane, Danny Kelly, Jay Harris, and Tom Fuller broke down what this historic triumph means for the club and how it compares to when they last won the competition 41 years ago, when it was called the UEFA Cup.

There will be another episode later on Thursday.

This partial transcript has been edited for clarity and length. The full episode is available via the View from the Lane feed on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Danny: Jay, we’ll get into the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ in the big podcast tomorrow. But before the dust even begins to settle, it’s worth a person like you who follows the club with a jeweller’s eyepiece to talk about how the vista of next season looks so different now. What does this win mean for the club?

Jay: Look at the scenes at full time. Micky van de Ven might still be in the crowd and Pape Matar Sarr’s family were taking selfies with Son Heung-min, it’s just such a unifying moment. There have been so many times this season when the fans and the players have not been united. They’ve been separated, there’s been friction among them and with the head coach as well.

We don’t know what will happen with Ange Postecoglou’s future, but he said when he joined Spurs that he wanted to unite the fanbase, and moments like this do that. They make people hopeful for what’s to come around the corner. Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall are only 19, they’re the future, but they’re already Europa League winners. And it’s a fantastic thing to think, ‘OK, they’ve already done this, what else can they go on to achieve?’. It completely changes the whole mindset.

Champions League football next season means Spurs can recruit a different calibre of player in the summer. Some in the dressing room who might have been looking at moves might feel there is more reason to stay. It changes so many things.

We have to mention Son, too. He was interviewed by TNT Sports and they asked him, ‘Are you now officially a legend?’. And he basically said, ‘I guess so’. But he most definitely is. What an incredible moment this is for him. What Luka Modric, Gareth Bale, and Harry Kane couldn’t do, Son has done. So, hats off to him.

Tom: How does this feel compared to the UEFA Cup final win against Anderlecht in 1984?

Danny: In some ways, it feels better because as you go through life — god, I’m going to philosophise now — you pick up scars. And if you’re mentally well and reasonably adjusted, which I think I am — although other people might argue with that — you know you have the scars. But you look after them and make sure they don’t affect you too much.

When Spurs won the UEFA Cup in 1984, I’d already seen them win trophies in person in 1971, 1972, 1973, 1981, 1982, and then in 1984. So I was used to it. Don’t get me wrong, it was still euphoric, and it was a brilliant game because the final’s second leg was at White Hart Lane.

But this time, watching it on the big new lucky television — which I might have to retire now — was different. The scars made me more cautious, and even with seven minutes to go in stoppage time, I was still thinking, ‘Something could happen here’. At the end, the sense of, ‘My god, they’ve done it’, was incredible. I was also able to look back, because I got messages from people I haven’t spoken to for years.

I was more cautious, less viscerally excited and more satisfied. It’s a brilliant thing and it’s a brilliant night.

Jay: You all warned me it would be a bit mad when I started covering the club 12 months ago, but I didn’t quite expect this — Europa League winners while being 17th in the league. But I’ve loved every second of it.

The last word should go to Brennan Johnson, because I don’t think we’ve mentioned the goalscorer himself. Just rewind to September when he deactivated his social media accounts because of the grief he was getting. And I remember he didn’t celebrate when he scored that dramatic winner against Coventry City in the Carabao Cup. So it was incredible to see how he celebrated the goal with the fans and how his team-mates poured so much love towards him.

I just saw a live image flash up on the TV of Johnson on the pitch drinking a beer, and he’s with Djed Spence and James Maddison. What a fantastic moment. He’s had a difficult season at times, but he came up when it mattered most, so massive congrats to him. And thanks for having me along for the ride, roll on the Champions League.

Remember, you can listen to full episodes of The View from the Lane for free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

(Top photo: Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images)

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