Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou says he understands the importance of winning a trophy for the supporters but stressed he and the club’s long-term objectives are more important.
Tottenham have not won a trophy since 2008 when they lifted the League Cup by beating rivals Chelsea 2-1 at Wembley.
They host Manchester City in the FA Cup fourth round on Friday and while Postecoglou admits he is desperate to give the Spurs fans a trophy, he wants them to keep his long-term goal of being consistently competitive in mind.
“Obviously it’s very important, not because of any other reason apart from what it would mean to our supporters,” Postecoglou said.
“We, as in managers and players, come and go, even the great ones at some point finish but the supporters are always there.
“They’ve had to sit through year after year of not winning a trophy, watching other clubs win trophies, so you know what it means.
“But I’ve said before that that can’t charter my course of what I want to build here. I want to build a team that brings success and challenges for trophies every year because while one trophy will satisfy that thirst, which I understand, if in the following year we struggle and fall back to mediocrity, it’s going to quickly get forgotten. This is not what this club is about.
“My goal when I was brought in was to take this club to be a club that competes for honours every year and that’s what I’m focused on. Tomorrow night is part of that process obviously but I’m under no illusions of what bringing a trophy to this club means to the supporters.
“I understand that but my objective within that is to give them that joy on a regular basis and not just as a one off.”