Even in the confines of the professional footballing fraternity there are clubs that are disliked by those of us lucky enough to make a living from this game. There are also clubs that are universally admired. There are clubs that are not respected. And there are clubs that are only respected, begrudgingly, simply because of their successes.
And then there is West Ham United.
A peculiar club. An odd club.
I'm a Spurs fan. I've suffered too. But I also have a healthy handle on how clubs turning up to White Hart Lane - and now Wembley - approach matches with Tottenham. Some teams write the game off on the training ground. Other sides like Bournemouth and Swansea have no intention of getting beaten but no intention of winning either.
West Ham's matches against Spurs fall in to the 'must win' category.
Every club has its history. But West Ham's recent history and its success within each of those seasons seems to come down to the matches that it plays against Spurs. In short: beating Spurs is a successful season of sorts.
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This year in the Carabao Cup, the Hammers had a third game to showcase what it means to them and their fans to beat Spurs. A bonus game. For the West Ham manager, Slaven Bilic, it was sink or swim. The perfect game to win. The worst game to lose.
At Wembley last Wednesday night West Ham's players duly delivered each other and their manager from the brink, coming back from 2-0 down at halftime to win the game 3-2.
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For any other club a win in the last 16 of a cup that, let's face it, gets in the way of the season for most clubs, isn't a reason to ignore what preceded it. West Ham sit outside the Premier League relegation zone by virtue of their goal difference having won just twice in nine games.
But this is West Ham. A Wembley double against Spurs double is now a distinct possibility. If they can beat Tottenham at the home of football again on December 30th, the season may well go down as yet another flawed success.
In 2013-14, West Ham completed a domestic clean sweep over Spurs. In the league they beat their London rivals 3-0 away and 2-0 at home and also triumphed in the Capital One Cup, as it was known then, 2-1. Not only did West Ham release an official DVD of their 3-0 mauling of Spurs at White Hart Lane but they also released a range of official merchandise comprising of, amongst other things, T-shirts and coffee mugs, which the official club store sold under the title, "The Treble: It's happened again".
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Image: West Ham United
Nothing has really changed from what I used to witness when I played at Upton Park and those players bowling up to the London Stadium, last week. Somewhere in the programme you'll still see some kind of homage to the time when West Ham 'won the World Cup' in 1966, having as they did, Hurst, Peters and Moore in their staring eleven. The history is scratchy at best. The lack of success akin to a herd of elephants in a cavernous changing room.
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Sir Trevor Brooking's 50-year association with West Ham United as player, manager and board member saw him win a grand total of two FA Cups. The club honoured him with his own stand at Upton Park and later, the London Stadium. He was also awarded an MBE and later, a knighthood. As I say, it's an odd club where things rarely make a great deal of sense.
On the pitch West Ham are still what is referred to as a 15 minute club. Every manager is acutely aware of a side that is a 15-minute club. The rules are simple and the teamtalks always the same. The tactics throughout the week on the training ground are all geared toward the same objective: Keep them quiet for 15 minutes and wait for the crowd to get on them. Once that happens, enough West Ham players will visibly wilt and hide so that we can get on top. The leagues are littered with 15-minute clubs. Wolves have always been another good example.
And that is what is happening again this season. Restless fans, not helped by new surroundings and a less than cohesive first eleven routinely begin the groans bang on fifteen minutes. It'll be tough to hear on Match of The Day, heavily edited as it is, but if you stand in away end of the London stadium as the clock ticks towards 15 minutes with the scoreline goaless, then you'll hear it for yourself. And you'll also witness the knock on effect.
At Upton Park it was even worse. Once it was so bad that as I sat on the bench - a surprise to me too - I heard a few West Ham 'fans' in the rows immediately behind me racially abuse Carlton Cole.
Four major trophies in 122 years having never fallen outside of the top two divisions. It's a poor return and it says everything that West Ham have carved out a niche that relies only on beating one rival every year as many times as possible in order for the manager to keep his job and the fans to come back again next year wearing T-Shirts declaring that success.
The 'treble' isn't on this year, West Ham have already lost at home to Spurs, 3-2, but last Wednesday's result looks as if it will be enough to get Bilic through to the next game against Tottenham. It's a sad state of affairs and to me it demonstrates exactly that any squad of players at West Ham are only too aware of what the minimum requirements.
It is often said in football that fans should be careful what they wish for, but surely they can rely on a team putting the same amount of effort in to every game? After all, as they say up the road in North London, the game is about glory.
You can follow The Secret Footballer on Twitter at @TSF
Topics: Football, West Ham United
