Saturday’s visiting fans know a thing or two about being a dysfunctional club but the level of hate inside Tottenham’s gleaming home surprised even them

It comes to something when the level of discontent at Tottenham had people who have spent all season watching West Ham wondering if it was all a bit much. There were cries of mutiny whenever Guglielmo Vicario tried to play out from the back, jeers at half-time and, of course, sustained boos when another home defeat for Thomas Frank’s nervous wreck of a team ended with one last cross from Djed Spence drifting sadly out of play in the ninth minute of added time.

At times it felt like not knowing how to leave the room after accidentally walking in on a bitter row between a warring couple. How is anyone supposed to function in such a poisonous atmosphere? Somehow, the malaise at West Ham felt mild by comparison. At least the anger in east London tends to be focused mainly at the board for the failure to kick on since swapping Upton Park for the soullessness of Stratford in 2016. It is not targeted at the team or the manager as much, whereas the grumbling at Spurs seems to fly in all directions, especially as the brutal departure of Daniel Levy five months ago has left fans without one standout candidate to be their hate figure.