Fans lined the Tottenham High Road to welcome the Spurs team.
Supporters scaled railings and sat on the top of bus shelters as their struggling side arrived to face relegation rivals Nottingham Forest.
The coach drove through a haze of blue and white smoke surrounded by thousands of fans as it crawled to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Protests had been shelved in recognition of the magnitude of the game, one which would have seismic repercussions on Spurs’ season.
Goals from Teddy Sheringham, Jurgen Klinsmann, Harry Kane and Son Heung-min were played on the big screens pre-game before Cristian Romero delivered a message: “We’ll fight for everything, all together.”
Just under 90 minutes later fans streamed out of the stadium after Taiwo Awoniyi scored Forest’s third.
They went from a parade to pointless. Tottenham are in deep trouble.
The players responded to the fans for 45 minutes. Igor Jesus hit his own bar, Richarlison pressed and harried and Mathys Tel produced one of his better displays.
Yet Igor Jesus’ header in first-half stoppage time – followed by Morgan Gibbs-White’s strike – increased Spurs’ relegation woes.
Gibbs-White, of course had to have a say in the game after his aborted move to north London last summer.
Spurs thought they had their man as they looked to trigger a £60m release clause, only for the deal to collapse and Forest to threaten legal action.
It was a prelude to the chaos and calamity that was to come this season.
Awoniyi’s late third sparked an exodus – some fans had already started leaving with 20 minutes left – and those who remained booed the team off.
The togetherness seen outside the stadium had evaporated, with Spurs fans only united in concern about the future.
“From Tottenham’s point of view, there was a lot of fighting spirit in the first half, encouraged by a jubilant crowd who wanted to support their team,” former Spurs and England goalkeeper Paul Robinson told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“But, when you go to support your team like that you have to give something back, which didn’t last.
“In the second half they were tactically weak, they were devoid of ideas, and the manager changed the personnel two or three times, and there was nothing there today to suggest that they can get out of that mess.”
Xavi Simons’ relegation to the bench baffled seasoned Spurs viewers, following his best performance and two goals in Wednesday’s win over Atletico.
Tel was lively and hit the bar immediately after Igor Jesus’ opener but faded in the second half with Forest’s defence – expertly marshalled by Nikola Milenkovic – repelling everything.
Forest made their hosts wait on the pitch almost four minutes before emerging for the second half, Tottenham will have wished they had stayed in the dressing room.
“I don’t see a structure,” said Robinson. “A gameplan, or a way of playing. I don’t see a tactical idea.
“They look devoid of ideas, and a manager who is looking for something that he is yet to find, and no time to find it.”
