Love Spurs, Live Spurs

A Reality Check; Questions with No Answers

2012-02-28T20:52:00.000Z

More than forty-eight hours later, I still have no answers to the hundreds of questions that flooded my mind as the final whistle went at the Emirates on Sunday.

I wanted to know why BAE can be either the best left back in the country or the most irritating, why Adebayor remained on the pitch when it was obvious that his imperious display against Newcastle was going to be eclipsed by nearly 90 minutes of smiling and patting people on the back without touching the ball that often and why Gareth throws himself to the ground on a regular basis - even when tackled.

I was going to explore my pain using a series of clever vignettes and examples of despair in popular culture - an episode of Red Dwarf entitled "Back To Reality" kept flickering into my mind as if it would provide the illumination that I sought.

But I decided against that.

Instead, I kept looking at the pictures of 'Arry - the people's choice for England manager - as he sat impotently on the sidelines, helpless to do anything to stop the red tide as it swept forward in a wave of devastating attacks that may come to define our season. We have all embraced the image of Mind The Gap - a reference to the fact that for the first time in Wenger's reign, N17 may finish above N5.

On Sunday, the only gap that I saw was in our defense. After 38 minutes, I was confident that we would get to half-time with our lead intact, six minutes later I was screaming for the ref to blow his whistle so that 'Arry could get his hairdryer out and give our stuttering team the bollocking that they deserved.

We all know what happened in the second half.

Theo Walcott, appalling in the first half, was unplayable after his half-time cup of tea and a biscuit. Van Persie pulled the strings, Rosicky was everywhere and the Arsenal defense - porous in the opening ten minutes, untroubled for much of the second 45 - coped with the pressure of defending a three goal lead with 23 minutes to go with ease.

As I watched in silence, the stereo speakers on my HD TV filled the room with the unpleasant sound of the Goons singing, the small squeaks of joy that could be heard after each goal making me believe that the microphones must have been placed beside a woman having the first of many orgasms. Even worse was the sight of Wenger - miserable in Milan, clueless in Sunderland - celebrating each goal with the same sort of grin that he normally saves for those special trips to see the latest batch of foreign youth players.

We were not very good on Sunday. Even when we were two-nil up, we just didn't look as up for it as they were. Arsenal came into this game on the back of two poor results, we had demolished Newcastle and battled Stevenage to a creditable draw.

For some reason this made us favorites, the moment when the needle of superiority swung decisively in the direction of the real North London team. All of my Arsenal friends were expecting a hammering, some of them even admitted that they would be happy with a point.

It was a hammering. It was just the wrong way round.

This may be the game when we find out how good 'Arry can be, if his motivational skills after this shellacking are enough to see us put in a better performance against Man United on Sunday. Because lets make no bones about it, seven points is not as big a gap as we think.

Arsenal and Chelsea will smell blood in the water, they will know that we can be caught and both clubs will be confident that they can overhaul us. Both Wenger and Villas-Boas have been under pressure from the fans and the media but they are good managers, Wenger has been a pain at the arse for far too long and AVB is seriously concerned that his season will end with a P-45 as opposed to a trophy.

Redknapp now has to earn his money, he has to work the same magic that convinced a jury that he can't read or write to pull the players out of the lethargy of the last two games and deliver the third place that the team has worked so hard for.

Because with twelve games to go, there is still so much football to be played. We have three difficult league fixtures coming up - United at home, Everton and Chelsea away - and we may even have the FA Cup to distract us, provided of course that we put Stevenage to bed next week.

Scotty P being sent off on Sunday has left us without his services against United, Walker and VDV both pulled out of their respective international duties thanks to injuries picked up against Arsenal and Ledley's knees looked to be on their last legs in the second half. We are not at the bare bones stage, but the uncertainty about who will be paying 'Arry's National Insurance contributions from June on is a cause for some concern.

It may have only one game, only our fifth defeat of the season but it could be the defining moment. How we react a week later will speak volumes about the team. A good result against Manchester United and Spurs eyes will be smiling again, anything else will see the sharks circling.

As ever, my beloved Tottenham leaves me continually questioning...

COYS

The NLD. It's a cracker.

2012-02-25T13:18:00.000Z

I heard a great story last night from a Nottingham Forest fan who had once spent an evening with Stuart Pearce and his Forest team mates. The story goes that Brian Clough turned up for training somewhat worse for wear and irascible, Pearce escorted Clough to the bath, filled it up with cold water, stripped his boss of the famous green jersey and threw him in to the water with the words "When you're sober you can get out of the bath, put that back on and come and manage us." Pearce should have the England job on the back of this alone.

Managerial matters of a different kind have been a compelling feature of this week's build up to the NLD. Redknapp has been widely celebrated for the way he's built our team and pushed us up the table. Wenger has been questioned for not winning anything for six years and failing to land a marquee signing in successive transfer windows whilst losing his best players. Neither manager appears to have much of a future at their current club, which lends even greater significance to the result. Reputations are at stake.

This is Arsenal's cup final. Their Champions League status is being challenged and taking three points from us will no doubt catalyse their campaign to finish above Chelsea, Newcastle and Liverpool.

As a number of pundits have pointed out this week, one measure of our progress is that, important as this game is, our season no longer hangs on it. For the time being, the days of a possible victory over Arsenal being the only highlight of our campaign are behind us. It'll be sweet if we win, and in style, but victories over Arsenal have almost become commonplace (even if away victories are still relatively rare). Beating Manchester United or winning at Stamford Bridge might be more fulfilling. We could even afford to lose this one without a serious dint on our points cushion or overall sense of footballing superiority. And this worries me.

If Stevenage was a banana skin, the Emirates is a very big puddle of oil. As well as having a margin of comfort in terms of points, we have the news that our manager is not a naughty boy, he's the messiah, that just two of the current Arsenal team would make a North London XI and that we are a new footballing super power destined to hold sway for decades. If you believe any of this, then you'd probably imagine that we only have to turn up at the Woolwich end of the Seven Sisters Road tomorrow to collect our three points.

Bale in focus

We must guard against complacency, we must justify the hype, we must anticipate Arsenal's best performance of the season and then crush them. I don't want us just to win routinely, I want us to notch up a four or five goal margin. I want a victory that nails our flag of title aspirations to the mast. A marker that future Tottenham teams can use as inspiration. In the greater scheme of things, we still have a lot of catching up to do, let's do it the Tottenham way, gloriously.

Team selection and shape... I want 4-4-2 with Bale holding his position on the left wing with a bit more discipline than we've seen since his stellar performance through the middle against Norwich, I'd select vdV to partner Adebayor ahead of Defoe and Saha. Otherwise, luxuriously, the team picks itself. That bit's easy but motivation is key. Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott and van Persie are all possible threats, but our back four should be more than capable of handling them if their mindset is right and the Tottenham that turn up take nothing for granted. One big-time Charlie moment from anyone in lily white and I will turn apoplectic. I may even spill some beer.

Tomorrow's NLD isn't just about pride, or who finishes where and above who this season, nor is it about the credentials or reputations of the two managers. It's not about the players, the fans or bragging rights. It's not about tactics, passages of passing play or moments of genius mixed with discipline, steel and graft. It isn't about the inter-twined history of two great clubs and the future balance of power in the game in London. It is neither more nor less than a matter of life or death. It is not delight or despair. It's not even about the glory. It's all those things and more but, most of all, it's a game of football.

To paraphrase the recently late, great Frank Carson... win, lose or draw, I hope it's a cracker.

COYS!

Positively Speaking; Cup May Prove Distraction

2012-02-21T20:55:00.001Z

The sun is shining, the birds are tweeting and there is no snow on the ground. The children who live next door have gone away for the week as it is half-term and the silence is deafening. The trees may not have regained their glorious foliage but the mild winter means that, here in Cohasset (where The Witches of Eastwick was filmed), the natives are already putting away their unused snow shovels and preparing for spring.

I am feeling positive. The sun helps.

Before the Stevenage game, my Spurs positivity was at an all time high. We had gone to Liverpool and battled, we had demolished Newcastle in a performance so good that I actually watched the first twenty-five minutes again in a bar on the following Thursday and with the Nomads crashing out of the cup on the Saturday (following their capitulation in Milan)...I had a smile wider than 'Arry when he heard that he wasn't going to be spending the rest of the season in a small room with some bars.

Then I watched the Stevenage game.

The magic of the cup, the possibility of a giant-killing, Martin Tyler gleefully waiting to use the term "tomorrow's headlines", the high-fliers against the underdogs, the romance of the World's oldest cup competition...the cliches tumbled from my television screen quicker than young Gareth up against a lumbering centre-half.

On the plus side, we didn't lose.

We are still in the cup and if we can see off Stevenage at the Lane, we have a home tie against Bolton to look forward to. Win that and we are in the semis. The Manchesters are out, Arsenal are contemplating another trophy-less season and although there are still some good Premier League sides left in the competition, we must be one of the favourites to be at Wembley in May.

But failing to advance on Sunday hasn't done us any favours. The replay is a game that we don't need. It will come just after we have played Manchester United at home and before we play Everton away. Both very important games, especially if we get a result at the Emirates on Sunday.

I love the FA Cup, always have and always will. For us to win it this season would go a long way to cementing 2011/12 as the greatest of my Spurs-supporting career, even more so if we keep our nerve and continue our good form in the league. The woes of those down the Seven Sisters Road are a minor distraction and with the former North Bank natives muttering dark thoughts about the future direction of their club, there will never be a better time to establish ourselves as the top dogs in London.

But do I want us to win the cup at the expense of the third place (or higher) that we have fought so hard for?

My answer at this point is No.

It would be nice to think that we have a squad deep enough to compete on both fronts but the secondary players need to be be better than they were on Sunday for that dream to become a reality.

We lacked spark at The Lamex. If I was being specific, I would say we lacked Modric.

Apart from Luka, there were other notable absentees. VDV's injury is causing concern and while Adebayor was outstanding against Newcastle, his performances have been erratic to say the least. BAE may have the worst haircut in the League but his desire to get forward gives us so many options. Bale was on the pitch but looked subdued and Lennon only came on with the game already meandering towards a stalemate.

The midfield lacked any sort of creativity against the Borough, Livermore was guilty of giving the ball away with a disturbing regularity and Krancjar was unable to step up to the task of replacing Luka. Scotty Parker did his usual job and was unlucky to be standing on the line when Saha scored but the forwards were feeding off scraps on Sunday and with no real service they can't be blamed for failing to break down a well-organised defense.

We weren't really troubled at the back, a succession of long-range efforts got Tyler drooling about the possibility of a "spectacular cup upset" but in reality the game was only slightly more interesting than watching the re-run of American Idol.

At least we didn't lose. Our name was still in the bag when the draw was made after the game. And we should have enough in our kit-bag to win the replay.

Which brings me to next Sunday. A massive game.

Even if we lose, we are still third. A win sends us thirteen points clear of Arsenal with twelve games to go.

Home fixtures against Manchester United (likely draw), Stoke City, Swansea, Norwich, Blackburn and Fulham. Trips to Everton, Chelsea, Sunderland, Bolton, QPR and Aston Villa. With the exception of United and Chelsea, I would think that we would get something out of the other ten fixtures.

An FA Cup run distracts us from the prime objective, getting back into the Champions League. If that goal can be achieved while the Nomads stutter along behind us, all the better. Finishing in the top three enhances the chances of 'Arry heading off to manage England but he may find the air in North London to be more to his simple tastes.

If the glory days are to return to N17, this season could be the spark that moves the Tottenham revolution onto to the next level. We drank very briefly from the cup of the Champions League last season, this year it is obvious that we want to have another go at competing with the best that Europe has to offer.

Whisper it quietly, Spurs are coming back. We may not be giants yet but there are people who already want to chop down our beanstalk. That is what happens when you become successful. Other local clubs have tasted glory and have visited the promised land on regular occasions but now is the time for the Cockerel to crow once again.

Audere est Facere. Nuff Said.

COYS

The Long Goodbye

2012-02-11T08:00:00.000Z

In Tottenham Hotspur F.C. terms, I've spent most of this week hiding behind the sofa.

Monday's trip to Anfield made me feel like I was five years old and clutching a cushion, ready to duck for cover should a cyberman appear on our little black and white cathode ray TV. In fact it was possibly scarier than that, as a team of red-clad orcs set about the chins, shins, eyes and guts of our team. Super Scott was all that really stood between the Tottenham of today and the team we all know and love but are increasingly prone to forgetting about. The team that hardly ever gets anything from Anfield.

Jay Spearing on his day off.

Parker was magnificent, covering for Dawson and, somewhat surprisingly, more often covering for King whenever the reds broke through. A body on the line, relentless display of invulnerability - despite the attentions of the deeply unpleasant Suarez. But it wasn't all about super Scott. Dawson restored confidence with a performance which suggests his full match fitness is almost back, he may be slightly behind Kaboul and King at the moment but I don't think it will be for much longer. We also got to enjoy the rare sight of Krancjar putting in a covering tackle at left back and Kyle Walker flying past the other England right-back. Other than that, it was better not to look. Stoic, determined but far from pretty. Still, no pain no gain... and that was undoubtedly a point gained.

Wednesday's used to be a great football day for me, P.E. or a school match, Harry Carpenter on Sportsnight, my hot scoring streak in the Devon Wednesday League in the early 90's and, more recently, some Champions League thrills. This Wednesday was more than a little mixed in terms of footballing fortunes. Harry is cleared of defrauding the taxman (hallelujah) but, before I had a moment to digest this news and raise a smile of relief as I'm driving home across the ice from work, the news breaks on Five Live; Fabio has "resigned". Cue three days of non-stop media frenzy, anyone who is anyone knows that there's only going to be one outcome, it's as close to a forgone conclusion as you can get.

It's Harry for England.

We knew this would happen, we thought the trigger point would be our national side's exit from Euro 2012, not some time in the build up to the tournament because of toxic Terry, but to say that Harry's appointment by the F.A. is anything other inevitable is to have misread the entire situation completely. Daniel Levy will concede on this one, securing compensation that he can use as a sweetener for a new Tottenham manager, one with stature, one who can keep our best players together in the squad and improve on it, one who can win things - we all know he's been working on a plan B. Plan B is being brought forward. Plan B is almost Plan A.

Time to come out from behind the sofa.

In the meantime, we have the last 14 games of this season in the EPL plus a run in the Cup to enjoy. Let's enjoy a long and shiny goodbye to the manager who has turned a club blighted by a disastrous managerial sacking and calamitous subsequent appointment into one which could salvage a point from the jaws of certain defeat at Arsenal and one which illuminated the Champions League in a way that Manchester City can still only dream of. It's been mostly marvellous. It's time for a long and glorious goodbye to Harry Redknapp, I'll start mine with a simple thank you. We need to make a noise at home today and at every subsequent game, and help lift the team to something special in May.

In amongst all of this Harry-mania, we can only hope that a football match might break out. Newcastle are team whose rejuvenation under Pardew is almost as remarkable as our transformation under Redknapp. Solid, hard to beat, great 'keeper, a blend of steel and creativity in central midfield, plenty of firepower and a slightly younger version of Redknapp at the helm. If Newcastle had our flanks they'd be above Manchester United, but we should edge them at home.

Rafa can't play on his birthday, so Defoe should come in with a fit-again Lennon and we have the prospect of a 4-4-2, which I still think is our best shape at home. Adebayor is struggling to make an impression on his own, Bale's form has covered for a lack of impact up front and so two strikers to occupy a Newcastle defence that has five clean sheets from the last nine matches would make sense. Games against Newcastle are never easy and this one will be tight and, to wear out another cliche, the first goal will be crucial.

A glance at the fixture list and Newcastle at home looks like a great opportunity to make up ground on the teams above us and increase the gap on our London rivals, the Manchester's both have difficult fixtures this weekend (provided Villa turn up) and Arsenal and Chelsea have lose-able away trips to Sunderland and Everton respectively.

Opportunity knocks again, let's sing our way to success, let's do it for Harry - the next three months might be as good as it ever gets for him.

Keeping Our Distance; Anfield Cat could be the lucky charm

2012-02-07T22:54:00.000Z

Fourteen games to go, seven points clear of Chelsea and ten ahead of the Nomads.

According to the BBC, we are sitting "comfortably" in third place with our Champions League destiny now firmly in our own hands. 'Arry may have missed the game at Anfield on Monday night due to "technical difficulties" with his private plane after another day spent at Southwark Crown Court as opposed to on the training ground but with the jury now set to deliberate on his future, the business end of the season is fast approaching.

Make no mistake, we will be in for a wild ride. You only have to glance at social media feeds and the comments that populate football websites to realise that there are a lot of fans (and pundits) who think that we have ideas above our station.

Maybe it's just years of paranoia coupled with the knowledge that we have underachieved in previous seasons - not the ones with 'Arry, we were bottom of the League when he turned up (in case you didn't know).

But we are sailing in uncharted waters.

Ones that looked as if they were a distant dream after the first two games of the season.

Since then, we have only lost twice and the Liverpool game was only the second time in 24 Premier League games that we have failed to score.

Whisper it quietly amongst your fellow Spurs friends, but we might actually finish in our highest position in the League since the 1989/90 season - when we had Gazza, Lineker, Mabbutt, Nayim and Steve Sedgley.

1989 was also the year that Gareth Bale was born.

It will be a massive achievement. Especially when you consider the financial resources of those now playing catch-up behind us.

The summer transfer window saw the majority of our players decide to keep the faith at the Lane, we added pure quality in Scott Parker and brought in a striker who flatters to deceive but overall, I believe that we deserve to be where we are.

We still have to go to the Emirates and Stamford Bridge, we will be entertaining Manchester United at the Lane in March while there still some teams that will visit the Lane and drive their bus straight in front of the Park Lane.

There are some big games ahead and we haven't had the best of luck with injuries. Our bench against Liverpool showed a lack of depth in the squad that in the past would have ensured that we left Anfield with no points and probably no hubcaps.

But we dug in.

It wasn't pretty, the game didn't live up to expectations and in all honesty, the appearance of the Anfield Cat was probably the highlight of the contest - even the Scousers applauding a racist onto the pitch was just another reason to feel superior.

Scotty P was magnificent (as he has been for most of the season), Bale was threatening (when he wasn't on the ground or in the advertising hoardings) and Modric was busy in midfield. At the back, Ledley and Dawson dealt with Carroll, Kuyt, Bellamy and (later on) Suarez with a nonchalant air that only appeared to be panic on the odd occasion.

'Arry wasn't there but he will enjoyed sitting on his couch with a nice glass of wine and his Sandra watching the lads prove that they are no longer a soft Southern touch away from N17.

Both teams could have won it, Steve McManaman on ESPN 2 thought that Spurs would be happier with the draw and for once the tousle-headed buffon was actually correct. A draw at Anfield with no VDV, Defoe, Lennon, Sandro or Kaboul was a good result.

It is now about maintaining distance. Distance from Chelsea and as much as possible from the Nomads who have been celebrating the "amusingly titled" St. Totteringham's day - the day in the season when we cannot mathematically catch them in the League - for far too long.

Next up is Newcastle United, who have had (by their standards) an incredible season. They started well, everyone expected them to run out of steam - especially when Ba went to the African Cup of Nations - but with fourteen games to go they are occupying the Europa League spot.

I don't need to say that we need three points on Saturday. We need three points every week. But we are setting high standards now and the expectation is rising amongst the faithful. I want to remain calm, to keep my feet firmly on the ground but if we keep playing the way we are, then third is very achievable.

To dare is to do.

I dare to believe that this could be one of our greatest seasons and I do think we will finish higher than our neighbours from just down the Seven Sisters Road.

And if the day comes that they can't mathematically catch us...I may even celebrate.

COYS

Kick You Like A Chimpanzee

2012-02-02T22:38:00.001Z

Our very own Bruce Lee turns out to be Brazilian, the brilliant Sandro is clearly properly psyched up for the first of our tricky away trips. Charlie Adam beware.

It's been a busy week, a game, some Southwark court action, transfers, a new squad list and a Man of the Month. Most of this has been positive.

Wigan were brushed aside as little more than a training exercise. Disappointed as I was to miss out on good odds for a 3-0 win and Bale to score first, the Wigan consolation goal was a useful reminder that nothing can be taken for granted and laurels can't be rested on.

Individual performances from Bale, whose two goals were both wonderfully executed, Kaboul, whose aerial authority bore fruit at both ends and Kranjcar, whose lavish technique and movement prompted Wigan to resort to kicking lumps out of our stylish number 21, lit up an otherwise below par team performance. I was also heartened by Cameron Lancaster's appearance; bright, energetic and a good pass or two. Nearly a debut goal too. Promising.

In Southwark, the case for the defence is starting to make some sense. Whilst the two year old's team sheet raised a smile, the prosecution evidence of last week seems to have been more than countered. The allegation still remains that tax has not been paid on a taxable sum and that Harry is not always forthcoming with the truth but I'd now be surprised if the jury could consider this as a calculated and deliberate tax evasion and decide that a custodial sentence would be the appropriate punishment.

The January sales saw us move Corluka, Bassong, Pavlyuchenko and Pienaar on from our first team squad with Saha and Nelson coming in. Not too shoddy, both short term signings which could be sensibly construed as confirming a reduced shelf life for the Redknapp era, but both are seasoned, top flight players who still have at least a decent year or two left in them. Typically shrewd. More importantly, we kept our best players.

Bale's outstanding season continues, I fully expect him to win player of the year from the football writers and his fellow professionals if he keeps this up. He needs to, we need his goals. Our lack of firepower up front is a little concerning - Adebayor appears to be having the sort of stutter that all strikers have at least once a season. van der Vaart pulls a muscle every other week and Defoe is crocked too. Saha needs to take his chances when he gets them but goals from the midfield will be critical to sustaining our challenge.

Parker working his socks off during the warm-up against Wigan

Parker needs to add an occasional goal to his game (he deserves a few a season at least, he trains and plays with such dedication) and Modric also needs to provide more end product. Against Wolves many of our best chances fell to Modric and the sense that these chances are falling to the wrong man should not apply to a player of his quality. Let's hope his strike against Wigan was the start of a little scoring streak from the diminutive Croatian.

Looking forward to Monday's fixture at Anfield fills me with a sense of foreboding, although if we deliver the sort of performance seen at City, we'll win. Typically though, we arrive in Liverpool just as they hit a purple patch of form, beating the Manchesters with their talisman and best player returning to fitness and form. They'll be seeking vengeance for the tonking that we dished out at the Lane early in the season, it'll be tight.

I read with dread, that last season's 2-0 win at Anfield was our only win in 17 attempts there, that Lennon's likely to be out and that Saha may be our only fit striker whilst Suarez returns for them. Our gap might be at risk.

Still, the cushion we have built up over our fellow top four contenders should offer a little comfort in the coming weeks as we enter what looks like the toughest sequence of fixtures of the season between now and the end of March. If we emerge into April in third place and still in touch, I think we can win the title. I really do.

Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea away and Man U at home are all coming up though, these fixtures will be definitive. We have hoodoos to break; that win at Stamford Bridge that's eluded us for so long, three points at home to Man U too. 12 points from the next 21 will keep us in the top four but 15 or more will keep is in the title hunt. We must, at the very least, finish above Arsenal.

Don't blow it now Tottenham, this monkey would go nuts.

Transfer Deadline Day; An Unwelcome Distraction

2012-01-31T19:07:00.001Z

I didn't think I needed to write about Transfer Deadline Day.

On January 1, The Badger said "I don't really see us doing anything, I'd be surprised. It's hard to find players, I couldn't say that we have anyone in mind that we would want to bring in."

Since then, our beloved Leader has been exposing himself to the questions of the Inland Revenue and we have discovered that there is no way he could have defrauded the taxman as he can't write, doesn't know how to send an email and has an accountant to look after his money.

The suggestion the 'Arry might be capable of telling porkies has been strongly refuted and he is fed up of these "vicious slurs" on his character. 'Arry doesn't lie, when he says something it's because he believes it to be true.

Which is a shame. Because Transfer Deadline Day is the most exciting day in the world, according to Sky Sports and without Spurs being involved...well, it's just a load of other Premiership clubs desperate to resurrect their faltering Champions League hopes or find the quality nugget that can ensure that they stay in the top division.

So why then, when I should be thinking about the game against Wigan, am I deluged with updates on Facebook about players that are coming to Spurs? The Badger said we wouldn't be involved, he is a man of his word.

Apparently we are considering Louis Saha who is bored with sitting on the bench at Everton and fancies doing it at the Lane. There is also some speculation that Hugo Rodallega could play against us tonight, walk off the pitch and be ushered into the home dressing room. There is even talk about buying another midfielder - Mario Marin - from Werder Bremen.

A few of the kids have left to get experience at other clubs - Bostock, Carroll, Adam Smith, Falque and Kudus Oyenuga (no idea who he is, apparently well thought of at the Lane).

And we have sensibly decided that we don't need any cover for Kyle Walker by letting Corluka go to Bayer Leverkausen.

But Saha? I can't see why we need to bring in another under-performing bench-warmer when we have Pav. But maybe that is the plan...sell Pav, get a 33 year-old striker in for nothing and see if he has the fire in his belly to shoot us towards the stars.

We need another striker. That much is obvious. But we also need another right-back.

The first team is picking itself at the moment, even with the injuries to Sandro and the continuing saga of Ledley's knee. It would be nice to see Scotty P notch his first in our colours and I would still like to see Modric score more from midfield but our performance against Citeh (second half, after we went two down) showed that we can compete with mercenaries on a level playing field.

The discussions about whether we deserved to lose to a player who shouldn't have been on the field are now over. He shouldn't have been, he was, end of story.

We need to improve on our performance against Watford - when apparently we were dreadful, I was lucky enough not to see it - and get three points against Wigan.

I have said it before (and I shall probably say it again before May 14) that anything less than a win is not good enough. We are moving into the business end of the season and we need to keep our focus on the prize...which is not the title.

We won't be Champions of England in 2012.

I don't think we are good enough to win the League this year, but we are good enough to take third and finish above the Nomads and Chavski.

And if we are in the Champions League again next season, then it is likely that we will be there with Modric, Bale, VDV and Adebayor. Even Ledley might get the chance to strut his stuff again on the biggest club stage in the world - if ever a player deserved to showcase his talent against the best teams in Europe, then it is LK.

But we won't be there if we drop points at home against struggling teams. We must be ruthless and punish them for not being very good. Wigan will come to defend, they will have a entire multi-story car-park of buses positioned in front of their goal and it won't be pretty.

I know the game is about doing things in style but tonight we have the chance to put more daylight between us and the other London clubs. We need to keep our focus and do the job.

Without being distracted by the excited shouts coming from the Sky Sports studios as yet another rumour turns out to be exactly that.

Even 'Arry would prefer to deal in truths rather than idle speculation. That's why he knows that three points tonight is the only deal on the table worth considering.

COYS

Cruelty, Thy Name Is Football.

2012-01-22T16:30:00.003Z

In the corner of the room, the television is showing a Manchester United game vs Arsenal from several years ago. The dog has stopped glaring at me after I jumped off my couch in excitement when Gareth Bale scored one of the best goals of his very short career and my cup of coffee has gone cold.

Overly dramatic first paragraph? Seemed fitting after watching the second half of the game against Abu Dhabi City, 45 plus minutes of gut-wrenching joy and misery. A second half that summed up why watching football can be more like having root canal treatment as opposed to actual enjoyment.

As anybody reading this post will now know, we lost.

Ten seconds from the end of stoppage time, a penalty taken by a player (who was lucky to still be on the pitch) was enough to leave our players standing on the pitch, shell-shocked by what had happened. Ten seconds away from being the first time this season to come to Manchester City and leave with something more than a deep hatred of the "Poznan".

Boring first half, the pundits would probably call it "cagey". Second half? The Roller-coaster.

Two nil down after a three minute spell to be forgotten, level within another six minutes - which included Bale's beauty - and going for the win. Two Citeh players - Lescott and Balotelli - lucky to be on the pitch after showing the ugly side of the Beautiful Game, VDV sacrificed to allow Modric to move further forward, Defoe breaking through only to miskick.

Into injury time and Bale gallops free, passes the ball across the penalty area and JD stretches his hobbit-sized body out and the ball squeaks past the post and, in that instant, three points are lost.

We know how this ends.

Both teams seem to settle for a point apiece but the ball is played forward to Mario Balotelli who gets the better of Ledley and is brought down with 94 minutes showing on the clock. "Super" Mario steps forward, dummies and sends the ball into the corner of the net. Citeh celebrate, our boys slump to their knees.

The dictionary definition of gutted as "disappointed, upset, remove the guts of, destroy inner contents of".

I am all of these at this precise moment in time but there are positives to be drawn from this performance.

Against Wolves the other week, we huffed and puffed but failed to break down a stubborn team who are fighting for their lives. Today's game against an expensively assembled team of mercenaries, we played some lovely flowing football (mainly in the second half) and gave them a huge scare. They will know how lucky they were to get away with the victory, Mancini will be fully aware that his team of superstars are not Champions yet and 'Arry will tell our boys how proud he was of the second half performance, especially as we came back from two goals down.

The looks on the players faces at the final whistle spoke volumes. They were gutted. And quite rightly so. They deserved to get something from this game.

Twenty-two games in and we are third. We will still be third whatever the result at the Emirates today.

We've lost twice to Manchester City this season, the first one was probably a fair result but today we showed the rest of the EPL why we deserve to be in the position that we occupy.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle and Liverpool will look at that result and think that we are vulnerable. They would be wrong. On our day, we can play - and beat - anyone.

Today wasn't our day. But we don't have to play Citeh again this season. Which means that Adebayor is available again and will be (hopefully) be up for the final run-in to the Champions League spots, which is the least we deserve after some of the football we've played this season.

Sixteen games left, all to play for.

COYS

Spur Sunday

2012-01-21T21:56:00.001Z

Chirpy or McCartney?

Tomorrow's game at the Etihad isnot as it has been billed. It is not Contenders versus Pretenders, nor will itsignpost the ultimate destination of the title.

We are third, within a couple wins of being top. We’ll be there or thereaboutsuntil the final whistle of the season. We’re in it and might win it. It will behard to make up the lost ground on City if we lose tomorrow, but not beyond therealms of possibility, nowhere near them. The timing of this fixture lacks therun-in criticality of it's equivalent in the last two years. In 2009/2010 and2011/2012 Peter Crouch provided the difference between the two teams in termsof the scoreline and the destination of a Champions League berth but Spurs haveplayed the best football in consecutive years at City, we must keep it going tostand a chance.

Who’s in and who’s out will makea huge difference to the outcome of this game. For all of Adebayor's missed moments in front of goal this season, hisability to hold the ball up, run the channels and create time and space for themidfield to join us in attack has been a crucial factor in our progress thisseason. To go to City without the comfort of a big striker whose control andpace prevent the ball from coming straight back at us is a cause for concern.We’ll miss him. Our attack risks having a slightly blunt look to italthough Defoe and Pav’s respective abilities to shoot on sight may proverefreshing and conclusive.

At centre-back the fitness ofKing is a potential game-changing factor, Dawson and Kaboul is the likelyline-up but I’d prefer the sense of calm that King brings to the back four overDawson’s blood and guts approach. If Dawson plays, I expect Balotelli andAguero to beat him at least once. But King has to be fit, properly fit, nottwenty minutes and then off with a pulled groin/hamsting/other fit.

City will miss Yaya Touremassively along with Kompany, both have formed the rock solid platform fortheir challenge this year, I expect our attacking midfielders to take advantagealthough hope that this will be by skill and not by numbers. I’d prefer morethan one up front to really work Lescott, Savic, Richards and co. (we beat Citywith a 4-4-2 in 2010 and, given the lack of Adebayor may need revert to thistomorrow, a 3-5-2 would be fun but risky).

Both teams then, will be short of their preferred first eleven. A shame for afixture that has the potential to be one of the most compelling of the seasonas it will leave a few questions unanswered. Still, plenty of quality on viewand one thing I am certain of is that we must exact revenge. Revenge for beingdumped out of the top four last season, revenge for the shredding we took atWhite Hart Lane back in August.

I expect a fired up Tottenham performance. Wolves was the last of a busy run offixtures and, although the result was cast as a bumping back down to earth or a'we've got our Tottenham back' moment, for me it was nothing ominous than acase of fatigue. We looked tired, too tired to get past a parked bus. A weekhas passed since and, from the positive noises being made by the players in themedia in the last few days, we are going to be box fresh and up for it. Today’sresults offer up the further tantalising prospect of increasing the gap on theblue and red scum. Motivation will not be a problem.

Brad needs to be solid,assertive, commanding. Benoit his usual magnificent self and not the discoAtouba we occasionally get a glimpse of, Walker needs to raid his flank withoutfear but put in the extra to ensure Nasri goes nowhere, Dawson and Kaboul orKing and Kaboul simply need to win everything with Parker protecting them. Moreimportantly, Sunday needs to see our match winners deliver.

Waiting for another corner ball destined never to arrive

Bale needs to take to the flanka little more than of late to keep Richards out of harms way and make City lookMilanese, van der Vaart must, at the very least, make his set pieces count,Lennon needs to find that burst that takes him away from Clichy (who iseminently beatable) and Defoe needs to leave Lescott and Savic flat-footed and hopethat, if it is Pav, that Pav is wearing is shooting boots.

Much has been made of thematch-up of Modric and Silva. I expect both players to take an eye of the stormposition for their teams, picking out key moments to unlock their opponentswith swift, incisive movements whose beauty sit somewhere between Barcelona andan Ang Lee movie whilst the game swirls around them. Who raises his game the higherof these two will be influential as, across the rest of the park, there islittle between the two teams.

The City players that would bestraight into our first eleven on my watch are Hart, Aguero, Balotelli andSilva, but the rest? They can keep them. With this in mind, I’m going to defythe miserable, over-tired and moan filled Saturday that I’ve had and predict with confidence and optimismthat, this time tomorrow, Chirpy’s thumbs will be held aloft once more.

Liam Gallagher, Noel Gallagher, Franny Lee, Joe Corrigan, Paul Power, Brian Marwood, David Platt, L.S. Lowry, Roberto Mancini, Johnny Marr, Ricky Hatton, Sheikh Mansour... I hope your boys take one hell of a beating.

Spirit of RickyVilla. COYS!

Foreplay

2012-01-20T20:08:00.001Z

I got into the ground a little earlier than usual for the West Brom match and was treated to a close-up view of the players pre-match warm-up session. Thought you might like it.

Pre-Citeh ramblings to follow tomorrow.

How do you solve a problem like success?

2012-01-13T23:06:00.000Z

Tottenham Hotspur F.C. are so good rightnow that even I could run out for them with my creaking, 40 year old knees andwe would still win almost every match. I did, of course, always know that thisseason would go like this. Whilst on holiday last summer, a good friend, my Dadand myself decided to set out our predictions for the season’s results on thatsunny June day when the fixtures came out.

Whether it was the sun or the cervezaespecial, my optimistic predictions have so far been spot on, almost. In actualfact, I predicted that we’d have one point less than we do at thisstage – which means that what we’re watching is even better than my wildestdreams surmise of how our season would unfold. It’s been a bit special.

On my way home from the midweek win againstEverton, I bumped into an old friend who I used to play in a punk and reggaecovers band called The Magnificent 7 with. He asked me if I’d ever seen abetter Tottenham team. I weighed it up, I loved the team that I originally fellin love with, Ossie, Ricky, Hoddle, Crooks, Archibald, I was excited by the DavidPleat team in the Clive Allen season – they had the look of champions, domestictreble-winners even - but fell at the last in the league and in the cups, Ienjoyed the success of the Venables era and thought that Martin Jol’s squadwould probably be the best we’ll see for years to come. Before I could answer,my friend answered for me. “You haven’t”.

I couldn’t really argue, what we’re seeingon the pitch at White Hart Lane and, more often than not, on the road, is themost exciting brand of football delivered in the EPL since (I hate to say this)Arsenal and Henry delivered silverware down at the other end of the SevenSisters Road about ten years ago. No.2 only to Barcelona in the style stakes? Ithink so. We’d be more than a match for them at the moment.

Not everyone is lifting their game at the same time, Lennonseems yet to regain his fizz – even with Wednesday’s exciting run and goal,Modric is, unbelievably, misplacing the odd pass here and there (hey, no one’sperfect), Walker occasionally gets caught in possession, this week’sfavourite, BAE, has probably delivered some of his more erratic performances inrecent weeks, and Adebayor appears to not want to break any scoring records for us.For all this, whenever one of our players appears to be anything less than onthe very top of his game, someone else plays above themselves to the pointwhere we neither give away goals nor miss opportunities to take all threepoints.

Our movement is awesome. I tear my hair outat times watching Bale and Lennon play on their wrong sides, why play the bestleft and right wingers we’ve seen at the club for many a year in each other’s position?Logic would decree that this would harm us, but it helps stretch teams, putsdefenders off their game and changes angles. Van der Vaart appears transformedsince his last hamstring incident. Against West Brom and Everton alone he’sdelivered three of the best passes that I’ve seen since Hoddle, his roving allover the pitch makes things happen in every direction and he is very rapidlymaking the transformation from short-term fan favourite to Klinnsman-likelegend.

At the back, Dawson has re-entered the frayfaultlessly. Cheltenham was a great opportunity to play him in and his timingin the air and selection of right to left cross-field long balls to BAE andBale in midweek were perfection. A season or two back, I decided that Dawson and Kaboul werepotentially better than Ferdinand and Vidic. They are now. Dawson's comeback couldn't have been timed better given the vulnerability of King and Gallas to injury, it also means we have genuine competition in central defence when all four are fit whether it's Bassong or, eventually, Samba who come in fifth.

Finally, followingwhat could have been season affecting injuries to Parker and Sandro in the DCMposition, we’ve seen Jake Livermore step up and bridge the gap. I’ve never really rated Livermore, hisleague cup and Europa performances have suggested some promise but until thisweek I have only rated him as bit part, as having a chance in the Championshipbut not ever really having what it takes to break into our first team on aregular basis. I take that back. A pass rate of 99.7% (which Livermoreachieved against Everton) is nigh on unbeatable and he delivered a performanceof such maturity that I had to double take to make sure that he didn’t have a 50’squiff, a thunderbird running style and a number eight on his back. Reading inyesterday’s Standard that Jake is studying Scott Parker’s game closely furtherunderlines the importance of Redknapp’s ability to persuade the Chairman onParker’s signing. A masterstroke.

Of course, no matter how great a TottenhamHotspur team this is, they have won nothing yet, not even a home game againstWolves who proved stern opposition last year and will, no doubt, again this weekend. We have the potential for a great unravel should Redknapp end up payingfor his alleged crimes against HMRC by having to serve a custodial sentence (althoughI don’t think we’ll lose our momentum like the Goonies hope we will, they even have a countdown on) and we areup against the City billionaires and the experience of United.

We also have some tricky away fixtures toface in the second half of the season may have to accept that (presuming we getit) a home win tomorrow, a momentary glimpse of joint top will be as good as itgets. My predictions have been sound so far this year, but I don’t want to beright in the next sequence because I don’t think it will be enough. Munkey predicted (before Bolton were rubbish)...

14.1.12	Wolves	W	3
21.1.12	Man C	D	1
31.1.12	Wigan	W	3
4,2,12	Liverpool	L	0
11.2.12	Newcastle	W	3
25.2.12	Arsenal	L	0
3.3.12	Man U	W	3
10.3.12	Everton	D	1
17.3.12	Stoke	W	3
24.3.12	Chelsea	L	0
31.3.12	Swansea	W	3
7.4.12	Sunderland	D	1
9.4.12	Norwich	W	3
14.4.12	Bolton	L	0
21.4.12	QPR	D	1
28.4.12	Blackburn	W	3
5.5.12	Aston Villa	W	3
13.5.12	Fulham	W	3

Total			78

Not bad, absolutely bloody brilliant by thestandards of most of the last 50 years, but to see such a great team finish trophy-lesswould be a different kind of footballing crime.

We are watching a great team, a team thatdeserves to win leagues and cups, we are contenders, and we could be worthyChampions. How do you solve a problem like success? By ignoring the hype and getting more of it. Wehave to kick on, we have to keep winning. We are 11 titles behind the Goonies,it’s time to start catching up.

North London Is Ours; Moving Forward & Not Relying On The Past

2012-01-09T23:33:00.001Z

At the end of the game between The Manchesters on Sunday, I nudged my other-half awake and whispered the words that every woman wants to hear..."we'll get United away in the Fourth Round."

Strangely enough, she wasn't overly impressed with my attempt at pillow talk and went back to sleep. Which was a shame because my next attempt to be Mystic Meg was related to Thierry Henry.

I know that this is a Spurs blog and that Henry was the bane of our lives for so many years, but did anyone have any doubt during the snoozefest at the Emirates that this game was going to finish one-nil to the Nomads and that their on-loan MLS star was going to write the headlines.

Not so much as written in the stars but obvious to anyone who has been sniggering at the "striker crisis" that Wenger has at the Emirates - and by crisis I mean the fact that if Van Persie doesn't score, then it is highly unlikely that Arshavin or Chamakh will even get the ball on target.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

We thought about having Becks on loan last season and it didn't come off but he was never part of Tottenham history (apart from when he used to train at the club as a youngster in a Manchester United shirt). The fact that Wenger has had to bring in a former legend - on loan - to show his strikers where the net is says a lot about our friends from down the road.

According to Fox Soccer, Wenger has never failed to get past the third round and has apparently never lost to lower division opposition in the competition. So the return of Henry against Leeds - who had Andros Townsend on loan from us - is a significant signpost in where the Nomads believe their current North London status to be.

To the pundits and the dreamers at the Lane, the balance of power could be shifting to N17.

We have been playing great football, winning games when we haven't been at our best and avoided any embarrassment on Saturday by defeating Cheltenham - who would inevitably go on to be described as "holding their own" and "a credit to the Football League." Despite the fact that the side that 'Arry put out was obviously picked with the game against Everton in mind.

Our reward for a good afternoon's work? Vicarage Road and not Old Trafford.

I have very fond memories of Watford. Mainly because it was where Hoddle scored one of my favourite goals of all time (1983) and I was directly in line behind it. I also saw Klinnsmann score a hat-trick there in the League Cup and can recall seeing Neil Ruddock notching in a friendly in 1992.

It won't be an easy game, Championship sides like the chance to get at more illustrious visitors and our current success is certainly proving an aphrodisiac for teams who want to put one over on us.

Which is great. This is what we want, to be considered amongst the top sides, to be one of the teams that people start to fear, to be a force again.

Because, we have (in my humble opinion) underachieved since we last won the FA cup in 1991. Yes, there have been moments of inspiration, some wonderful players in the shirt and we have won more trophies than the Arse in the last six years but on the whole we have not been the North London powerhouse that we should have been.

We have had to watch the Nomads be successful, first with a brand of football that gave dull a new meaning and then, under Wenger, be the team that played exciting and attractive football that had the pundits purring with pleasure. We suffered as they strutted their stuff in the Champions League and we winced when they went through a whole season unbeaten - we finished 14th.

So when the Emirates rose as one to acclaim Henry as he came on the pitch - with the camera showing lots of fans in shirts with Henry on the back (and Dreamcast on the front) - and then he scored the winner (with a slight hint of offside), I allowed myself a small smile. Thierry Henry is not part of Arsenal's future, he is a figure from their past and Wenger has shown his hand in persuading him to put his body on the line for less than two months.

Henry won't be there at the end of April when the EPL starts to accelerate to the business end, he won't be around to take the pitch in Europe if they get past AC Milan (Wenger has registered him in the Champions League squad) and he won't be there if Robin Van Persie gets injured in March.

Can anyone else smell the whiff of desperation coming from one end of the Seven Sisters Road?

Breathe it in, take a lung-full...it smells great!

COYS

Nothing Less Than Three Points; West Brom Is The Game Of The Season...

2012-01-02T22:46:00.001Z

Diehard pessimists and TV pundits were now expecting us to win. There was a belief we had turned a corner, that we were no longer the perennial underachievers who occasionally flickered brightly, but genuine contenders who could mix it with the best of the best. We'd been here before, of course.

Taken from 'Vertigo; One Football Fan's Fear of Success' by John Crace

I am not a TV pundit. I have been accused of undue negative vibes towards some of our players but when I read the above passage from Crace's excellent account of the 2010-11 season, I smiled.

This appeared in the chapter that dealt with January 2011. One year ago, before the AC Milan games, the disappointment of Real Madrid and long before the run of poor form that saw us scrapping to avoid being in the Europa League.

Crace has been a Spurs fan since he fell in love with Jimmy Greaves. He has travelled all over Europe watching the team and he collects Tottenham memorabilia in the way that only a true diehard would understand. The "comedian" David Baddiel describes this book as "a funny and moving memoir which truly describes the horror of being a football fan."

And although I have an irrational dislike of Baddiel, I have to agree with him.

Nick Hornby wrote about a life of following the Woolwich Nomads but this book uses one season as it's focal point and (on the whole) his writing concerns the players who now carry our dreams forward. He talks about the "years of underachievement, the heroic sense of injustice and the seemingly infinite capacity for self-destruction."

This is the book that I wish I could have written.

I read this book in less than a day, taking full advantage of our non-appearance on Boxing Day . I started at 11 in the morning with a cup of coffee and, with the exception of a brief stop for lunch, carried on until the book was finished. It is a book that every Spurs fan should read.

And then read again.

Because in 284 pages, Crace has struck a chord that only a Spurs fan will truly appreciate. The fear that however well it is going, there is always the chance that we will f**k it up in a spectacular fashion - we all remember the dodgy lasagna, the failure to beat an average Everton team the 1995 FA Cup semi-final, the decision by Peter Crouch to make two tackles against Real Madrid...the list could go on.

Success is something that Spurs have flirted with for so many years, that the fact that we now have "undeniably one of the best squads, playing some of the best football in the country" means that our expectations have been raised.

And there is nothing wrong with that.

Against Norwich we looked every inch a top team. I watched it in a bar in Bermuda with an ex-pat Canary and he thought we were awesome. I agreed, I never felt worried about the final result and it has been a long time since I felt that comfortable.

Then we played Swansea and did enough to earn a point. We didn't play badly but they upped their game and gave us a bit of a scare. With the other results all going our way, there was a feeling that we had dropped 2 points but I saw it as a point gained against a team that had only conceded three goals at home all season.

Next up is West Brom, a game that could see us open up a healthy gap over Chavski and the Nomads after today's games, especially the Fulham result. Watching Zamora bury the ball in the net deep in injury time had me leaping off my seat and the smile on Martin Jol's face was mirrored on my own.

But we need to make sure that we take advantage of these results. Pundits will bang on about the unpredictable roller-coaster of the "greatest league since sliced bread" but I would give away my entire collection of Spurs ticket-stubs to be slightly more confident of our continued good form.

Three points against WBA is never easy, we failed to beat them last season and we need to be wary of the threat that they can pose. Which sounds like the sort of thing that a TV pundit would say.

2012 has started well for Spurs, without having to play a game. If it wasn't for Fat Frank popping up in the 89th minute at Wolves to score yet another goal from midfield - he is now equal with Teddy in the list of all time EPL goal-scorers - then we would be four points clear of Chelsea with two games in hand.

Which would be nice. But I will settle for third place after 18 games, 39 points in the bag and looking down on the rest of the EPL as the top London club.

I think that Crace would probably agree.

This time next month...

2012-01-01T18:49:00.002Z

Here we are then, perhaps blinking thebloodshot eyes away and feeling somewhat worse for wear, but here we are allthe same. 2012, the year that, like 2000 promises to sound futuristic for alleternity.

Which is happy news for those of a Hotspurpersuasion, as we are, and have always been (in thought if not in deed),purveyors of football from the future. Our festive period has been undulating,much has been made of our eleven match run without defeat but our recent formlooks like this.

LWDWD

Not a bad return for a sequence of gamesthat took in three tricky away matches, Chelsea and a reinvigorated Sunderlandbut still not quite the champagne supernova that preceded this run. Suspect it won't catch on as a hashtag.

Foy’s fumblings denied what should havebeen a lilywhite three points at Stoke City, we grafted to victory at home toSunderland, Chelsea played their cup final at the Lane to take a point – theinvective delivered to Terry seemed to inspire his best performance of theseason (let’s ignore him next time… if he has a next time), Norwich was atriumph which had almost everyone talking up our titleprospects, Swansea (there is a Swansea) was another point of the hard foughtvariety. Eight points from a possible fifteen. Not really title-winning form then, more sky lantern than fireworks, butother results have been kind to us and we’ve consolidated third place during adifficult and busy run of fixtures.

The teams around us haven’t done muchbetter through the festive period. Chelsea have reverted to an exciting brandof football that their aging squad can’t cope with whilst keeping faith in astriker whose mojo is yet to fully return, Liverpool, another team blessed witha striker who made the wrong move at the wrong time, show promise and apenchant for the prosaic in turn but are the only unbeaten top six side overthe last five games. Even the Mancs look beatable now; this weekend’s resultsdelivering two of the best wins of the season outside of our own fixture list.

The current form of the other contenderslooks like this:

United WWWWL – 12 points

Liverpool WWDDW – 11 points

Arsenal WLWDW – 10 points

City LWWDL - 7 points

Chelsea WDDDL – 6 points

So United top the points table and, oncurrent form, we’d be fourth amongst the top four/ title chasers. It’s tempting to read too much into this,particularly given news that not everything in the Old Trafford garden islooking rosy, but the resurgent form of Arsenal and Liverpool keeps thepressure on.

The mixed blessing that is the transferwindow is open once more. We’ve done well in the last window or three to retainour best players and add upgrades, with Parker, Adebayor, Friedel and Modric(not necessarily in that order) all being vital ingredients in our recipe forsuccess this season. Catalan noises about Bale are a cause for concern (whowouldn’t want to play the champagne football we offer occasionally on a weekin, week out basis for more money, with some of the best players on the planetand a realistic chance of winning the biggest trophy in club football on aregular basis?). No doubt Modric will be the subject of speculation for amonth, we may clear some deadwood and give our fringe players experience in thelower divisions but we’re unlikely to make any dramatic moves. Kaka or Rooneyanyone?

Tactically, it would be nice for Redknapp tohave more natural width on the right in the absence of Aaron Lennon (a shameBentley’s crocked, really it is). We also need cover for Adebayor, whose workrate has generally been impressive, Pav might deliver the odd thunderbolt butis not the player to lead the line and stretch opposing defences out of shape.Otherwise, an ain’t broke, don’t fix it approach will do.

Our upcoming fixtures look winnable, threeon the spin at home should equate to nine points and momentum before we take on the law over a tax issue and Manchester City at the Etihad on the 22^nd. By then, we could closethe gap on the league leaders but will need a little help from Liverpool andWigan. United have a difficult month ahead, with trips to Newcastle, Arsenaland Chelsea over the next month or so. I suppose what I’m getting at is that wecould, should we not revert to type and blow it by struggling to beat lowlyopposition at home, be top by the 31^st.

In the meantime, top team in London and asecure looking third place will do very nicely. Harry New Year? Let's hope so.

Third Place Play Off, A Seasonal Six Pointer

2011-12-19T22:52:00.000Z

Okay, I admit it's a little early in the season for this, I know that goalkeeper whose name sounds like a sneeze still thinks that the Goonies can finish above us too, but Thursday's derby will be a significant match in the race for the automatic qualification position for the Champions League next season. It's a six pointer and no two ways.

It's going to be tight. Our hard fought three points at the weekend and Chelsea's two point droppings at Wigan suggest that Thursday may not quite reach the heights of entertainment that characterised our 4-4 draw in 2008, or the thrilling 2-1 we enjoyed in the run in to our qualification last time we reached fourth.

Sunderland was good in a way, in a 'can never get too comfortable, never really enjoyed it, not convincing but still getting the result' kind of way. Kevin Bond was satisfied, made that Fleet service latte go down nicely.

Shorn of Bale and Lennon, we looked lacklustre, our forward fizz and thrust replaced with something altogether more workmanlike. van der Vaart provided flashes of inspiration with some beautiful, Dawson-esque (only joking, more Hoddle-esque) cross-field balls from right to left to Benoit. Walker ran our right flank virtually single-handedly (or footedly I suppose).

Sandro provided an object lesson in the art of tracking and tackling to the point where my Dad, who's less than prone to public displays of emotion, stood up to applaud and a cheer as Sandro made his way back to the right-back position to deliver a ball winning moment of such magnificence that it stands as a contender for tackle of the season. Gallas was busier than King and had his best game of the season, Benoit offered a drag-back too far but marauded down the left with some beautifully timed cutting-inside into the box and, for all this, Friedel was probably our man of the match - pulling off difficult saves without fuss, flap or fumble.

We lacked cutting edge though. Adebayor worked hard to get very little out of Bramble, vdV was passing beautifully but still looks hamstrung when it comes to running and Pav was Pav. Yes Harry, you could get an upgrade. Great goal, lovely finish but could have had more and should have done better in terms of work rate and his passing game - a run in the side and a bit of sharpening up of the footballing brain is needed but his instinctive play is still strong (in terms of Thursday, I'd take him over Torres at the moment, he'd be on the bench for Sturridge too though). At least Pav's Geordie credentials remain intact.

Modric had a slow start again on Sunday but improved dramatically once he took up a more central position in the second half and should have given us the two goal cushion we'd have preferred. Parker was all tidy industry and triangles but we did look like a team playing four central midfielders. For all of our excellent full-back running, our flank flair was missing. We, dare I say it, looked like a George Graham team. 1-0 to the Tottenham.

It's nice to know we can do it, but I enjoy it more when we thoroughly outclass teams and win by much more than one as we did against Liverpool.

Thursday night then. Bale should return, King must play, we will need the two goal cushion, the match officials are:

22nd December

Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea (8pm)

Referee: H Webb
Assistants: D Cann, M Mullarkey
Fourth Official: C Foy
Match Delegate: P Shreeves
PGMO: G Parish

We may have to sing a song or two about Mr Foy, if I was him I'd be looking for a dodgy mince pie during the day so as to get the evening off. Howard Webb, for all his crimes against football (well, against us), has probably delivered the most free flowing example of refereeing that we've seen at the Lane this year with a creditable performance in our 3-1win against QPR in late October. I have a feeling we'll need Webb to take a slightly stronger stance in this north meets west London derby given the shameful performances that we've seen John Terry and Ashley Cole inflict upon us in recent years.

Chelsea have looked like a team yet to fully form, Mata (covet him) has shown moments of world class, Sturridge has shown why many of us would have taken him as an acceptable makeweight in a deal for Modders, Ramires has grown into a terrific player and Drogba looks back to his pre-illness best and worst. Terry is crocked, I'd prefer him to play given his wooden performances for most of this year, and Cech is being questioned like never before - all those blows to the head have finally taken their toll. But they're dangerous and we won't beat them if we play like we have in our last two fixtures.

Still, 'tis the season to be jolly, my brain says a 1-1 draw could be worth a flutter but I love Spurs and I'm dreaming of a lily white Christmas. I'd like to see the formation we played in the second half at Stoke, with King, Kaboul and Gallas at the back, a packed midfield with Bale and Walker flanking Sandro, Modric and Parker, Adebayor and Defoe up front. This would mean dropping Benoit and vdV, what am I saying? Sounds like madness. Could be an invitation to Cole and Bosingwa but I think they'd have their hands full with Bale and Walker to the point that they'll stay put, allowing us to dominate the middle of the park and attack their creaking central defenders on the ground, through the middle with pace (hence Defoe).

Of course, there's no way we'll line up like this - it'll be more Harry-styled 4-4-1-1 with the only tough choice being whether to restore Kaboul for Gallas or King (depending on the fitness gamble). So...

Friedel
Walker
Gallas/ Kaboul
King/ Kaboul
Assou-Ekotto
Bale
Modric
Parker
Sandro
vdV
Adebayor

It is. 4-0 then.

Merry Christmas and COYS!

Europa Veto To Deliver Glory In Europe

2011-12-17T21:46:00.000Z

Last Sunday's banana skin fixtureagainst a side whose sole contribution to football's evolution is theintroduction of a stitched-in towel to player shirts has to be proved to be anaberration. The alternative is too gloomy to consider at what's supposed to bea celebratory time of year.

Our first-half no show at the Britannia was a reminder of the old, soft,southern Spurs. A team that flatters to deceive, a team of unrealisedpotential, all flair and no fight, a team that I'd almost forgotten about, despitethe years of playing to type. A team I hope not to have to see on a regularbasis ever again. Or at least until the next era of transitional phases that wecan look forward to when Redknapp eventually takes semi-retirement and theEngland job.

Like most Tottenham fans, I prefer swashbuckling, swagger, speed and spontaneityforged on a platform of strong leadership, discipline, determination, and cunning. Theteam we saw in the second half last Sunday then. But we got another reminder ofleaner times despite this. The days of officials delivering the difference inour results are largely gone - we've improved enough to be better than lettingkey decisions that go against us ruining our chances of a win. Last Sundayreminded us that when we are in match that is in the balance, we just can'trely on the officials to get things right.

I've no problem with referees making mistakes if they're honest ones, I'd liketo see greater transparency and accountability, we have to follow a videoreferral system on key moments too because the combination of player movementand the speed of the ball can be deceptive, as can the players themselves.Foy's treatment of Younes Kaboul on the penalty denied led to Kaboul's red cardthough, all of this, of course stemmed from the penalty that was given (can’texpect two now can we?). The referee effectively sealed the result, denied usat least a point and cost us our most improved central defender at a key timein the season.

The disallowed goal was poor too, theShawcross handball on the line was not easy to see given the number of playersin the six-yard box but would have been picked up by a video ref, Crouch’shandball too if we’d got the technology and opted to seek a video decision. FIFA hide behind the line that the technologyshouldn’t be applied because it can’t be replicated at grass roots level, whichis laudable but laughable given the relative merits of what’s at stake. Indeed,Sunday morning referees might just get a little more sympathy from players ifthe difference between what they see on MOTD the night before and what theconditions are on a Sunday morning for a referee are even further apart andtherefore more clearly understood.

Whilst I don't think that Foy wasdishonest in his assessment of our goal or of the Shawcross or Crouch handballs,he carried the baggage of his personal displeasure at Kaboul's 'you needglasses' gesture into the second offence and, as a result, made the decisionsubjectively and hampered our prospects of a comeback.

So we need to build an insurmountable position to win games, at least atwo-goal cushion, which is no easy feat when you’re on the road or against thetop six or seven teams, but we do have the quality if we maintain the sheerwill to win that is normally associated with title winning sides whilst alsoresisting the temptation to believe our own press.

Too many of our superstar players andfan favourites opted for an initial 45 minutes of anonymity at Stoke, Bale,Modric, van der Vaart and Adebayor went hiding, but the biggest surprisesamongst these below-par performances were the ineffective performances of ScottParker and Benoit Assou-Ekotto.

A new #ScottParkerFact then, ScottParker cannot take on the midfield of Stoke City on his own in midfield. Atleast he’s human after all. Benoit too, probably our most consistent player sincehis return from injury a couple of seasons ago, his pragmatic and honestapproach to his profession matched with some iceberg cool defending atleft-back has led to whispered ‘best left back in the Premiership’ pub talkbecoming a louder conversation. In some ways, for both players, the defeat lastweek might be a good thing in terms of motivation, a warning shot againstcomplacency, a renewal of the feeling that they might just have a point to prove.

Our Europa League exit in late midweekset Twitter ablaze, with two camps of the supporters’ coalition revealingthemselves; the Conservatives favouring a Europa League exit so that the teamcan focus on more important things such as a domestic top four slot, theLiberals wanting our Europa campaign to continue toward an inevitable march tocup glory. I’m with the former. Winnable (hmmm) as it was, useful as it was totest our squad/ academy players, the Europa only really becomes a proper cupnow and would no doubt have put a bigger drain on our key players in the laterstages had we stayed in it with the two Manchester teams, Ajax, Porto and,ahem, Stoke City. Much as I’d have loved a trip to Holland or Portugal, thememory of our march to fourth place in the 2009/ 2010 season is that weachieved a top four slot because we were able to sustain a singularity of focuson our league position.

If you believed the press and mediacoverage of our season so far this year, you’d think we have a squad capable ofcompeting on a number of fronts and we’re going to win the league. I’d love toagree, I want the double again just so we can shove the “’61 never again” songback down the throats of those oh so funny Chelseas fans amongst other things,but I don’t subscribe to this point of view. Andros Townsend, Sandro, Defoe,Cudicini, Kranjcar and Rose have what it takes to offer more than capablecover, but what our Europa League exploits showed is that many of our youngerplayers and squad players aren’t quite there yet.

I maintain that injuries to King,Modric, Adebayor and Bale could seriously undermine our season (the first halfat Stoke where three of those four played as if injured reaffirmed this view)and reducing the risk of this by playing a few less games whilst our rivals gofor it can only be a good thing in terms of aiming for a bigger prize. Most ofthe group games in the Champions League are as good as a Europa League cupfinal and we shouldn’t compare the glory of winning this pot in the past withthe B-listing status that it holds now. Put a Champions League place on it andI’ll change my tune though.

So let’s go for the top four in the hopethat we push Manchester to the final day. We have a reasonable festive fixturelist, starting tomorrow with what should be, on the face of it, a home banker(the non-toxic variety). It is very like us to run into a team just as soon asthey’ve a new manager in charge, just as it’s typical that Chelsea have shownsome signs of improvement in recent weeks just as we’re due to meet them(although Wigan have done us a pleasing service this evening). Expect O’Neillto have the sort of galvanising effect that Harry had on us when he arrivedback in October 2008 and led us on the path to the starry ball the followingyear by narrowly avoiding Europa League qualification. Expect us to be betterprepared for a big, physical side in red and white stripes too.

King’s fitness will be key againstChelsea, but tomorrow ought to be a day where we escape any serious defensivetrouble should he not return to cover for Kaboul’s suspension, I wouldn’t riskhim. Gallas and Bassong are less than a dream pairing, Gallas reads the gamewell but is slowing down with age, Bassong lacks that confidence that regularfirst team football brings. Not ideal then, but they’re only up againstBendtner, a man who seems to spend more time getting kicks from petty crimethan from scoring goals. Having Niko back on the bench gives us a qualityoption should we run out of ideas as we did in the fixture last year and, even withoutany luck (black cats are funny like that), we should win.

Last year’s fixture saw Craig Gordonhave one of those regular White Hart Lane spectacles, that of the away team‘keeper having the game of his life. Twenty Tottenham attempts resulted in justone Rafa goal, a lead thrown-away in just a few short minutes as Gyan equalisedto a collective groan and a long, cold trudge home. At the time (last November)we were on a run of just two points from four league matches, it underlined howdifficult we found it to juggle a serious venture in Europe with a sustainedrun at the top four, having just trounced Inter the week before. Harry wasfuming, launching into a post match vent on Webb (who should have awarded uspenalty), and claiming, in echoes of Harold MacMillan (who he no doubt shared acuppa with as a boy whilst training in Cheshunt with Tottenham under Sir Bill),that we’d never had it so good. He probably already knew that a top four finishwas off the agenda even at that relatively early point of the season.

So, where Sunderland at home last yearwas a microcosmic fixture in terms of how our home form would impact upon ourseason’s final league position, the difference between this year and lastshould be clear by 4.45pm. The team we have now has character, skill, steel,speed and a visible togetherness. We don’t quite have eleven leaders on thepitch, but we’re not far off it - whenthey all hit form, we function.

Let’s take the Stoke experience, comeout in full attack mode and get Sunderland beaten early on, let’s make this thegame where we can rest key players on the hour mark, let’s get the momentumback so that we set ourselves up to beat Chelsea and go on another ten oreleven game run.

We may have played our veto card in theEuropa League to protect our domestic position, but in the long run, we’ll bebigger players in the European theatre because of it. It had better bloodywork. I wonder if that’s what Cameron was thinking too?

Stoke Result Stirs Social Reaction

2011-12-12T23:20:00.000Z

I don't mind admitting that yesterday afternoon I was quite cross.

It might have been the crowds at the people at the Mall doing their Christmas/Holiday shopping or it could have been the confused meandering around the local supermarket trying to find a list of items that had been scribbled down in no logical manner.

But in reality, I was still seething about the Stoke result. Not the game itself but the eruption on social media of a seemingly never-ending stream of comments about how unfair it was that we had lost and how the referee was possibly born out of wedlock.

Yes it was a handball (possibly two) and Adebayor was so onside that it wasn't funny but, at the end of the day, we lost for the first time since August. I would bet $10,000 - a popular amount here in the Land of the Free - that most Spurs fans would have said "thank you very much" if offered 4th place with a game in hand on December 12 after Citeh had ripped us apart.

But sometimes the game doesn't go the way you want and some decisions will turn out to be wrong. Remember the Fulham game the other week? Don't remember too much discussion about Kyle Walker scooping the ball away from the goal when the Cottagers were pressing for a well-deserved equalizer.

So when I meekly suggested that this was a dose of reality and that Stoke City aren't a bad side, I wasn't expecting everyone to agree with me but I was taken aback by how wrong I obviously was. If you are reading this blog , then you probably already know that I am keen to look on the gloomy side but that is purely down to years of raised expectations that never bear any real fruit.

And if you are reading this blog, you probably responded to my status updates. Don't worry, I bear no grudges and am happy that other fans feel the same as I do about our beloved Lilywhites.

I am not claiming to be a bigger and more loyal fan than anyone else, I have never said that I have all the answers to why BAE can sometimes be brilliant and other times utter shit and at no point have I expressed a desire for Spurs to be content with mid-table mediocrity.

Contrary to popular belief, I want us to win every game, every year and to be the best team in the World. I don't want us to fail and I am enjoying the way we are playing. This is the best Spurs team that I have seen in years, possibly even better than the 1986/87 squad that came so close to winning silverware on three fronts with Clive Allen netting 49 times in that special season.

The fact that I am living on the other side of the pond and reduced to watching games on television as opposed to standing on The Shelf with everyone else is a minor irritation but I remind myself that I was lucky to see as many games as I did from 1977 onwards.

In the old days, these sort of discussions would take place in the pub after the game or even over the course of a week but now it is far easier to get opposing opinions straight out into cyberspace without the need to worry about actually talking to someone. To cut a long story short, I expressed an opinion about our performance and some people disagreed with me.

End of Story.

But one of the things that makes The Beautiful Game so great is that it engenders passionate debate among all supporters and not just among your fellow fans. The game exists to provide talking points and if something is controversial, then all the better.

I thought that we were insipid in the first half yesterday and improved in the second. The substitutions made by the Badger at the break helped to repel the physical threat of Stoke and allowed us to get back into a game that was accelerating away from us after forty-five minutes. We probably just about deserved a draw but it was one of those games where the officials played more of a part than some of the players.

Shawcross handled on the line, nothing was given and Kaboul got booked for suggesting that the ref had got it wrong. Which he had.

Adebayor scored a goal that was incorrectly flagged for offside when instant television replays showed that he was at least two yards behind the last Stoke defender. Shawcross handled again, the ref decided that one penalty was enough for Spurs and waved away the protests.

With ten minutes to go, Kaboul made a silly (but not malicious) challenge and was sent off. Thank you and goodnight.

The Badger, who apparently hasn't criticized an official in thirty years (or paid any tax), said that the referee had "a poor game." Which was entirely true.

Fourteen games into the season, we lose for only the third time having won ten out of the previous eleven. We are nicely placed in fourth place, level with Chavski on points and with our home game against Everton in hand. We are unlikely to be still in the PCEL in the New Year but will be keen to advance in the FA Cup. The team is playing great football in the Tottenham Way and the pundits love watching us.

As do I.

I am excited to see where this team will take us. If we can keep players like Modric, Bale, VDV and Kyle Walker, then the future is very bright. In Scott Parker we finally have a holding midfielder who looks every inch a Spurs player and a squad that is getting envious glances from our rivals. All we need now is to build a bigger stadium in N17 to cope with the increased demand and, as Spurs fans, we can start thinking about being one of those clubs that everyone seems to enjoy watching.

Danny Blanchflower summed it up when he said "Football is about glory, it is about doing things in style and with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom."

I have been a Spurs fan since 1976. I have never been bored.

Come On You Spurs.

To dream is to do

2011-12-03T11:38:00.001Z

Bolton Wanderers. A team of few redeeming features. My two enduring memories of this fixture are of it being rained off about 10 years ago due to a downpour of near Biblical proportions over N17 and thus getting more drinking time and of Berbatov's single-handed destruction of Bolton in a game where we had been reduced to 10 men but ran out 4-1 winners despite Keane celebrating his brace with a sending off. Other than that, vague recollections of Edgar Davids in dark blue Kappa kit and a sense of foreboding about Kevin Davies' ability to score against us almost every time he plays against us.  


Campo, Bergsson, Djorkaeff, Gudjohnsen, Jaskelainen, Cahill, Okocha, Lofthouse and, of course, the sadly and prematurely departed, Gary Speed. The boys from Horwich have enjoyed some fine players over the years, but in recent times have hardly been exponents of fine football. Owen Coyles' seeming transformation of a team of hoof it and hope to a team encouraged to adopt a cultured passing pattern has fallen upon a number of deaf, cauliflower ears this year - Davies and Robinson epitomising the old dogs thing. So we should beat them and by a significant margin.
 



Wednesday's less than OK performance against PAOK may remind the Boltons of this world that a stout rearguard can offer a platform for victory against our swashbuckling heroes. But I think this could be reading too much into it. Our first choice rearguard would never have failed as the second string did. It was a timely reminder of the difference King, Friedel, Parker and Adebayor make as possibly the strongest spine of any top flight team in England (and Wales).
 



Wednesday also highlighted the increasing importance of van der Vaart, our second half siege lacked the wit and imagination that Rafa brings. I'm a fully fledged convert to vdV; his set pieces need work still but his contribution in open play and his goal count underline just how crucial he is for the first hour of every game. 
 



Extraordinarily, we have arrived at a point where the first team picks itself, which is one of the best things about this season - experimentation has been contained to lesser tournaments for lesser teams. I know it goes against the grain not to want to win everything available but I'd take a top four spot and the F.A. Cup over anything else available to us this season.
 



Having a settled first team on a winning run, our best start since before I was born has got me dreaming. Anyone for the double? There are clouds on the horizon, the transfer window, the court case, and England calling (how obvious is Harry's don't destabilise Tottenham's season plea to the FA?) but if we can just keep it together, and maybe even add to our options up front with a little bit of winter window trading, to dream could be to do this year.

Enjoy Saturday 3pm at the Lane, it's making a comeback.

Greek Tragedy; 'Arry Gets The Gift He Wanted

2011-11-30T23:24:00.001Z

So ‘Arry can finally set aside his Thursday nights forhis beloved Sandra and we can look forward to playing more games on a Saturday.

The wheels on our European Tour bus came off in aspectacular fashion tonight after a performance that can best described asmind-boggling.

It was the chance for our “fringe” players to remind uswhy they deserved to get the chance to shine in the Premier League and for ouryoungsters to experience another glory, glory night.

Neither of these opportunities happened.

PAOK Salonika came to the Lane with bare-chested supportdrawn from the homeland (and Turnpike Lane), went two goals up in fifteenminutes, were down to ten men from the forty-first and spent the entire secondperiod camped in their half as if they were waiting for confirmation that theirsalary would not be in Euros.

We huffed, we puffed and we failed to blow their housedown. The second half was one-way traffic as PAOK parked their Trojan Horse infront of the Park Lane and held on for a victory that confirmed that they willbe playing European football in the New Year.

We now need to win by a huge amount against Shamrock andhope that PAOK give Rubin Kazan a thrashing that they don’t deserve.

Because we certainly don’t deserve to be in the lastthirty-two of the PCEL.

‘Arry has been contemptuous of this competition sincebefore it started and, although it has been a great chance to see some of thetalent sitting on the sidelines, the majority of the performances bear noresemblance to what we see in the Premier League.

The Badger made nine changes from the team that beat WBAat the weekend and it showed in the first thirty minutes as we lookeddisorganized and sluggish at the back with little or no creative spark in themiddle (Modric aside, he worked his little Croatian socks off for most of thegame).

Gomes looked like he would rather be anywhere else thanbetween the sticks at the Lane and his lack of movement for the first goal wasembarrassing. Corluka was exposed for the second goal and we were chasing theGreeks from the fifteenth minute.

It was a race that we were never likely to win – evenwhen we were handed a lifeline just before half-time.

Modric’s penalty gave me hope for a few minutes but asthe second half clock accelerated away, so did my belief that we would getanything from this competition.

Yes, the discussions about the goal-that-wasn’t willdominate the discussions before the weekend but the fact is that this was agame that we should have won. Our squad is apparently “deep” and good enough tochallenge on numerous fronts.

An early exit from the Carling Cup and our struggle tobreak down Shamrock Rovers at home in PCEL tell a different story. Unlesssomething astonishing happens in Ireland in the next game, we will findourselves with only two competitions to concentrate on – and we are not goodenough to win the League!

Our recent domestic performances have had the punditspurring and seen many of our players make it into Garth Crooks’ team of theweek. Parker, Modric, Bale, VDV, King and Adebayor have all been exceptionaland we are positioned very nicely, thank you very much.

But it appears that this Europa League campaign has been treated with (cunningly disguised) contempt by the management and that malaise filtered through to the ladstonight who looked as they could care less about trips to Eastern Europe in2012. As I have said, the second half saw the Paxton Road having to watch theaction from afar but hopefully the “why-won’t-the-boss-pick-me” gang will belooking for other employers in the January window – which would have includedPav and Dos Santos but they weren’t playing.

Gomes, Corluka, Bassong and Rose did themselves nofavours tonight, Defoe was lively but didn’t actually have that many chances toshow why he should get more game-time.

We missed Scott Parker, I am yet to be convinced byLivermore and I thought that Harry Kane should have scored when he had thechance. Lennon spent a lot of time running and not crossing while Pienaarproved again what an inexplicable purchase he was.

Plus points? Not having to listen to the commentarythrough my Internet or even have to watch Iranian TV to see the games, Modricand my growing love for Scott Parker.

Minuses – the realization that maybe we aren’t as goodas we think we are, the lack of a striker that isn’t on loan and the instantmockery from Facebook friends that I had hoped to avoid until at least the NewYear.

But at least my faith in Spurs has been restored. It wasall getting to be a bit too positive for this fan.

Looking forward to seeing the first team back in actionon Saturday, against a team fighting relegation…what are the odds on two homedefeats in a week?

Happy days, glory nights

2011-11-22T01:07:00.000Z

Tonight's win was special. It's one thing topping the table in August but getting on the podium in November is as encouraging a sign for our prospects of a top four finish as we could hope for.

The manner of our performance was borne out statistically. 70% posession. Posession is nine tenths of the footballing law and tonight, we were the law.

Sadly, the long arm of the law is exactly what might spoil our N17 party this year as the Villa fans were keen to stress, that or an irresistable offer for Modric that results in a month of tension and a deadline day capitulation. But tonight's not the night for worrying about the new year, more one for relishing what it may bring.

Unlike the recent wins at home to QPR and Fulham, where we huffed and puffed a bit before taking three points, tonight was a masterclass. At the heart of almost everything positive were Adebayor, Modric, Bale (well who did you think it would be) and van der Vaart.

Yes, Adebayor's overhead kick came from a mis-hit shot (did Bale really mean that) and his other goal could be attributed to a mix up and, yes, we still sometimes need to be less elaborate in the final third and just hit it but we were glorious tonight.

Rafael van der Vaart pulled the strings with some wonderful control, some sublime passing and even a gracious exit. When he left the pitch, the game lost a left footed magic wand and a little of its fizz.

Bale caused blind panic amongst Villa's novelty formation of two right-backs - a cunning plan of somewhat Baldrickesque proportions from McLeish to counter our two flying left-backs.

King and Kaboul look impenetrable, Friedel unflappable. Modric and Parker once again showed tackles and triangles form a happy midfield marriage and Lennon and Walker fizzed down the right flank, teasing Warnock and pulling Heskey into the Villa back four at times.

Adebayor had a great game. He could have doubled his tally of two, could have scored a beautiful volley from a sumptuous van der Vaart pass, but you only need to win a game once and Villa were well beaten after the first five minutes when their early opening salvo fell flat. Work rate? Adebayor ran 70 yards backwards on a handful of occasions to pressure Villa defenders who had had the temerity to try and push on, won almost everything in the air and held up the ball with great skill to bring our midifield runners in. We have to try and keep him. I fear what the impact of an injury to him might have on our season. Brilliant player.

Harry's happy, the team has fantastic spirit to match its skill, we really are going to get our new stadium and we're a knowledgable crowd. All good and nothing bad. Bring on the Camp Nou!

Timing is everything

2011-11-05T15:54:00.001Z

Last Sunday's win at home to QPR was farfrom routine. In my pre-match optimism, I had a modest flutter on 5-0, ifAdebayor had got his shooting boots on I could have reaped a crunch busting £25back along with my little golden nugget. As it was, we made slightly harderwork of the three points than we needed to, our defence stretched out of shapeat times and some last ditch interventions saving our lead at 2-1.

Performances all over the park gave causefor satisfaction though. Bale's return to scoring form, Lennon's consideredapproach play, King and Kaboul's parnership and the continued improvement infitness and form of vdV all being notable.

Scott Parker was immense. Tirelessrunning, excellent tackling, tidy passing, relentless determination andleadership quality make Parker a potentially heroic figure in our push for aChampions League place. Whilst I wish we'd acquired his services four or fiveyears ago (how Martin Jol could have done with him instead of Bentley), Isuspect that if we had, he'd have found his way to Man Utd by now. Harry knows.We'll get at least a couple of great years from Parker. Enough to challenge andinspire, perfect timing in terms of his career trajectory and our progress backinto Europe's elite.

Rarely do I give praise to our currentcrop of referees, especially this one, but Howard Webb's stewardship ofSunday's tie was exemplary. No yellow cards, waving play on where he could andfirm on backchat. It contributed to Parker's performance and set a benchmarkthat his card-toting colleagues should aspire to. Excellent.

The trip to Ruben was epic according tothe Facebook updates of my friend who made the journey to the land of theTartars. The match somewhat less so. I caught the last ten minutes on the BBCtext commentary, not the best way to follow a game but better than nothing andreminiscent of the original internet, Ceefax. It read something like 'Cudicinisaves. Save from Cudicini. Another save from Cudicini.' The stats showed 50/50posession figures but just one shot on target and one shot off. If ever therewas a Europa League fixture to lose, it was that one, more vital experience forour younger players and no real harm done.

Harry'sabsence due to closing arteries this week was a cause for concern, itsheartening (help me) to know that all went well and that he'll be back in thesaddle following the Fulham game and the international break. In terms of ourPremier League campaign, this probably couldn't have happened at a better time.Harry's already fit enough to return to the media fray, his trips up and downthe M3 with Kevin Bond (breakfast at Fleet services) will resume before we knowit and the stents should hold for a while. The British Heart Foundation explainhow all this works here.

Ofcourse, a sick manager gets the risk-averse and list-driven amongst us scouringthe footballing horizon for a new leader. I drafted a quick list:

Pardew, Hoddle, Ancelotti, Mourinho,Moyes, Hughton, Jol, Ferguson (Jnr), Poyet, Curbishley, AVB, MartinezKlinsmann, Loew

Regressive as this is, I'd still love ahomecoming for big Martin Jol. Jol's 'no hard feelings' comment to The Guardianthis week has helped keep the fires burning here, although I don't reallyexpect Mr Levy to give another penny to this guy. The rest of the names on thelist inspire a range of mixed feelings, with the exception of Klinsmann - who Ithink could be perfect with the right people around him. I'd love AVB todefect in our direction - if ever a manager joined the wrong club with thewrong culture... a bit like the librarian down the road.

Running into Martin Jol's Fulham on Sundayfills me with dread. Whenever I've ventured to Fulham I've witnessed dulldraws and defeats and so, much as I enjoy the local hospitality and the easy ofjourney, I'll be saving my annual London derby away for QPR away this year. Fulhamwere magnificent in the week, Johnson a constant threat, Hangerland stoic andstrong at the back and Schwarzer continues to perform amongst the highestechelon of goalkeeping there is - I don't know how he hasn't followed in thefootsteps of his predecessor at the Cottage by going to a Champions Leagueclub. Fulham should be buzzing, which is not far off the state we metthem in in the FA Cup last year during Dawson's Darkest Hour TM.

By rights, we'll be tooskilful, too strong and too speedy for Fulham this year. But then we alwaysthink that. Motson's preview anticipates a goal-fest, the best game of theweekend, with form dictating the result. After all these years, you'd think he wouldknow enough about Spurs to see this as the banana skin it really is.Manager-less Spurs meet jilted manager by the Thames - Motty may have missedhis moment in terms of scripting the match here.

Win,draw or lose, the weeks leading up to Villa at home on the 21st are going tofeel like a very long time. If we continue our momentum up the table, it breaksour rhythm. If we draw or lose, we have a long wait to put up with before wecan get back on track.

Plastic Memories From An Armchair Supporter

2011-10-30T14:56:00.000Z

The plan was to write about the game against QPR whilewatching other teams huff and puff against each other on an almost fullSaturday programme.

Like all great plans, that didn’t happen. I got distracted.

Instead I watched a thriller at Stamford Bridge, a normalday at the office for Abu Dhabi City and the first half of Roy Hodgson againsthis former employers. All of which made me realise that we are already aquarter of the way through the season and that the Premier League is startingto take on an ominous familiarity.

The Manchesters are the team to beat, which is so blindinglyobvious that it isn’t even worth commenting on and come the end of the seasonit is likely to be a maximum of a two-horse race.

At the bottom, the usual suspects will be scraping forsurvival and changing their managers either before the end of the year or at apoint in the season when it won’t make any difference. The newly promoted clubswill be hoping that they can last the distance.

The battle for mid-table obscurity will be the focus ofAston Villa and Sunderland while the chase for Europe will come down to theteams that want it more.

We should be one of them.

After the first two games against The Manchesters, I wasslightly concerned as to the direction of the season but I knew that we had thetalent to cement our place among the big boys.

Away wins at Wolves, Wigan and Blackburn seem to indicatethat we are no longer content to be the points provider for teams that willstruggle all season, while victories over Liverpool and Arsenal showed that (onour day) we are a match for any club – including The Manchesters.

The return of 16 points from the first 8 games (three home,five away) is our joint best start to a season and we are in the best run ofform since January 2005. VDV is scoring goals for fun and, although he isn’tgetting any PCEL action at the moment, is on course to be the club’s leadingscorer again. Modric has shaken off his irritation at not being sold but withJanuary on the horizon, it is to be hoped that he is not putting himself in theshop window again.

The defense has performed well but we always look capable ofconceding goals especially when BAE decides that playing silly buggers on theedge of the area is what the fans want to see. The potential long-term loss ofDawson and the inevitable hobble back to the treatment room of Ledders has leftus short in the Centre Half Department but I am sure that the Badger is alreadysizing up options in the January Sales if Gallas doesn’t come back soon as weneed more than Kaboul and Bassong at the back. And Friedel has certainly mademe forget about our dodgy Brazilian.

The pluses of the first quarter keep on coming. Scott Parkeris every inch a Spurs player, Defoe is looking sharp again and I have even applaudedwhen Adebayor comes onto the pitch – from the safety of my couch, as mymetamorphosis into a true Armchair Supporter continues.

So, it is fair to say that I hope today is not the momentwhen the wheels come off the accelerating Spurs juggernaut against a reasonableQPR side.

Queens Park Rangers were a founder member of the PremierLeague cash cow and have always been one of those clubs that is hard todislike. They are the equivalent of a good chicken dinner; nothing special butsometimes satisfying and with the right trimmings can be made to look tastierthan it actually is.

The fact that West London now has three representatives inthe “most exciting league competition since before bread was invented” has notbeen lost on me. Personally I think it’s great that Fulham have a legitimateneighbour that they have a chance of beating and I have fond memories of tripsto Loftus Road.

QPR were one of the teams that decided that plastic was thesurface of the future and replaced their grass in 1981, enjoying somesuccessful years that included facing us in the 1982 Cup Final.

We used to do OK on the plastic, a 5-2 victory in April 1986was a highlight for me as it was wonderful to see Hoddle playing the game as ifhe was on a training pitch, majestically spraying passes to feet despite thesometimes awful bounce that characterized playing on the artificial turf meant.Ordinary players never liked the surface, it highlighted too many of theirlimitations but, for those blessed with talent, it allowed for a quick passinggame that is the hallmark of any team with ambition.

QPR were also one of the last stops for Ossie Ardiles, hisskills fading in the later years of his playing career and perhaps the rightplace for him to bow out of the game. Just one of many connections between usand the Super Hoops over the years; Terry Venables, Clive Allen, Sir Les,Crouch, Gerry Francis, Terry Fenwick and now Adel Tarabbt. Both clubs havebenefitted from a working relationship that doesn’t seem to engender dislike.

But I want us to win today. Not because I have any negativefeelings towards QPR or their always quotable manager but because we need tokeep the momentum going. We had a tough start but we weathered the inevitablenaysayers (which very occasionally I might be guilty of) and have done well inthe PCEL with our kids while still maintaining the high standard that we expectof our beloved Lilywhites.

At the time of writing we are above the Arsenal and sittingquite comfortably in the higher echelons of the League. We can realisticallyexpect to be there at the end of the season, provided that we don’t fall foulof the usual Tottenham complacency that seems to set in when we play supposedlyinferior opposition.

That should not be the Tottenham Way. We should now take along look at the teams that have dominated the EPL for years and learn fromtheir continued success – I don’t count Manchester City pre 2008 as one ofthose teams.

We have the talent, we have the momentum and (hopefully)today we will have the three points.

COYS

High Flying Birds

2011-10-29T13:50:00.001+01:00

Wins against Rubin Kazan and Blackburn have extended our unbeaten run to six games, 10 if you don't count penalties at the Potteries. The vdV 2011/ 2012 DVD is starting to look more like a collection of golden moments than a series of out-takes, we've already beaten Arsenal once and sit above them in the league table, things are looking sweet.

My prediction to Gazza, that Newcastle away would be a 2-2 draw proved spot on, if I had the courage of my convictions, I'd have won some money but gambling is something I do only occasionally and badly. If Spurs had gambled further, I suspect we'd have lost. The result was one of those that divides the support, the half-empties lamenting two dropped points, the half-fulls seeing it as a point gained. I fall in the latter camp, we were fortunate to hold on to the advantage that vdV's emphatic pen and Defoe's edge of the box beauty had given us -with Newcastle lunching near open goals towards the end. And our purple shirts looked fantastic throughout.

The Europa League, unwanted diversion and massive Euro come-down as it is, continues to be an interesting testing bed for our youth/ academy/ squad players, the run out against Rubin was as tough a game as that particular team are likely to get at home against anyone, we were outplayed for large tranches of the match but, thanks to the Pav wonder strike, did what all good teams do even when they're not playing well and scraped a win. Capello may not agree but this match was further evidence that Walker is the best right-back in England. The presence of Sandro, Modric and Parker made me wonder whether we inevitably end up with a 4-3-3, I still can't tell whether Harry considers Lennon to be on his way back or on the way out and in Tom Carroll the hope is we have a home made Modric on our hands.

Various gossip column rumblings lead me to believe that we're going to have to endure the Modric saga all over again in the winter window. But that can wait...

Blackburn Rovers away proved to be the kind of result top four teams get and middling teams don't. Rovers are leathery opposition, Pederson appears to be coming back to form, Samba is up there with Cahill as the central defender we have to buy in the winter window, they have real talent in Formica. They have a very good (if not a great) 'keeper in Robinson and are already playing like a team in a relegation battle - tough to beat, battling for every ball as if their lives depended on it. Two classy finishes from van der Vaart offered me more to choke on following my slide into complacent dismissal of the man's abilities. Following a little re-think, it's hard to think of a player in the current squad who is more typically Tottenham; magnificent but fundamentally flawed. Into the top corner, then straight into the wall. Expect him to manage us one day.

vdV, Walker, Kaboul and Friedel have emerged as our best players in the last few games, our injury list is dwindling, although Dawson is out, Krancjar has seemingly been disappeared and Adebayor has looked less than fully fit. The returns of Gallas and Pienaar are welcome but not especially inspiring but if King returns to partner Kabout tomorrow, we have the foundation for a victory in place.

In other news, Manchester City could prove invincible in the league this year, even if they beat Arsenal today Chelsea look prone to self-destruction (long may it continue - I do hope their captain gets what he deserves, how could you understudy Desailly, play in the modern, multinational, ethnically diverse game we have and then go about your business as he did last Sunday?), Arsenal look decidedly wobbly, Liverpool and Newcastle look strong but unconvincing. Third place and the F.A. and Europa League Cups would be a happy threesome and looks eminently do-able.

To get to this, beating QPR is really the sort of fixture where you expect three points. They hilariously hung on against a 9 man Chelsea but with home advantage and eleven on the pitch, I expect a home win. Five goals and we could leapfrog Newcastle - our recent form looks strong on the page but we don't look like a side who are about thrash someone. Liverpool may have let us get this urge out of our system a little too early in the season but we need it now. Harry has to be brave with his selection and throw both Defoe and van der Vaart in behind Adebayor so that we extend our run to a magnificent seven rather than a lucky one. One notch up the table and we're back in the top four.

Saturday night might be all about Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds rather than Match of the Day for me this week, but on Sunday night, our Twitcher in chief will have his eye on the cockerel ousting the magpie so that we can be the highest flying footballing birds once again.

The Paul Gascoigne Interview

2011-10-15T22:31:00.000+01:00

I decided to spend my Friday lunchtime in Enfield town this week. Paul Gascoigne was signing his latest tome 'My world, football and me' at Waterstones and I went to go along and shake hands with the man whose legendary talent and Niagran tears illuminated Italia '90 (still the greatest World Cup in my living memory), graced White Hart Lane for four years and scored the greatest free-kick in a FA Cup semi final. Ever.

For all this, he's still not my favourite Geordie Spur. He may have been unique, he may nutmeg his man, then wait for him to catch up, crack a joke and then nutmeg him again with his tongue sticking out before pinging one in from 25 yards, he may have single handedly led the charge to the 1991 FA Cup final, he redefined the word 'scintillating' but he didn't sing 'Diamond Lights', nor did he appear in a Pizza Hut advert and he got rid of his mullet far too early on. Moreover, I was living in Devon for three of the years where he played for Spurs and so, regretfully, I didn't see enough of him in a Spurs shirt.

As I made my way past people queueing for iPhones to the queue for Gazza, I planned to squeeze in three questions. I had about a dozen that I'd have like to ask, I was even tempted to play a short version of the sausage sandwich game with him. I got as far as:

JM: "Who's going to win on Sunday then Paul?"
PG: "Well I want the Toon to win because I'm a Geordie lad like, but I don't think they're very good, I think Spurs will win."
JM: "They're 4th though, not bad. 2-2 probably. Thanks for the great football."

We shook hands whilst one of Gazza's assistants took a picture of us, for some reason known only to himself Gazza did a double take at the Superman t-shirt I was wearing, then I got ushered on by a surly looking minder for the next autograph-hunter to take my place.

So not exactly much of a conversation, not really an interview. Sorry about that. I wasn't exactly expecting quality time over a three course dinner anyway - a few snatched words, a scribble in a book, a photo, bish, bash, bosh. Done. What was clear though was that Gazza was a nice bloke, happy to talk to people as he went about signing his book, no sign of his famed nervous ticks and smiling a lot. Good to see. In my younger days, I spent some six years working for HMV on Oxford Street and worked on plenty of in-store personal appearances. Many of the pan-flashes that held PA's and signings clearly saw the people who bought their records/ films/ books as a bit of an inconvenience, said nothing to anyone and dragged their sullen selves out of there as quickly as they could.

Gazza was the opposite. His new book may not be more than a footballing photo album with Gazza-penned captions but some of the photography is fantastic, it opens with "To all you fans who came out to watch. You made everything worthwhile. I love you." And I believe him. Money can't buy love but love can certainly fill the tills at Waterstones and I hope it helps keep him afloat a while longer. The image which introduces the final chapter shows Gazza walking off the pitch having just beaten Arsenal, number eight on his back to the lens, gesturing passionately towards a jubilant Spurs end at Wembley, socks rolled down and fists pumping. How we could do with some of that tomorrow.

Newcastle have been kind to us down the years, Waddle, Gascoigne, Ginola, Ferdinand all leading north-eastern lights who headed to the bright side of north London and shone at Lane. Waddle owed much to his afternoon taking dribbling tips from a young Munkey but had the raw material and went on to become one of Europe's finest for us and Marseille but, for all our Northumberland connections, Newcastle away is a loathsome fixture.

Last year saw us prise a fairly fortunate draw from Tyneside - which is as good a result in the league up there as I can remember. A quick raid on 'My football facts' and I see our last win at St. James's Park was too long ago; August 2004 when the golden-booted Atouba scored. Newcastle United have found form, they have an astute manager in Pardew who, given his Intertoto past, could just be the man to follow Harry if he keeps it up.

We rarely fare well in the north-east and they always seem to have a physical striker who knocks us off our game. We need a show of strength from our new backbone; Friedel, King, Parker and Adebayor have to be fit and on form for us to stand any sort of a chance, we also need our pace men - Bale, Walker and Lennon to be on fire. van der Vaart to start - Lennon to replace him on the hour mark. My crystal ball says that chances will be few and far between but Defoe will score from outside the box and Lennon will grab a late second. Or BAE will seal his cult status with a winner in a 1-0 win. Maybe we'll lose. Nil nil written all over it. I don't know. The fog on the Tyne is clearly all mine.

COYS!

A day of two halves

2011-10-03T22:54:00.001+01:00

I thought Sunday morning would be a portends of what was to follow. Our front door decided to no longer work and I was locked in, the time I was going to spend finishing off a match preview (the main thrust of which being 'not comfortable with favourites status, will wear off the edge of my seat') was spent waggling a key about trying to make a lock turn. In the end I had to scale the seven foot wall that surrounds our back garden to get out of the house.

I then elect to be helpful and give a lift to a friend who had left their car in Waltham Abbey the night before, thinking that I had plenty of time to make my 11am kick off. Frustratingly, I find the road across the reservoirs between Chingford and Ponders End is closed and have to take a long way around to Firs Farm via the A406. I arrive with just five minutes to spare, in my haste to find my pitch and get changed in time for kick off, I run across the pitches at Firs Farm, whilst, unbeknown to me, my season ticket, wallet, and two other family member's season tickets go flying out of a flapping, unzipped pocket on my Puma holdall.

Next up, I proceed to have the worst game I've had since snapping my knee ligaments four years ago; offering a heat sapped, lacklustre performance capped by giving away a penalty in the last minute - it was harsh to say the least, but I was late, stupid and could have resisted the urge to get stuck in. We lose 4-3 because of it.

I'm sure an almighty proportion of the world's population had far worse Sunday mornings than I did, but things seemed pretty dismal in terms of the day I had had mapped out as I trudged away from Firs Farm to discover that I'd lost my wallet and tickets to add to the loss of good will from my team mates. I was gutted. I re-traced my steps, but all I could find was my half empty, washbag sized Head & Shoulders bottle. Things weren't looking good. I decided that this could be a day to forget. I weighed up my options, make my way home and hide from the world until Sunday was over or...

The phone rings, it's my wife, a fellow Edmonton District Sunday League footballer (identity unknown) has driven my wallet home and handed it over. It rings again, someone has handed one of the lost season tickets (my Dad's) in to my football manager, I get a text from my Dad (who I expected to be livid) saying things will get better. I take heart, pick up the returned ticket and head to White Hart Lane. The helpful staff at the ticket office on the corner of the Park Lane give me a printed ticket to replace my little barcode card and, for some reason, this seemed quaint, a paper ticket, a souvenir, charming - the day started to feel good.

Two beers later and I'm primed for the NLD, where my nerves had been jangling worse than a set of out of tune guitar strings, there was calm, where there was doubt, the team line-ups gave cause for confidence. Van Persie and, maybe, the goalkeeper - the only two players I'd take from their line-up. We looked strong, we looked too good for them, we were.

As ever, we made hard work of a home win against lowly opposition. Arsenal had clearly studied the Wigan video from last season and stifled us with a packed midfield and ultra-tight marking on Bale, but we had too much for them. Lesser Tottenham teams would have got at least a point. Jenas would have scored (again). Arsenal worked us hard, created a similar number of chances, but the quality of the chances was worlds apart. Parker, Adebayor, Defoe all lost out in personal battles with Sir Chesney (I think that's what they called him) but van der Vaart (who looked knackered at 20 minutes) did what he does best - torturing the Wanderers with some fine control on the axis of chest and shoulder and an even better finish. Better still, Kyle Walker blasted his way into the NLD hall of fame with a strike of powerful, swerving beauty, which was no less than he deserved for a performance where the youngster, at times, single handedly covered our right-side.

You've probably read a match report or two by now, probably all of them. All the mentions of the contributions of Parker (MOTM by a distance), Adebayor and Kyle Walker are on target. Indeed, the wider theme of our season having a backbone because of our new spine of Friedel, King, Parker and Adebayor is also spot-on. BAE and Kaboul were excellent again, Luka understated but effective, Sandro and Livermore enforcing at the end firmed us up and vdV was a source of constant irritation to both sets of defenders (love him/ hate him, but mostly love him at the moment), almost finally, Defoe put in a serious shift and all the fitness work appears to be paying dividends. A finale bearing a delightful cameo ensued - I saw Corluka stumble through three challenges like an odd mix of Chris Waddle and Andy Reid, all careful feet and pies. Brilliant.

A glorious result, gloriously delivered - yet I think we've played better and we should have won by three or four. The power has shifted, the pendulum swung, the worm has turned. I'm thinking of assembling a one-off scrap book to celebrate the occasion with clippings of every piece of coverage I can find. One or two of the pictures can go in the family album too, that's me in the corner - well, just next to Gareth Bale's left shoulder obscured by an arm.

Sunday morning? Best forgotten. Sunday afternoon? Forever fondly remembered.

London Calling....to a faraway Yid

2011-10-01T23:18:00.000+01:00

For those who are interested, my affair came to an end this week exactly in the way that I have become used to...badly and through an inability to win the important games when needed.

Long story short. Red Sox finish their season after 162 games by losing to Baltimore, don't go to the play-offs and have to watch as a smirking third-string (and that is being generous) Yankees team give up a 7-0 lead to Tampa Bay that ensures that Boston will not be celebrating for the second time this year.

Happily due to my fickle nature and my 30 second attention span, my brief baseball downer only lasted until this morning when I watched England beat Scotland at the Rugby World Cup. Which was nice.

But of course, this means that my radar can now be switched back to my one true sporting love. And what a weekend to start paying attention again.

It's that time of the season already. The day when THEY come to our manor. The game when all of the reasons why we support Spurs are brought into focus and why anything other than a victory can't be contemplated. At least until the game kicks off anyway.

We have had a difficult start to the season with games against The Manchesters, Liverpool, Wigan and Wolves - already stored away in the end-of-season DVD highlights folder on The Chairman's laptop. Five games, three wins and two defeats. We are already out of the Carling Cup but are making steady progress in the PCEL despite getting a bit of a shock against Shamrock Rovers until five minutes of taking our chances ensured that it could still count as a European Glory, Glory Night.

We have had some injuries and we have already been down to 'Arry's 'bare bones'. Dawson looks to be out for some time but VDV came back sooner than expected and the team seems to gelling nicely. Modric has stopped sulking, Bale has remembered why everyone was talking about him, Defoe is enjoying his relationship with another tall striker and Scott Parker is reaching Bargain-of-the-Window status.

I have even started feeling positive again about the direction of the club and the news that the Northumberland Park Development Project seems to be getting the green light (again) from governmental movers & shakers should bring the ill-fated OPLC debacle to a close sooner rather than later.

But all of those good vibes go out of the window when the Arsenal come to the Lane. It is not just a game, it is more than that. It is the North London Derby, the battle of the Seven Sisters Road, Proper North London Club versus Woolwich Nomads - you get the general picture.

The facts are these. This should be a good time to play Arsenal. They got stuffed by Man United, lost to Blackburn and their two EPL victories have come against Swansea and Bolton - both of whom will not be challenging for the Fourth Spot.

Like us, they won in Europe this week and, like us, they looked a bit vulnerable at times.

But as we all know, a wounded animal still has the capacity to inflict some sort of damage. Recently, we have had a good record against our beloved neighbours and the following information from the BBC preview made me think about actually putting some money on the game ;

Arsenal have only won one of their last six league meetings with Tottenham and none of the last three.
Eight of the last 11 league meetings at White Hart Lane have ended in draws.
Tottenham have only won seven out of 38 Premier League encounters with Arsenal, but two of those wins have come in their last three clashes.
This is the 167th meeting between the sides. Arsenal have won 69 times, Tottenham 52 and there have been 45 draws.

I decided not to tempt fate.

However, we do have the weapons to make this a good weekend. As I said, Modric is playing well and there will be ample opportunity for us to run at their dodgy defence. VDV doesn't have the distraction of the PCEL to tire him out in the midweek and he will be raring to go.

And then there is Adebayor.

He might be quite fired up for this game. He will want to do well. I want him to do well. I want him to celebrate in the same way that he did for Manchester City. I want him to celebrate at least three times. And then I would like him to admit that Spurs were the team he was hoping to play for when he got a call from his agent saying that a North London club were interested, he just got off at the wrong tube station on the Victoria Line.

Which I don't think is too much to ask for after the week of sporting disappointment that I have had here in Boston.

Come On You Spurs, you were my first, you will be my last and YOU will be my everything.

Unfaithfully Yours...

2011-09-27T19:34:00.000+01:00

I have a confession to make.

I have been cheating on my beloved Spurs with another team. Since my last (rather gloomy) post on September 17, my eyes have been drawn away from my long-term love and been fixated on a group of players who have managed to stir exactly the same emotions that I have for Tottenham Hotspur.

I didn't mean it to happen, it was just meant to be a brief fling. A summer romance to fill in the time while I waited for them to come back to me. A pointless liaison, that would be void of any emotion and was just a convenient way of getting rid of any excess, built-up tension so that when the time came, I wouldn't shoot my load too early.

But then something strange occurred. I started to care for this other team, began worrying about their form and when attending games found myself locked in conversation with complete strangers about why everything wasn't going to plan. I took the time to read the match reports and the media viewpoints, I even bought a shirt with the name of my favorite player on the back.

The only consolation in this torrid affair is that the team in question have no idea that I am in love with another. They don't even play the same game.

Which means that it could be the New England Revolution. But it isn't.

I have fallen for the Boston Red Sox. Hook, line and sinker. Even the fact that they occasionally play in Red hasn't stopped me from being attracted to them (although I have drawn the line at buying any replica shirt that has too much of that colour in it), and despite them being owned by John Henry - who now controls Liverpool FC.

It was inevitable if you think about it.

Football loving Londoner relocates to a country that still sees The Beautiful Game as something that doesn't even have the good grace to include time for commercial breaks, realises very quickly that his local "professional" team would struggle to stay in League Two and needs an outlet for support.

Doesn't take to Throwball, uninterested in basketball, likes Ice Hockey but can't afford the tickets and knows that following the New York Yankees is a faux-pas only understood by the millions of Manchester United fans that have never been to Old Trafford.

Throw in the fact that the Boston Red Sox have been an underachieving team that has only recently begun to make the most of it's talent and that they still have enough money to bring in some good players while playing home games in a ball-park that only holds 37,000. Simples.

I am a member of the Red Sox Nation. Which means that I am also part of the roller-coaster ride of emotions that following the Sox entails.

The current Red Sox are the most expensive team ever assembled by the Boston franchise. They came into this season with high expectations and the belief that winning the American League East was very achievable. At the very least, they would stroll into the Post-Season with no real problems (and that is where the real fun begins - after 162 games, it all comes down to the last 8 teams) and hopefully get a chance to compete for the World Series.

They lost the first six games, recovered, beat the Yankees on a regular basis throughout the summer and on September 1 were on top of the AL East. Even on September 3, they were nine games ahead of the nearest challenger for the wild-card spot in the play-offs.

It has all gone a bit pear-shaped since then. The Sox have lost 17 of the last 22 and, with 2 games of the regular season to go, are tied with Tampa Bay Rays for the AL wild-card place - the Yankees clinched the AL East with 13 games to spare.

Not surprisingly, there are dark mutterings in Massachusetts. The fans are looking for someone to blame, the players don't know what has gone wrong and the world of baseball is watching to see if the current Sox can become legends. For all the wrong reasons.

Which is why I am a Sox fan. I see parallels between the lads from Fenway Park and the boys from the Lane. Two teams that have the capacity to give you joy or despair at any given moment.

After two games of the football season, there were similar noises coming from the faithful at the Lane. Irrespective that our first two matches were against arguably the best teams in the league, the feeling seemed to be that our lack of transfer activity/rigid pay structure was leaving us behind in the race for fourth.

I will admit that I was worried. The whole Luka Modric saga had drained me, the defense was looking very shaky and I had no confidence in our strike force. But then 'Arry/The Chairman did some business by bringing in Scott Parker and Adebayor while chopping the deadwood and retaining the players that they said they would.

We won at Wolves, destroyed Liverpool and beat Wigan. Our youngsters did alright in Greece and the only fly in the ointment was the loss on penalties to Stoke in the League Cup. We are playing good football and scoring goals with Parker looking like he has been at the lane for years instead of less than a month.

Which is exactly how long it has taken for the Red Sox to implode.

Fans can be fickle but they are always loyal to the club. They may not agree with everything that goes on but their love is permanent. Most fans even have a soft spot for another team but they will always come back to the one they fell for first. And that is the same for whatever which sport you follow.

I may have spent the summer in the arms of another but, when I climb into bed at night, I dream in blue and white.

COYS.

Lovely Bubbly

2011-09-24T12:16:00.002+01:00

An interesting and varied week has taken me to a function at the Savoy and a meeting at City Hall. I have run five miles in 42 minutes (a personal best set without even really trying) and enjoyed the new Kasabian album, I even have a landmark to enjoy, today marks the 21st year since I first clapped eyes on the woman who would go on to become my wife.

Romantically, I'm a bit rubbish. One of the first things I said to my future spouse was "There's something you should know, I'm not like the other guys..." who knows what she thought I was going to confess to at that point, a love for Michael Jackson? No. "I follow Tottenham Hotspur". Clearly, it didn't register initially and she stuck with me, eventually succumbing to the same allegiance in the Ginola era. Funny that.

During the last 21 years, my experience of Wigan has been fairly limited. I was friendly with Nick McCabe for a little while and so knew The Verve were the best band from Wigan, I know we notched up our record Prem win against Wigan as Lennon and Defoe appeared to have tied Titus Bramble's bootlaces together to secure a thumping victory that actually proved the making and not the breaking of Roberto Martinez's young management career and I know the seats are a bit cheaper there. In all this time though, I have never travelled to or through Wigan.

Which is why I'd love to be there today. Getting good value in a newish stadium to watch a game between two teams who are progressive, exponents of pass and move and attacking by nature. I also anticipate that we'll get three points on our travels today and oh what fun it is to see the Tottenham win away. A cursory scan of this morning's match previews supports my view that Harry will start with the same line-up that kicked off the second half against Liverpool last week.

I may have used this blog to moan a bit about how we shouldn't change our shape to accommodate van der Vaart. Now, thanks to the emergence of Kyle Walker, we don't have to; vdV can play narrow or in the hole coming in from the right flank. This should pay dividends as it did for the Defoe goal last week, with vdV being in a position where he can help put the squeeze on our opponent's midfield and be close enough to the centre forwards to play telling passes through for them. Meanwhile, Walker can tear down the right flank on the overlap to make space and has a decent cross to boot. Azza beware.

Going out of the Carling Cup in the week left mixed emotions. It showed how we will struggle to score if Adebayor gets injured, it'll reduce the potential for fixture congestion and it is one less trophy to chase. Stoke was an odd venue for Hurelho Gomes's last stand. How the mighty can fall in the space of a season from octopus hero to Cafe Nero - which is where I half expect him to end up working. More positively, Sandro is back - our central midfield may not need him now but I think he'll end up proving to be a vital squad player as we go deeper into the season.

As players return to fitness, we'll get a clearer picture of what Redknapp considers to be his first XI. Despite his heroics at times last season, I'd be disappointed to see Kaboul dropped for Gallas. As I wrote last week, we need Younes to work with King for as long as he can to help with his growth and confidence. In the order of the dodgy knee, Gallas is good but King is a great. King's calm presence is generally better for the team as a whole and, in Friedel, we have a vocal leader a the back now. Gallas? Think Europa and cover this year. I wouldn't rule out a return to Arsenal in January.

Back to today, and three points, a 3-0 win and back in credit on goal difference please. An anniversary present, a message to love. Where Liverpool represented the passing of the top four contender challenge, today's trip is a measure of whether we have what it takes to beat lowly opposition or whether we assume three points are ours for the taking and then stumble like we did for so much of last season against 'w' teams. The Wolves result suggests we've learned a bit. Onwards and upwards.

What would I love even more though? I've just heard Motty say that Arsenal could go bottom today. I'll neck the last of my wedding champagne tonight if it happens.

COYS!

May the fours be with you

2011-09-19T23:06:00.004+01:00

Tottenham Hotspur F.C. and the number four haven't had the best of relationships in our recent history; we've waited over 50 years to win our fourth title, we've had a succession of number fours who have failed to score in our colours (Steffen Freund, 102 appearances and no goals, Didier Zokora, 88 appearances and no goals) and we've watched a conveyor belt of promising players flirt with success but enter a longer term relationship with failure - Price, Samways, Berti, Davis to name but four less than fantastic fours.

Then there's fourth in the league - the last berth in the Champions League qualifying positions, the chance to sip from football's holy chalice that the genuine title challengers would rather not slip down to, the 'you're fourth in the Premiership but you are equivalent to the runners-up in Switzerland' position. Startlingly, this eludes us pretty much every year through various forms of self-destruction, a failure to go self catering and a traditionally selfless approach to points distribution when it comes to being matched up against the Sky Top Four as it used to be known.

But not any more. Not this year. Beating Manchester United is about the only outstanding victory that Redknapp needs to deliver to complete his suite of triumphs against the old cartel - having come so close in the Carling Cup Final, only to go down by four penalties to one. We came back from 4-2 down at the Emirates to win 4-4 in four minutes of injury time, we have taken fourth place for the first time in the Premier League era following our fantastic 2009/ 2010 season run-in, and, in Younes Kaboul, we probably have the best number four that we've had at the club since the days when Graham Roberts ran through brick walls for us. Oh, and we just beat Liverpool 4-0.

Sunday's deconstruction of Liverpool's challenger credentials was as comprehensive a dismantling of a top side at the Lane as we've seen in the Premier League era. We may have beaten top flight teams by more, we may have beaten Arsenal by a four goal margin in the Carling Cup, or trashed Inter at home in the Champions League, but a truly convincing thrashing of a side expected to finish in or around the top four has been a long time coming. Against Liverpool, I'm sure I heard something from a commentator, that while has been about 46 years. Maybe in our lifetime after all...

Our fab four key partnerships in a 4-4-2 (this is beginning to give me a headache now but I've started so I'll finish), four yellow cards for Adam and Skittle and four goals. King and Kaboul, Parker and Modric, BAE and Bale, Defoe and Adebayor and then two great individual performances from Walker and, in the second half, van der Vaart, delivered as a compelling and as enjoyable a league performance as we've seen at home since we beat West Ham (you guessed it) 4-0 in 2008.

Of course, one vital ingredient in our successful Sunday lunchtime recipe was retaining Luka Modric who, like the manager, has embarked on his fourth season with the club. This would, of course, have been the fourth key player sale in recent years to have undermined our progress had it happened (Carrick, Berbatov and Robinson being the other three for me) and so I'll join Motty and the rest of the punditry world in congratulating young Daniel on his stance, I genuinely thought he'd relent at offers in excess of £30m.

Instead, we have the opportunity to build a team around a man whose impeccable performance and stunning early goal was as good as any individual central midfield performance seen at the Lane since the days of Hoddle and Ardiles. Indeed, we have the makings of a partnership there that might just stand a chance of accruing such legendary status. It's been a while since we could say that, four decades even.

May the fours be with you. COYS!

Not In My Lifetime; A Reality Check

2011-09-17T14:16:00.000+01:00

As I stood watching the Hingham Girls Varsity Soccer team grind out a one-all draw with Plymouth South yesterday, I was troubled.

Not by the fact that my Friday afternoon was being spent taking photos of teenage girls kicking a football around a pitch or even that they seemed to be coached by men who knew little of the game itself, apart from telling them to make sure that they got into offensive positions and to pass the ball to players who were making spatial runs through the center-field. Even the chance to point out that the goalkeeper for Hingham was about four foot tall and therefore anything on target might result in a scoring opportunity for the Plymouth offense wasn't enough to distract me from deeper issues.

And when I say deeper issues, I really mean Spurs.

Tomorrow's game with Liverpool is a huge test of character. Four games into the season and we are still trying to find our rhythm. We have come out of the blocks slowly, tentatively sniffing the air around us as if emerging from a period of prolonged hibernation.

Last weeks win at Wolves was gratefully received - although I only saw highlights, my Internet stream was so pathetic that I waited until they appeared on the Spurs TV Online website before settling down to watch - and there were signs that some of our new signings/loanees might be what we so desperately needed at the end of last season.

Scott Parker looked good, Adebayor sharp and seemingly keen to show his temporary employers that he just wants to play football while Freidel is the goal-keeper we should have signed three years ago.

Modric is still here, Krancjar seems to be getting some match action and Defoe looks happy to be playing in a 4-4-2 formation. The defense still makes me want to hide behind the sofa at times but the sight of Ledley at the back is as welcome as it will be depressing when the injury inevitably limits him to cameo appearances in the coming months.

No, my malaise comes from realising that we are a club that states high ambitions, that claims it wants to compete with the best but realistically are already settling for being among the not-quite good/rich enough that will make up the Top Ten of the EPL.

We will be happy with fourth place this season and maybe a cup, but Europe is a "nuisance" and we don't have the money to pay huge wages to our playing staff - although they earn more in a week then the majority of fans do in a year. But that is not the point.

It is fifty years since we won the old First Division. Fifty years.

Let's put that into perspective. Man has been to the moon, the Cold War ended in 1989, the European Union has formed, the Internet has transformed the way we absorb information, America has elected a President of African/American descent, the UK decided to elect the Labour Government after 18 years of Tory rule and then still put up with them for another 13 years, Batman has been invented as a movie franchise twice, Starbucks has changed the way we drink coffee and Last of the Summer Wine was broadcast on TV from 1973-2010.

Fifty years. Derby County, Blackburn Rovers and even Manchester City have won the league more recently than us.

And that's not right.

We have come close on a few occasions, flattered ourselves that we might be challenging in April provided that we remain injury free and ultimately we have achieved more success in fifty years than Newcastle or West Ham. But it just seems that since the introduction of the Premier League in February 1992, we have been content to make up the numbers without really going all out for the chance to sing that well-known Queen song.

The reason that this has come home to me is simple. There is an entire generation of football fans who have no concept of anything other than the Premier League, who have no idea that there was football before the Sky-sponsored marketing exercise that landed in our laps at the start of the 1992/92 season.

On Thursday night, after failing miserably to find the PAOK game streamed anywhere and resorting to London 94.9 (through Spurs TV Online, ironically), I played football with a group of ex-pats in Hingham and we spent some happy hours afterwards discussing our first matches, the players we admired, the reasons we supported who we did and even how Johnny Metgod went from being a great player at Forest to a crap one for us.

An American lad, who also plays with us, sat quietly for some minutes listening to our pre-EPL war stories with a smile on his face. When he spoke, it wasn't to discuss whether Graeme Roberts deserved his reputation or if the shorts in the 1980's were borderline indecent, but to ask a simple question.

"So, what was the Premier League called in 1981?"

We all looked at each other. The answer was obvious to us but to this kid the concept of a First through Fourth Division structure was alien, as far as he was concerned the Premier League was the only barometer of professional football in England. He had no idea that Nottingham Forest had been Champions of Europe, didn't realise that there was a time when foreign players were a luxury item instead of the main core of the team and that names on the back of shirts appeared as just another way for fans to spend their well-earned money on merchandise that was only relevant if the player still appeared for the team.

Maybe it was listening to the Europa League game on the "radio", perhaps it was the failure to watch the Wolves match on either TV or through the Internet or maybe 'Arry's general negative attitude since the start of the season has made me yearn for a manager who looks on the bright side. But it made me think about what we really can achieve and what we will be satisfied with. They are two completely different things and I don't have any answer as to what will make me feel more positive about the direction of Tottenham Hotspur Plc.

All I know is that it has been fifty years since we last won the League. And we aren't going to win it this season either.

And it's not even the end of September yet.

COYS

Liverpool on Sky with Diamonds

2011-09-17T12:11:00.006+01:00

Yep, the kids are PAOK. Livermore, Townsend and Carroll showed no little skill and plenty of mettle against an average Greek side but a fervent Greek support to bring home a point from our Group A opener. Whilst this could prove a vital experience in their development, you could view this nil all draw and progression in this tournament as a pyrrhic victory if you subscribe to the Europa as 'distraction' line. As resilient a performance as this was, any excitement about the potential of our academy players has to be tempered by the fact that our best player was our veteran goalkeeper. Cudicini delivered three classy stops to hold off a second half surge from the home team.

Pavlyuchenko looked desperately below par, Dos Santos confirmed what most of us realised long ago, not good enough to challenge for a place in our first team and so off the pace at times that it looks like he hasn't trained for weeks, Falque showed flashes of potential in between bouts of passing the ball to the opposition and Kane worked hard for little return (Lee Barnard the second?). Unlikely to set the world on fire in this tournament, but useful for player development - it's an exercise and little more. Notionally, it is a privilege to play club football in an international tournament, but there is little value in these group stage games beyond treating it as a live testing environment. No wonder the EL has so far had the feel of an extension of our pre-season friendlies.

Speaking of tests, I mentioned earlier in the week that Liverpool would be a true litmus test of our ambitions for this season. I'm not sure how apt this metaphor is, what pH number are we aiming for and do we prefer acid or alkali? In my youth, I would take a very occasional acid test and experienced nothing but pleasing visions, laughter and the happy and harmless delusion that I was, in fact, the reincarnation of Jim Morrison. So I guess the acid has it, something that suggests we will land on a premier High league position between one and four then would seem to be litmus test result that we're looking for.

As is my wont, I have scoured match previews in between making breakfast, running a taxi service for my four year old and cleaning out/ feeding our rabbit, and have particularly enjoyed reading about our recent record against the reds and Carragher's own goals. Picking up on the Sportingbet odds, a flutter on 2-1 with Adebayor to score first looks like a worthwhile risk.

I half expect Harry to field the same team that picked up points on the road at Molineux, Walker or Corluka will be a possible dilemma but, whilst Lennon is still out, Walker is likely to retain his position for his pace. van der Vaart is claiming fitness again having had bits of equine placenta rubbed onto his dodgy hamstring. Where to play him though? I have a horrible feeling that Krancjar will be the fall guy - which, given his role in both goals last week, would be a retrograde step. I maintain that if Krancjar gets a run in the side, he will be key.

Adebayor and Defoe should prove to be too much for Carragher and Agger at home, in terms of movement, pace and finishing, this is their year if we stay injury-free. In the middle, Parker and Modric should have tidy, triangular passing to give Henderson and Adam the run around, but possession in the middle will be vital - if we get brushed off the ball here, our lack of fit first choices at CB could be exposed.

Liverpool's biggest threats will come from wide positions and through their centre forwards. Kuyt's physicality and Downing's skill could unruffle BAE's usually exemplary feathers and Suarez and, possibly, Carroll will cause us problems if King struggles to recover and we end up with either Corluka, Bassong or a rushed back Gallas partnering Younes Kaboul.

Tomorrow's match will tell us all about our squad. Much has been written about Dalglish and how the Anfield boot room is back, their owner has backed the manager unequivocally with a summer spend totalling £56m or so on Coates, Downing, Suarez, Adam and Henderson. Suddenly, the penny pinching at the Lane looks as shrewd as Asterix on magic potion.

On Sky, Liverpool may be seen as a top team who has paid top money for some real diamonds. They might be tough, they might even be four ever, but I expect us to take the shine off them tomorrow.

Come on you Lily whites!

Wolves sent packing, Liverpool the litmus test

2011-09-13T23:12:00.001+01:00

Saturday, 3pm, kick off. We won't get that at home until December and so the our match up at Wolves, and the trip to Wigan in a couple of weeks time, present a welcome break from a season of Sundays. The win at Wolves was heartening. Parker's tenacity and the potential prospect of witnessing the best forward partnership we've seen since Berbatov and Keane proved enough to turn our pointless start to the season into a magic number. Not third time lucky, we were too good for that.

For all the impact of our new signings, who have galvanised and added goals, the K's need praise.

King brings composure, authority and a reading of the game that you only really see in the truly great defenders. If, as Harry says, we get 20 games out of him, his presence will make our tilt at the top four a safe bet and not a long shot. It's like we've just signed a £30m defender each time he plays. Kaboul needs to soak this up, watch his partner, study his positioning and develop the same reading skills - if his anticipation gets anywhere near Ledley's he'll improve his game dramatically.

Kyle and Kranjcar also impressed. Walker's tenacity and pace are a fantastic asset and, although he is still raw at times, he has the makings of the best right back at the club since the days when Stephen Carr had hair. Watching Hunt resort to rugby tactics underlined just how in-control Kyle Walker was. Outstanding. Kranjcar too, all elegant control, neat turns and two telling passes which led directly to goals. Show pony? Don't think so.

Parker and Adebayor offered no surprises. Parker brought bite but, unlike Palacios, can also pass the ball and showed as much when he delicately put his fellow debutante in for his goal. A shame we didn't pick him up five years ago. Adebayor offered a finish delivered with professional objectivity and no little style. If there is anyone out there who harbours discomfort about Adebayor's Arsenal past, they need someone in a white coat to do some work on them. This man means goals, goals win games. It's not like it was Adebayor or Messi, more like him or Nugent. Thank your lucky stars.

Predictably, we reverted to 4-4-2 and won.

I don't see this as the end of the doomed experiment, but live in hope - it would be a shame to break the Adebayor/ Defoe partnership up, it clearly has the potential to trouble the best of defences. Pleased to see that van der Vaart isn't being rushed back from injury too soon, despite the advice of the van Toorn muscle man. We also shone out wide without Lennon, with Walker overlapping, Kranjcar and Bale swapping wings at times and posing a solid Wolves rearguard problems. We may never see a Maicon moment again from Bale but his running is still about a thousand times more exciting than a Health & Safety Leadership meeting (Brad Friedel's clearly been to one, Lee Dixon should be grateful) and, if he can contribute even half a dozen goals in the league this season (seven in the league last year), he'll have done enough.

Our Europa League youth-team jaunt aside (I would like to and would like us to take this seriously, but am too time poor to have done anything like research on the fixture or attempt a match preview, or get excited about it - a bit like Harry. I suspect Gomes will play, there you go), the next real test of our season's credentials is this Sunday's lunchtime kick off against Liverpool. A six pointer, a potential classic, the official start for us in the race for fourth, the first real test of our Champions League aspirations and the key match in our build up to the big one. The NLD.

Lupine howlings

2011-09-10T12:49:00.001+01:00

I expect little from our trip to Wolves today. Whilst their early season table-topping means little at this point in time, what it does underline is that we are playing a team whose sole objective is to get to 42 points or so and, until they do so, they will be as hard a place to travel to as any of the midlands/ northern mid-table teams that we seem to traditionally struggle against on the road (think Bolton, Newcastle… Stoke will be a tough one). I would like some points today; three would do nicely, but feel a little flat about the whole thing having been rolled over by Manchester, eight goals against, one for. Those pesky Mancs. We need some momentum, some points on the board, but Molineux wasn’t the happiest of hunting grounds for us last season as we squandered fourth place in the run in.

The transfer window has left us in reasonably good shape. Parker and Adebayor will bring a combination of tenacity and leadership in the middle of the park and a serious goal threat, with the potential to actually hold up the ball for long enough to bring other players in going forward. My hope, particularly with van der Vaart fallen victim to his hamstring again, is that we revert to a 4-4-2 so that we actually work the centre backs rather than giving the opposition the luxury of a spare man (how nice it would be not to see the ball coming straight back at us).

Adebayor’s loan deal could be more significant for its impact on our other strikers. Pavlyuchenko doesn’t play unless he feels he’s got a point to prove (so expect some scintillating substitute appearances where his 25-yard belters actually come off) and, more hopefully, I hope Adebayor’s arrival re-ignites Defoes second spell at Tottenham. Defoe needs a partner, because of the vdV situation, he rarely got to re-enact his Pompey partnership with Crouch, this has cost us goals at home but has helped us win on the road (Arsenal, Milan, Villa). But the ingredients are there, Adebayor gives defenders a horrible time (Harry asked Rio Ferdinand about this but he could have made enquiries closer to home, as Dawson and Gallas will testify) and I fully expect Defoe to be able to capitalise on this. If the early signs are less than promising on this though, expect Mr Pulis to come calling again in the January sales.

Pub talk last night rumbled around the usual subjects, why didn’t we go for Suarez? Is Scott Parker plus the loan signing of Adeayor really evidence of the Chairman’s faith in the manager, did we offload the right driftwood and who’s going to take over when Harry moves on? It led to me admitting that, being in marketing, West Ham send me invitations to Champagne receptions with Big Sam and his new signings at Bar ’66 (they won the World Cup don’t you know), the launch of their new shop at Westfield and various other events that I expect not to attend unless work dictates that I should. Their new star loan signing, David Bentley, featured prominently on their e-shots, grinning gawkishly into the lens looking just happy to be wanted.

I’m more than aware that Bentley is not everyone’s favourite sixteen million pound man, but I miss him already. His moment, the 40+ yarder at the Emirates was the first glimpse of the possibility that maybe, just maybe, we’ll forget about the sour taste left by the sacking of Jol and confusion of the Ramos era and climb the table and get into Europe. An epic shot, an epic shot in the arm and a goal that meant we never lost hope in a game that has to rank as one of my top five favourite North London derbies. He offered us craft and crosses when we won fourth place, he put pressure on Lennon for a time and we all laughed along when he poured the ice water over Harry’s new whistle. From roll out the ice barrel to frozen out. Of course, he was also massively frustrating at times, lacked pace and seemed to have some “issues” with beer and the B156, but still, I think he gave us a different dimension when Aaron’s mood wasn’t right and can only imagine that he’s been moved on to make way for a slightly older, slower, but wiser and more influential DB.

With Europa, and the demands of the domestic campaign, we need two strong contenders for every position as a minimum, we’re nearly there. King returns soon, Bassong retained, Younes and Daws (who needs to recover some form against Doyle or Fletcher today) and Gallas, our CB options are looking good. Our RB (Corluka/ Walker) spot is no weaker for losing Begbie to the Villa, in goal we have Friedel – who has conceded eight but has been our best player so far, midfield is critical though. In BAE we have the best left-back in the Prem, with Rose or Bale as capable cover.

In midfield, we need to exploit space created by teams doubling up on Bale, we need Modric to get his head right and we need Sandro fit if Modric sulks until January (take a look at his mugshot, not a happy bunny), Parker has to be an instant hit. Livermore will gain vital experience and if he keeps growing as a player, looks like potential skipper material. Krankie is still with us, fantastic player, but we’ll never see the best of him in fits and starts – needs a run and has been dropped too often for lesser players. Thud needs to play in the ‘80’s or become a sweeper, either that or drop down a division, he will never get more mobile. Falque and Ceballos sound like midfielders full of promise, the Europa really could do us a favour in terms of our squad development.

Lennon is a concern – but not because of lacking ability, but because he seems more reluctant to go past people than he used to be. The Azza that tracks back wins the ball and then streaks forward, beating two defenders to make a neat pass into the box is the Lennon with world class potential, the road runner who ends up picking up the final ball and passing it into the corner of the net, the Azza we need. The man under the pile of celebrating Spurs. I think he needs competition for his place at the moment – get your hands off your hips and call for it, there’s a slide rule ball from Corluka to run on to. I can’t see Harry using Gio Dos Santos to apply pressure here.

We are still light up front in terms of recognised, seasoned options, especially if Defoe or Adebayor get injured – but our new Academy players offer plenty of hope. Buried in the player lists on the official website is a young striker called Victor Zapata-Caicedo – he should get a run out on the basis of his name alone and I hope the Europa presents opportunities for Coulibaly.

So, our season could really start today, certainly we need to come out of what is the worst run of form we’ve had since 2008, which cost Ramos his job. We’ll get a more accurate picture of the potential of the new team, and the galvanising effect of our new signings, we’ll see what our outcasts can do given the change and we’ll get a sense of whether we really have emerged blinking, out of the darkness of our poor results and speculation that has hung over the club since we won at the San Siro, into a bright new dawn of harmony and goals, or whether we get more of the same and fresh era of transitional periods - the sort that make you want to howl at the moon.

COYS!

Frantic Action and the Stranded Croatian

2011-09-01T19:41:00.006+01:00

So the excitement is over until the end of January, managers can start thinking about who will play, who has stayed and who might be the one.

Souvenir shops can start recycling their stock, Sky Sports can concentrate on reporting actual sport as opposed to the merry-go-round of rumour that exists before the transfer window shuts and we can start thinking about the direction the season may take.

I actually hate transfer deadline day. Not because I am worried about who we might sign (or not as it turns out) or even who will still be there, but because it highlights a lack of business done before the season starts. To my mind, all transfers should be completed before a ball is kicked and then at least everyone knows where they are.

However, I now understand why our shirts were not available for the public to buy before the opening game; the Club is obviously fed up of explaining to irritated supporters why they won't be receiving a full refund for their recently purchased Crouch, Hutton or Palacios personalized merchandise.

David Pleat on Five Live last night summarised it very nicely (which was a shock) by calling it nothing more than "window dressing" and saying that the clubs that did the business in the summer were able to sit back and observe the frantic activity of the others as they desperately try to bring one or two in that can save the season.

Unsurprisingly, we were one of those clubs that were linked with people and either failed to do the business or the rumour was so absurd that it wasn't worth thinking about.

Big Tom Huddlestone, vying for the position of most informed man on Twitter behind Rio Ferdinand claimed that "you won't believe who is sneaking in the back door at the training ground. Wow." We started thinking that perhaps the marquee signing that Sky Sports were so desperate for would be holding up a white shirt by the end of the day - Kaka was mentioned but then so was Gary Cahill and in the end it turned out that Tom was sitting on his couch and having a bit of fun at our expense.

I followed most of the day on the BBC feed, my standard destination for actual facts, and by the time the door slammed shut was heartily sick of the entire process. 'Arry may have been washed out but there is so much scrolling text of nothingness that a reasonable man can take before he decides that there must be a better way to spend an afternoon. Personally, I went to the cinema.

And at the end of it all, after a summer in which Levy's line in the sand over Modric was continually questioned and which we just assumed would go the way of the Berbatov deal, we managed to tweak our squad, get rid of some 'fringe' players, bring in the current Football Writers Player of the Year and make sure that Chelsea would have to look elsewhere to shore up their midfield.

At the end of last season, I highlighted the players I thought would be leaving the club. I got most of them right in the 'tweaking' sense; Bentley, Jenas, O'Hara, Keane, Woodgate and Crouch were all on my list as was Palacios. I did think that Gomes would be gone and that Krancjar would be too tempting to be left on the sidelines but I was wrong about both. One of these I am pleased about...

Getting 10 million for Crouch is unbelievable, he hasn't looked that great for some time but I understand why Stoke wanted him - Delap + long throw + lanky, streak of piss centre forward = probable goal. They have done some great business this summer and all without needing the billions of the Abu Dhabi Development Corporation (or whatever the government of the United Arab Emirates wants to call themselves) to do so.

The Nomads finally responded to some pressure and splashed some cash, Arteta is a good player but Evertonians phoning in last night didn't seem bothered about his departure and bringing in a huge German to shore up their defence was not a bad move. But the storm clouds are gathering over the Emirates and their fans are not happy. Which we don't really care about but I wanted to say it anyway.

As for us, we did the main business last week it seems with the two loan deals for Adebayor and Falque leaving us to rubber-stamp the move of Scott Parker. He is a good player, works hard and scores goals from midfield - always nice to have someone like that on the books - but he is 32 and the whole deal doesn't scream long-term to me. But he may be the guy to give Luka the kick up the backside that he is going to need if his performance against Citeh was anything to go by.

But the time for rumour is now over, the 25 man squad will be confirmed sooner rather than later and we can actually get on with the business of playing football. We have not made the ideal start but the international break will give 'Arry some time to work with the players and put a fatherly arm around any disgruntled player that didn't get to spend the transfer deadline day either in a helicopter or receiving a message from his team-mates on Twitter wishing him all the best at his new club.

At least until January.

COYS

Throwing A Blog through the Transfer Window

2011-08-31T00:03:00.001+01:00

As we bobble about in the wake of the billionaire's yacht that made waves through our corner of the footballing ocean last Sunday, there is a sense that Tottenham Hotspur F.C. are drowning and not waving. Our Chairman and Manager are locked into an increasingly loveless relationship, our best player's head is not right and his heart's not in it, and most of our pre-season optimism has evaporated following two heavy defeats in the league against the biggest club and the richest one that the EPL has to offer.

Necessity is, they say, the mother of invention. Clearly, this isn't always the case (check out my tired efforts), but as the best of the Tottenham bloggers have sought to come to terms with our current predicament, so we've seen some of the best analysis, a trilogy of reaction offering a 'take your pick' approach to the situation, a selection of decent match reports as well as some entertaining twists on the end of football as we know it.

So a quick roll call, you've probably read all of them too, if you haven't, take a view:

Football is coming to an end

Why Harry is no longer...

Knee Jerk (part 3 of a trilogy, or part 1?)

Is football about spending or sport?

Spurs cannot and will not compete at this level

The pick of the bunch is the 'Why Harry is no longer the manager to take Tottenham forward', which offers a rational and thorough analysis of our manager's performance, particularly in this calendar year. Whether you agree with it or not, the evidence presented makes for a compelling argument, asking serious questions of Redknapp's tactical nous, youth policy, transfer dealings, injury record, media handling, Modric and more. 'Just go out there and run about a bit' indeed. What's scary is that it could go further. It popped my little bubble of optimism, for sure.

By the time I click on 'Publish Post', we will have arrived at the final day of the transfer window, a moment that should have happened on August 12th.

It has been a window which has cast a shadow of over our club this summer, our inability to compete for A-list signings, the challenge of retaining world class players, the ceaseless speculation and the sometimes pointless and sometimes pointed commentary offered by our manager hasn't helped and, whilst we swing from disbelief at the waste of millions of pounds on people who can't spell anything without including a number in it on Twitter (but, oh yes, they can split a defence in an instant), to the disappointment that the only players we can realistically sign have been recently relegated, won the InterToto, hit their peak five years ago or will have to be given back.

Martin Jol is going to pinch a striker from under our noses, Hargreaves would rather warm the City bench than play at the Lane, we miss out on the modern day Coates, Arsenal to gazump us to Cahill, Diarra has seen the cloud hanging over Bill Nicholson Way, that used to be a football club over there... We'll have probably cleared some dead and not so deadwood, with Palacios, Crouch and Hutton following O'Hara, Keane and Woodgate out of the club - I've still no idea what will happen to Bentley (has Harry invoked the spirit of Ronnie and Reggie and had him disappeared?), to Jenas (go on Arsene, you know you want to) or, indeed, the protagonist of the whole sorry play (will he stay or will he go now?).

Yes, the transfer market will shortly close for business, Jim White will achieve a state of near apoplexy, the totaliser will confirm how limitlessly affluent/ debt-laden/ deluded/ in-denial and desperate clubs are to retain the place at the Premier League table (or improve on it) before the financial fair play rules come along and then we can breathe a sigh of relief and pore over the relative successes or failures that result without the ticking clock, the pound signs, the silhouettes behind smoked glass office windows, broken fax machines (can you believe they still use them?) and the endless speculation and distorted perspective - for a few months at least.

We can get back to talking about what's happening on the pitch, about where we'd be if we could get 20+ games out of Ledley, about the managerial merry-go-round, about how Sundays just aren't the same as Saturday, 3pm, about why the bar staff can't pre-pour pints at half time on the basis of average sales, about Harry's tactics or lack thereof, about Thud's lack of mobility or thunderous striking of the ball, about whether it should be Friedel or Gomes and, if that gets boring, about what happens in court over the curious cases of the stadium and the brown paper bag. The Tottenham blogosphere can orbit around something else for a bit.

Ladies and gentleman, we are floating in cyberspace and, sometimes, that's the best place to be.

COYS!

van der Vaart and the art of falling apart

2011-08-28T20:52:00.002+01:00

For the second time in the space of a week, we have been outplayed by a team from Manchester with genuine title credentials. I knew it was coming, everything pointed at it. Last night I chanced upon an ESPN screened ‘classic’. Chelsea under Gullit, us under Gross, we lose 6-1 at home, with our sole consolation being a goal from Ramon Vega. This morning, my Sunday club took a hammering in our pre-season friendly – I dashed down from the pitches at Firs Farm to the Lane with a sense of forboding.

We opended strongly, sweeping passing moves, Bale showing promise, Lennon buzzing, Niko and Modric getting one last hurrah together for Tottenham and Friedel pulling off the occasional save when it comes back the other way. For a while we had a contest, Dawson was winning headers despite Dzeko’s size, BAE was all composure and nice balls down the line, Crouch won a header or two, we competed. Even at one-nil down, we surged up the other end and had the, sorry, our move of the game – Bale delivering a cross of near perfection for a flying Crouch to head narrowly wide.

A massive miss. Forget van der Vaart’s speculative shots and free kicks – one of which even made Joe Hart work down near his right-hand post, the Crouch header was pivotal and made the difference between going in with 1-1 at half time with something to hold onto in the game and, as it turned out, being 2-0 down with the second half to play.

A blow by blow account of the second half will not be found on this blog, not from me anyway, I’ve been working hard on burying the memory already. Kaboul’s awesome header from what is probably the first decent corner that I’ve seen van der Vaart take from about 50 or so attempts was worthy of note, otherwise, the rest is a litany. Livermore aside, our substitutions were poor. Huddlestone offers limited mobility and continued to look like a player whose fitness levels aren’t where they need to be and Defoe (who looked bright), came on for the wrong player with Lennon being sacrificed so that, ahem, van der Vaart could play on the right wing. Genius.

I like van der Vaart, he’s hungry, he’s willing, he wants to take every free kick and he likes to drive corners into the first defender four times out of five. I do not like his set piece delivery (usually) and did not like his decision to make a self-diagnosis and storm off the pitch today. Rafa has his place, he’s often a catalyst for our breakout style when we’re on the road, but he’s not a right winger and, before today, we should not have changed our formation from 4-4-2 to 4-4-1-1 to accommodate him, it hasn’t worked. It’s half the reason we hardly ever score any more. Not necessarily his fault, but it’s a failed experiment and we should use the window his hamstring tear opens up to revert to the shape that won us a place in the Champion’s League.

City weren’t flattered by the score-line, but by the same token, we are not so far behind them that we won’t improve on it at the Etihad with a fit Sandro, a striking option or two (please, please let us add to the squad in the next couple of days) and some real competition for places. At the moment, we have Lennon coasting at times because there’s no one breathing down his neck (where is Bentley?). We lacked even a Palacios today, off to Stoke where his passing style will fit in with their cultivated approach to the game. Dawson had an off day – particularly on the Aguero goal. We misfired but not so badly that we should panic. Yet.

One of the latest additions to the clobber being flogged by the traders around the ground is a t-shirt bearing the legend ‘Keep calm and carry on supporting the lily-whites’. It’s worth taking on board. Harry’s not playing a blinder, the Chairman is too tough a negotiator which is costing us in terms of making the most of the transfer window, we have a team that’s fallen short of troubling today’s top two, and we have fans prepared to boo Modric off the pitch despite what has been an excellent contribution to the team over the last few years. None of this is good, eight conceded from two is poor, but this is no time to fall apart.

Two Defeats, One Goal, Slightly Concerned

2011-08-28T20:17:00.001+01:00

Thirty-six games to go.

If the size of the task before us in trying to break back into the top four wasn’t apparent after the game at Old Trafford, then the mauling we received at the hands of the Noisy Neighbours made for very uncomfortable viewing.

Hurricane Irene tried to grab my attention during the game, but the wind and rain that lashed Massachusetts was nothing compared to way our flimsy back-four capitulated in the face of a worrying display of attacking prowess. Manchester City were better than us in nearly every department, they had pace and power, played the ball to feet and a debut from Nasri that must have hurt our friends down the Seven Sisters Road as much as us.

‘Arry said after the game that we were as good as them for the first thirty-five minutes. We weren’t, we showed brief moments of intent and then gave the ball to Crouch.

Who did not look like a striker that any team should consider splashing the cash for.

‘Arry claimed that all the unsettling talk about Modric has ruined his pre-season preparations and that apparently there will be another bid for Luka before the deadline ends on Wednesday. Which means that it will be up to the player whether he stays or not.

Levy has spent the summer digging his heels in over which players will stay and who will go. I may have missed something but the players that we have now have look very similar to the ones that thrilled us in Europe last year and disappointed us in the League. We haven’t tweaked the squad, the deadline is closing and the deadwood is still on our books (and receiving a salary).

Adebayor has come in on loan, as has Iago Something-Or-Other (still don’t know who he is) and we are in talks with Scott Parker – who gets paid more than any other Spurs player by West Ham, something which I find astonishing.

But it will be another deadline day when movement will happen, deals will be struck and certain teams will leave it too late to bolster their squad or provide the fans with any clear statement of intent.

I fully expect us to be one of those teams.

There have been distractions away from the football side that have started to influence the direction the club is going. The Olympic Park situation has still not gone away and now we get to wait until October for (hopefully) the final decision. Perhaps we can then move on, but Levy seems determined to make this one run and run.

I don’t know what to say about Modric. His body language today seemed to indicate that he is unlikely to run out against Wolves wearing our colours and if the money is right then maybe he should just go. The danger is that we sell our best player to one of our closest rivals and basically just admit that we do no longer want to dine at the top table.

The seeds for this season were sown in January. We didn’t buy the players that we should have done and the team then under-performed until the end of the season, yet still managed to qualify for Europe. Not in the tournament that we wanted but we all assumed that targets and tweaking were being discussed by ‘Arry and The Chairman.

A false assumption.

Today we saw what happens if you have access to unlimited riches and are able to buy any player that you want. Manchester City have gatecrashed the Elite on the back of Middle-East Money and the EPL is never going to be the same.

It’s not even about the Big Four anymore, it will be a straight shoot-out between two Manchester teams with Chelsea possibly being the fly in the ointment and Liverpool bringing up the rear.

We will be battling for North London honours, the only bragging rights that we can hope to achieve with the squad we have now but we haven’t finished above Arsenal in so long that doing it this season seems even more unlikely than ever – even with their problems and their squad.

All I know for sure is that we have played two top teams and been soundly spanked. And despite being an ex-public schoolboy, I really don’t enjoy being punished on a regular basis.

But unless the attitudes change and the promised tweaking happens, I can see that we will have a very sore rear-end by the time that May comes around. Still, at least the new white shirt looks nice, fingers crossed that we can persuade someone else to wear it by Thursday morning.

COYS

One Defeat, No Goals, Not Worried.

2011-08-23T17:16:00.006+01:00

Old Trafford. Not a happy hunting ground. Last time we won there, the Berlin Wall was still standing, Les Miserables had just opened in the West End and Jive Bunny was duelling with Jason Donovan for chart supremacy.

So it is safe to say that I was expecting nothing from the game. And I was not disappointed.

The summer of non-tweaking has meant that for our first game of the season, I was aware of all the attacking options and our defensive frailty without having that slight buzz of anticipation that comes when a new signing takes to the field. We had injury problems, not quite down to 'Arry's beloved bare bones but the decision to start with Livermore and Krancjar was a pleasing sight.

No Modric, his head apparently not being in the same space as the other players due to the confusion he is feeling about where (and who) he wants to play for this season. 'Arry thinks he will stay, Ian Darke on ESPN thought he would go and I am beyond caring. If you don't want to wear the shirt then you can leave, end of story.

For sixty minutes, I thought we did OK.

I wasn't checking my twitter feed or any other social media but I was engaged in a text conversation with a fellow Boston Spurs member and while we agreed that it wasn't the best performance ever, it certainly was nowhere some of the dross that we endured during the last days of the season. Their keeper was dodgy, we were playing some good football and we were matching them.

And then Lennon failed to find VDV in the area, he managed to fail to win even a corner and United went down the other end and scored.

Thank you and good-night.

Three-nil flattered them but as Darke pointed out in gleeful tones "it's a shooting gallery out there, Spurs are out on their feet and they WILL be bottom of the Premier League this evening."

After one game. Against the Champions of England. Away from home and with possibly not our first choice team.

I am not ringing any alarm bells just yet.

However, we do need to strengthen the squad. Defoe started brightly but faded and I don't remember Pav touching the ball. Robbie has gone and Crouch wasn't even on the bench. A striker is a priority (as Jim pointed out), a creative midfielder (assuming that Luka swaps North for West) or someone that can put his foot on the ball and control the middle of the park would be nice.

A winger that can cross the ball consistently would be a plus but I am hoping that we use the last week of the transfer window to intelligently identify our targets and make every effort to get them in while at the same time gently pushing the dead-wood towards the door marked Exit.

'Arry is leaving it all in the hands of "the chairman", he wants to get "one or two characters in" but he can't confirm anything as yet. A feeling of deja-vu pervades every thing he says and now is the time for him to actually start delivering on his well-rehearsed rhetoric.

I don't think he is the man for the job. I have said this for some time and I was hoping that Jurgen would still be available when required. However, he has taken the USA job and we may have to stick with Redknapp until something better comes along.

But it is only one game. There are thirty-seven more league matches to play and (hopefully) a good run in the cups - and I include the PCEL in that, it will provide valuable experience for the fringe players.

Next up, Citeh. And then we can concentrate on the remaining thirty-six games.

COYS

Manchester Divided

2011-08-23T00:21:00.017+01:00

The manner of the defeat last night was little more than this. An injury ravaged Tottenham team outplayed the Champions for an hour before running out of steam and ideas. Then they got punished.

I don't know whether to be disappointed or grateful that Lee Probert denied my annual shot at incredulity when we lose at Old Trafford. This season there are no excuses, as the game went on, we couldn't stay with them. We were outclassed by a team who have five strikers capable of scoring 20 goals a season in their squad. And a manager who knows how to win week in and week out. No surprises then.

We missed Modric. We missed Sandro. We missed King. We missed Crouch too. I thought Niko played well with Livermore, even when they looked tired they both looked more willing than Thud to cover ground. Bale came inside late on when he posed most threat staying wide. vdV is at risk of becoming the new Robbie Keane and Defoe needs to watch a video of himself circa 2005 and start doing that again.

Apart from that, not that bad really. Friedel made a string of good saves (why do they get measured out like sausages?), what's more he could be clearly seen and heard communicating with his defenders. Dawson and Kaboul were solid until they started to get pulled out of shape by onrushing midfielders late on, Lennon beat Evra convincingly on occasion but didn't always get the final ball right and, with a target man to aim at, a proper number nine, we would mean business.

We need to stop wasting free kicks and corners. Dawson and Kaboul get into the box, vdV blasts into the crowd. Typical. We need to stop making the wrong substitutions when it is clear that the problem is that the strikers are misfiring and the midfield is being over-run and mobility is needed over flair. When we go to places like Old Trafford, we need to be prepared to do what teams do to us at the Lane, two banks of five and catch them on the break. It worked against Milan. We need to learn from our experience.

Following a quick count up, I can announce that my twitter feed was exactly equally divided between people who saw this as a continuation of the dire run-in of last year and further evidence that Redknapp has taken us as far as he can and those who didn't see a lot wrong. And @themanwhofellasleep.

Like Paul Whitehouse's man in the pub, I agree with all of them. I think Harry has been good for the club but I'm also not convinced that he knows what his best first 11 is. I don't think the result was season defining either, other than that it defines that we probably won't win the league with the team we put out. I take back that Kranjcar can do Modric's job, but that doesn't mean I think Modric is irreplaceable or that Kranjcar couldn't improve there if he got a run in the side. I worry that one of our best performances came from a man his forties.

But hope lingers on that this, the most frustrating of all transfer windows, the window that, once again, has our best player so divided of mind that he can't be played, could still prove to be a great opportunity to build. We're not as bad as the result or the league table tonight suggests, but Diarra, who I swear pointlessly to my spellcheck about (he is not Diarrhoea, though this could be prophetic) and Adebayor will firm things up and give us something to aim at.

If Levy sticks to his word, we'll keep Modric. If he doesn't, we need to trade quickly on the anticipated funds to have any hope of preventing a repeat of tonight's result on Sunday and maintain a realistic push for fourth.

Hearts and Minds

2011-08-20T09:12:00.010+01:00

Football is back. Hallelujah!

The pre-season limberings were uninspiring at first, vdV's free kicks aside (on target), South Africa yielded nothing new. Brighton was a lovely trip to the seaside with a football match thrown in for good measure; we were not very good. Bilbao, a game of two halves.

In pre-season we were discordant, patchy, outplayed at times, sometimes resurgent and yet won games. The best teams win even when they're not playing well. Last season we dropped points like confetti even when we played well, playing badly and getting results is how Champions are made. Good for the confidence without raising expectations too high then.

The schedule is starting to make sense, both on the pitch and in the transfer window. In South Africa we saw Keane actually look marketable again (so long and thanks for all the goals), we tested Friedel and we got fit. At Brighton we witnessed something special; the rebirth of a football club through the development of a new stadium.

July 30th was actually a very special day. Brighton's official opening, a privilege to be there. The buzz from the home fans and the excitement around their team as a result of this new beginning was genuinely brilliant. Couldn't help but think just how truly awe inspiring it will be when we finally open the new White Hart Lane against Barcelona. Which is exactly what Tottenham needs.

I won't start the season on a stadium moan, but I was distraught last week. The riot map read like a list of areas that I've worked in for the last 10 years. The inferno that consumed Union Point on the High Road burnt down the homes of people who I had indirectly helped onto the property ladder. People I work with are friends of the people who have been made homeless. If any good can come out of the whole deal it is that efforts to regenerate areas of high unemployment will be redoubled. Somehow being seen as a do-gooder has become a bad thing but we still have try. Lock them up, bring back National Service, whatever, we still have to fix what's left behind. Build the stadium in Tottenham Daniel. Bojo/ Cameron, make stadium and house building a community service sentence for the fire-starters. And spend some money please, the economy needs a kickstart. Enough, back to the football...

Modric. There, I said it. A name I've grown tired of as I've followed every twist in the saga. He's a very good player but I'm with Harry in this, if his head's been turned and he wants out, let him go. No one is bigger than the club. Use the money to bring two or three players in, buy a striker, put Niko centre-stage. Time to move on no matter how good he is. Diarra in, Sandro fit, Niko, Rafa. We have options there.

And so having jealously watched the Premier League start without us (game in hand could be good!), our season starts in Hearts. A game which felt like one last friendly but also showed how the Europa League, for all it's arhythmic spoiling of a season and providing of a very long road toward a game against Fulham, could be both a little bit useful and a little bit winnable. We could win it with kids.

In the days when we won the UEFA Cup the European Cup was for champions only and so the UEFA cup was still worth winning because it was full of some very good teams. Now it is a tournament for the upper mid-table teams of anywhere that managed to wangle international recognition as a country. I don't really mean to demean other nations in this remark, but I think it's fair to say that many countries the size of Suffolk rarely have much of a footballing tradition and struggle to produce quality opposition. Which is possibly why our breaking of Hearts this week was all the more striking.

Scottish football has hit reverse, we all know this, but our thrashing of Hearts showed just how far backward the game in Scotland has gone. We no longer see a profusion of players from Scotland winning the title in England's top flight (although there is a certain Scottish manager who does), we don't see Wembley's goalposts take a battering from men in Tam O'Shanters any more. They don't have the funding to compete (did Aberdeen need vast sums to win in Europe all those years ago?), the Playstation generation can't use their thumbs on the park. For all this, did we really expect 5-0 over what is arguably Scotland's third club?

Spurs were magnificent, our movement, wing play, inside channel passing, finishing and defending from corners looked superb. As the cliche goes, you can only beat what's in front of you. Niko And Livermore combined superbly, Lennon and Bale looked a constant threat, Walker looks nailed on as the best right back we've had since Stephen Carr scored against Man Utd and Defoe looked like the 20+ goals a season Defoe that we've missed. Townsend came on and impressed.

Seeing our younger, home grown talent get the chance to shine could make the Europa League campaign this year a vital component of future success for the club. It could help increase competition for places, bring confidence to take into domestic games and the battle for fourth.

Many pundits have us at sixth or worse this year. I still prefer to aim high. The failure to beat struggling sides at home, some poor goalkeeping and lamentable finishing last season did for us but we were still in the mix for fourth for a large chunk of the season and if the goalkeeping ricks alone are removed from our game, we'll end up six to nine points higher up the table. Us, Liverpool, Arsenal and, I fancy, Sunderland will be duking it out in the places between fourth and eighth.

We need a striker, his Dad's a solicitor and his mother's in law. I hope this comes off.

Hearts was a fantastic start, the start of a fantastic run if we're serious, but the real test is on Monday. Once again, we face the prospect of having to score at least three goals to make one count. I expect Man Utd to be allowed to score direct from a throw in, play with 12 or 13 players and be allowed rolling substitutions. We will be forced to wear our boots on the wrong feet, with Gomes donning a regulation blindfold. There will be half an our of extra time, or golden goal time for the team in red if Man Utd fail to score in the 90. I don't fancy our chances much but if we shoot at the dodgy young 'keeper and move like we did on Thursday, then there's hope.

Harry lost the hearts and minds of many of us in the run-in last season as we stumbled between poor results at home and 'Idiotgate'. A surprise, hoodoo-smashing victory for the first time since the boy Line-acre strutted his stuff in the chicken badge 22 years ago would go a long way towards helping us forgive and forget.

Come on you Spurs!

Donations can still be made to those in Tottenham made homeless by the looting and arson: go online using PayPal with a credit card or via some personal bank accounts, at http://bit.ly/pC3Gtu; by cheque, made payable to “Mayor’s Special Fund – Tottenham Fund” and either sent to London Borough of Haringey, PO Box 55235, London, N22 9DF, or by hand to the Community Assistance Centre in Tottenham Green Leisure Centre, Philip Lane, South Tottenham; by direct bank transfer in branch or online, using “Mayor’s Special Fund – Tottenham Fund” as payee and sort code 60-24-23 and account number 90724828.

Rebels Without A Cause; Recreational Rioting Damages The EPL Brand

2011-08-13T15:51:00.011+01:00

I am not where I want to be.

At this moment in time I should be in a bar in Boston watching the first game of the new season, a pint of IPA in my hand and wearing whatever retro shirt I deemed suitable for the occasion. There should be discussions going on about possible signings and why Jenas has not been sold, about whether selling Robbie to LA Galaxy means we get Becks in return (or Landon Donovan) and the atmosphere should be one of barely restrained tension.

At the very least I could be sitting on my couch watching the game with a cup of tea and a biscuit.

But I am not.

Because our season is going to start on August 22nd. With an away trip to Manchester United.

Thanks to the civil unrest that swept through the capital last week and the simmering tensions that (one imagines) are still present in Tottenham, it was decided that our game should be called off as the High Road was still technically a crime scene. The shooting of Mark Duggan kickstarted a series of events that culminated in burning buildings, looting and general disorder.

Described as "recreational rioting" by those wordsmiths at Sky.

Apparently N17 looked like "a warzone" - which for those of us that have spent many hours in the area not really news. So the Premier League, THFC and the Police decided that it would be safer to postpone the match to a later date.

I agree with this decision but I can't work out why the rest of the matches were allowed to go ahead bearing in mind that the problems spread to the rest of the country soon after London began burning. There were problems in Manchester and Birmingham but games are still being played there, which strikes me as a trifle odd.

That aside, the events of the last week have highlighted how important it is that Spurs do not move out of the area. N17 is in need of regeneration more than ever, the club must remain a focal point of the community and businesses must be allowed to rebuild in the knowledge that there will be a steady stream of income into the area during the football season. At the very least, the presence of a (hopefully) successful Premier League side in N17 will be a reason for people to want to invest in the area and not be dissuaded by the muppets who believed that burning carpet showrooms to the ground was a way to punish the "rich".

We all know that Tottenham isn't the nicest part of the capital but as the riots continued across London last week, the High Road remained calm after the storms of last weekend. It became obvious that what was an unfortunate incident in which a man died was hijacked by opportunists, criminals and young people to go on a recreational rioting spree that had no link to the original issue.

There is an increasing disparity in society, one that is highlighted by the increase in consumer goods and the perception that we all need to have the latest flat-screen tv/laptop/mobile phone/expensive trainers to enhance our existence.

This is reinforced by the media, entertainment carefully disguised as product placement. The Premier League is part of this endless hype of material goods, we pay money to watch footballers strut their stuff in front of fans lucky enough to get a ticket for the "greatest league in the world". Football is no longer the game of the working class, the players are so far removed from the supporters that when Gomes says that the players are living in fear of playing in Tottenham that you have to laugh.

The riots happened in mainly urban areas, I didn't see any reports of trouble in Cuffley, Hadley Wood or Chingford. I assume that the car-park at Spurs is locked on match-days which would be the only time that our players actually venture into the area that pays their wages. Living in fear? The only time that Gomes should fear for his safety is when he makes another costly error and even then a verbal assault is hardly going to damage his Bentley.

Football grounds were built in working class areas for a good reason. That is where the fans lived, where they wanted to spend their earnings at the weekend and by watching their local team. Twenty years ago, the dynamic changed so significantly that most clubs have had trouble catching up and are still plying their trade in their traditional home - with a local population that can't afford to go to the games and have to watch as their area is swamped on a regular basis by people that have no ties to the community and who choose to live elsewhere.

Much like the players.

I'm not blaming last weeks events on football and much as though I dislike Rupert Murdoch, it is not his fault that English football has moved on from the days where you could stand on a terrace with a pie in your hand enjoying the warm feeling of someone urinating against your leg. Society has moved on, as has the game and in many ways what we have now is better - speed of communication, a plethora of choice and unbridled access to consumer desirables.

But the first game of the season is always a special moment, it is the only day when everyone starts on a level playing field and when the dreams of glory can continue for at least 90 minutes.

Spurs and Everton have been denied that opportunity and will have to start behind the others. If one game was postponed due to unrest, then glossing over the trouble in other cities by playing the other games shows a lack of respect for those that lost homes and businesses this week through no fault of their own and who now have to start all over again.

Football can play a huge part in addressing the problems in society, it missed an opportunity to do so this weekend.

COYS

Yours Truly, Angry/Resigned To The Inevitable Mob - Transfer Special

2011-08-08T19:06:00.008+01:00

With less than a week before the start of the 2011/12 "greatest league on the planet", our lads have travelled to South Africa/Milton Keynes/Brighton/Leyton to get in some much needed pre-season action and to allow the guys who were playing somewhere else last season (or who didn't get much game time) the chance to convince 'Arry that they deserve to be part of his plans for next year's assault on Fourth Place.

If anyone thinks that the opening par looks a bit familiar, it is because I have decided to take my lead from 'Arry and The Chairman by doing very little in tweaking my content but making just enough changes to warrant saying nothing of any real interest.

It speaks volumes about our lack of transfer activity this summer that when I saw that mindless violence had broken out in Tottenham and that shops were being looted, that my first thought was that the timing was shit due to the new shirts not being available yet.

Happily the Megastore has remained untouched with the vast array of Spurs-themed merchandise being passed over by criminals/opportunists in favour of items that people actually want and that may bring value to their lives. Which is how I view the squad at the moment.

'Arry has been scathing about how little us "fans" know about football, we are all aware that our accumulated knowledge counts for nothing in the financial hurly-burly of the Premier League but there are as yet undiscovered tribes in the Amazon Jungle that know that moving forward can only be achieved by improving the tools that you have at your command.

And we still seem to have far too many tools and not enough improvement.

I cannot remember a close season where Spurs have done so little in the transfer market. It could be that Levy and 'Arry have something up their sleeves and that on Saturday (riots permitting) there will be a new Idol to adore at the Lane. But I doubt it.

Our beloved Leader(s) have done nothing in the last fourteen days apart from point out how difficult it will be to get in the Top Four, how being in Europe is going to harm our season and how we can't compete with the wages being offered by other clubs.

'Arry has told us how strong Liverpool will be, how other clubs are all looking to compete with Manchester and our London rivals, all the while intimating that he is happy with the squad and that he is determined to keep hold of Modric.

Granted, there has also been a lack of activity from other Premier League teams - Everton have signed nobody - but at the end of last season we all knew that there was some deadwood to be chopped and some "tweaking" to be done.

Most of the Premier League are bedding their new acquisitions in for the season, giving the fans the chance to see how the team will be set up, what their squad number will be or even (Hod forbid) how the players will fit in to the overall picture.

And us?

Nothing. Zip. Nada. Less than Zero - Freidel and the two young boys apart.

Part of me has started thinking that 'Arry doesn't realise that the season starts on Saturday, that we can wait until City/Chelsea/Arsenal and Liverpool have decided who they want and then we can step in and put a consoling arm around the rejected player when the big money move falls through and we can offer them something less substantial - but with a guaranteed parking place and perhaps their own bobble-head.

But our beloved badger (a term I have used before, saw no point in tweaking) must know what he is doing, must have some idea of where our strengths and weaknesses lie. My logical mind believes that he works with the players on a daily basis, saw where we went wrong in the last campaign and was eager to supplement the quality with players that can take us to the next level.

Otherwise, what was the point of last year?

A one-off romp in the Champions League? A pre-transitional rollercoaster to raise expectations before the familiar mid-table positioning? A cruel joke by a manager who wants to manage England?

I don't have the answers. I don't even really know the questions anymore.

All I know is that six days from the start of the season, the only news-worthy moments coming out of Tottenham are focussed on mindless violence and the destruction of property rather than footballers holding the white shirt in the air.

And both of these situations make me fear for the future of N17.

Yours Truly, Angry Mob

2011-07-17T15:59:00.005+01:00

With less than a month before the start of the 2011/12 "greatest league on the planet", our lads have travelled to South Africa to get in some much needed pre-season action and to allow the guys who were playing somewhere else last season the chance to convince 'Arry that they deserve to be part of his plans for next year's assault on Fourth Place.

First game, the Kaizer Chiefs. Not the whimsical band from Leeds but probably the best-known African team, not just limited to the Rainbow Nation.

With all the pre-game attention on Modric and his now official desire to don the blue of Chelsea, the subsequent assurances from Dawson that they have no problem with Luka and that they will get on with the job like the professionals they are, the resulting defeat in injury time to the South Africans was as predictable as the flow of Kaiser Chief lyrics that appeared on my Facebook page soon after the game had finished.

I didn't see the game, didn't know who had played, who had sat on the sidelines and, if I am being brutally honest, don't see this as anything more than a first run out for a team that looks surprisingly similar to the squad that we had at the end of the last season.

Woodgate has gone to Stoke, O'Hara to Wolves, Caulker on loan to Swansea but apart from that it was the same old faces and (according to Jim) the same lack of goalscoring ability that ensured we didn't qualify for the Champions League.

And, naturally, no sign of Ledley due to his latest operation.

After deciding to read the match report, it appears that 'Arry went for a 4-4-2 formation, deciding to keep Freidel on the bench in favor of Cudicini with Hutton (a surprise), Bassong, Dawson and BAE in front of him. The midfield had Bentley, Huddlestone, Jenas (who played a full 90 minutes!) plus Kranjcar with Keane and Defoe playing Little & Little up front.

As it was a "friendly", numerous subs came on to get a run-out with Corluka, Kaboul, Lennon, VDV, Bale, Pav and Crouchy all getting some time to impress. There was even a chance for Khumalo to have 16 minutes in a Spurs shirt in his home country but Naughton had to be content with merely warming the bench.

Notice anyone significant missing? Modric, perhaps?

Ok, it was a friendly and the first game of the pre-season but unless Modric was injured (and I don't believe he was), this would have been the perfect opportunity for 'Arry to pick him and let him know that he is part of the plan.

But his absence speaks volumes.

We know that Chelsea are preparing a larger (more realistic) offer for him, and we also know that Levy has stated firmly that he is not for sale but how can any manager start planning for the next season if he doesn't know whether one of his assets will still be employed at the Lane and not down in West London?

This saga is so similar to the Berbatov situation that it makes me nervous about August 13. And not in a good way.

Modric is a fantastic player but the longer this drags on, the worse it gets for Tottenham. If we don't sell him, we run the risk of having a resentful player who has seen his "dream move" blocked. If we do decide to cash in, we are making a statement of intent to the top clubs that we are ripe to be raided for the right price and we are back into one of the transitional seasons that we have enjoyed for so many years.

What is more worrying is the lack of activity in tweaking the squad.

Granted, there is still some time to go before the season starts but our rivals are already making additions to their roster. Liverpool have flexed their muscles, Manchester United have reacted to their Champions League defeat, Manchester City are looking to spend big again and Arsenal will not be quiet this summer. Even Sunderland have signed ten players.

And us?

Friedel on a free transfer and an 18 year old from Barcelona.

Worrying may be too mild a word. What is of concern is that we don't seem to be linked with anyone, just the constant attack from Chelsea on Modric and the frequent rebuttals from Levy - a man who continues to believe that Stratford is the right place for us to grow our brand.

In six months time, the result against the Chiefs may be forgotten as we stride confidently forward on all fronts but it's not a great way to prepare for what will be a long (and tough) season. Last year we finished fifth without playing that well for most of the campaign and the problems that we had up-front were well documented. We dropped far too many points against lesser teams and by losing in South Africa, we seem to have continued the trend.

The Modric situation must be sorted out once and for all. Either sell him for decent money and give 'Arry time to find a replacement or tell Chelsea to poshol na khui (there are no prizes for guessing what that means in Russian).

The last thing we need after the OPLC fiasco is uncertainty, but if the season starts and certain matters have not been resolved, then I predict a riot.

COYS

Big fish, little fish, cardboard box

2011-07-13T00:00:00.004+01:00

We’ve made another signing in Cristian Ceballos, Chelsea place another derisory offer on the table for Luka Modric, the Sports Minister is pleading with the club to let Stratford go… oh, and I met Robbie Keane’s dog (a lovely Labrador named Wilson, we shook hands), a chap who used to drink with Jimmy Greaves and saw Jermain Defoe whilst in a traffic jam in Cuffley. It’s been a thrilling week or two.

Whilst most of the world is frothing over the end of the News of the World as we reach what seems to be a turning point in the fortunes of Mr Murdoch’s attempts to take over, well, everything; I have been following Tottenham news with varying levels of interest without ever really getting a big enough hit to satisfy my addiction.

Ceballos looks good, well his initials are C.C. which bodes well – I’d like us to play like a carbon copy of Barcelona (minus the gamesmanship) and to start developing a culture again, the Tottenham way, based on pass and move, playing with both feet, keeping the ball on the ground, you know the sort of thing… Luka does it. Ceballos can do it, with a ball on his back whilst taking off his shirt. Impressive. I do hope we see something of him sooner rather than later.

FIFA’s attempts to reform the game could actually really benefit a club like ours in terms of developing homegrown talent. Although we’ve just signed a youngster with promise from a club with an embarrassment of riches, it really is only a matter of time before Premier League clubs stop fishing around in the hope of pulling out a youthful big fish from other people’s nursery ponds, to starting their own little schools. Ok, I don't know much about angling, but we need to meet this change with reinstatement of our own reserve team as, all too often, the places we send our youngsters to have little to do with our footballing tradition. Milwall? Bristol City? Don’t think so.

Knees are making headlines. Sandro has ruined one a little bit, Ledley’s arthroscopy has been hailed a success (does this means he’ll get 30 games under his belt? If he does, we get in the top four). I’m disappointed for Sandro; he’s a great player, possibly good enough for us not to lose too much sleep if we do get an offer we can’t refuse for the diminutive Croatian. A possible bonus will be more regular football for Niko Kranjcar, who was brilliant before Bale and could be again.

The stadium saga runs on but a regenerated N17 is starting to look like the way forward at last. As someone who cares both about the club and the bit of north London that hosts it (and the people that live there), I can only hope the verbal appeal is instantly forgettable and that we move on. RGF is coming, our new home and its impact on the area will become a Mayoral election issue, and we have to do the right thing. In the meantime, let's enjoy the Lane whilst we can, it's beautiful, it is home. It's not as if we'll have to go through what Brighton have been through. We are not at risk of being homeless.

Brad’s not bad, but he’s old enough to be a Grandad. I think he’ll give confidence to our back four, who I hope will be Walker/ Dawson/ King or Samba/ BAE. Get past that, don’t think there’ll be many better. Promising.

Our forward line still needs some work. I take it that Nwankwo is waiting for the outcome of Harry’s brown paper bag case before the two are reunited. I’ve no idea who we’ll really land, but I’d still be open to a Berbatov return if it meant that Chelsea failed in their attempts to buy Modric. We have to turn this saga into a piece of mutual asset-stripping that suits us as much as the suitors. If it is to be Chelsea, then Sturridge, Torres, even Benayoun could come the other way, along with some Rubles. @welshspur07 posted an ultimatum from a seven year old on Twitter that pretty much nails it.

As the squad get their pre-season under way with some friendly fixtures in South Africa, I’m probably more excited about our fixture on the south coast. Part of me is tempted to change the name of this blog to ‘When Sunday Comes’ which is partly why Brighton should be fantastic; a new stadium, a sunny Saturday at the seaside, a beer, a game and the company of good friends.

The football season is coming soon, the days of living off scraps are almost done. Now there’s a piece of good news.

Prepare "The Aurasmatron"

2011-06-29T12:12:00.006+01:00

I’ve been away, you may have noticed, you may not. Come what may, I don’t seem to have missed a great deal. The fixtures have been released, the new shirts are available to pre-order (I think I may go for the purple number - should suit the svelte shape I have developed in order to extend my own humble playing career into my forties), we are yet to buy or sell anyone and we are still to be announced as leaseholders for the Newham Olympic Stadium - if my sources at The Torygraph are to be believed, we will know more on this at 4pm today.

So, whilst in sunnier climes, jogging four miles each morning, spending long, hot days on the beach or by the pool, enjoying the company of my daughters (the youngest of which has a knack of judging character on the basis of north London football orientation – no idea where she gets it from), and eating out with friends in the evenings, my mind has tended to drift back home to Tottenham Hotspur F.C. just momentarily – usually when anywhere near a wi-fi (they call it ‘whiffy’ in Spain) zone that I knew the password to, which wasn’t often.

This all changed within in minutes of entering U.K. airspace. As we flew back home on Monday night, our flight path took us over north London, and there, a mile or two below us, was White Hart Lane stadium. Viewed from above, it looks much, much nicer than the Olympic stadium, it was a beautiful welcome home.

So yesterday, aside from unpacking, doing laundry, sorting out my photo library, checking post, opening birthday cards and presents (to the person who thought a pipe and a pair of slippers would be funny, I thank you – the slippers are very comfy and the pipe blows marvellous bubbles), and generally catching up with life back at home before I go back to work, I did a quick check of the football gossip and Newsnow feeds to discover that, well, not a lot has happened.

Brad Friedel is our solitary piece of recruitment, Luka Modric is still with us – but talks will happen next week, and we have entered a new term into the shirt sponsorship lexicon, this is the age of Aurasma. My initial reaction to this word being boldly emblazoned across my chest for a year could probably be best described as incredulous – in a pornographic kind of way. It sounded like the sort of toy that Babarella might play with in order to achieve an aurasm, or perhaps a name for the 21^st century equivalent of Steely Dan - something Austin Powers would use to get his mojo working. A clear sign that we will finally grow a pair of golden balls.

Being a committed internectual, I reached for Google, and watched a slightly underwhelming video aimed at luring people whose smartphone has, by osmosis, become an integrated feature in the palm of their hand. Said phone got waved over various bits and pieces, an ad on a bus shelter, a newspaper image etc… and, magically, the phone churns out an insightful video or a useful link or a means of buying something. Actually, it’s a cracking idea, this augmented reality business, making the real super-real in an everyday way, and a potentially massive income generator for marketers looking for a new channel.

So we are, as ever, bringing the white heat of technology to football, but only in a commercial sense so far in this pre-season. The search for a world class striker and a top top centre-back should become more focused next week as Levy runs out of options in Newham, everyone gets back to work, Harry does the big chair, little chair act in order to shuffle the pack and work out who’s really in and who’s really out.

Whilst on holiday, I played the predictions game with my Dad and a close friend, working out exactly how many points we’re going to pick up in this coming season. By my reckoning, we’ll be in the top three or four, clearly my post-season disappointment (which, admittedly, was only negligible in the end anyway) has evaporated in the summer sun of Son Bou. Pre-season optimism it is for me then. Same as it ever was. Prepare the Aurasmatron.

Not For Sale...this week.

2011-06-20T14:48:00.004+01:00

June is a strange time to be a football fan, especially when there isn’t even the distraction of an international tournament to feed the addiction -I don’t consider an Under 21s competition with only 8 teams as worth paying too much attention to.

The final whistle at the end of another long season brings relief to some and despair to others. It gives time for contemplation and the chance to catch up with other sports that may have been neglected while the season was in full flow (Go Bruins!). Fan and players can go on holiday, put their feet up before the entire circus begins again.

Of course, this antipathy towards the beautiful game lasts until the transfer rumours begin and the fixtures for the next rollercoaster ride are announced. It’s probably fair to say that West Ham, Blackpool and Birmingham City are not quite as excited about next years’ opponents but for QPR, Norwich and Swansea, the chance to find out when they will travelling to Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge and (dare I say it) White Hart Lane will be as eagerly anticipated as the latest Lady Gaga LP.

Last week, the FA took time off from failing to have any meaningful impact within FIFA to let us know where and when we will be from August to May. For our beloved Lilywhites, the first three fixtures are not easy.

Home games against the ever-underachieving Everton and the billionaires from Eastlands, with our inevitable defeat at the hands of the referee in Manchester sandwiched in between. On the plus side, our run in at the end of the season doesn’t look too bad – but we said that last year!

Highlights will always be the games against the Nomads but it was nice to look at the list and see QPR rather than West Ham and a Boxing Day trip to Norwich really takes the mustard. Of course, my decision to live on the other side of the pond means that I will be checking the television schedules rather than train timetables but them’s the breaks when you live in a country that prefers to throw rather than kick.

With the fixtures released, it’s time to think about who will be pulling on the new shirt.

So far we have been the subject of rumour rather than anything concrete. The signing of Freidel has come three years too late but he is a good keeper and I expect him to do a good job. Releasing Woodgate was almost inevitable although I am disappointed that he wasn’t willing to consider a pay-as-you-play deal but then logically he wouldn’t have received a salary for last season if that had been the criteria.

Young Gareth is still with us, the desire by ‘Arry to keep Crouch is commendable but the major worry is that Modric has publically stated his desire to head for Russian pastures new…in West London.

When I reviewed the team a few weeks ago, I stated that I would be gutted if our Croatian playmaker left (and I wasn’t talking Krancjar) while making what seems like a prediction of Nostradamus proportions by actually saying that he might leave.

Foolishly, I believed that Luka might want to stay and give us the option to build the team around him as we pushed on for the trophy that the Badger believes is within our grasp. But since Chelsea’s interest in securing his services for £2 million more than Liverpool paid for Jordan Henderson has been revealed, we have seen the usual denials from Levy that Modric is for sale and the inevitable bluster from our esteemed manager that we would be insane to let the midfielder go for such a “ridiculous amount”.

It’s all got a bit unseemly in my view.

Modric – who only recently signed an improved contract at the Lane – now seems very keen to realize his ambitions under whatever manager is mad enough to become Roman’s latest plaything and Chelsea are now preparing a new bid and offering to treble his wages while being able to offer guaranteed Champions League action for the foreseeable future.

I fear that his head has been turned. And that may not be the disaster that everyone thinks it may be.

If Levy now has to back down and agrees to sell Modric to Chelsea, then his position will become very sticky within the club. The same goes for ‘Arry who, after insulting a large proportion of the supporters at the end of the season, may find it worthwhile putting a cheeky flutter on the first Premier League manager to be shown the door.

The money received could go towards strengthening the team and perhaps be spent on a striker. VDV could drop back and we might actually start playing with two up front again. As long as the nucleus of the team remains, then Luka might not be missed as much as we think. He is a gifted player, no doubt about that, but what we must avoid is a repeat of the Berbatov saga that indirectly led to the arrival of ‘Arry.

Of course the sensible option is to tell Modric that he is under contract, possibly increase his wages slightly and tell him to get on with the job he is paid to do. Which is to play football for Tottenham Hotspur.

But since when has a player being under contract ever stopped clubs from trading their assets like mere pieces of meat? If the rubles being offered to Modric mean that his mind isn’t focused on wearing the white and if all he can think about is the blue, then perhaps we take what we can get, shake his hand and prepare to hail another hero.

We were here before Modric and we shall be here long after he hangs up his boots. It would just be nice if he decided to stay for a while longer.

Not the end of season review

2011-05-30T12:22:00.000+01:00

In the week that has passed since we rather belatedly demonstrated that we do have what it takes to beat a team in the bottom five after all, there have been so many end of season reviews, tactical evaluations, Harry ruminations and player ratings that I'm actually anticipating a football-free summer with no little relief. The beach is calling.

It's been exciting, exhilarating and, ultimately, exhausting to the point where a holiday will be just the ticket. I would love to add to the mix of quality analysis produced by the cream of the blogging crop, but I'm not sure that I'm up to it. The thought of producing an extended blog to pick apart the key matches, moments and decisions that put this season's shot at greatness into perspective, and offer a qualified assessment of how we fell marginally short of the modern day benchmark for success (fourth place) is not for me right now. Not enough time. Not enough distance. Besides, I've rambled on on this theme for much of the year anyway.

I am not going to write an end of season review. And so...

Our Champions League run was truly fantastic, we took in the stadia of the Gods, we went goal-crazy through the group stages, we saw possibly the greatest individual performance by a Tottenham player in Europe as we witnessed Bale's destruction of Inter, we went on to beat the red Milanese and, in true contemporary Tottenham style, buckled completely when it looked we might be serious about progressing to Wembley. We honoured the competition with a brand of swift, attractive breakout football, with derring do and no little luck; a masterstroke of tactical forced-handedness - playing Palacios and Sandro together worked beyond hope - although we couldn't score until our Player of the Season came on with his fresh appendix scar to set Lennon free. The madman inside me feels that this is all down to one great header from Bassong and Keane's clever, instinctive ball to Pavlyuchenko to get the wheels rolling in a our CL qualifier away at Young Boys.

Our Premier League campaign was punctuated by not playing until we went a goal or two down, not scoring enough goals, dropping way, way too many points at home to teams we should always beat and by being on the wrong end of poor decisions in key moments (from manager and officials alike) and, sadly, enough goalkeeping clangers for a DVD. In amongst this, the occasional unexpected victory on the road (the Emirates and Anfield), some fantastic goals (Bale at Stoke, vdV at Villa) and a commentary from our manager along the lines of 'We'll aim for top six, we could have a go at the title, we'll have a go for that fourth spot, well they spent £150m, my listeners are idiots.' Such promise, boiling down to recrimination and mutual misgivings, despite the belated surge for fifth place.

Our push for success can summed up in the fortunes of two players who made such a massive contribution to our progress in the Prem last year; Gomes and Crouch. Last season, both players were exceptional, Gomes was worth possibly as many as fifteen points over the season, Crouch scored goals in key moments. The win away at the San Siro aside, neither player was able to repeat their success. Any keen eye directed at the face of Heurelho during last Sunday's end of season lap of gratitude will have detected an expression of disappointment, regret and resignation. From the rash sending off against Inter in October, through the lunacy of not playing to the whistle at Old Trafford, the gap-handedness at home to Chelsea and Real Madrid, the pain of the howler that led to Mike Carins awarding a Chelsea goal and the final lunacy of the second penalty handed to Blackpool. He no longer has permission to sleep, with or without our wives or partners...

I won't dwell on Crouch for too long, he doesn't have power in his shot, and he hasn't scored enough goals because he doesn't seem to take enough chances on the balls coming into the box. I still think we fall into the trap of hoofing high and long when he comes on (not his fault, but still a failing), we know he's a better footballer than that. I also think he's suffered from not having the second striker or Rafa close enough to him. Too many knock-ons and flick-ons went begging this year because of the way we changed our shape to accommodate van der Vaart; Crouch would have had a better season in a straight 4-4-2. Crouch's poorly timed challenges at the Bernabeu showed that, for all the Champions League experience, 3MP is capable of the kind of blank moments that we'd expect from lesser players. The own goal away at City capped the completion of his journey from proper hero to cult hero. I still love him though.

If Harry is, indeed, still our manager at the time I press the 'publish post' button, I hope he's learned from this season. I strongly suspect that he hasn't but then I need to let go of his ego as much as he does and get to the football manager that lurks beneath the TV personality. I half expect to see Harry turn up as Barbara Windsor's other half on an Eastenders Babs special, to rattle on about Ronnie and Reggie's adventures on the run from the taxman, and the time he spent a night on the sauce with Sidney James, Bernard Bresslaw and Bobby Moore before sloping off with Joan Simm for a spot of nocturnal wheeler dealing whilst Dennis Waterman waits for him in the Cortina outside. I'd prefer it he he was coming up with a plan to beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, and how to engineer our first win at Old Trafford since Lineker. Two more top four hoodoos to go.

Last season, Harry used his squad to the maximum, giving outcasts and fringe players a run (Kaboul, Bentley, Kranjcar/ Bale) to keep things fresh. Harry relied on too much of the same this year - I'm not sure if this is due to a forced hand, injuries or sheer obstinacy but it's hampered us. For much of the season, I've hankered for Kranjcar when we got Pienaar, Bassong could have made a valuable contribution when we've struggled for defensive cover (Gallas has played very well, but has also been a bit costly when not fully fit), Hutton's reported rant after going out to Fulham appears to have lost us an option, we played too many defensive midfielders at home against teams we can attack and we only saw Rose, Townsend and our other younger players fleetingly. We also failed to get the right shape, dropped Lennon far too easily and persevered with Gomes for longer than was good for him.

On the plus front, Harry seems to have unwittingly stumbled across possibly the best defensive central midfielder we've seen at the Lane in the last 20 years. Sandro has gone from very good to great in very little time at all with some considered passing, timely interceptions, great tackles, tireless running and a top volley to cap it off. We've seen BAE become the best left back since Hughton, or at least Mitchell Thomas, van der Vaart has torn teams apart and Modric has emerged, as I fully expected him to when he joined us, as our 'new Ardiles'. A shame Huddlestone hasn't quite made the 'new Hoddle' grade. Sadly, I don't think he ever will, a player born two or three decades too late, but I loved his goal against Arsenal.

Harry's MacMillan-esque 'Doesn't get any better for Tottenham' line is another reason not to cry too much if he does take Roman's very big brown paper bag, but I still would like to see him stay for the season before he joins the FA. Losing Harry, will increase the likelihood of Modric, Bale and even Dawson following him off to Chelsea. I don't think I could cope with seeing this team dismantled, I have high hopes for next season. A goalkeeper, possibly a centre-back (although I think Dawson, King, Gallas and Kaboul could be enough) a couple of top strikers and bringing the Kyles home should do it.

For all the failings, and the anti-climax of ending up in the Europa League when we could have troubled the top of the table, it has been brilliant. Although I don't buy Harry's line that we've been entertaining all the time, the draw at home to Arsenal, the home win against Inter, being 2-0 down at the Emirates and winning 3-2, and the away wins to, A.C., Villa and Liverpool were all wonderful, the stuff of dreams. But it does get better for Tottenham Hotspur F.C. we can do it all again and do it better, we still have a place to go. We need to win a trophy. Until Harry does this, his achievements will amount to, kept us up, got us into the Champions League, won nothing. We don't need Harry to stay just to retain players, we need him to put his managerial money where his mouth is and win something.

Aside from the rag-selling nonsense about Modric, this morning's transfer talk is that we are signing Friedel. If you wanted evidence that Harry is all about making this one last season at Tottenham count, without any thought of what he leaves behind afterwards, Mr Friedel is the sign. He's not the answer but he might just have one great season left in him. I'm looking forward to it already.