Category Archives: Previews

Can we make it eight?

Posted by on November 3, 2011 No comments

Tottenham look to stretch their unbeaten run to eight games with a trip to Russian side Rubin Kazan in the Europa League tonight. The team can secure their passage into the last 32 with victory tonight giving them two games to spare. This would be a welcome tonic for manager Harry Redknapp who is currently in hospital recovering from minor heart surgery. Kevin Bond takes charge in Redknapp’s absence and will relish the opportunity.

While the Europa League is a significant step down from last season’s exciting run in the Champions League, it is a good source of revenue for the club and becomes a lot more interesting the further you progress. It has also given us the chance to blood the younger members of our squad and give some of the fringe players a run out. The fact Spurs have a squad with great strength in depth means competitions such as this are very useful. The Champions League does not allow you that luxury because it is far more competitive and you need your best players competing in every game. Should things go to plan this season in the Premier League, our squad players will benefit from the Europa League experience and be better equipped for a Champions League campaign in 2012-13.

If you are looking for a bet on sports in this particular match you could do worse than back Spurs to get a 1-0 victory. Tottenham have been very impressive in recent matches and although a few of our star players haven’t travelled to Russia, the returning big names such as Gallas and Pienaar will ensure we put in a good performance. The lads are likely to want to win for the game for Harry and it would be superb to reach the latter stages of this competition without really having to come out of first gear.

Toon Army Preview

Posted by on January 21, 2011 1 comment

As we haven’t even managed a point at St James Park since 2004, I’m not exactly brimming with confidence. However, Spurs haven’t been there as title contenders in that period so hopefully we can put things right tomorrow!

Steven Pienaar looks likely to play some part but Wilson Palacios and Benoit Assou-Ekotto are doubtful after picking up injuries in training this week. Newcastle are still without the free scoring Andy Carroll which must be a positive as far as Tottenham’s chances are concerned but the Magpies have still been in good form with two wins and a draw in his absence.

You never really know what to expect from Newcastle at St James Park. One game they look like world beaters, the next they appear distinctly average. Pardew’s appointment seems to have been a positive one overall after the initial backlash against him.

This is the type of game Spurs cannot afford to lose if they are to maintain their challenge for a top 4 finish again this season and with the way they have been performing on the road of late, I think they can
take at least a point from their trip north.

I’ll go for a 1-1 draw, Newcastle to score first and Pienaar to equalise for Tottenham on his debut.

Listen to Newcastle v Spurs on Absolute Radio extra – on DAB Digital Radio, 1215AM and online in the UK from 1.30pm as programming kicks off with Russ Williams for pre-match build up, followed by full live commentary from Jim Proudfoot at 3pm, while Arsenal legend and Ian Wright takes care of post match analysis at 5pm featuring player and manager interviews, fan phone ins and a healthy supply of banter. Tune in for the full Danny Simpson interview. For more go to www.absoluteradio.co.uk/football

West Ham the Value

Posted by on September 24, 2010 4 comments

Wrighty7 is a gaylordFrom a betting perspective, I like the best price of 11/4 on West Ham tomorrow. That’s not to say I don’t think Spurs can win the game, they most certainly can, but I feel we are a little skinny at 11/10 coming off the back of a demoralising defeat against Arsenal. I realise that game doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things but it still wasn’t nice and it will likely give the Hammers a bit more confidence, especially when they are coming off the back of two decent results.

Both Sunderland and Stoke are tough places to go and come away with anything. West Ham are certainly on the up and this is not a great time for Tottenham to have an away game at Upton Park as far as I’m concerned. Scott Parker has carried his excellent form from last season into this and he will be key as far as their chances of gaining their first win this term are concerned.

Spurs do have some positives however, with Luka Modric, Rafael van der Vaart and Vedran Corluka all available for selection having recovered from their respective injuries. Not only am I sure that Harry will be desperate to put things right tomorrow after our midweek result, the majority of the players will also want to give the fans something to be happy about. As much as I can understand the frustration of the supporters that walked out on Tuesday night, it’s not something I like to see and it must be very tough on the players, no matter how badly they may have performed.

I could see this game being a draw, possibly 1-1. Harry’s history with the Hammers will ensure it’s a lively encounter both on and off the pitch. Spurs certainly have too much for the West Ham on paper and could well come away with a victory, I’m just not confident enough to be putting any of my hard earned on them at poor odds. West Ham are coming into a bit of form and will be looking to this game as the one where their league campaign can really get under way.

Oh and by the way, to show I have got a bit of a sense of humour, I’ve used the lovely image our old mate wrighty7 posted on my Facebook wall earlier. The Arsenal fans seem to be getting over excited at the prospect of winning the League Cup when they have never cared about the competition before. Desperate times and all that I suppose. I’ll let them have their moment while I concentrate on more important things such as FC Twente.

Do I like a wander? Absolutely!

Posted by on September 17, 2010 3 comments

Absolute RadioAs you’ll probably remember, Tottenham’s last Premier League game after a midweek European fixture wasn’t all that successful. I feel the Young Boys were kind of just a warm up to our European adventure, let’s pretend the Wigan game was the same thing where the Premiership is concerned!

Apart from last weekend’s slightly unlucky defeat at the hands of Fulham, Wolves have made a solid start to the season. Although you’d struggle to pick out any real superstars from their team, Mick McCarthy has them well drilled and they are more than capable of picking up points on the road, as demonstrated when they turned us over at the Lane last season. In fact, Wolves were the only team apart from Man Utd to take 6pts off us last season. I do, however, think we can put that right tomorrow.

Even taking our injury problems into account, we still have the squad to be able to shuffle the pack after European games, and come up with a side that man for man is far superior to Wolves. Whether they can match a Wolves side’s work ethic and team cohesion is debatable but with home advantage, Spurs should still have too much for Mick McCarthy’s men.

As far as team news is concerned, Van Der Vaart, Modric and King are all doubtful. Jermaine Jenas could well keep his place after a very good performance against Werder Bremen but personally, I’ll be wanting to see Wilson Palacios in the starting line up to combat Wolves’ aggressive style.

I’m working closely with Absolute Radio throughout this football season and for any fans that can’t make it to the game tomorrow, they are providing full match coverage.

Listen to Spurs VS Wolves this Saturday 18th September only on Absolute Radio extra – on DAB Digital Radio, 1215AM and online in the UK from 1.30pm. For more go to www.absoluteradio.co.uk

Wigan could be a corker

Posted by on November 18, 2009 2 comments

Back to some real football this weekend with the return of the Premiership and the arrival of Wigan at White Hart Lane. It’s just a shame we have to wait till Sunday! I’ll be at the O2 for the tennis unfortunately, but I’m hopeful of arriving home to a positive result and lots of goals.

It’s another one of those games that on paper, you’d fully expect Tottenham to win. Wigan are a good side who try and play the right way, but I’d imagine that will play into our hands. The home games where Spurs have struggled have generally been against teams that keep it tight. Allow our players space and time at the Lane and they will deliver.

The League table makes for interesting reading at the moment. I feel like we have been on a bad run of results of late but we still sit in 4th. If you’d have told me that after 12 games we would be just 3pts behind Man Utd, I would have been more than happy. Just as long as you hadn’t told me how well Arsenal would be playing!

Admittedly, Villa, Man City and Liverpool are all snapping at our heels but there is 5pts between us and the side that lie in 8th place, Sunderland. With Liverpool and Man City facing each other and Villa having to go to the fortress at Burnley, a win against Wigan will likely give us a bit of breathing space.

I’m going for an exciting encounter with lots of goals. I’ll plump for 4-2 Spurs with a Titus Bramble brace, one goal for each side.

Sunderland

Posted by on November 6, 2009 3 comments

So, are we going to bounce back from our lacklustre display against the old enemy or will the players put in another shocker against Steve Bruce’s men?

The defeat against Stoke doesn’t worry me. We played well, it was just unfortunate. Even more unfortunate it came before a big game but I think we would have lost at Arsenal in those circumstances 99 times out of 100.

A number of Spurs fans have a theory that we can still make the top 4 by winning the majority of our game against the lesser opposition even if we always get thumped by the current top 3.

While I can kind of see where they are coming from, constantly being shown up against the big clubs won’t do our confidence any good. Fortunately, our rivals for 4th place are all dropping points as well.

If we are going to be up there come the end of the season, Sunderland at home is a must win game, especially Sunderland at home coming on the back of two defeats.

Sunderland are without Kenwyne Jones and Lorik Cana due to suspensions, as well as long term injury Lee Cattermole. Spurs have better news with the return of Jermain Defoe and possibly Aaron Lennon. I just hope Defoe has his mind on the game and not going out afterwards for some laffy taffy now he’s binned Imogen.

I fancy a 2-1 Spurs victory with Darren Bent getting a consolation for the visitors.

Check out Salut Sunderland for an interview I did about the match.

Slippery Stoke

Posted by on October 22, 2009 11 comments

As I do with most home games against any teams outside the top few teams in the Premier League, I’d expect victory for Spurs against Stoke. Tony Pulis has done wonders firstly to get his club into the league and secondly, turning them into a formidable top flight side.

While Stoke are renowned for their home form, they have also been a lot more solid on the road this season than they were last. Other than the 4-0 drubbing at Liverpool in their first away outing of the season, Stoke have managed to three draws and a win from their four away fixtures since.

It seems like Pulis has decided to take a negative approach to away games and who can blame him? With the winning habit they have at home, just a few points on the road will ensure Stoke’s Premier League survival sooner rather than later.

The problem with taking this approach at the Lane is Spurs ability to score freely. We always come out the blocks with all guns blazing at home and an early goal completely ruins a lock down game plan for the opposition. The longer the game goes without a Tottenham goal, the better for Stoke. They are always dangerous of nicking something from set pieces and we will need to be solid defensively.

This is a key game for Spurs prior to the Arsenal next weekend and for me it’s the sort of game that suits us. I’d fancy a 3-0 or 3-1 score line that can keep us up with the pace at the top of the table and ensure that confidence is high before going to the Emirates.

Pompey

Posted by on October 16, 2009 2 comments

While they have some very average players (including a few of our cast offs), almost anything can happen in tomorrow’s game against Portsmouth. Although Harry might get some love from his old fans, I’d expect Spurs to be on the receiving end of a seriously hostile reception.

The Portsmouth fans could really carry their players through 90mins and with their win at Wolves, the return of Avram Grant and the arrival of Ali Al Faraj, the players and the club as a whole are bound to be in a much more positive frame of mind than they were a few weeks ago.

Jamie O’Hara isn’t allowed to play which is probably a positive as far as we are concerned but David James is back after injury. Defoe is likely to play against his old side after recovering from injury and Ledley could also be back.

We have a good record against Portsmouth in recent times, having only lost once in nine games. On form, you’d be hard pressed to bet against a Tottenham victory but with all the history and the fact Pompey have some stability for the first time this season, it’s unlikely to be straightforward.

I’ll still go for Spurs to nick it but I can envisage a right old game tomorrow afternoon.

Crouch Starts Tonight and Woodgate

Posted by on October 14, 2009 2 comments

It doesn’t look as though Peter Crouch’s lack of games for Tottenham is affecting his World Cup chances an awful lot. Capello is starting the big man against Belarus tonight alongside Gabriel Agbonlahor in the absence of Wayne Rooney.

I’ve always expected Crouch to be in Capello’s World Cup squad because he gives the Italian options. When Crouch has started for Spurs this season he’s always delivered and I’d certainly fancy him to be on the score sheet tonight against an unspectacular Belarus side.

I’m not sure how this will effect Harry’s plans against Portsmouth at the weekend. I fancied him to start Defoe and Crouch against their old side but he may not be inclined to start Crouch again Saturday if he has a tough game tonight. That being said, Robbie Keane will also be in action for one half of the Republic of Ireland’s game against the Czech Republic.

A good bit of news on Jonathan Woodgate. He managed to come through a behind closed doors friendly unscathed yesterday so there is an outside chance he could be on the bench for Saturday’s game. I thought he’d be out for a lot longer to be honest so fingers crossed he can get back to full fitness as soon as possible, it will give the side a massive boost.

The Bolton

Posted by on October 2, 2009 5 comments

Toughie. I wouldn’t fancy Kevin Davies big frame in my face for ninety minutes and I doubt Michael Dawson will either. This is the sort of game we’d get turned over in pre Harry. Even with him last season they bashed us up at the Reebok but he’s had time to make the side a bit more resilient since then.

I think it’s a game we can easily win. I wouldn’t be surprised to see us go up there and play Bolton off the park, score 3 or 4 and Keane and Corluka having their favourite tipple of Pimms by 5pm.

Equally possible is this scenario; Bolton get the early advantage with their physical presence, score 1 or 2 from set pieces and we end up chasing the game.

It will be interesting to see how Gary Cahill performs against his supposed suitors. He looks some player at the moment but quotes of £20m from the ever reliable Tabloid journalists are fucking ridiculous quite frankly.

After a couple of unlucky 1-0 defeats early season Bolton are on a good little run of only one defeat in five games and that was a game they played very well in against Liverpool. They impressed me in that they took heart from that performance even though they got beat and have won three since.

This is a game where I’ll be hopeful of a win but would take a draw. It may be that we can hit them on the break with devastating effect but I’m not sure how much we can soak up pressure from this Bolton side without them scoring. I hope you’ve got a winning game plan worked out Harry, because I bloody haven’t!