Category Archives: Uncategorized

We’re not safe mind games from Harry

Posted by on April 6, 2009 2 comments

I was as disappointed as anyone with Saturday’s result against Blackburn. We dominated them early and had a host of chances to kill the game off. Admittedly, out penalty was never a penalty but the referee more than made up for that with his sending off of Wilson Palacios which totally changed the game and made it easy for the punt and rush merchants.

As if all those fun and games weren’t enough, Harry came up with some comedy of his own;

“We are not safe yet. Thirty eight points is not safe. It is still all to play for.

“When I arrived staying in the Premier League was the only thing that mattered. We have to make sure we do that first and foremost.

“The general performance was terrific, so to come away with nothing is unbelievable.”

Fair enough, we aren’t 100% safe but I don’t see how Harry Redknapp can really believe we are in any significant danger now with 38pts on the board coupled with the form the team has been showing in recent weeks.

West Brom certainly look doomed and Boro don’t look in much better shape. With another 7 very average sides between Tottenham and the last relegation spot, there is no need to start thinking negatively again. With home games against the Hammers on Saturday followed by Newcastle 8 days later, I’ll be very surprised if we aren’t past the 40 points mark and safety very soon.

ps I could do with some Spurs support at the North London Divide. We are looking for guest writers and it seems to be all Gooners at the minute!

It’s a good job we only need 4 more wins Harry

Posted by on February 25, 2009 17 comments

I was having a look at our remaining fixtures last night and if I’m honest, I can only see 5 games we have much chance of winning, those games in bold below.

Wednesday, 04 March 2009
Tottenham v Middlesbrough

Saturday, 07 March 2009
Sunderland v Tottenham

Sunday, 15 March 2009
Aston Villa v Tottenham

Saturday, 21 March 2009
Tottenham v Chelsea

Saturday, 04 April 2009
Blackburn v Tottenham

Saturday, 11 April 2009
Tottenham v West Ham

Saturday, 18 April 2009
Tottenham v Newcastle

Saturday, 25 April 2009
Man Utd v Tottenham

Saturday, 02 May 2009
Tottenham v West Brom

Saturday, 09 May 2009
Everton v Tottenham

Saturday, 16 May 2009
Tottenham v Man City

Sunday, 24 May 2009
Liverpool v Tottenham

There is always a chance we could nick something from Sunderland, Blackburn or Everton but it’s doubtful considering the way we usually perform on the road.

Even the home games I would fancy us to take 3pts from aren’t going to be easy with 3 of the 5 teams involved in the relegation scrap. West Ham and Man City shouldn’t have much to play for but Boro, Newcastle and even West Brom will be looking at the trip to the Lane as a game they can win.

I think Middlesbrough will be key because our following 4 fixtures look very tough indeed. If we can get to 31pts after next Wednesday’s game, I’d imagine it will make the trip to Sunderland a lot more enjoyable for the players.

Obviously we are all looking forward to Sunday’s Cup Final but I’ll be hoping for 3pts next week just as much as victory against Utd.

Credit where credit is due

Posted by on January 22, 2009 14 comments

This blog post was going to be totally different at about ten past ten last night. I had plans to start a campaign to out Harry and replace him with Mike Newell or Joe Kinnear. I’ll put it on the back burner for now.

Every man and his dog wants to take a pop at Spurs today, I can only imagine what it would have been like had we actually gone out the Carling Cup. I honestly believe some people would rather see Tottenham lose than their own team win. Looking at it objectively, I can half understand why.

It must be fun for football fans that support teams with nowhere near our resources see us get turned over by so called smaller clubs time and again, pay over the odds for players that turn out to be useless and continue to achieve very little year on year. It’s getting on for 2 decades since our FA Cup win. As nice as the Carling Cup and a day out at Wembley is, it’s not good enough for a club that’s spent as much as Tottenham have over recent years. I’ll still go back to Martin Jol’s sacking as the biggest mistake in Levy’s reign. The Premier League is what it’s all about and that man delivered two 5th place finishes on the trot. No other manager has come close to that in my lifetime.

Last night was awful to watch but wasn’t really as bad as is being made out. Two of the goals were down to goalkeeper errors. Burnley were always likely to get a result last night. 1-0 would have been fair enough. They are a decent side and have beaten a host of Premiership teams this season.

When it mattered, the team came up with the goods. They left it late but isn’t that the difference between the great sides. How many times do Utd and Chelsea win or get something from games by the skin of their teeth after looking down and out?

It sounds like we could be in for a hiding on Saturday with Harry saying he’ll be fielding the weakest side possible. More injuries were picked up last night and Tuesday’s game against Stoke is the one that really matters. Anything less than 3pts is unacceptable.

I’d rather see Dos Santos, Taraabt and Bostock go to Old Trafford, play some decent football and we get beat 3 or 4 than try to go lock down and lose 1-0.

Harry’s new approach seems to be to publicly berate the players now his being their best mate approach has stopped working. Whether it will reap rewards or not I don’t know but I’ll leave you with this little gem he came out with, made me chuckle for quite a while.

‘Palacios is suspended — he likes tackling you see, so I don’t know if he’ll be any good in our team.’

It’s time to man up

Posted by on January 13, 2009 7 comments

Harry was always going to get a few results when he first came to Spurs. The players had been under a regime that none of them seemed to like and his jolly banter and inspiring, comforting words made them all fuzzy and warm inside again, a feeling that had been lost since the euphoria of a hard fought Carling Cup win many months previous.

So why did that fight suddenly disappear? Why have the Soccer Saturday pundits only just realised Aaron Lennon has no final ball? Has the new stadium been designed with an extra large dugout for all Harry’s coaches? Who is the bloke in the Wii advert with Jamie and Harry that doesn’t speak and get called a mug? I don’t have the answer to any of these questions but I think I do have the answer to our poor league form.

Bale can’t defend. He used to be good going forward. He doesn’t seem so good going forward anymore. Surely one of these many coaches we have can teach him the art of defending?

Lennon has no end product. He used to come up with an odd decent final ball or a goal. He doesn’t anymore. Surely one of these many coaches we have can teach him how to deliver a final ball?

Bentley and Jenas play at 30% most of the time. They used to manage 57%. Surely one of these many coaches can give them a swift kick up the backside?

I think we have the basis of a good team. I rate Gomes although others still disagree. Corluka and Woodgate are quality defenders and Ledley’s still very good when available. Modric’s class is unquestionable but where he fits in going to places like Wigan, West Brom, Stoke etc when we are in a relegation dogfight getting kicked all over the gaff, I’m not quite sure. Defoe’s our only top class striker. Pavlyuchenko has shown flashes of above averageness and I’ve come to the conclusion that Bent is just average. Zokora is likable and works quite hard but I just don’t think he’s all that bright. O’Hara and Dawson make up for what they lack in ability with their work rate, especially little Jamie. The rest of them are either not good enough, don’t give a shit or equal amounts of both.

These next two games are massive, I just hope the players realise their significance.

Your best Tottenham XI of all time?

Posted by on January 8, 2009 49 comments

In your lifetime, what is your best 11 for Spurs? It doesn’t necessarily have to be the most talented crop, you can even include Paolo Tramezzani if he’s one of your favourites for whatever reason. Here’s mine;

Walker

Mabbutt
King
Woodgate

Hoddle
Waddle
Anderton
Gascoigne
Ginola

Sheringham
Klinnsman

I know what you’re thinking, too attacking. I did consider Steve Sedgley or David Howells anchoring the midfield but this team would be so amazing, they wouldn’t need to defend and with those 3 rocks at the back, other teams would give up just at the sight of them! If only Harry had a pool of talent like this to choose from, we would clean up.

Let’s hope Downing doesn’t take the death threat route

Posted by on January 6, 2009 2 comments

Well our little striker is back. It’s amazing what a few death threats can do to ensure a move without too much fuss! £15m is the rumoured fee but the actual amount of money changing hands is probably a lot less with Pompey still owing us money from Defoe, Kaboul and even Pedro Mendes.

I think most Spurs fans are in agreement that Jermain should never have been sold in the first place but looking back, it’s probably been a good thing all round. He wasn’t getting much in the way of first team football and for a player of his quality; it was quite simply ridiculous to be sitting on the bench as much as he was.

You have to respect Defoe for the way he got on with it and stuck with us even though he wasn’t getting a regular place in the starting line up for as long as he did. A year at Portsmouth has done him the world of good and also resulted in him winning back a place in the England squad.

At a time when things have gone a little flat with the initial buzz surrounding Harry’s appointment having understandably died down, a big singing is just what we needed. It’s not just any old player but someone that is already a hero at the Lane as well as being something we are desperately missing at the moment, a top class natural goal scorer.

I can only smile at the death threat story in the press at the weekend just to make the move a little easier. You couldn’t possibly expect poor little Jermain to stay at Portsmouth when he’s receiving death threats from the nasty Pompey fans! Don’t get me wrong, there could well be an element of truth to it but its likely no worse than the over the top banter the players get from the crowd week in, week out.

We can only hope Stuart Downing’s agent doesn’t advise his client to approach the News of the World with some death threats of his own for this Sunday!

We might need to sign some more rubbish

Posted by on December 29, 2008 30 comments

Downing, Bellamy, Parker. These names fill me with dread but at the same time they could be a necessary evil. Harry’s honeymoon period is well and truly over. Our strikers are shit. Our midfield is shit. Our defence is OK.

The build the team round a little Croatian tactic was a good idea, but doesn’t work if your strikers aren’t intelligent enough to play with him. I know he’s small but I’d quite like to see two up top with Modric in the middle alongside Huddlestone. We would be lightweight but it doesn’t matter because at the moment, we aren’t making any chances whatsoever.

Harry’s forte is signing decent players on the cheap, how refreshing that would be to see as a Spurs fan. Bentley, Pavlyuchenko, Bent, Boateng are just the tip of the iceberg. It makes me physically sick to think how much these players cost, especially when you think of the decent players that have walked out the door.

Our dilemma now is do we sign some equally average players in the hope that they keep us in the league? I personally still feel Harry can get enough out of what he already has to keep us up but we can’t afford to take any chances. Seeing Stuart Downing arrive for £14m+ would likely give me a stroke but it could all be worth it as long as we aren’t playing in the Championship next season.

Tottenham v Fulham – Pain Preview

Posted by on December 25, 2008 1 comment

Merry Christmas everyone. I got a cracking present from the Mrs, the new Spurs Player by Player book, signed for me by one Ricky Villa!

I quite fancy us to get a result tomorrow, Hodgson has Fulham playing as a solid unit but I think they will come unstuck soon and it’s more likely to happen away from Craven Cottage. Their home form was always good, there was just a blip under Sanchez. They are yet to win away this season.


Team News
Spurs could be struggling at the back with both Woodgate and King facing late fitness tests. Darren Bent and Jermaine Jenas should be back.

Fulham are without Zoltan Gera.

Current Form
Spurs have won 5 of the last 10 league games but went down 2-1 at the hands of Newcastle on Sunday.

Fulham are on their best run of form for some time but they are yet to win away from home this season.

Head To Head
Fulham have only ever won twice at the Lane in 29 attempts. If they were to win, it would be only the 2nd time in their history they have completed a league double over Tottenham.

Other points to note
Tottenham have won their last 4 Boxing Day fixtures, Fulham are 0 form 4.

Conclusion
Fulham are managing to go lockdown for 0-0 away from home but there is only so long they can use these tactics and not score before they come unstuck. I fancy Luka Modric to pick them apart tomorrow and Spurs to run out comfortable winners.

Best Bets
Luka Modric 1st Goal Scorer @ 10/1 with Betfred

Tottenham to win 3-1 @ 14/1 with BlueSq

£12m swoop for Upson

Posted by on December 14, 2008 4 comments

The talk both before and after yesterday’s game was of a proposed move by Harry for Matthew Upson during the transfer window.

Redknapp is becoming increasingly frustrated with only having Ledley available for one game in two or three and doesn’t rate Dawson as an adequate understudy.

I’m not sure what the deal is with West Ham at the moment but it would appear they are happy to sell their stars if the price is right. £12m is a lot of money for a player that has had more than his fair share of injury problems but his quality is undeniable. He always looks in command of the back line and his performances for England have been outstanding.

The problem for Harry would be keeping the three of them happy when they are all fit. Woodgate seem to have got past his long term injury problems now and when Ledley can play, there is still nobody better. The other issue is if they were all to go into injury mode at the same time, we would be in serious trouble.

I think our first priority should be a decent ball winner in midfield, the same player we have been missing for years but if Matty Upson did arrive in January, I’d be more than happy.

David Bentley and Real Madrid

Posted by on December 10, 2008 3 comments

The British press are amazing. According to the Daily Star, Ramos is going to sign both Aaron Lennon and David Bentley!

According to most of the rumours I heard, Bentley was one of the main reasons Ramos got the boot. Not only because of his awful performances on the pitch under Ramos, but also for displays of dissent towards the manager in the dressing room. It was him kicking off when he heard he was being left on the bench for the 2nd leg of the match against Wisla Krakow that was the beginning of the end for Wendy.

I know Ramos has questions to answer after some of the methods he employed during his tenure at the Lane, but is he really stupid enough to sign a player after that? I think not.

As for Lennon, he was another player Ramos used sparingly especially toward the end of his reign at Spurs. Why would he want to sign him?

I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s Star, let’s hope for more of the same. Maybe the players he didn’t give squad numbers too could also be on his hit list?!