Tag Archives: champions league - Page 2

Will Joe Cole tip the balance?

Posted by on July 21, 2010 7 comments

Joe ColeA few days ago, I wrote an article discussing the online betting for next season’s Premier League title. I found it puzzling that Liverpool were a significantly shorter price than Tottenham going on last season’s form, coupled with the uncertainty surrounding the future of their star players. Gerrard was to be joining Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid and Torres was also allegedly keen to move, that is if anyone is brave enough to risk millions of pounds on a player that looks to have serious issues if his World Cup performances are anything to go by.

I genuinely thought Joe Cole would end up at Tottenham this summer. If the internet and newspapers are to believed, Spurs offer of wages was the lowest of his suitors, and significantly lower than those Liverpool where willing to pay. The way I see it, Liverpool were willing to pay over the odds for a player like Joe Cole as a statement of intent. They are not in the Champions League currently, have appointed a very talented but arguably low profile manager and looked like a club in serious regression last season. Cole’s signing not only shows they are still able to attract players of world class

All this being said, I don’t think it’s the end of the world that Spurs missed out on Cole. We already have a wealth of talent in midfield and paying 100k a week or more for a player in his late 20s who has a very poor injury record probably wasn’t the right move for us in hindsight. I think he was a lot more important for Liverpool than he was for Tottenham.

Do I think Cole’s move to Liverpool will propel them to mount a challenge for the Premier League title this coming season? Not a chance. Do I think he will tip the balance in their favour over Spurs where the battle for a top 4 spot is concerned? I doubt it, but I fully expect them to be better than last season. The only problem for them is, Spurs will be too!

Have the bookies made an error?

Posted by on July 16, 2010 25 comments

LedleyI was having a look at the betting for next season’s Premier League today and although the bookies normally aren’t far wrong, I feel the prices are a little off the mark. While I don’t for a second expect Tottenham to be winning the league, I am confused as to how they can be 40/1 shots with Man City as short as 9/2 and Liverpool as short as 11/1.

Man City’s spending power is phenomenal and they have added some serious talent to their squad this summer with the likes of Boateng, Toure and Silva joining an already excellent group of players. The problem for them is I don’t see Mancini as the man to get these players to gel or control their egos and settle the unrest when their start to the campaign isn’t as phenomenal as everyone is expecting. I think they could well end up in a similar position to last season.

Are Liverpool suddenly going to be a successful side under Roy Hodgson? They looked awful at times last season and it’s going to take them time to rebuild. Torres appears to be in a very bad way if the world cup is anything to go by. Carragher isn’t half the player he was a few years ago and Gerrard turns it on when he’s in the mood. This is assuming Torres and Gerrard are staying.

Now onto the 40/1 outsiders! Admittedly, one good season does not a great club make, but there is just as much reason to believe we can continue our progression under Harry Redknapp as there is we will resume the battle for 7th and 8th place. I don’t feel like last season was a fluke. Our home form has been solid for a number of years now and we have finally mastered the art of picking up points on the road. The possibility of a Champions League campaign will test the squad, but we have the strength in depth now to be able to change the personnel from game to game and still be a force in the Premiership.

The betting for the top 4 sees us 6th best behind Chelsea, Utd, City, Arsenal and Liverpool. I seem to remember us being given a similar chance at the start of last season. History has a habit of repeating itself…

The truth about Joe Cole

Posted by on June 8, 2010 23 comments

For the best part of two weeks, every Arsenal fan I know has been very keen to tell me that Joe Cole has agreed a deal to join the Gunners. I did find it slightly hard to believe, I just couldn’t see him wanting to go there. Not solely for footballing reasons but I just can’t imagine him fitting in very well there. He strikes me as a guy who needs to have a laugh and a bit of banter and I don’t think Wenger and co are going to provide any of that. Maybe now he’s got a kid he’s his thinking is different but I can see no reason why he’d want to go there rather than come and work with familiar faces at Tottenham.

When Harry Redknapp said last week it looked like Cole had already agreed a deal with a club, I started to think that maybe the Arsenal rumours were true. The fact Redknapp has done a U-Turn in the last couple of days and declared his interest in signing the Chelsea and England star makes things very different. Something must have happened to make Redknapp change his position so dramatically. Last week he basically said there was no chance, he’d been told Cole was off the market but now he’s made his intentions very clear.

The only negative I can see from Cole’s point of view where a move to Spurs is concerned is the fact we still have to qualify for the Champions League proper. Also, the fact we aren’t Champions League regulars and it’s going to be no easy task to repeat the feat next season would mean his contract would likely contain a lot of conditions, but I don’t really see any problem with that. Being one of the most desirable free agents in recent years, his wage demands will be huge but there are ways around this with signing on fees, bonuses etc so we wouldn’t necessarily have to destroy our wage structure!

A good World Cup for Cole may create new interest from abroad for his signature but from a neutral point of view, I honestly believe Tottenham to be his most likely destination. Obviously I’m also hoping that is the case but the lure of working with Redknapp again coupled with the fact he would feel very much at home with a number of friends and England team mates at the club must make Tottenham a very attractive proposition.

Is the honeymoon period officially over?

Posted by on December 14, 2009 13 comments

Harry can’t do a lot wrong as far as most Spurs supporters I speak to are concerned. He’s improved the squad, team morale and our league position massively since he took over. Almost 14 months ago, Tottenham looked doomed. Since then, Redknapp has been considered a hero amongst the Spurs faithful. Saturday was the first time I’ve heard more than a handful of people questioning his credentials.

The defeat to Stoke was one of those days, getting turned over by a second string Utd in the Cup was a shame, dropping two points at Everton from a strong position was very disappointing but losing at home to Wolves is unacceptable. It’s no going putting nine past Wigan if we can’t break down teams like Wolves and Stoke. On a more positive note, it was nice to see Modric back and hopefully he’ll be back in the starting line up before too long.

Wednesday’s match against City now takes on extra significance. I think a draw is the most likely outcome but we really can’t afford to lose another home game. Slightly worrying is the fact I’m sure it was a Wednesday night I was sitting with my Granddad watching a Tottenham v Man City game where Tottenham were 3-0 up at half time but still lost. Anybody remember that one?!

For me, the top four dream is looking less and less likely as the season goes on. I know we are still in touch but can you imagine us going to Old Trafford and winning 1-0 like Villa did? I can’t see it happening anytime soon personally. I don’t want to sound too downbeat because I’m quite happy with a top 6 finish which I think is our realistic target this season. We don’t yet have the mental toughness to match the big sides in the Premiership and until we do, a Champions League place will have to wait.

Do the positives outweigh the negatives?

Posted by on December 7, 2009 5 comments

I was hopeful Spurs would managed at least a win and a draw from our three away games on the spin but as it turns out, I’m reasonably satisfied with two more league points. The only disappointing part is we should have got all six!

As much time as I have for Everton, our class should have been enough to win yesterday’s game. They were missing a number of players and also had to travel abroad during the week. While it was a very entertaining encounter, we had numerous chances and far to much quality for a second string Everton side.

To be two goals to the good with only twelve minutes to go in the game and not win is simply not good enough. All credit to Everton for a battling performance but we cannot afford to drop points like that if we are to have even a remote chance of a top four finish.

I wasn’t too bothered about our Carling Cup exit. Although a victory over Man Utd at Old Trafford would have been great, Spurs have been there, done that as far as the trophy is concerned. I’m not saying we are better than the competition, but a place in the Champions League would mean so much more both from a reputation as well as a financial point of view. Most of the top teams use the League Cup as an opportunity to give their reserve and youth players some first team action. Maybe Tottenham should be doing the same now.

Not getting beat after going to both Villa and Goodison Park should make Spurs fans very happy, outplaying both sides and not winning either game will not.

Harry claims quality is aim, let’s hope so

Posted by on June 1, 2009 15 comments

Some of the recent rumoured transfer targets for Spurs have actually scared me. Jones, Downing and the final straw for me this morning, Duff.

Harry Redknapp has been quoted as saying he only wants to bring in 3 top class players in the summer. If those are the 3 he considers to be top class, we are in serious bother!

He said: “We need three players of the highest quality who can come in and make a difference.

“We have a lot of good players here, and maybe we can move on one or two to give us the money to get a few in.”

Pavlychenko, Bent and Bentley among those moving on? I can’t see us making anything other than a big loss on all 3 but Harry is a past master at making his money stretch. The Kenwyne offer makes me think his lost that talent now.

Names I do like the sound of include Gareth Barry and Joe Cole but they are players that I just don’t see fancying a move to a club not competing in the Champions League.

The Kenwyne Jones deal was apparently blocked in January and I’m praying daily that we don’t got back with an improved offer. The £20m was £19.9m too much as it was.

In other news, a mate of mine just saw Ledley King stumbling around Mandalay Bay, let’s hope he’s having a good time and is back nice and refreshed for the new season!

Tottenham Player of the Season

Posted by on April 14, 2009 21 comments

I did something similar on the Goons over at North London Divide last night and I thought it would be interesting to see who people thought was our player of the season.

I don’t want to dwell on this too much but Arsenal are in a position where they can still win a trophy this season so their player of the season could change if someone drives them to FA Cup or Champions league glory (unlikely I know), but our season is pretty much over other than the battle for 7th place and UEFA Cup football next season. Not that I can see much point in that battle because we probably won’t bother with that competition if we have an important league game away to Wolves or something similar on the agenda.

Here is a list of the leading contenders;

Ledley King – Ledley’s one of the main reasons we aren’t still in a relegation battle for me. His performance’s this season have been of the highest order and what sticks in my mind as pivotal to our season was his goal at West Ham when we were in desperate need of points.

Jamie O’Hara – You’ve got to love him for having a crack at Danielle Lloyd after her previous boyfriends if nothing else. He may be small but he has the heart of a lion. I hope he continues to improve and establishes himself as a key member of our squad in the coming years.

Aaron Lennon – I was ready to write him off at the start of the season, how wrong I was. He’s been magnificent for us in recent months and seems to have really blossomed under Harry Redknapp. The headless chicken has finally found a head and has the world at his feet.

Jonathan Woodgate – He’s proved to be worth every penny of his £7m transfer fee unlike some of the rubbish we have shelled out for in recent times. He’s our rock, seems to have put his injury nightmare behind him since arriving and has been an ever present force this season with 37 appearances thus far.

Verdan Corluka – Some people are still undecided but I am a massive fan of this guy. He works hard and has that touch of class some defenders lack. Other fans I’ve raved to about this guy argue he makes too many individual errors but I don’t believe that is the case. There is no one else I would want alongside King and Woody.

Luka Modric – The ugly little girl is our class act and I don’t even think we have seen the best of him. Had he got the winner against Arsenal at the Lane he’d without doubt be our player of the season, I’m sure he’s most Spurs fan’s choice in any case.

Who is your Tottenham player of the season?