The ten point advantage Tottenham currently have over Arsenal in the Premier League would have been unthinkable just a couple of seasons ago. Although Arsenal fans were calling for Arsene Wenger’s head after a bad start to the season, things seemed to have settled down on that front with the good run of form they put together following the 2-1 defeat the Gunners suffered at White Hart Lane. Now reality has finally set in, Wenger’s management skills are once again being called into question by their supporters.

In stark contrast, Harry Redknapp’s reputation continues to thrive not only among Spurs fans, but also football enthusiasts around the globe. Bringing Scott Parker and Emmanuel Adebayor to the club this season only added to what was already an excellent squad of players. Not only have Harry’s player purchases been very astute, he has also helped Gareth Bale become one of the best footballers in the world. He is able to instil a belief in players that Wenger cannot. Another great example of this is Benoit Assou-Ekotto. He was going nowhere fast at Tottenham but Redknapp spotted his potential and gave the former Lens man a chance. Ekotto is now one of the very best left backs the Premier League has to offer.

While the 5-1 cup victory in 2008 was a sign of things to come, the day when the power really shifted in North London was 20th November 2010. Spurs had not won at Arsenal for 17 years. Going 2-0 down before half time would have seen Tottenham sides of old throw the towel in, but this set of players were not prepared to lie down. Winning the game in such a manner gave Spurs a new found confidence and helped enforce the never say die attitude that has seen us become serious title contenders this season.

There are a couple of games during this campaign that really illustrate the difference between the two teams perfectly. Both were defeats, our 2-1 reverse away to Stoke, and Arsenal’s 3-2 loss at Swansea. Admittedly, the game at the Liberty Stadium was very entertaining and all credit to Swansea for playing some great football, but a number of the Arsenal players on that pitch looked like they did not want to be there. It ultimately ended with the man Arsenal fans were hailing as the King a few days earlier, a 34 year old Thierry Henry, turning on them for venting their frustrations.

At Stoke, Spurs were not at their best in the first half. Any team two goals behind at the Britannia Stadium would probably have resigned themselves to defeat. In the end, it was only one of the worst refereeing performances in Premier League history that cost us all three points. Every Spurs player gave their all in that second half to try and get something from the game and even though we lost the match, it is possibly my favourite Tottenham performance of the season. It goes a long way to showing why Tottenham are now the dominant team in North London and why you’d better mind that gap.

Jermain Defoe Blonde

Even the bookies are starting to take our league form seriously as you can now see quotes as short as 8/1 for Tottenham to win this season’s title. I still personally think we have to much to do to overhaul Man City and I’m sure Utd will bounce back after two straight defeats but what has really impressed me this season is our winning mentality. The game against West Brom this past Tuesday night really illustrates that fact. Roy Hodgson had a few injuries to key players and basically set up his team to take a point. They were very hard to break down and until Sisqo scored, it was looking like being one of those nights. In season’s gone by, that is the sort of game we would have ended up losing through a lack of concentration or determination but Harry now appears to have the players instilled with a belief that they can win every game, no matter the circumstances.

Some fans were saying the point against Swansea was a disappointing result but I definitely would have taken a draw before the game. Only one team has managed to go to the Liberty Stadium and win this season and when you consider it was our third game in quick succession, avoiding defeat was a good result. The performance against Norwich was sublime and Gareth Bale showed once again why he is one of the very best players in the Premier League. While one of the positives of us not being involved in the Champions League this season is our excellent domestic form, Bale not being able to show what he is capable of against the European elite is certainly a negative.

Now the January transfer window is upon us, I expect to see Spurs linked with the usual infinite fictional targets. Samba and Cahill are the most realistic names for me but with Dawson apparently set to start against Cheltenham, our centre back injury problems are easing slightly. A number of my close friends are Millwall fans, so it’s nice to see a couple of our younger players being loaned to the Lions. Hopefully it will be a win win situation, with Ryan Mason and Harry Kane getting some much needed first team action, while also helping Millwall stay in the Championship.

This could well be the key month as far as our title hopes are concerned. Homes games against Everton, Wolves and Wigan with a trip to Man City in there for good measure. City have tough Cup games against Man Utd and Liverpool which could well work in our favour. Is January 2012 going to be the month when Tottenham actually sit on top the Premier League? I bloody hope so!

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.

While he looks arguably a better prospect than Giovani dos Santos was, is Bojan Krkic going to be another over priced disappointment from the fringes of the Barcelona squad? A £14m price tag would suggest this 20 year old is a bit special but as he’s yet to do it on a consistent basis at the highest level, this transfer would be a very risky one.

Maybe Dos Santos is an unfair comparison. For one thing, he only cost £5m and for another, he probably wasn’t in the same league as this kid ability wise. Although Bojan has failed to break into the first team on a full time basis, he has still managed to net 41 goals in 163 games for the Catalan giants since 2007. After winning the European U21 Championships with Spain recently, the young Spaniard will no doubt be looking to play first team football. Four years of being a fringe player, even at his relatively young age, is no good for any footballer’s career.

From Barcelona’s point of view, it looks to be a no lose situation. Bojan is highly unlikely to be able to break into their team due to the current abundance of talent at Pep Guardiola’s disposal and a big money transfer fee for a player that is basically surplus to requirements makes sense. Should Krkic turn out to be a superstar, Barca will no doubt be back to sign the player at some point and he would quite likely want to return to his boyhood club, as is the case with Cesc Febregas.

This is another example of a signing that Spurs can make without the lure of Champions League football. He’s undoubtedly a player of limitless potential who has superlative technique and would be a good addition to Tottenham’s front line options. On the negative side, he’s short, likely over priced, hasn’t played enough regular first team football at the highest level and might struggle in a very physically demanding Premier League.

North London Divide

If you’re a Spurs or Arsenal fan, be sure to pop over to the North London Divide and say hello. It’s basically a site where both Spurs and Arsenal fans can get together for some friendly banter. I write the Arsenal articles and Wrighty7 does the Spurs stuff.

I recently received an impassioned plea from eight young lads to ask if I could help them fulfill their dream of getting to the Emirates Stadium. AFC Fink Brau are a group of Spurs fans who are involved in the O2 Fives. As you might have guessed, it’s a five-a-side competition where the 16 teams with the most ‘likes’ on their page get to play in the event at Arsenal’s home.

Captained by Matt ‘Micky Hazard’ Hamm, the team is made up of James Adams, Mikey ‘Chicharito’ Langdon, Johnny Kirby, Dan ‘Calderwood’ Clark, Paul Erwood, Roberto Rosenthal Di Straldio and Aaron ‘Pikey Bastard’ Adams.

The main reason we need to get behind these Bournemouth based boys is the fact they plan on wearing the Spurs colours when they get to the last 16, as well as putting a few goals away obviously. While it might not be quite the same as when Bale and co went there earlier in the season and scored three if memory serves me correctly, it would still be nice to see a team supporting Spurs getting to play and possibly lift at trophy at Arsenal’s home.

You can like AFC Fink Brau’s page and help their cause by visiting the link below and clicking ‘like’.

Click here to Like AFC Fink Brau

So, the dream has become a reality and Spurs have made it to the Quarter Finals of the Champions League. After being three nil down against those pesky Young Boys in the first qualifying round, Harry Redknapp and his European soldiers are now just four games away from the final of Europe’s biggest football competition.

While the away leg at the San Siro was an assured professional performance the likes I haven’t seen from a Tottenham side before, Wednesday’s home game was an uncomfortable ninety minutes where our players dug in, defended well and secured their passage into the last eight.

Jermain Defoe’s big talk at the start of the season about Tottenham progressing further than the Gunners in the Champions League no longer sounds so stupid. The question now is can they fare any better than Arsenal against the Catalan Giants? Should we draw them in the quarter finals, I won’t be too despondent. While I think it will be a near impossible task over two legs against Barca, anything is possible in football. We have the players to hit them on the break with better effect than Arsenal could manage. Lennon and Bale give us an outlet that Arsenal didn’t have.

While avoiding Barcelona in the next round would be preferable, no side left in the competition is going to be an easy touch. Admittedly Milan aren’t as good as they once were but they are no mugs. Spurs have proven they can mix it with the best sides in European football and appear to have the confidence to take on any team. Our league form may have suffered a little as the results against Blackpool and Wolves illustrate but I’m willing to swallow it if it means this European adventure can continue for a bit longer…

Absolute
I’ll be on Ian Wright’s show on Absolute Radio sometime between five and six tomorrow if anyone wants to hear me talk more nonsense about Spurs!

Here is your chance to ask Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp the question you have always wanted him to answer.

Yahoo are conducting a web interview with Harry and have asked for questions from White Hart Pain readers. Simply submit your questions in the comments section and the best ones will be fired at the Spurs boss on Valentine’s Day.

The more original the question, the better the chance of it being selected, but try and keep the obscene stuff to a minimum please…I know it is probably a waste of time saying that but I’ve done my part. ‘Would you smash it?’ and the like definitely won’t make it through!

Full details can be found at the link below.

Harry Redknapp Interview

The club is looking for a brave fan to take on a Blackpool supporter in the half-time Wonga Cash Dash, when the teams meet at Bloomfield Road on Sunday, December 19.

To enter, CLICK HERE.

The Cash Dash is a race in two giant zorb balls, across the Bloomfield turf, between one home and one away supporter. The winner will be the fan who crosses the finishing line first, and will earn themselves £250. There will also a £250 donation to Blackpool’s Trinity Hospice.

So if you fancy representing Spurs, register your details at www.wonga.com/blackpool

And if you don’t know what a “zorb ball” is, here is Blackpool’s Ian Holloway demonstrating! http://www.blackpoolfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10432~2136928,00.html

From 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.

I’m a little bit confused this morning. I went to a local pub to watch the game last night. It wasn’t particularly busy but more than average for a week night. As far as I could see, there wasn’t anyone wearing a Spurs shirt, but there were a good few patrons in Chelsea colours.

I didn’t think much of it but once the match got underway, it became clear they were all staunch Werder Bremen supporters for the night. It wasn’t just cheering and booing from this crowd though, there was actually screeching accompanying each Werder chance as though they had just climaxed.

There are a few teams I don’t particularly like, but I’d never go out with the sole intention of supporting another team for the night because of it. All I’ve been hearing from Chelsea supporters for the last few weeks is how Tottenham won’t be able to cut it in the Champions League and we will be dumped out in the group stages. Well if that’s the case, I don’t understand the need for them to get so excited when Spurs are playing.

Admittedly, a few of these boys were holding hands and also having a bit of a kiss when they thought nobody else was looking. One of them even had a Gok Wan rocks my world t-shirt on. If I could be sure this was a meeting of Chelsea’s homosexual supporters community, then I’d be a little more understanding. I know they have a large gay following and on a personal level, the luck I have with women, I’m starting to see the appeal. Obviously taking their shoes off at West Ham last weekend was some kind of fashion statement.

The Champions League is the one thing Abramovich’s money hasn’t been able to buy yet. Maybe the reason Chelsea supporters are so upset about Tottenham being in the Champions League is because we have a habit of beating them. I’m sure watching us come away with a point against one of the best sides Germany has to offer won’t have done much to make them feel better…