A huge game for both clubs here as Tottenham and Chelsea battle it out at Wembley for a place in this season’s FA Cup final. Neither some comes into the match in outstanding form but Chelsea should arguably be the favourites when you consider Tottenham have only managed one victory in their last seven league games and looked woeful in the defeat at the hands of Norwich City on Monday. Will Harry Redknapp be able to pick his players up and get them playing the brand of football that was so engaging earlier in the campaign?

I was at the game on Monday and it was painful viewing. We did have opportunities and enough of the ball to have at least got a point but we just weren’t at the races. Norwich probably thought they were playing at a Canadian online poker site they had it so easy. I really thought we had turned the corner after the results against Bolton, Swansea and Sunderland but this was nothing like the Tottenham that was mounting a realistic challenge for the title just a few months ago. Maybe some of the players had their minds on this upcoming semi final encounter, maybe they are jaded after a long season, or maybe this is the same old Tottenham we have know for the past couple of decades, flattering to deceive.

The one thing that may work in Tottenham’s favour is the fact Chelsea have a massive game at Stamford Bridge against Barcelona just a few days after this match. I’m not saying they will be looking past us but the thought of facing Messi and co with a Champions League final place at stake will likely be a lot more important to the majority of their squad than the FA Cup. None of them are going to want to get injured and this could well prove all important in what is likely to be a tight and nervy contest.

As far as a bet on the game goes, I’d struggle to part with my hard earned cash to back Tottenham on their current run but if I had to have a wager, it would be backing Spurs to win inside the ninety minutes. Alternatively, I might find an internet casino and distract myself from the torture of watching the match and play some roulette or similar!

A huge game for Tottenham here as far as their Champions League aspirations are concerned. Three straight defeats in the Premier League have seen Tottenham’s grasp on third place slip to just one point and bitter rivals Arsenal are now within touching distance of taking the automatic qualifying place for themselves. Chelsea have also closed the gap to just four points and although Spurs looked to have things sewn up a few weeks ago, the picture is a very different one now.

The circumstances surrounding the abandonment of Saturday’s FA Cup quarter final is bound to have some kind of affect on the players but hopefully the positive news regarding Fabrice Muamba in the last couple of days will have gone some way to easing the mental state of the Spurs squad.

While Tottenham might not be on their worst run of the season, they have still only lost one of their last six home games while Stoke have just one win and five defeats from their last six games on the road. Spurs also have a very good record against Stoke in the Premier League, having won five of the last six encounters between the two clubs.

Tottenham v Stoke Head to Head
Tottenham Wins 40
Stoke Wins 23
Draws 18

Last Season
Tottenham 3-2 Stoke

Current Form (Last Six Games)
Tottenham WDWLLL
Stoke LLLWWL

If you fancy a wager on the match, you should check out the Bet365 App and the Mobile Betting Guide.

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!

Five points behind Chelsea, six off Man City. We haven’t scored in our last three games, haven’t won in five. Since the 16th January, our strikers have only scored six goals between them. Worst of all, Tottenham are highly unlikely to be playing Champions League football next season. A heavy defeat in the Bernabeu on Tuesday night would really finish us off. Even the biggest optimist would struggle to see us winning the Champions League and I’m worried whether the players will have the motivation as well as the threat in front of goal to go to Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool and get results.

Admittedly, we have three home games coming up in the League against Stoke, Arsenal and West Brom. Maybe things will look very different after that, but the fact we couldn’t manage to beat any of the bottom three sides in our last three games doesn’t exactly inspire me with confidence.

Tottenham’s destiny is most certainly still in their own hands. On top of the games at the Lane, Spurs also have to go to Chelsea and Man City. Having dropped so many points in recent weeks, the likely scenario now is that we go into those games desperate for a result. Had we managed to beat a couple of the relegation candidates, the pressure would have been on Chelsea and City to win their home games.

There have been a number of stages this season where we have dropped off the pace a little and I’ve been worried we would struggle to get back in the hunt for a top four spot, but every time the lads have managed to get back involved. I certainly wouldn’t be having a bet on Spurs at the moment and I just don’t like the look of the little gap that’s developing or the fact Man City scored the same number of goals in one game as Spurs have managed in their last six…

So, no players want to sign for us on a permanent basis then! The fact we can’t tie any of our top transfer targets down is a little disheartening but it’s probably also an indication that Harry Redknapp isn’t prepared to buy second rate players just to bring in bodies. He seems very much of the opinion that if the price isn’t right, we should just move on.

Redknapp has been quoted in the press today saying loan deals are probably the way forward for Tottenham in the current transfer market;

“I can see loans happening. I’ve got three players in mind that would not cost a lot of money.

“People are going to loan players from all over the world, there will be loads because clubs are struggling to pay the wages. There will be high earners they have to loan out.”

I’m not really sure how I feel about loan deals. Part of me thinks it’s a good thing. You get the player in for the season just paying wages and if it doesn’t work out, you don’t have to retain their services. Often, these players are looking to put themselves in the shop window and put in decent performances throughout the season.

Usually where loans are concerned, it’s players from the top clubs going to smaller outfits. A side in the Champions League having to bolster their squad with loanees seems a little ridiculous. However, with the new rules regarding squad sizes, times may be changing. The wealthiest clubs are going to have a number of players surplus to requirements and loan deal may be the only viable financial option.

The only issue I can see is whether these big name stars are going to have enough hunger coming to Spurs on a temporary basis. Will they just rest on their laurels? If you take Jamie O’Hara’s spell at Portsmouth as an example; he worked his socks off week in week out. I can’t see many of those on the fringes of the Manchester City squad doing the same for Tottenham. Only time will tell I suppose. I’d imagine some business will be done one way or another this week.

Other news;

I’m going to be the Spurs contact for Ian Wright’s Saturday football show on Absolute Radio.

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Arsenal Celebrations

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A 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!

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.

I’m happy with the way things have gone this season. I never honestly expected to win anything or manage a 4th place finish. Top 6 was always what I realistically thought Spurs would achieve and that still looks like being the case. There has been some good and some bad but overall you’d have to be happy with the strong squad Harry Redknapp has managed to build in a relatively short time.

What has really got to me this season is the new breed of Facebook supporters. Status updates such as ‘The Cup’s coming home to the Lane’ and ‘Top 4 is in the bag’ only ensures the FA Cup will be coming nowhere near the Lane for the foreseeable future, neither will top class European football. I know you are going to have to deal with dickheads whatever club you support but we seem to have more than our fair share at Tottenham. I’m sure any real Millwall fans will be feeling the same pain currently. Their surge in Facebook support the last few weeks has been spectacular and the majority aren’t real wall but will paint their faces and get the big foam fingers out because they have won a few games.

Don’t get me wrong, I went to town when we beat A5ena1 and again when we won the League Cup because we had actually achieved something. As soon as these cocks open their mouths, I’m convinced it puts the mockers on us. What makes it worse is as soon as the inevitable happens, every other football fan is ready to pounce. The amount of status’ on Sunday digging Spurs out was unreal. Even people that have never watched a game of football before and are only interested in Eastenders and M Dubz as lesuire activities were having a pop.

I’m not confident about tonight and I’ll be very surprised if we win but please can we keep the big talk to a minimum until after the game. I hope we can make North London Derby Day a time when real Spurs Supporters unite in denouncing Facebook Tossers and their status updates because they have destroyed our season.

As wonderful as our nine goal victory was on Sunday, spare a thought for Wigan. As I said last week, I was not surprised to see a big score line but it was thanks in part to Wigan’s style of play.

As difficult as it must have been for Wigan fans to swallow, I hope they give Martinez time to finish the good job he’s started. I know they have been on the end of a few hidings but they play attractive football. The Premier League would be very boring if all the lesser sides played like Stoke. He’s a good young manager and comes across very well.

As for Tottenham, maybe we still have a mental block when it comes to the big teams. We cannot continue to put on scintillating performances against the majority of opponents at the Lane and then give limp displays like we did against Arsenal, Man Utd and Chelsea. I know two of those games were away from home and injuries played a part but the contrast is too great.

Harry has done wonders since his arrival but his previous sides have always been able to turn over the likes of Utd and Arsenal, sides that had no where near the strength in depth the current Spurs squad has. Maybe things will look different come the end of the season.

With Arsenal, Liverpool, Man City and Villa all dropping points this past weekend, our top 4 push is still going along nicely and the 9-1 win will have done wonders for both confidence and morale. It couldn’t have come at a better time with 3 away games on the trot coming up, all against tough sides. I’d take 1 win, 1 draw and 1 defeat if I’m honest, as long as the win is against Utd!

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.