Top of the League – and having a laugh!

3 games down, 9 points and top of the League. Who’d have believed it? Not me for sure, 1 week down 25% towards the safety net points total and Birmingham City at home on Saturday. Last time they were up they took 6 points from us with a wicked 40 yarder that could have gone anywhere and a post Carling Cup win embarrassment by 4-1 at St Andrews. In that period we approached games with arrogance (having won a cup) and played without any at all – this time I hope we keep our feet securely on the ground.

Birmingham presents my first visit to White Hart Lane this season having been away for the Liverpool game. I may be wrong but I think it will be a great atmosphere on Saturday with us starting out top of the table. Over recent years – since Martin Jol was our manager – the atmosphere has continually improved at what used to be an apprehensive and quiet stadium and I have slight concerns that if the redevelopment plans go ahead that a lot of this will be lost. I also read Arsene Wenger’s thoughts about stadium redevelopments and have to admit that he has a point. With all clubs it is important to have a team to put into a brilliant new stadium as after it is built there is the risk that finances will be under pressure for a couple of years. Arsene pointed out a number of clubs now struggling in the lower leagues who had moved to new homes and it’s fair to say that without Champions League money of about £60 million a season Arsenal might have more worries on their broad shoulders.

After all it was only the early 1970’s when Chelsea built a fantastic new stand and bankrupted the club until Mr A stepped in and changed their finances all around. That stand helped Chelsea’s record against Tottenham to what it is today. When they were a regulation win for us the stand made sure they were in the second division and safe from Archibald, Crooks, Hoddle, Ardiles etc.

I appreciate that the Tottenham board think that we need more seats available at our ground and I do support this. But how many is the question? Firstly, we have to be mindful that a generation of new football supporters have chosen Arsenal, Chelsea and possibly Manchester United over Spurs because of their much better records since the mid nineties so can we sell out week in week out.. You might call this a bit defeatist but I well remember the financial crisis in 1990/91 at the club resulting in the sale of Gascoigne when “no club” might have been a possibility.

Then there is the issue of being a buying/selling club. If our form continues it certainly brings some of our star players into the spotlight and current Top4/Manchester City radar. Defoe might stay with Harry but will that be the case with Modric or Palacious? And then you are rebuilding the side and restricting your potential. What is true is that there will always be 36 to 40 thousand who will make the effort go to the games but after that you do need a team. As a Spurs member I can get tickets, for some games you have to put yourself out but not for all, so does this suggest that we can sell out a new stadium? Granted we may have lots on a season ticket list – but don’t most of them already go as members and if they don’t why will they go if they suddenly get the opportunity of season tickets. I’m not sure I understand it – maybe you can enlighten me?

 But for now let’s just enjoy being top of the table. Come on you Spurs!  

The season so far….

As we approach the New Year, a look at the Barclays Premier League shows an extremely tight competition with Bolton in 11^th and Stoke in 19^th only three points apart.  There have been a number of surprise results this season and a few unexpected successes. 

 

Who would have thought that Hull Citywould have a good run at the start of the season and that clubs such as Blackburn, Tottenham and Newcastle would be struggling for points?  And how many people would have put Ireland, Cisse or Turner (Hull) in their first choice eleven?

 

Having been asked for my ‘Trick’s Picks’ at the start of the season, I have to say that I pinned great expectations on Spurs and have been somewhat let down…unless Harry can turn things around, my Picks will be far worse than last year!

 

A look at our Fantasy Football League Table shows that there are a number of teams with a possible claim to the title. It could be a close-run contest, almost as close as the Premiership itself.

 

Top of the Lambert Chapman Premiership at the moment is ‘Real Cool Beanz’, managed by Lewis Sharp, with a total of 882 points. He has now been top for six weeks and looks to have a strong team. However, there are a few teams below him that cannot be ruled out – Ainsley Bowyer has 863 points and Andy Stride has 852 points. Below them in 5^thplace is Tom Drysdale, last year’s winner, with 807 points and he will be keen to retain the trophy.

 

Also deserving of a mention is ‘I’m forever…ah!’ in 10^thplace – Mike Carabine always submits a ‘theme team’ into the competition – this time, he has chosen players who have all been involved at West Ham at some point, either a permanent signing, loan signing or those who played whilst in the youth squad.  Given his strong position, it remains to be seen whether he sticks to the theme or forgoes it for a stronger squad with an eye on winning!

 

It should not be forgotten that, each month, we promote the top three teams in each league and relegate the bottom three teams.  Therefore, teams in Division 5 can still get promoted each month and get into the Premiership by the end of April, leaving them in with a chance of the trophy.

 

This is good news for the likes of Gary Luckman (858 points), Ruth Lewis (849) and Louise Jessup (827) who could all be in this position at the end of the season.

 

This brings home the importance of the transfer window to all those Managers wanting to succeed in the competition.  Once the real window has closed at the end of January 2009, we shall open our own, taking into account all transfers to that point in time.  Making the right transfers could mean the difference between success and failure – do ensure that you keep an eye on the website and make changes to your team when required.

The Premiership hots up….

As an ardent Ipswich Town fan, I would have to admit that my attentions so far this season have been focused more on the Premiership. This is partly due to the fact that Town seem to be making very little impact and are struggling to get into the play-off places; however, it is also partly due to the fact that the Premiership, in my mind, is a lot more exciting this year than normal.

 

Usually, by this stage, there are several distinct groups of teams – two or three teams vying for the Premiership title, a small band of teams aiming to climb the table from midway to a European place and several Clubs trying to avoid relegation.  

 

It seemed to me that, in previous seasons, the top teams kept winning and the bottom teams kept losing, creating a gulf which lessened the excitement of watching Match of the Day as it was clear who would win and who would lose.

 

However, this season’s Premiership table makes better reading – there are perhaps only three teams in with a shout at the title although, given Arsenal’s win, they may be back in the frame. After all, who would have thought that the top four would all fail to win a match, let alone score a goal? Just five points separate Aston Villa in fifth place and Bolton in ninth.  A further five points below Bolton are Sunderland in eighteenth.

 

Last year, the thought of watching Hull v Middlesbrough would mean that I end up neglecting to watch Match of the Day with a severe lack of interest. However, this Saturday I will be wondering whether Hull will win and possibly go into the top five (possibly sending Middlesbrough into the bottom six) or whether ‘Boro will win and go up from twelfth to seventh.

 

Only a few weeks ago, Spurs were bottom with Newcastle just ahead of them – now they are out of the relegation zone at the expense of Blackburn and Sunderland who seemed clear of trouble.

 

Who knows what next week will bring….??

ITFC – Under-achieving again…

As an avid Ipswich Town fan, I was quietly confident at the start of the season and had hoped for automatic promotion or, failing that, a play-off place.

 

Having looked at the teams in the Championship, I thought that there were a few that would be pushing for promotion come May (Birmingham, Wolves, Reading) and a few more that could be in with a shout for a play-off place (Crystal Palace, Sheffield United, Cardiff).  However, I was certain that we would be included somewhere amongst these teams and would have a good chance of going up.

 

As we are now coming up to Christmas and almost half-way through the season, my confidence in the earlier prediction has now disappeared.

 

Ipswich Town are now in 11^th position, having only won six matches out of the seventeen played.  Although they are only four points away from the play-off places, they are also four points away from Coventry in 18^th place.

 

Although we have had some good wins this season, beating Burnley and Reading amongst others, we have also had some pretty bad results too. The worst of these came on Saturday – a sure-fire win against lowly Doncaster had to come.  After all, they had only won one match at home, scoring only two goals in eight home games and had gone thirteen without a win.

 

However, yet again, Ipswich failed to make an impact and come away without a point. 

 

What do I find noticeable about this season?  When looking at the results and the way in which the matches had been played, there are six matches where we have been ahead and then either let in an equaliser or, even worse, come away with nothing.

 

This has happened too many times already for me to see Ipswich as a potential promotion candidate and I sadly envisage yet another season in the Championship. This is particularly sad when I recall that, only seven years ago, we finished fifth behind Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Leeds in the Premiership.

 

Come on Ipswich – it is time to show more fight and more desire, put games away beyond doubt and come away with three points – unless this happens soon, another Championship season beckons….

‘Le plus ca change le plus ca la même chose’

Mike Carabine

All the Arsenal fans amongst you will immediately recognise the 19^th Century French proverb, the first documented usage of which was in a work by the great Alfonse Karr. More familiar to the rest of us is the translated version in George Bernard Shaw’s “Revolutionist’s Handbook” in 1903, “the more things change, the more they stay the same”.

 

 

 

When I wrote my last blog on 1^st September, the sun was shining, I wasn’t the co-owner of several High Street banks and West Ham United were bumbling along under the tutelage of Alan Curbishley. Looking back some of my comments were strangely prescient if you consider subsequent events;

 

·         3^rd September – AC decides he has been undermined by the Director of Football and quits.

 

·         12^th September – XL, our shirt sponsors, go into administration. Cue much embarrassment as we have to play firstly with naff patches on the front of our shirts and then duplicate shirt numbers. It emerges that Bjorgulfer Gudmundsson has taken over the bank debt personally before the XL Group goes under.

 

·         7^th October – Landski Bank, owned by BG, goes into administration too.

 

At least the way in which we went about securing a new manager gave the impression that we knew what we were doing, with short listing and interviewing taking place swiftly and with a minimum of fuss (at least compared to Our Friends in the North East!). The fans favourite would have been Slaven Bilic but he couldn’t be persuaded to forsake Croatia (or wasn’t considered depending on who you believe). So we end up with Gianfranco Zola as boss, a fine footballer who played in a style West Ham fans appreciated, but with little practical experience of managing and even worse a Chelsea legend!

 

A reasonable start has transformed into a terrible current run and a match against one of our bogey sides, Everton, was not what the doctor ordered. Last December I headed to a freezing Upton Park and watched us throw away an early lead in a Carling Cup quarter-final, with Yakubu profiting from a mix up between Danny Gabbidon and Rob Green to score the winner with a couple of minutes to go. On Saturday I was heading back to the pub after playing in a 2-0 defeat but at least cheered by the news that the Irons were ahead. As we hit the outskirts of Chelmsford, 5Live flashed over to the Boleyn Ground and my worst fears were realised 1-1. When two minutes later they went back my heart sank, 1-2. When a further goal was announced almost immediately after I made the fatal mistake of thinking we had equalised – oops!

 

The last time we kept a clean sheet was back in February, the worst run ever by a Premier league side. Rumours abound that the Club is to be sold, but who will buy with a possible £30m + payout to Sheffield United hanging over us?  

 

Still things could be worse I suppose, Alan Curbishley could have been successful in his rumoured pursuit of Joey Barton at the end of last season!

Freedom of Portsmouth? Freedom of Tottenham more like!

We all learned recently that a week is a long time and much can happen from the Banking crisis but the last week has raced by. Late last Saturday there I was checking out team news on the BBC website and not really wanting to go to the Bolton game on the Sunday. I spot a story on the homepage about 1,700 runners being stranded at Honister Slate Mine near Keswick and telephone my parents to let them know, them being Keswickians and all that,  but they think I am joking so we put on our respective televisions to see if its on and then Mother says “Ramos has been sacked”. I’m then thinking she’s winding me up only to put on Sky Sports News and find out she is correct and that Harry Redknapp might be on his way. 10 minutes later he is on the telephone saying “I’m signing in the morning” and as they say the rest is history.

 

Poor Ramos? Well yes and no. He was given no more time that Jol to sort it out but like the end of Jol’s reign I – like many other Spurs fans – could not see where the next point was coming from and with 8 games played, 2 points, 7 more games against the top four so assume no points there, that left 23 games from which to raise the 38 points needed to reach the supposed safety margin total.   As a consequence we set out for White Hart Lane with renewed enthusiasm won the game though Bolton were poor and on Wednesday – courtesy of Bank of Ireland – Duncan and I saw the 4 – 4 great escape and I’ve just watched on http://livefooty.doctor-serv.com the Liverpool game and another Lazarus like comeback. Thank god Sid Waddell does not commentate on Spurs games he would suffer a cardiac arrest.

 

So Spurs may be back, the jokes will subside to some other team (I hope) and Harry will make us the world beaters that Juande was supposed to as Martin was before. Probably not. Clearly Harry’s man motivation skills are second to none and players that could not put one foot in front of the other can now compete for 94 minutes and not know when they are beaten. What does this say about their desire and discipline? Sadly not a great deal but it does show how important leadership on the pitch is. On Wednesday “Jol like” substitutions got Arsenal into trouble and lost them an important 2 points and today Keane’s withdrawal seemed to act as a pick me up for the Spurs team.

 

Robbie has not had the best of it so far at Anfield but his play today was good and reminded of his time at Spurs. For Keane we should now read Modric as he has shown this week that he may be able to take over that mantle in time. These days there are nearly as many subs on the bench as players on the pitch and you can use 3 so they do. Is it really necessary? Years ago we only had 1 sub and he was not slavishly used and certainly the strikers did not always get pulled from the action. A good striker will score with his first kick or his last – depending upon when the chance comes – but all too often the chance falls for someone else as he has come off to get a clap from the crowd? If Lineker had come off every game his goal tally would have been far lighter but these days it is accepted and I think Managers and Coaches should think that one through.

 

This week Spurs also announced the new 60,000 seat stadium. If it gets built fantastic because the atmosphere in the stadium would be worth 2 goals. Having been to The Emirates Stadium this week and seen the Arsenal fans up for the game I can tell you the atmosphere was electric and probably a bit intimidating for the Spurs players.  What’s more the view wherever you sit was excellent and it is certainly on a par with Wembley Stadium. If Spurs can get this built and adequately financed then it might make them the big club they crave to be and Harry suggests. Yes we have a great fan base but we only have a 36,400 capacity; about 2,000 more than West Ham who from Harry’s comments may not be as big a club. I’m sure they’ll let him know all about that when we play them next time and he might want to have a chat with Paul Ince about the reception he might now receive.

 

Until then he has a big job on to look at all the recent signings and decide what squad changes he needs to make. I wish him and our Chairman good luck with this as Harry is good at spending the transfer budget – as Portsmouth and West Ham might tell you – and our Daniel is going to have his wits about him come January that’s for sure.

 

Until then keep up the good work and Come On You Spurs!   

 

 

Where does the next point come from?

I’m depressed. No I seriously am. I’ve said for ages “there are no easy games in the Premier League” only to find that there is at the present time – Tottenham and Newcastle. After the euphoria of our trophy last season it has gone from bad to worse and I reckon if you plotted a table from March to now we would be points adrift with Derby. No wonder Robbie Keane was so quick out of the door! How we miss him and Malbranque.

 

Hull City at home next week and a possible exit from the UEFA cup on Thursday. The next 7 days are crucial for everyone at the club that’s for sure. Having seen the Wigan match – if you could call it that – I would ask “what happened to the entertainment factor?” I was pleased when we signed David Bentley but he looks a shadow of the player he can be and at the present time if his life depended upon hitting a great corner or free kick the funeral would have been sometime last week.

 

All sports are confidence based and we surely cannot be as bad as we are playing at the moment. But you have to see a spark of something to change what is happening. We seem to be making strange decisions regarding selection and substitutions and you surely cannot accommodate everyone in the hope that it all comes right. For example, Modric signs for a lot of money looks good in Euros, reasonable in pre season but sat on the bench yesterday. Gunter does not play the first two games, appears against Chelsea does well for 70 minutes is subbed and sits back on the bench again. Corluka plays right back, not so good, plays centre back against Wigan looks solid but then goes back to right back. Zokora has been one of our best in midfield this season but has played 3 games at right back and then gets subbed yesterday when playing well.

 

Decide on your best team and stick to it should be the answer, the problem appears to be “we haven’t got a clue which team that is!” If you went back to basics you’d play 4-4-2, with a settled centre back partnership, committed wingers, a ball winner, some one creative and two up front. You’d play them all in the positions they know and understand so in my book it has to be;

 

Gomez, Gunter, Corluka, Woodgate (Cptn), Bale, Bentley, Modric, Zokora, Lennon, Pavlyuchenko and Bent.

 

I’m missing King because he cannot play all the games and as such we need to get a settled side and Jenas because for all his box to box running  I’m interested what he does with the ball and I’ve never been convinced that’s a great deal. I would have them both on the bench along with Huddlestone, Frazer Campbell, O’Hara and Giovanni and Hutton would replace Gunter when his fitness is complete.  We also need a leader on the pitch so give the armband to Woody.

 

And Ramos and Poyet? You have to stick with them at the present time. No doubt the suggestion is to spend big in January but as Mike Ashley’s statement showed a number of clubs have plenty of debt and Spurs may well be one of them. Changing Manager once more will not be the answer but if the players at the Club are not good enough a certain Daniel Commolli must take his fair share of the responsibility for that. I doubt he will see out the season.

 

No team is ever too good to get relegated. It’s down to the Spurs squad to fight for every ball, win every tackle and header and get the fans back on side. Have they the talent, I think so – but have they the desire and commitment – not on performances so far.  So COME ON YOU SPURS.

There’s trouble in Toon….

It now appears that people power has scored a major victory on Tyneside, but the battering that the Newcastle faithful fans have taken over the last few weeks will surely continue to reverberate around St James Park long after owner Mike Ashley finds a buyer for the club and finally moves back to London after a disastrous few months at the helm.

The uncomfortable back room shenanigans, coupled with the numerous and vociferous protests in the week, has undoubtedly affected the players on the pitch, (a worrying trend given that the side were hardly full of world beaters), and the recent defeats to Hull and West Ham are clear evidence that the situation needs to be resolved as soon as possible, should the club harbour any thoughts of a top half finish. Amongst all this off the field commotion, a certain amount of empathy must be given to new signings Coloccini, Gutierrez and Xisco (a £5.75 million signing from Deportivo on deadline day) all of whom surely feel that they have been dropped into a war-zone, or at the very best a circus. Xisco, whose signing was undoubtedly the brainchild of the so called “Cockney Mafia”, will clearly be a target for the fans’ fury should his performances fail to deliver given that his move was the final straw that saw Keegan leave.

Yet, given all of the detrimental press and publicity surrounding the resignation of Keegan, the delicious irony of the whole situation is that Keegan could well come back to the club under the new ownership who will surely recognise, as Ashley clearly hasn’t, the enormous stature of the man known as The Messiah.

With so little outside interest in the Newcastle job, which has become something of a poisoned chalice in the eyes of the LMA, the only likely scenario seems to be the return of Keegan to the helm in a more authoritarian role, possibly using the financial clout of a certain Bill Gates…..dreamboat!!

A great performance….but not many saw it!

In my opinion, the England football team gave a great performance on Wednesday night, their best match for a very long time.  Remembering the fact that Croatia had never lost a home fixture since their independence (35 games ago), and that we played so poorly against them (home and away) in the European Championship qualifiers, this makes the result even better than at first glance.

 

It was one of those matches where everyone seemed to be playing to a high level – Heskey held the ball up well, Rooney was back to his best (having previously been criticised for only scoring two international goals since Euro 2004) and Theo Walcott showed that he has got what it takes to be an England striker, after being introduced on to the international scene too soon during the last World Cup – I just hope that our Nation’s hopes aren’t put onto his shoulders at such an early stage in his career.

 

All four goals showed that we do have the necessary skills and abilities when required and there was some great link-up play between the attacking players.  The best moment of the match for me was Lampard’s goal (prior to realising it had been disallowed) – it was great to see such flowing, one-touch football from someone other than the usual continental/South American teams. After some thought, I now favour Fat Frank to Stevie Gerrard…..for the time being at least.

 

It was only a pity that we scraped a nervy win against Andorra a matter of days before an altogether improved match. Presumably, we rose to the occasion when necessary and did not need to do this against such a weaker team.

 

Whilst writing this blog I should point out that I, unfortunately, only managed to see the second half of the match, as it took me about an hour to get find a local pub that has Setanta!  It is an appalling situation when, due to the greed of broadcasting companies, the majority of the nation are unable to watch the match or even get half an hour of highlights – surely international matches (at the very least) should be shown live on terrestrial TV.

How can it be that less than 3 million people saw our best game for years???!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Chance of a Lifetime

Mike Carabine

At the March committee meeting the club I have played for over 25 years, Beacon Hill Rovers, decided to nominate ourselves for the County Charter Standard Club of the Year for Essex more in hope than expectation.

 

The Scheme looks at both the playing and non-playing aspects of a club, so as well as coaching it covers child protection, administration, disciplinary and development. The Scheme is open to ALL clubs below league level, so locally we were potentially up against Braintree Town, Witham Town, Chelmsford City and the like. So imagine our delight when in June we were invited to the Waterfront to collect the County award.

 

Part of the award offered three lucky Under-10’s the chance of a lifetime to carry out one of the pre-match flags before the crucial England Under-21 qualifier against Portugal on Friday 5^th September. Imagine my pride therefore when my son was one of the three chosen to carry out this duty. As soon as he found out, he phoned everyone he knew to tell them – his excitement turned up to 11.

On the day the Essex FA had laid on a coach for all the boys and accompanying adults, arriving at Wembley in plenty of time before their duties were due to start. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of going to the new stadium, I must recommend it. As you approach by road it looks a fantastic sight, the Arch more than making up for the loss of the Twin Towers. After leaving the boys to get their kit sorted, have a tour of the stadium, eat and then have a practice of what they would be doing later, the adults were treated to a pleasant meal at the Wembley Plaza Hotel, again courtesy of the Essex FA.

Upon our entry into the stadium we were shown to our seats above the corner flag. What struck me was, despite its size, the arena seems quite small, an effect of the extended roof constructions most of the way round. The consequence of this is that you feel closer to the action than you really are.

7.35pm: As the teams take to the pitch, the first flag out of the tunnel is a blue “Respect” banner, supporting the new FA campaign to encourage players, coaches and spectators not to harangue and abuse match officials. Immediately we spot that the three bearers our end are the members of our club – little old Beacon Hill; on the pitch; at Wembley! They carry out their duties without falling over or kicking Ricardo Vaz Te and are brought back to sit with us for the game.

To be honest for much of the first half the boys would have been better off still under the stands, as the match was pretty dire. Considering Portugal needed to win to top the Group, they made no real effort to get forward. England played with Gaby Agbonlahor up front on his own supported by a midfield five. For this to work effectively you either have to get it in to the frontman’s feet and play off him or get the two wide men playing in more advanced positions and playing almost as wingers. For most of the first 45 minutes we managed to do neither very well, but just before half-time a soft penalty was awarded to England, which James Milner tucked away.

My only cause for a moan during the whole day came at the half-time interval. The cost of refreshments at Wembley has been well publicised, so I was prepared for the extortionate prices. However what did come as a shock was the speed of service and the fact that when we did finally get to the front of the queue half the menu was off! All this on a crowd of just over 27,000 – so what must it be like on Cup Final day?!!

The second half saw a better performance and when Mark Noble slid a great through ball to Mr A, who then finished casually, it was game over. Portugal eventually mustered a couple of efforts, which Joe Hart coped with easily, leaving England 2-0 winners to finish top of the Group. In a strange twist, this does not guarantee a place in the finals as there is a two-legged play-off before that.

I must commend the FA with regard to ticket pricing for this game, with it being only £10 for adults and a fiver for children. Given that most of the England side were regular performers in the Premier League, and the importance of the match, I thought that was good value and would consider going again in the future. Even better for me, the England side selected included players from a number of clubs not just the three or four that dominate the main England team.    

On the way back on the coach we had a bunch of tired but elated children, who were soon fast asleep. Although their enjoyment of the whole experience was clearly immense, I don’t think that at that age they can appreciate what an honour it was for them and how lucky they were to get the opportunity. Hopefully in years to come, when they look back and remember 5^th September 2008 they will.