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!  

We are Tottenham: Super Tottenham

Last year it was joy, this year a tinge of sadness – but we did take Manchester United to penalties and kept a clean sheet over 120 minutes. True we rode our luck on occasions but then did their keeper not get the man of the match award? Chances were few but it was an enjoyable game to watch and one that was there to be won once we got our teeth into it.

As I’ve said before supporting Tottenham Hotspur is a rollercoaster ride and it is days like yesterday that make you scratch you head. If we played like that every week we would be in the upper reaches of the table and we would maybe not be desperate for Wilson Palacios to provide the tackles and midfield steel that we’ve been lacking. In our run up to last years final we tackled like tigers to beat Arsenal and approached Chelsea with similar vigour. Having won it we approached match after match as cocky world beaters and got shown the error of our ways week after week. Let’s hope this year we apply the effort and attitude we showed yesterday for the rest of the season to help get us out of trouble and up that Premier League table!

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.

Supporting your team – it’s a tough job!

It’s tough being a supporter of Tottenham Hotspur. Last year I travelled to the Stadium of Light to see a lacklustre performance and last minute defeat and we then lost our first home game to Everton – the top four a million miles away. This year we’ve repeated that feat but thankfully I invested nothing in tickets! Both seasons have an air of predictability about them. Last year we had paid far too much money for a striker no one particularly wanted and then substituted Berbatov for him in the first game provoking a strop as he left the field. Not a surprise, our midfield had failed to produce anything for Berba or Keane so was it their fault they had not scored? And this summed up our Premier League season, particularly after the Carling Cup victory where instead of pushing on our form deteriorated leaving them alienated up the pitch and forced to retreat deep to find the ball.

 

At the seasons end we sign Modric and Dos Santos and though this adds little steel to the defensive part of our midfield game it should produce the service our strikers need and certainly so after the signing of David Bentley. However, then the strikers issue rears up again. Keane is approached by Liverpool, as witnessed by their “charity payment” when signing the player and Berba wants away to Manchester United. Having let Defoe leave Bent remains our only option and an average one at that.

 

This is the problem that faces every club wishing to break into the top 4 and win a Champions League spot. The team has to improve year on year. But to do so it has to hold onto its best players and add quality around them. I have no doubt that Spurs have added quality in the signing of Gomes and the aforementioned midfielders but after the loss of Keane and surely now Berbatov are we any further forward or effectively a team of equivalent strength but with weaknesses in different areas of the field.

 

The first two games have shown up our continued inability to make tackles in the midfield leaving our back four to make the first effort at regaining possession. To succeed in the Premier League you cannot give teams this amount of room yet it is a lesson we appear not to learn. The injury to Alan Hutton has seen Zokora playing at right back despite him being a defensive midfielder and whilst he only presses rather than tackles he must be better in this position? I had a feeling that Modric would replace Jenas as I could not see how both could be accommodated yet Jenas was stepped up to captain for the season opener. I know we were light that day with captain options but surely Woodgate was a better option as Jenas cannot organise himself let alone his colleagues!

 

With Keane and Berbatov up front and the signings we had made we were only a defensive midfielder away from “no excuses” over a top 4 spot. We still need that player. When I talked with fellow supporters at the end of last season we figured signing Bentley and Gareth Barry would add to Modric and Malbranque thinking no chance of signing either. Would Barry come – probably not and he is cup tied for Europe. But do we need him for the UEFA games where space is easier to find? It is in the Premier League where our lack of commitment finds us undone and the Liverpool saga looks over and he does need a new challenge. A cheeky bid maybe?

 

And what of Berba? Unfortunately from a business perspective he needs to be sold, as we cannot guarantee what may happen to his value post 1 September. Brian Clough would put him in the reserves but that was then. I expected him rather than Keane leaving the club and was hopeful that he might give it to Christmas to see if we were improving or not before putting in the transfer request. But one window to the next is a long time these days and Berba wants to play in the Champions League once more. Who can blame him. And let’s be fair we’ve seen it all before at White Hart Lane with Klinsman coming and going.  If he leaves good luck to him; thanks for the quality and excitement he brought to White Hart Lane – if he doesn’t knuckle down and help get the team out of jail – that’s all any Spurs fan would ask.