The Rumourwhore™

MOVED!

2007-05-03T22:03:00.003+01:00

http://www.dearmrlevy.com

http://www.rumourwhores.com

~Spooky

random blog entry

2007-05-02T22:53:00.000+01:00

Hola. Once more, not been online long enough to blog in the last week. Everyday mundane stuff like coke and hookers have got in the way. We won at Boro. Three points. Three games left, two at home. Have to win all three, which could see us finish 5th. Some of that thank you very much. And maybe next season we can look at winning consistently at away from home and make sure we only lose to one or two at home (preferably none, but I'm sure Man Utd will rape us like we've been hit with Rohypnol).

Oh, and my usual request for Robbo to lose a few pounds and for Jol to spend some $$$ on a left-back and centre-back should get another mention. Should mention the volley by Berbatov. If he's sold in the summer, I'll cry like a bitch.

This:

Is apparently the new Spurs shirt. Compared to this season, there isn't that much of a change to warrant any true 125th anniversary hype. Though compared to some other 2008 replicas, I think ours is relatively snazzy in comparison.

Special mention to Chelsea. HA! Justice tbh. Jose has acted the cunt in recent days with some of the utter crap he's spouted (the class comment relating to Ronaldo and his family lacked any form of class). But then class isn't something you associate with Chelsea. Not historically. The only downside of all this is that we might have to put up with Liverpool 'winning it 6 times'.

Need to sleep now.

~Spooky

Its all gone Donkey Kong!

2007-04-29T12:41:00.000+01:00

Football, turns you inside out more than anything on this planet (excluding women). Just ask any Chelsea fan.

First I had the usual pre-game tension...except bigger than usual...chain-smoking, hitting the vodka...hard.

Everton score...nice...can't really believe my prediction of an Everton win is actually going to happen...calm down, long way to go.

Bolton score...hmm, never mind, long way to go, we've been here before...

We score - Elation. C'mon now.

We score again - FKN AVE IT...We can do this...c'mon now Everton, hang on

Half-time : Level on points, we're going to win the League

5 mins later, fk me, Everton are 2-0 up...it's coming home alright.

5 mins later, fk you Davies, fk you Essien...nah, not a prob, we've still got plenty of time to nick our recent trademark late winner

7 minutes later, bolloxs, United are coming back...

7 minutes later, you fkn idiot Neville...realisation is starting to dawn...

10 mins from the end and United take the lead...fk, fk, fk...we don't look like we're going to break Bolton down here...

Final whistle at the Bridge = Abject. Destroyed. TV off, Internet off. Vodka hammered.

~Chopper

A Great Day

~Spooky

First blood to Jose

2007-04-25T22:40:00.000+01:00

If Chelsea win the quadruple, no doubt he will request all four trophies to be melted down and then sculptured perfectly into a statue of his likeness, which he will then demand to have placed in his bedroom, where each night he can gently kiss his metallic lifeless doppelganger, whispering to it and caressing its cold hard exterior whilst basking in the fact that he truly is the omnipotent king of the universe.

~Spooky

Just shut the fuck up

2007-04-24T22:46:00.000+01:00

The two sanctimonious smug cunts on ITV are the worst. In addition they have David Pleat who, cleverly tricks you into inviting his voice into your living room (Good evening everybody) as you reach for your control, not fully understanding why you are turning the volume up and not switching over.

Slowly but surely, Pleat inflicts the listening viewers to a slow death, brain hemorrhage the result as they struggle to keep up with the creation of new ungrammatical sentences and mis-pronounced names.

I get confused with the two ITV lead commentators. I know one of the two loves Man Utd like a brother loves his sister in Burnley. What is obvious is that they are both quite obviously skilled, as its a difficult and rare talent to be able to describe the action on the pitch whilst choking on the metaphorical girth of the English team playing. It's not even commentary. Its like one prolonged ear bleeding induced sonnet, felched from Satan's arse.

ITV = horrible smug nonsense. May as well have Robbie Earl and his cotton bud on screen for 90 minutes screaming "WE ARE SO HAPPY TO HAVE A GAME OF FOOTBALL ON THIS CROCK OF SHIT CHANNEL".

BBC are also quite poor, but not to the extent of ITV. Seems Motty has gone the way of Junior Soprano. Verbally fidgeting high pitch wailing sounds and self-correcting mumbling. Repeating himself, getting players names wrong, asking daft questions which means having to listen to The Lawro state 'I told you so' countless times in 90 minutes. Its all gone pear-shaped at the Beeb.

Jon Pearce, we get it chief. You have eyes. And you can see. Praise the lord! We don't need to fucking hear you describe everything....every single incident....with profound effect and detail. We get it. Player A passed the ball to Player B. It's not fucking rocket science. They didn't just split the atom. Get a grip man. This isn't Capital Gold and there are no kung-fu kicks into the stands. Your glory days are over.

We also now have a woman commentating on Match of the Day. What next? Monkey Tennis World Cup?

And let's not forget our friends at Sky Sports. Andy Gray, the proverbial football slut of digital TV. One week he's tickling the balls of Manchester United. The next, blowing cum bubbles with Chelsea. He's had Arsenal too. And snogged Liverpool a few times. Shouldn't be surprising as he does like playing with knobs. Yes Andy, hindsight and several thousand pounds worth of playback freeze frame technology makes you the Oracle. Which, I'm guessing, makes Martin Tyler, Neo.

And there are others. If his heart stops pumping adrenalin it will be the day Jaime Redknapp dies.

Richard Keys, not a commentator, but worth a mention as it appears he has waxed his hands and arms. Be proud of your ape heritage! Fuck it.......its too late. You manics! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!

~Spooky

Half-time at White Hart Lane

2007-04-24T17:04:00.000+01:00

Credit to a member of the COYS forum (I'll add his name once I have it). Good work fella.

Arsenal dressing room:

Wenger - "Right listen closely this is what we will do. Tottenham will try and defend their lead and hang on for one nil, [suppressing a laugh] they try this every year. Their CBs will camp out on the edge of their penalty area, they already started this behaviour as soon as they scored. We now have 3 in central midfield versus their two so Diaby and Gilberto, push on and occupy Jenas and Zokora. That combined with their defence dropping too deep will allow Fabregas the freedom of the pitch and allow him to run the midfield. Eboue and Clichy, you two can push on and occupy their wide midfielders, Fabregas will always find you when he has time on the ball. Lennon is no threat on the left and has been told not to leave Rocha unprotected anyway. Tainio will leave his position on the right to try and help out in the centre once they realise they are overrun. Our CBs can push right up as neither Berbatov or Keane are quicker than Toure. And remember, you are all fitter than them and they will tire."

Arsenal Players - "Yes boss."

Tottenham dressing room:

Jeans - "Cracking goal Robbie."
Keane - "Thanks mate."
Lennon - "Who's up for clubbing tonight?."
Jenas - "I'm in."
Jol - "Hey, settle down lads. Listen to me. We can win this 1-0."
Berbatov - "But we never keep a clean sheet, surely we must look for the second goal?"
Jol - "Don't worry, I know what I am doing. We can still score a second from a set piece."
Berbatov - "But we never score goals from set pieces and we already got lucky from one once today. We don't even practise them."
Jol - "Don't worry Berbatov, I know what I am doing. Now, Lennon, you're having a great game. Eboue hasn't had a run at Rocha once yet. Keep doing whatever it is you're doing out there on the left."
Berbatov - "But he hasn't done anything? Not one dribble, not one shot, not one cross. He should play on the right."
Jol - "Don't worry Berbatov, I know what I am doing. Now, Jenas and Zokora, great game, you dominated the midfield first half."
Zokora - "But they brought Fabregas on, they have an extra man, we need help."
Jol - "Don't worry, Tainio will come inside and help out, and Robbie will try and stop the ball getting to Fabregas."
Berbatov - "That plan didn't work in the two cup games against them did it?"
Jol - "Don't worry, I know what I am doing. Anything to add Chris?"
Hughton - "Yeah, I've drawn a really nice picture of you boss."
Jol - "That is great work little man".

from COYS

~Spooky

18 and still counting

2007-04-23T20:33:00.000+01:00

If you left White Hart Lane in the 90th minute and missed the Jenas goal, don't fret. I'm sure Spurs will be releasing the Special Edition DVD of the game, including the directors cut ending where Jenas adds another goal in the 97th minute (the directors cut ending is included in narrative format only and accompanied with black and white illustrations of the alternative fictional finale. DVD extras also include a construction of what the open-top bus parade would have looked like).

It was a poor second half performance. Post-match hype from Robbie Keane (we proved this that and the other - read tonights Standard) does not hide the fact that we appeared to do nothing but sit back and invite Arsenal to attack in the second forty-five. Sorry Robbie, but we were plain lucky to get a point. It wasn't so much painful but typical to witness. Same old, same old. Shame really as the first 45 minutes was not too bad. 1-0 to the good and creating chances, though Arsenal still looked dangerous.

Jol's team talk at half-time. I wish I was a fly on the wall. "Go out there, and play shit" must have been the war cry from the big man. "Play shit? I do that every week, guv", responds the shy Jenas.

No chance however this match can be used as a gauge to display the differences between the two clubs. We all know they have better quality overall and play to a system that's been in the making for a decade. Head-start is an understatement. At the end of last season, I said Spurs would compete for 4th spot. An Arsenal fan said no chance, and that the blip that allowed us to sit pretty in 4th for 4 months would never happen again because Arsenal would shift up a couple of levels.

Season 2008?

Well, Arsenal, in comparison to their 'standards' and what their fans expect, have been relatively average. Sure, the fancy quick passing football is still there. The brilliant young players also. But if you believe their fans, injuries have meant top 2 or 3 has been out of their reach. When in reality, they are simply not as good as they were. But still good enough to have a second successive average season (in the Prem) but still finish 4th. And still in a healthy position to become better and (ouch) as good as previous years. Credit to Wenger. Again I hear that next year, they wont have another blip.

I'm going to be a little bit dramatic here (hold onto your hats).

Whether it be Spurs or whoever, someone other than the current top four HAS to finish in the top four next season. Obviously, I'm hoping (expecting) that Arsenal are once more the weakest and thus the most catchable. And I'm looking at Spurs at claiming that spot.

Why?

Because we have no other choice.

We had a poor start and a poor Christmas. We've had plenty of decent Cup runs. Players (like Zokora and Berbatov) are settling into Prem life. Jol (if he couldn't before he can now) can see what HAS to be done during the summer. Both in player selection (and transfers) and his own personal tactical ploys - especially away from home.

4th spot has to go to Tottenham next season. The players have to genuinely believe it. I'm not asking for much, am I?

Well, if we don't make it then the likes of Berbatov will dancing a jig of joy celebrating another goal for Man Utd by the 2009 season.

I'm being a little broad (with my dramatics). Spurs have improved this season in some areas but (as previous blogs etc state and if you've watched us this season) we will have ongoing issues to resolve (the left side, set pieces, choking against the big clubs in big games). And breeding winners means having to win in the first place. Catch 22. But again, if you compare us against the top 4 today and then look back 4 or 5 years, there has been improvement. The final gulf is always going to be a bitch. Especially with players nowadays looking to jump ship to pick up their silverware the easy (and only) way.

But when do you (as a fan) stop saying 'we have to do this' in order to compete for the top 4? When do you come to the conclusion that the gulf is impossible to get across? Well, for all you West Ham fan's, there's no fucking way I'm going give up. Football, for 95% of all clubs is about dreams. Mine are in black and white and in the 60's. I want to fucking upgrade to HDTV and this century.

As I said, 'broad'. See next season, Arsenal might hit big time form again and suddenly become a player in the race for the title. If that happens then hoping Man Utd, Chelsea or Liverpool drop a level is like asking for Robbo to save a shot from 30 yards.

And the 'best' players will always sign for the 'big' clubs. But you don't need to spunk money on the Ballacks and Shevs of this world. Hate to say it, but look at the Goons. Cheap buys = world class players. It's a big ask isn't it, competing against Romans cash, Wengers know-how, Liverpool's history and Man Utd's franchise.

Which means 5th may will be the only option, unless the 'self belief' carries itself off with a nice little miracle. 5th, wouldn't complain, would you? But it would then mean greater emphasis on winning the League Cup or FA Cup or hopefully the UEFA Cup.

(though 5th would be nice this season too).

Giving up, and just admitting we will never catch anyone would mean the club wouldn't bother trying. All you can do is hope. And pray. And wait. One thing can change everything. Just ask Man Utd fans and Arsenal fans.

There's no delusions of grandeur here. I'm not stating we deserve 4th spot. I'm not stating we are a big club (sorry 'ammers fans). What I'm saying is, its about fucking time the players shut the fuck up about 'we're nearly there' so that me and other yids can also shut the fuck up with our what-has-to-be-done and what-jol-needs-to-do lists.

TO DARE IS TO DO............well fucking do it then if you want the glory.

Two seasons on the trot now, and both have been progressive rather than transitional. Season three has to have a new arc, otherwise the network might can it.

~Spooky

Getting it right

2007-04-20T10:27:00.000+01:00

Its been a tough week or so. That's personally, hence lack of blog entries. Was aiming to comment on several TopSpurs articles, but found myself lacking any kind of time. Made worse is the fact that my crock of shit pc is about die on me. Also, the weather means more time spent in beer gardens taking snapshots of thighs and upskirts. So, what's been happening in the world of Spurs?

Wigan away. 3-3. I was at a B-B-Q at the time, reaching into my pocket every so often to pull out (ooh matron) my mobile, laughing at the text goal alerts. Heskey FFS. This game more or less displays our lack of depth when we lost the odd defender. Need to sort this out in a big way come the summer. This summer, we may have smacked in the goals at one end, but we continue to leak them the other way. Partly due to gravity-defying Robinson who somehow manages to remove his feet from the ground below. To no avail of course. Just how many more times will he get beat from distance? Very poor season from Robbo. Needs some comp. Needs a prolonged 'rest' on the bench. Doubt Jol will drop him though.

With Chelsea and Utd getting into the Cup Final, it means 7th is enough for the UEFA Cup - and 8th (if we finish there) will take us into the Inter-Toto. Please. Stop laughing now. But Europe is Europe, and with Berbatov's 'war cry' - its a subtle hint that every season has to produce progression and anything below the standard of the previous isn't good enough. Simply put, if we fail next season - the likes of Berbs and Lennon will move on. Fact of life these days. Take Carrick as the ultimate example, using us a stepping-stone to get a move to Utd. And you can't really blame him. A footballers life is a short one, and in this modern age if you are not one of the current big 4 then you are unlikely to pick up silverware. It's that harsh.

I probably will return to the TopSpurs articles, as they serve well as examples of the other type of Spurs fans (the one's that are nothing like me). So, I wont linger too much on a season review just yet.

Tomorrow, its the North London Derby. Robbie Keane is injured. Which means Defoe upfront with Berbs. If there was a moment in time that the lickle man had a chance to prove himself, this is it. I think we wont be seeing him in a Lilywhite shirt next season. And tbh, he needs to move on to re-ignite his career. Not that Spurs have stopped him progressing, but more the case that Defoe can't really progress that much due to lack of a footballing brain. Maybe someone else, manager and club, can get something extra out of him. Our defence is still not a full strength, so if we do our Keystone cops routine and Arsenal don't (in front of goal) then it's not going to be an enjoyable afternoon.

On the other hand, we have to win. Its been too long, and with this game having less pressure than previous encounters with the scum this season, we might actually avoid choking. I've said this about 50 times this season.....Spurs (the players) owe us (the fans) something to sing about. I've enjoyed this year and apart from the 2-1 v Chelsea game, I personally need something more to gloat about. Arsenal are always going to be a bunch of c*nts to play against. And even without Henry, they can produce the goods. Yes, they are not that good on recent form and are in no way formidable. However, they have the ability to ooze confidence and arrogance - which we lack.

So, once more - I ask.....'Lets be 'aving you'. 12:45 kick-off, which means most of the drinking will be done after the game. Let's hope its naked dancing on the bar rather than drowning my sorrows under it.

~Spooky

Wigan Away

2007-04-15T10:50:00.000+01:00

Falling in short in Europe means we have to aim as high as possible in the Prem, to make sure we are back in the UEFA Cup next season. Arsenal (gulp) next Saturday. But I'll come to that later in the week. Today, Wigan. Which is a game I'm likely to miss due to girlfriend commitments (BBQ in deepest Essex). I'll have to 'watch' my Spurs Mobile text messages. Having said that, the host of the BBQ has a massive 50 inch tv, HD Sky and Sky Sports. He's a West Ham fan, so he might put the footie on just so he can laugh at me if we lose. Though I'll be sure to point out their league position countless times (but only after I've eaten).

So, Wigan. Must win. Simple as that. Need it to keep in touch with Pompey, Reading and Everton. Even Bolton. And, in the cruelest of fates, we need Chelsea to do over Rovers today to make 7th spot UEFA Cup qualification.

I'll leave it at that for now. If you have a moment, read this woefully idiotic 'article':

http://www.topspurs.com/newsnow/thfccol210407.htm

I will get a response together in the next couple of days. I hate Spurs fans.

~Spooky

Spurs Suicide Squad

2007-04-12T22:38:00.000+01:00

The dream is over. But credit all round to Jol and the players for the Cup run. In the end we came up short, and once more we left feeling a little frustrated with the old 'shooting ones self in the foot' that we do pretty well. If Simon Cowell was judging us on The Choke Factor, he'd remark:

"Spurs take their fans to the edge, within in touching distance, before stumbling backwards and landing on their bum. As far as choking goes, they gag like champions"

Oh yes, we are consistently good at some things.

I got into the ground (having returned from Boro) one minute into the game. Before I had time to get my singing voice into tune, I found myself rather bewildered that we were down 2-0 in seven minutes, and both goals appearing to be rather simplistic (though Fredi's finish was cool - no idea what Steed was doing).

Who the fuck re-drafted the script? Maybe, its a tad cruel to slate our players. Even with my initial over-confidence, Sevilla showed the type of experience and mentality that we lack. But we know this is a missing ingredient, and sadly wishing and hoping things will come together in 90 minutes doesn't appear to be likely until the team grows a little more and we maybe draft in one or two other players in key positions.

Miserable first half it was. In fact, shocking performance. The exact opposite of what was needed. No warcry. Ledley looked, well not at 80%. Chimbonda and TT uncomfortable. Berbs isolated and Lennon (again) non-effective. It was shambolic. And everyone knew at that point it was over and done with. I mean, come on.....to score 4 goals in 45 minutes against Sevilla? Fantasy football.

And yet, what a difference the second half was in comparison. Some spirit and fight to go with some wonderfully relentless chanting of 'Martin Jol's Blue and White Army'. This wasn't just about tonight, it was pretty much a big thank you to a great season back in Europe (even if it fell short of our dreams of Glasgow).

But still, Sevilla were tough to break down, and once more aided by some abysmal referring and the textbook playacting, at one point, I sorta gave up jokingly remarking:

"Defoe? He can't even score in the Prem, how the hell is he gonna score against this lot?"

Cue, Defoe goal. 1-2. Then Lennon, the cheek of it, decides to give us hope. But still, and I'm sure most would agree, we lacked the sharpness of previous games (especially in Europe). It still all looked a little too heavy. The final ball not being of the quality to break down the team from La Liga.

And then Lady Luck stuck her two fingers up at us, when she wrapped herself around Dawsons leg to cause him to blast the ball over when it was easier to hit the back of the net. Had that gone in.......blimey. It would have been an incredible final 10 minutes. Berbatov was then guilty of lame shot easily saved. And that was it. Though TT gave us a cheer when he picked up a red card for laying the smackdown on Puerta. Well done that man.

Big time credit to the Sevilla fans who chanted 'Tottenham Tottenham' at the end of the game and both sets of fans applauding each other. Sort of shows up the Spanish riot police for being a bunch of over zealous pigs.

And that was it. Brave, but naive. Giving Sevilla two goals.......that's just suicide. Did Jol get it wrong? Or maybe the penalty decision from the first game has proven to be more decisive in the end. Should we have played patient football from the kick-off, gradually building into high tempo and pace? Perhaps so. Gifting the away goals in the manner we did only elevated the Spaniards aided by the the clown in black (yet another one - where do you find them UEFA?) and the usual dirty tricks. But thankfully, the second half - and the support from the fans - at least restored a little pride. Let's not forget we have been a joy to watch this season in Europe. Chin up lads. We've still got work to do.......

~Spooky

COYS........let's be 'aving you

2007-04-11T22:06:00.000+01:00

I'll be spending the day in Middlesbrough, but should be back in London by 7pm, so shouldn't have a problem getting to the game on time. I will go postal if I'm delayed (so keep an eye on the news for any passenger incidents on the Great Northern Railway).

With UEFA critical of the police in the Rome and Sevilla games its good to see a fair reaction to the troubles from the top dogs. Hopefully our 'boys' off the pitch will behave themselves tomorrow night, and our boys on the pitch dismantle the Spanish team in the same way Utd put Rome to the sword. Talk about decimation. Had me applauding the Mancs. And behold we witnessed........why Carrick opted to commit himself to the them rather than us.

Spurs are capable of that speed and tempo, but what we've lacked in far too many occasions this season is the killer-touch/ruthlessness that the likes of Utd seem to possess nonchalantly. We've already had 2 or 3 big 'turn up and prove it' games this season. All ending in defeat.

Time to stand up? Oh hell yes. As confident as I was last week, it worries me a little that one goal...from them...could kill us off. 4-0, is that too much to ask for? I'll be comfortable at 4-0, so that's what the footballing Gods will hear me request in my prayer tonight.

King is back and in the squad. Apparently, has been fit for a week or two but has been kept under wraps. Much needed, but is this too big an ask for him for his return game?

Stalteri - Injured (knee)
Lee - Injured - out for 3 months
Chimbonda - Apparently 'struggling', but will play (on the right)
Tanio - Probable emergency left-back

So King/Dawson at the back (Rocha cup-tied)

It's simple really. Spurs have to believe. That's it. Oh, and actually make possession count. This football lark, it's plain simply innit?

I do understand that Sevilla might actually turn up and play us off the park, and we might - at no point - be in the game. If that happens, then no one can be blamed and as disappointing as it might be - its a fact that if a superior team turns up and beats you, there's no hindsight analysis that can change the final score.

If we turn up, and play them off the park but lose because we don't bury chances or Robbo bites into a pie before attempting to save a 40 yard shot, resulting in him picking up the ball from the corner of the net (where other pies are residing) - then its that ye olde Spurs tradition of 'nearly/almost/not quite good enough' that you will be hearing beneath our tear-strained faces.

But I'm no Grim Reaper. It's been another splendid season, and I firmly believe that Man/Chel/Liver/Arse are the only clubs in better condition than us. So, it's not that grim is it? We all know how much of a bitch it is nowadays to compete - to genuinely compete - with the top dogs.

Spurs are looking a-ok IMO. Just one or two upgrades for the summer. In the mean time, we have to make do with what we've got. So, here's to:

Lennon re-discovering his form in devastating style
Berbatov, scoring and providing
Keane at his energetic best
King.....at his most commanding and calming

Oh, and WHL.....let's make a little noise tomorrow night, yeah?

~Spooky

Looking back....

2007-04-09T17:27:00.000+01:00

Time to digest all the reports (from fans and media) surrounding the riot police and the general battering our fans got in Sevilla. Everyone seems to be saying the same thing, and having seen some high res footage of the incidents, seems that it was pretty conclusive that the geared up Old Bill got a little too 'say hello to my little friend'. One eye witness account from the day suggests that there was allegedly a steady build up of fan trouble, with Spurs inciting outside the ground. I've not heard anyone else report this, especially the press, so placing that aside (and the fact that every club in Europe probably has an element of idiotic supporters who get a little bit Football Factory on 5 pints) all we have is what happened in the ground.

I was speaking to a friend, who's mate (ironically a Spurs fan) is old bill. When Spurs played Arsenal recently (at the Lane) there was trouble kicking off at Liverpool St station and he was dispatched with Riot Police to 'go sort it out'. This involved, nothing more than hitting anything that moved and looked like a Spurs or Arsenal fan. No arrests. Just some ye olde baton lashings.

"They love it. They even keep score on how many people they hit and compare later on"

Sounds like nothing more than hooligans with a license. Nothing new though, is it? Anyone who's been around longer than 5 minutes could tell you a story or two. They're in riot gear, so why let it go to waste.

Whatever it was that inspired the Sevilla police inside the ground to hit a man out of a wheelchair is probably the same insignificant thing that inspires a football thug to rip out a chair and throw it. That same thing isn't relevant. What is relevant is that the outcome is exactly the same.

Shame (as already stated) that I'm talking about this rather than the disgusting behaviour on the pitch from the ref. I won't slate Sevilla's players for their time wasting/play acting cause we see it all the time. Just as much in this country as La Liga.

Off-field footage of Sevilla v Spurs: http://www.inkiboo.com/seville/

~Spooky

latest on the troubles

2007-04-06T14:47:00.000+01:00

From the official Spurs site:

Club Secretary John Alexander is today calling for answers from the Spanish authorities as to what prompted the disturbing scenes during the match last night.

"Our supporters have been on four trips into Europe before this and have behaved impeccably so something was clearly different in the way they were treated last night to suffer this sort of response," said John this afternoon.

"We really need to get to the bottom of just what the police were trying to do when they entered those segregation lines. We have been distressed to hear about incidents involving our supporters at a time when they were showing no aggression whatsoever and also in respect of our disabled supporters being set upon by the Spanish riot police. We need to understand how we are in a position whereby we have two clearly identifiable Spurs Stewards assaulted by the Spanish police, along with our disability co-ordinator being injured too.

"Both the Club and the local authorities had worked very hard to try and respect what was happening in Seville over the Easter period and arrangements were put in place that the fans appreciated. They had a good time in the town and were mixing quite freely with no signs at all of what was to come," added John, who said fans making contact through the email address seville.report@tottenhamhotspur.com is key to creating an accurate assessment of the incidents.

"It is an important part of us building up a picture of what happened on the night. They were the closest people to it. We had observers from the Embassy, along with five police officers, our own Safety Officer with 22 stewards. We also had a representative from the Football Association.

"All of their information and feedback will be valuable to us in piecing together what happened along with statements from our own supporters."

People back in the UK having travelled home are reporting the same type of concerns. Lack of organisation outside and within the ground - having tickets stating entry to one gate only to be told to enter via another. People walking away from trouble being clubbed, including women and children.

Fact is there was no trouble before the police got heavy handed and there was no trouble after. Seems pretty clear cut to me and everyone else.

Shame all this is distracting everything away from one of the worst ref performances I have seen.

~Spooky

Sevilla 2 Spurs 1

2007-04-05T23:47:00.000+01:00

Disgraceful scenes during the Sevilla v Spurs UEFA Cup Q-F. How fucking hard is it to pronounce Chimbonda? If it isn't bad enough watching Robbie Earl stutter away pitch side with a cotton bud cello-taped to his cheek we also have to listen to David Pleat creating players that don't even exist. Shimbonba? Shimshombo?I mean fuckin 'ell. Can someone at ITV not take him aside for a couple of minutes and explain how to break words down phonetically?

Leaving aside ITV's 'skills' with showcasing football, the match it self was anything but uneventful. Sadly, off the pitch too. Man Utd fans suffered at the hands of over zealous Roma riot police the other night, but at this point in time it's difficult to know exactly what kicked off the trouble this evening. When the camera moved over to the part of the stadium where the Spurs fans where, a pocket of riot police were doing what they do best, smacking people with their batons whilst supporters screamed for some kind of composure. Though there were one or two idiots who looked like they preferred not to turn away but to incite a little.

I wasn't there, obviously, and I'll take it with a pinch of salt what I heard on the tv ('Police officer fell 4 or 5 tiers' -I'm sure they meant 'rows'). I'll also take with a pinch of salt everything else until I hear a majority tell the tale of the evenings events.

What I have heard is that the Tottenham Hotspur stewards who were present had everything under control but the police ignored them and decided that cutting open a 17 year old girls face and beating a man in a wheelchair was the best way to make everyone feel welcome. This then drove one or two Spurs fans towards the police. You know, to have a word or two. Which led to the mayhem.

Seems heavy handed police action is what we (the English) have to put up with because of 20 year old history. 'Hooligans' rang out the chant from the home fans. And like Man Utd found out it seems we still have a stigma that just wont go away.

Why the fuck don't they have several rows covered with nets (like in the Prem) with riot police either side, but have them 'sitting' down rather than getting into the faces of the fans. IMO, its blatant that they are geared up to fight. And hit anything that moves. It's just so unnecessary.

We don't see this in England much, yet twice in two nights we get it on the continent. And sadly, they (the police) will be above and beyond suspicion or criticism that should lead to action from UEFA. Have a go at the cops, might lead to strike action that will lead to no presence at games which means no football match can take place.

Of course, ripping up seats and throwing them doesn't do our name much good. Shame that had to happen, and not a proud moment. But not to defend this type of behaviour, if the police were just hitting people for the sake of it, I'm not too surprised some fans reacted this way.

Enough with this for now. Until I speak to friends who were out there and other witness accounts I can't really form too much of an opinion. I'm gonna be bias obviously. Like any supporter. But if Spurs fans were given grief in the city prior to the game....well, it's not surprising that someone may have been a tad naughty with the cops possibly inciting them. What doesn't help is having ITV blame Spurs fans just because were English.

As for the game....

I'm actually quite pleased. Sevilla, for all their La Liga form were not as impressive as I thought they would be. Quite soft in defence, but still dangerous in attack. Have to say I'm confident we can score a couple against them at home.

What a start though. Nice goal. Good away goal. And if it wasn't for some quite diabolically bad referring, things may have been even better. Their second goal - no complaints. Bad defending from us, but fuck me.....penalty?? No way. Robbo takes the ball, ref admits to this, but still gives a penalty. Criminal decision, but then what can you do about it? Cool penalty from Fredi. The git. Second half saw us a little bit more in control resulting in few chances for the Spaniards. But we didn't create too many chances either.

Lennon and Berbs were awfully quiet. Shimmabondierlo did ok, but need King back there. I see what Jol says when he mentions needing one or two more players. Anyone can see that if we add some more quality then the team is more of a whole instead of having one or two holes. Lee still makes me nervous, and more so the Canadian with the giant eyebrows. Sevilla will have to come to WHL and attack. This will allow us space. And Space = goals.

Other general observations. The ref blowing his whistle for anything physical. The ref giving some questionable decisions against us (not just the pen - but why was Berbs penalised when he got sandwiched by two Sevilla players?). Oh, and La Liga at its best with Renato doing his best to allow gravity to keep him firmly grounded while we attacked forcing us to kick the ball out and Palop suggesting to Lennon he dived. The irony burns. But these are the usual knee-jerks.

It's a defeat, but as far as defeats go, it ain't too bad. We didn't play that well yet got a decent away goal and maybe, with another ref...a credible draw. Instead its a '1-0 defeat'. Time for one of those glory glory nights at the Lane next week......

~Spooky

Pics taken by superyids from GG.net

Uncomfortably comfortable

2007-04-02T20:31:00.000+01:00

Rampant yet wasteful Spurs 1 Plucky Reading 0

20 odd chances, countless fluffing about in front of goal, wonderful football, the odd player or two not fully on song, and one dubious penalty and one blatant disallowed goal. Oh and three points.

An entertaining match at the Lane and holy crap we've even gone and got ourselves a clean sheet. Up to the dizzy heights of 6th place, suddenly its game on again. Even 5th spot isn't out of our reach - though expect this up and coming Sunday to end in misery. With Arsenal not too far off either, its gonna be a potentially heart in mouth month as we aim to glue ourselves into a UEFA Cup spot. 7th might even do if Man Utd face Chelsea in the FA Cup. Of course, winning the UEFA Cup will also take us back into it automatically.

What? What? I didn't jinx it did I? Sevilla rested 5 or so first team players the other day so Fredi and co are ready for us. I won't be out there sadly. The one game I wanted and I'll be at home watching it on the TV. In fact, I may not even be home. Working late that evening, will probably miss the first half and then some. Hopefully I can avoid any Spurs Mobile text messages and pubs as I make my way home and Sky + it. The following week, I'm in bloody Boro of all places (God hates me). Which may mean missing the WHL second leg. Razor blades at the ready.

Fixture congestion is on its way, but thankfully our season (unlike some) is still alive and kicking. Not bad to have that for a second year on the trot. That's almost like...winning something for us lot. Consistency. I like it. Feels like the 80's again.

I wont post our remaining fixtures in case the Premier League decide to sue me, but looking at our remaining games in comparison to Bolton, Everton and Blackburn along with Pompey - we have as good a chance as anyone to finish 6th or 5th.

Reminds me of something a gooner said at the start of the season.

"Spurs wont be a problem this season, they wont compete for 4th spot. We'll (Arsenal) be back to normal and light years ahead"

Yes well, if anything, Arsenal have been rather fortunate again. Unspectacular season in the Prem for them. And had one or two teams shown better consistency over the season - like us (bad start, bad Christmas) then 4th spot would have been up for grabs once more. Maybe next season it will be 3rd time lucky. I know something though, the dawn of the new Invincibles has been vastly exaggerated.

So. Roll on the second tier of European competition. For now, you'll have to do.

~Spooky

Out of action

2007-03-31T20:15:00.000+01:00

Been sick with the flu. Still look and feel like shit, but I'd rather be me than Steve McClaren.

I'm still low in energy and creative juices, so rather than sit here and right up 4 or 5 blog entries, I'll just be all lazy about it. I can't get too distracted from my Lemsip (which, apart from the worlds blandest soup is the only thing I'm able to digest at the moment).

Lampard not in side to face Andorra due to injury. Or dropped and injury story there for cover-up purposes. Maybe Frank slipped and broke his wrist on the grassy knoll.

The actual game? Best remembered for the organised anti-McClaren chanting which initially was quite funny until it just hemorrhaged into embarrassment. Talking of embarrassment, the performance itself. 3-0 in the end, but a struggle. Thank God for The Gerrard and his power-runs with additional 'world class' finishing (he's the only person in England capable of doing that™ - Sky Sports). England are generally over-rated by the same people who then slag them off. Press and fans alike. We look ordinary, but why the fuck travel to Barcelona to slag the players off, but then celebrate the goals, but still call for the managers head? Get a fucking grip you tools. We are shit. And as long as the FA are who they are, we will remain that way. More deluded than Spurs fans IMO.

ITV win the rights (along with the Orish channel) to show FA Cup games and England home internationals. I'm not alone in saying that this is tragic tragic news. I mean, fucking 'ell. ITV. Home of the Tactics Truck and 3rd rate commentary which consists of over excited idiots who seem to drown in their own self-awareness and smugness of actually having football to watch. They will be unbearable. Its gonna be 'The Premiership' all over.

Apparently the Beeb have shot themselves in the foot over their attitude towards England and the FA. Regardless, its scandalous to allow ITV. Its like asking gypsies to look after your house while you go on holiday. Four fucking years of David Pleat and 'Evening all'. Grim grim grim.

I'll finish this off with a mention to Tomas Rosicky, partly responsible (along with some team mates) for the £25,000 fine inflicted on the Czech team after spending it with 6 prostitutes. All this after a 2-1 defeat. Finally a gooner with some class.

~Spooky

Israel 0 England, inventors of football 0

2007-03-26T19:52:00.000+01:00

Another disappointing England game. It's the standard we have come to expect. The most animated I was during the course of the game was towards the end when Defoe 'scored' but was ruled offside (textbook trait) and I used a tomato ketchup bottle along with a tub of mayonnaise and a empty bottle of beer to explain the offside rule to my anti-football girlfriend. She sat there nodding her head and saying 'Yeah...Mmmm...ok' giving me the rather pathetic illusion that she understood what I was mumbling on about.

I pretend, just for a moment that she did. But steady on....a girl who understands the offside rule? That's proper marriage material right there. Which is why I quickly diverted the conversation away from offsides to what England have to do to qualify.

"It's a big grim then?" She said. Oh yes. Its fucking grim alright. No tactical awareness. No game plan. No adapting to the opposition. There's no point in me wasting your time (and mine) chatting about formations and team selections. Its been said a million times before. Instead, I'm gonna laugh at McClaren.

"An absolute load of rubbish" - He must have said this 5 times in the space of 2 minutes when interviewed about an alleged falling out with Rooney and El Tel. I must have said it 150 times in the space of 90 or so minutes the other night.

McClaren is Mr Average Football Manager. That's why we have a average team giving average peformances.

Andorra up next. Surely nothing less than 5-0 will appease us?

~Spooky

Fixture Hell

2007-03-21T19:53:00.001Z

05 Thu Away Sevilla UEFA Cup 19:45

07 Sat Away Chelsea Premiership 12:45

09 Mon Home Blackburn Premiership 15:00

12 Thu Home Sevilla UEFA Cup 19:45

LOL. I have nothing more to say.

~Spooky

Thought of the Day

2007-03-20T14:07:00.000Z

From Raziel (gg.net):

I think it speaks volumes about how far we have come, that Mourinho and Chelsea came to WHL with a plan to stiffle our game, and look for that one moment of opportunity/brilliance to win the game.

In the words of another poster on this board, they played like an upmarket version of Bolton.

We lost, we're not disgraced, showed we can more than compete, and if MJ and the team learn from it, all the better for the future.

Hopefully Sevilla won't break our hearts too.

~Spooky

Hold that Chas and Dave re-issue for another year

2007-03-19T23:02:00.000Z

Oh no 1 fucking 'ell 2

They came. They bored. They conquered. Our (two match) unbeaten run against Chelsea is over. What's the equivalent of parking a bus in front of the goal when you do it all over the pitch? Spurs were stifled from start to finish, and yes, credit to Jose for out smarting us. But would, lets say, Arsene Wenger or Fergie have his team play like that - when you have players of that quality? I haven't seen Spurs subdued like that for a long time. Again, yeah, its not about appeasing me. Jose and Chelsea - all they care about is winning, but fucking 'ell, it's not exactly entertaining. Suddenly, the first game at Stamford Bridge is hurting. In fact, it hurts more than tonights result.

Yes, they scored two wonder goals. And all I have is applause for the strikes. Undeniable finishes. But all the dying like swans and time wasting, grates me. Now, I've just got back, and any fan of any team is going to be bitter about losing at home and yes, Spurs didn't make use of the ball when they had it. Thought the final decision-making pass was way way off tonight. Which just makes it all that more frustrating. Chelsea were far from brilliant. We were far from our best. Oh fuck it, I can't really argue this point. We all know how Chelsea play. This evening, their forward play was quite poor, yet two moments is all it took, whereas we couldn't really find one moment in the 95 minutes or so. Even the fan who run onto the pitch couldn't land a punch. I mean, fucking 'ell, theres so much of Frank, how the hell can you miss?

They did a number on us. Our key players were hardly in it and Chelsea cleverly reserved their energy while we run around chasing the game. Yes, its not attractive to watch, but then neither was our sloppy play.

Sometimes it's about the result and not the way you play or the type of performance or swagger or style. That's the difference between us and Chelsea. And the difference between the top 4 and the rest. It's not a insurmountable gulf. So it's time we stopped choking when we can begin to make up the ground.

~Spooky

Spurs v Headhunters - The Re-Match

2007-03-19T16:26:00.000Z

Quick-view preview:

Year doesn't end in one. Check.
Jenas is 'confident' we can beat Chelsea. Check.
Spurs fans dreaming of Cup double. Check.

Spurs to get dicked - 97.99% probability rating.

~Spooky

value for money

2007-03-18T23:33:00.000Z

"The Club has sought to increase the benefits of Season Tickets and to restrict price increases as much as possible, despite increased administrative, operational and inflation-linked costs. As the price chart shows, Season Ticket prices for the 2007/2008 Season will increase by an average of just £27" - from spurs.co.uk

South Stand Lower is now £609. With Spurs in Europe this season, and with pro-longed Cup runs (not complaining) domestically its a fucking expensive habit this football lark. At this rate its probably cheaper to spend weekends in pub toilets with a rolled up twenty. I might have to start pimping myself out to sexually frustrated middle-aged women, to help cover the cost of supporting a Premiership club. A couple of gigs, and I could probably sit myself in the West Stand next year.

~Spooky

I was there when Robbo scored

2007-03-18T23:05:00.000Z

Spurs 3 Watford 1

Apart from Paul Robinson's Jennings moment, scoring from around 80 yards, Saturdays win against Watford was pretty much uneventful. A bit boring, fragmented play from us with all our key players on the bench. The visitors were very very poor, though that didn't stop them from scoring a consolation goal - making it something like 20 games now since a clean sheet. The only other significant footnotes from the game were as follows:

Mido. Injured and out of the team for so long that when he's back in the starting line-up he does nothing but prove that players with talent can quite comfortable do nowt with it. Nowhere near being the player he was in his purple patch last season. Should probably look to improve his attitude by cutting back on the booze and cigarettes.

Ghaly. Infuriating. Can do the difficult things, but can't do the easy things. Either has too much commitment (you always worry he will get booked/sent off) or not enough (ducks out of the tackle).

The lack of a footballing brain on Defoe's shoulder. Wonderful finishes on his day but incapable of working out how to beat the offside trap. The talent is there, but I don't think he will ever improve as a player.

To be fair, in comparison to Villa v Liverpool, the game was a classic. So I shouldn't complain too much. Steed did well. Dawson won every header, as per usual. Had Berbs and Keane started, along with Lennon we probably would have scored six. But we have other priorities. Chelsea on Monday, so best I reserve a proper rant for that blog.

So, up to 6th place, then down to 7th with Everton's last gasp winner at home to Arsenal. UEFA Cup spot has to be a priority, though we don't have it easy with some of our up and coming Premiership games. Hate to say it, but our early season and Christmas form has made it tricky. It's ironically cruel. I remember at the end of last season that Arsenal fans stated they wouldn't have another poor season - which they've managed to achieve again. If.....oh if if if if only we had the away form of last year, we'd be doing the olde Champs League run-in dance (hopefully this time without booking into a dodgey hotel).

Instead, we've got two Q-F's and a battle for 6th.....maybe even 5th. At least our season is still alive. Two years running. Consistency of a positive kind for once.

I'll wait for rival fans to start singing 'Where we're you when you were shit?' at us before I get too excited.

~Spooky

I Heart Berbatov

2007-03-17T00:25:00.000Z

If you've been in a coma this week, then you would have missed the national realisation that Dimitar Berbatov is actually quite good. Therefore, he is suddenly too good for Spurs. Which means Man Utd are interested. See, the modern game in this country appears to be rather simplistic in hierarchy. Footballers only want to win silverware which means they can only achieve this by playing for one of the top 4 clubs. Everyone else is simply there to make up the numbers and act as a feeder club.

Breaking into the top 4 is a mammoth task. It's one that might be aided by a dip of form over a couple of years from one or two of the Elite. At the moment, that would be either Arsenal or Liverpool. But even lack of consistent relentless form from these two, still has them sitting pretty in 3rd and 4th.

So any players out there with ambition know that if they excel at their club, they might....just might attract the attention of someone who can offer them Champions League. Now, what does this have to do with Tottenham's devil with the face of an angel?

Berbatov oozes class. Placing aside the doubters who suggest that maybe he is a player hitting a purple patch and wont actually get any better than how he's currently performing (a paradox, considering that he's outstanding at this moment in time and his form is as good as anyone's in the Prem). And also placing aside ridiculous arguments that he can't really be a world class player on account of him not being bought by a 'big club' when he opted to leave the Bundesliga.

DB is displaying the touch and skill of someone who is utterly comfortable with the English game and is growing in confidence with each game, improving the confidence of his team mates. Add another player of his standard into the Spurs team and we might actually win something.

The win against Braga brought us another couple of gems with Berbatov's sublime touches and finishes. The game itself was a tad worrying, and probably a wake-up call with Sevilla (and Fredi) up next in the quarter-final. We played some wonderful football, but conceded two goals we should have defended. We're at that stage where we need to take our chances. Also worrying is the fact that we are failing to keep a clean sheet. Not good. Not with Chelsea on Monday. Even Watford must fancy their chances on Saturday.

Back on topic. The fact is, you are only as good as your last game and Berbatov has been brilliant. If he continues to play like this and link up so well with Robbie Keane, we might finish high enough to claim a UEFA Cup spot....again. I won't mention anything else. I'm superstitious. All we need is Martin Jol to avoid any questionable substitutions in the final 20 minutes of any game we play and we should be fine.

Berbatov has proven to be worth every penny. He's no Rebrov. Yeah, Spurs fans will generally go over the top with their worship of the Bulgarian, but that's what we do best. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that he is modest enough and content enough to remain at the Lane. And wouldn't that be nice to see. A player who would rather stay at a club that has ambitions and wants to strive towards the Holy Grail of the Champions League rather than jump ship and take the easy route. Hardly ever happens these days.

Best I don't fret about it and just enjoy what he has to offer us. Which is a lot.

~Spooky

Spurs don't do boring

2007-03-12T19:52:00.000Z

Chelsea 3 Spurs 3 (should have been 4)

Flipping 'eck. I know, I know. Shouldn't really complain considering that nobody expected us to go to Stamford Bridge and score three goals. With a little bit of good fortune, it could have been more, and today we all would have been looking forward to a Spurs v Blackburn semi-final and no media reports stating how the 'giants' Chelsea and Man Utd have avoided each other in the didn't use warm balls draw. Tell you what, next season, maybe only the top 4 should enter the FA Cup. Save everyone a bit of time, money and worry.

So anyways, 3-1, to 3-3. Another classic, but then we are becoming accustomed to that at the moment. A general observation would be kudos to Jol finally changing the way we play away. We attack more, we control the midfield more (well, more than in previous games) and we score goals. Not that it was a difficult achievement to do so in the opening 45 minutes of yesterdays Cup quarter-final. Chelsea, for want of a better description, were fucking shite. No John Terry in the Blues side is like having the X-Men without Wolverine. No snarling bite. Spurs had a fucking field day with the lack of adamantium in the Chelsea defence. 3-1 ffs. Easy peasy. Their only reply was a text-book Lampard tap-in.

All too surreal and all too unbelievable, which meant the final result was pretty much expected.

Difficult to criticise Jol for the subs. Berbatov was injured. Not sure about the Lennon substitution, so maybe a question mark there (unless the lickle man was 'tired'). And then Gardner. Tall, but quite obviously incapable of defeating gravity.

20 minutes to go, you'd think attacking would be the best policy. But then, its a bit too easy to be critical. People who this morning decided to slag off Spurs for not holding on for a win should remember that Chelsea DID turn up for the second half. Goals were untidy, yes. But thats what they do best. We just weren't ruthless enough. And Defoe/Berbatov is not a patch on Keane/Berbatov.

Gardner is probably good enough for West Ham United. Actually that's unfair. I'm good enough for West Ham United. Anthony could get away with playing for Charlton. Mido is something different altogether. Mido is what a cheeseburger would look and move like if Dr Frankenstein gave it life.

Much like the first semi-final against the scum, we lost the game the moment Berbs went off injured. Brilliant at holding the ball up, supremely intelligent and would easily get into any of the top 4's first team. We need another player of that same quality in central midfield. Then, under pressure or not, we would have the psychological strength and mind-set not to give up a 2 goal lead. Even against a team that has lost once in 80 or so games at home. Patience maybe on Zokora. Not everyone turns it on first season in the Prem.

If anything for at least 45 odd minutes we gave some much needed belief that Chelsea can be rattled. I mean, fuck me, it was loony tunes at the back for them. Speaks volumes for the quality of John Terry and Claude Makele.

Next Monday will be difficult. Can't see them being that lacklustre again. Hopefully, Spurs will have Berbs 100% and welcome the return of Robbo, Keane, Chimbonda, Jenas and one or two others who were missing from Sunday.

Nice moments of the day, included the lack of response from the home fans when told 'Next year you're Utd fans'. Jose and Jol enjoying a 15 minute conversation in the stands pre-kick off, followed by a hug after the game. Must be love. Jose calling the ref, 'a son of a whore'. Allegedly.

Moments that made me go '...if only', included Lennon's one-on-one and the two-chance moment which ended with Defoe not connecting his head with the ball at an open goal, and then Defoe making amends (almost) with a blistering shot smacking the bar.

Up next.......

(H) Braga Wed
(H) Watford Sat
(H) Chelsea Mon

Don't tell the girlfriend...

~Spooky

Spurs are on their way............out?

2007-03-09T23:36:00.000Z

Five games in twelve days. Players out injured, others tiring. And Martin Jol hints at making wholesale changes to keep his main targets of getting into the top 6 (well, 6th place anyway) and going as far as possible in the UEFA Cup. Now, either this 'Jose' style kidology from the big bald Dutchman. Or, we're in for one helluva beating this Sunday lunch time.

Chimbonda and Keane are apparently injury doubts, and Lennon (again according to Jol, suggested at least) will be rested.

Going to Stamford Beach and winning....well, its not like going to Upton Park and fearing the worst. I'm actually at my mums for the game (its her birthday) and my anti-football girlfriend ('It time you knocked this football thing on its head') will also be present - though she has no idea that Chelsea/Spurs is on the box and will probably not be too best pleased when she finds out that I wont be paying her or anyone else any attention for a couple of potentially horrific hours. And she also has no idea that my brother-in-law (Spurs fanatic) will be present along with my brother (Spurs fanatic) and probably my uncle (Spurs fanatic). She's expecting it to be a quiet meal round my parents. Chilled and relaxed. Stress free.

Its pretty obvious that Spurs wont be the only ones failing to score, come Sunday.

~Spooky

Something to Brag about

2007-03-09T23:23:00.000Z

Braga 2
Spurs 3

3 away goals should see us through into the Q-F's of the UEFA Cup. Bit of a strange game it was against Los Arsenalists (Braga's history of changing their kit to resemble the one from the pikey part of North London has been well documented this past week). First, we appeared to be playing in front of a rather large rock, which isn't so much of a mystery considering the stadium was actually built into a rock face. The home fans used some kind of paper-made rattlers and the game itself played out like a training session. Well, one with few goals in the opening 45 minutes.

Should have been a stroll. Knife through butter for the best part of the match. Then we manage to actually slice them open, with 2 goals. Still should have been more, but Anthony Gardner...well actually, Olde Clumsy wasn't really at fault. The Braga player conned the ref (to the tune of 'Same old Arsenal, always cheating' from the Yid support) and won a penalty, resulting in the rare sight of Robbo saving it, only to watch the rebound hit the back of the net.

Then it was 2-2. And then it was 3-2, in stoppage time. Nice to see Spurs scoring late goals. As long as we remain professional at home, should be comfortable.

Berbs was his usual brilliant self (should, could have had a hattrick). Keane even notched a one-on-one (6 goals in 4 games now for the prolific Orish midget). I know, I know....amazing. Made up for John Barnes and whoever the other git is, commentating on the game.

Oh, and.....shame about the Arsenal.

~Spooky

(pics of Braga from the GG.net mob)

My faith in karma has been restored

2007-03-04T19:44:00.000Z

WEST HAM UNITED 3 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 4

Well look at that. Seems my heart beat up my head good and proper. Football is harsh. Its cruel. It can tear out your soul and crush your dreams and hopes. And on the other hand, all this can befall others as you stand and laugh rather loudly in their faces.

The first half against West Ham United managed to bring together all the concerns and worries I had pre-match and playfully meld them into what looked like at the time, a 'orrible afternoon for myself and all my fellow Spurs fans; a defeat. Not just any defeat. But one against a club that just love to beat us. And in this instance possibly give them some kind of glimmer of hope and more gloating rights.

We had some decent chances. Green showing Robinson how to keep goal. Berbatov frustrated. Noble, a player that will take the Championship by storm next season, scores and then you-know-who pops up with a free-kick. I like Tevez. You'll find most supporters of most clubs rate him. A powerhouse of energy, outstanding determination and fight with the skills and touch you come to expect from someone who represents Argentina. So when he lined-up the free-kick you knew, just knew, it would end in the back of the net. Robbo's 'take one step forward' tactic more or less guaranteed it.

So, 2-0 down. We're struggling to string more than 3 passes together. Its not looking good. In fact, it's looking all rather Tottenham at this point. Everything my head told me the other day was ringing true, and giving me a a big fuck-off headache that no amount of potential hiding will cure. But then came a surprise script-update. A change of plot line. And the second half was exactly what my heart had desired. A bit more passion and more importantly, several shovels of self-belief thrown over the claret and blue shallow grave.

Brilliant ball by Huddlestone, who had come on as a half-time sub, releasing Lennon who allowed Bowyer to bring him down. Penalty. Defoe. 1-2. Game on. The equaliser was some proper Class-A football that I joyfully snorted up. The flick from Lennon was outrageously delicious and TT made sure the whole move go what it deserved. A goal, jubilant celebrations and all my self-doubt placed to the side.

But West Ham, and credit to them, came back again. Everyone will say this and they will say it because its true. They battled hard and their desire and urgency was rewarded with a third goal (dubious defending on our part). Yes, Bobby Zamora scores with (I think) his first touch.

3-2. 5 minutes left of normal time. Game over, right?

Nah. Step up Anton Ferdinand and a push into the back of another one of our subs, the lively Taarabt. And with an eye of the tiger moment, Berbatov makes it three with a wonderfully flighted ball over the wall and into the goal. Delirium follows. We just wont let it be. And then the moment that we wanted. Now, coming to Upton Park and winning 4-0 would have been pretty great. But winning from a 3-2 losing position is oh so greater. Last season hurt. Against any other team (perhaps excluding to other certain London rivals) I could have just about lived with it, but having WHU gloat their way through the summer was just a touch uncomfortable.

So, when we broke away from our penalty area, five Spurs players on one West Ham player, rushing down on Green goal, I took my much maligned heart out of my chest and placed it into my mouth.

Defoe shot. Saved, and Mr Stalteri (on as a sub for Jenas early in the second half) scored to make it 4-3 in what was the 95th minute (and some) and end a classic ding-dong derby. This time, in favour of the team in Lilywhite. The sight of the Spurs fans celebrating the fourth is what this rollercoaster of football is all about.

West Ham fans and players shed tears. And you can't exactly expect them not too. They showed they wanted to win and arguably deserved some points out of the game. But to quote Curbs, naivety proved their downfall. But, lets not take credit away from Tottenham. For once....for once our players treated the game (eventually) with the kind of determination and commitment that the supporters demand.

Today was about blowing that candle out. And they didn't disappoint. West Ham's fans went from the quite high to the very low. They must feel sick. Bit like having food poisoning.

I don't care about West Ham United and their plight as it's never been in doubt. What I did care about this morning was that my team would allow myself and my fellow yiddos to have something to gloat about come Sunday evening. Losing to the Hammers would have been textbook. Thank you for not going down the usual path of misery. And hey, lets make a habit out of beating these type of teams more often.

So, 3-4. Beaming Martin Jol. Beaming away support. Beaming Spooky. And goodbye to West Ham United.

~Spooky

P.S. Can we please have Tevez and Ashton? Ta.

Goodbye Old Friend

2007-03-04T19:36:00.000Z

Earlier this week, the Big Football Forum finally closed its eyes and passed away. Though, in name, it still exists, its history has gone forever. The owner of the site, with assistance from a brand new host tried and failed to transfer across the original database. Basically, this meant that everything that made it the place it is, is now gone. Though you’ll find most would agree the forum was in a coma for so long that this was probably the best end game for it. Others might argue that had the owner acted a few years back when everyone suggested he should, the forum would still exist with its colourful past all there for people to read.

Now you see, I’m an old romantic at heart. And even though a forum is just a forum and shouldn’t be taken too seriously, it’s still a testament to the online community that uses it. So, I can’t help feel a little sad that all the wonderful threads and banter are now inaccessible to the old times that used the place for many years.

Irreverent humour was common place

Though if I wipe the tears away from my eyes, I’ll see that the place hasn’t been very good for quite some time anyway. Mostly because the owner decided to play a bigger part in the every day running of it. And as someone recently stated, he now has the forum he deserves.

Several years back, I found a link to the BFF in a Spurs newsgroup. At the time I only used one forum. Irony that will become clear soon is that the other forum (not football related) came into existence because everyone was sick of the owner of the Stile Project and it’s message board. This resulted in a mass exodus and a creation of a new place.

The link to the BFF intrigued me. My first impression was that this was quite the active little community. Not too big, not too small. Some nice banter in the football forums and decent humour in the general forums. I signed up and didn’t regret it.

Those were the days my friend....

But like anything, its glory years never last forever. And with it’s popularity came its demise. Now I know this is more of a personal thing for the 20 or 30 people that made that place great. You know how it is, you feel the place belongs to you and when others sign-up it fragments a little and just seems off balance. And as the quality demised, various clashes of ego practically decimated the place. This resulted with many of its original members (some who helped built the place) walk away. Until all the ‘old timers’ were gone. Some did stay on, revealing in that the forum threads now belonged to them.

I set up Rumourwhores (which was to go offline and re-appear a couple of times) and WhackMyBonobo was also born. Both small communities but always active and without the nazi administration (though RW did have some problems too, suffering from some BFFesque style in-fighting which resulted with an admin deleting himself. Its all rather silly, isn’t it?)

So, I’m thankful for that link and finding the BFF in the first place, mainly because of the friends I’ve made online and what better way to spend time on the Internet (apart from downloading porn) chatting about the greatest game on earth.

I actually signed up to the new forum, but have since been banned, even though I hadn’t posted a single word. Quite an honour to have my IP address blacklisted IMO. Re-writing history by deleting anything that has an anchor to the past. That’s some way to set precedence for the future.

~Spooky

'ammers v Spuds

2007-03-03T11:46:00.000Z

Right, lets look at the facts. Its West Ham United. It's at Upton Park. They are shit. They are going down. They can't even compete against Charlton or Watford. They have several players out injured. The game is live on Sky. When they play, they look like eleven players rather than one working team unit. Tevez still hasn't scored, and Davenport will probably play against us.

And then there's us. When we play them, we are likely to choke. Pretty much like a débutante porn starlet would if she had to take Peter North into her mouth in her first scene.

As the excuse train pulls into the station early, the following passengers fail to appear on the platform:

Benoit Assou-Ekotto - surgery.
Steed Malbranque - out.
Danny Murphy - out, but makes no difference anyway.
Ledley King - still out.
Robbie Keane - suspended.

Pascal Chimbonda, Jermaine Jenas and Didier Zokora all fitness doubts.

As for West Ham United, they have Lucas Neil, Matthew Upson, James Collins back in full training. Reo-Coker is out (suspended) and Bowyer is back from injury.

So, likely squads:

West Ham (from): Green, Carroll, Neill, Pantsil, Collins, Ferdinand, Davenport, Upson, Dailly, McCartney, Konchesky, Newton, Benayoun, Quashie, Mullins, Etherington, Noble, Harewood, Tevez, Boa Morte, Zamora, Sheringham, Cole, Kepa.

Tottenham (from): Robinson, Cerny, Chimbonda, Lee, Stalteri, Dawson, Rocha, Gardner, Zokora, Tainio, Jenas, Ghaly, Huddlestone, Lennon, Defoe, Mido, Berbatov.

Now, I shouldn't be worried about this game. If you go on form. It's not so much whether we forget to turn up tomorrow, it's more so the case that WHU might decide to turn up. Hence the worry. They did so against both Arsenal and Man Utd. West Ham players seem to be able to pull out performances in live games and against bigger opposition. And as we all know, they love to beat us.

I can see it now. Tevez scores (giving him instant legend status) West Ham win, and Curbs mutters something about going on a run to earn their Prem survival. Though, to be fair, everyone should know by now that tomorrow wont make a difference to West Ham's position. Every one of their previous 10 games should have made a difference, but they fucked up every time.

Tomorrow, should...'should' therefore be about pride. Both sets of players need to give something, 100%, and set out to match the passion the fans give at these games.

We need to dick 'em. I want some revenge for last season. That's not too much to ask for, is it? Last year at the Lane, we sang 'We're be there to send you down', except we were there to see our Champs League dream die and WHU went on to play in the FA Cup final. A year on, and we might actually send them down. Oh the irony. But my head says, shut the fuck up Spooky. And why? Well, simply put, Tottenham Hotspur struggles to give something back to their fans. We never seem to be able to claim gloating rights for anything. A win tomorrow would be wonderful. But in these situations, it never seems to happen. But thats no way to live, is it? So fuck it. Fuck logic and probable outcomes and guesstimates. Fuck my head, and I'm going with my heart.

I'm gonna go for a Spurs win. 3-1. Then at least West Ham have something to remember as they drop out of the Prem and back into the Championship, cementing their status as a yo-yo club once more. We (along with everyone else) helped to put them there. And finally, we can gloat.

COYS, etc.

~Spooky

If it wasn't bad enough...

2007-02-28T19:08:00.000Z

....away to Chelsea in the Cup. Now we have practically no time to prepare for it thanks to a 9:35pm kick-off on the Thursday before, away to Braga. Yes, thats 9:35pm.

Part of me wants us to play the strongest possible against Braga to get through to the Q-F's. Fuck the FA Cup tie. But then, its the FA Cup. And its against Chelsea. Dicking them on their own turf is probably worth 3 UEFA Cups.

At least for the game at Stamford Bridge we have 6,233 tickets. Thats 6,233 for anyone associated with allocating away tickets for fans at the Emirates.

~Spooky

Swaggering Berbatov is the new King of the Lane

2007-02-25T17:58:00.000Z

Tottenham 4 Bolton 1

Outstanding performance. In both halves for two different reasons. The first 23 minutes or so, oh my, proper Tottenham free-flowing offensive superstyling. At the centre of it, that man Dimitar. Oozing class, touch, technique and workrate and a quite brilliant footballing brain (let's forget about the glove incident from the other night), this man swaggered around in the first half like he owned the place. Linking up brilliantly with Keane and just looking like the player that this club has lacked for too many years.

The first 2o odd minutes was a rape and pillage of Bolton's defense. The first goal...wonderful touch from Berbs onto Keane who scorched it. The second goal, not as slick as the first, but much deserved and the third was straight out of the 'How to score a fucking great team goal' manual.

Then it happened. You know. That thing we do. The one where we don't allow our fans the pleasure of a full 90 minutes of comfort and enjoyment. Robbie Keane, straight red for using his hand/arm to stop a certain goal. Now, I haven't see it yet. And will wait for MoTD/Football First to know for certain but I'm not going to blame Keane. Usually things like this are instinctive and a second later regretted. So from 3-0 (and probably heading towards a 5-0 or even 6-0 win) we concede the penalty and know that the second half will be a mammoth task. Bolton are Bolton. You don't want them in your face on any day, let alone one when you're only playing with 10 men.

Jol's column in the programme (had to read something at half-time to attempt to settle my nerves a little) had some worthy footnotes in it. One's that appear to be direct counter-attacks at the people (and fans) who were critical of him in the past few weeks.....all prior to the Fulham game and all gone a little quite since.

He spoke of people suggesting we haven't made progress this season and that we don't know our best side because we rotate too often. But he points out we have played far more games already this year and that injuries and suspensions sometimes force him to make selection changes which can unbalance the side. Sure, this is no overall excuse, say for example, for only achieving two away Prem wins all season. At the end of the day, that has probably cost us top 5/6.

Jol also mentioned gutsy performances (against Fulham and Everton) and the physicality of the games and also the fact that Bolton were not going to be a soft touch today. So what irony that we should spend the first half spanking Big Sam's arse all over North London and the second at the Alamo.

Did we crack? Like fuck we did. Yes, we had some nerves hearts-in-the-mouth moments. But Dawson was immense at the back. Rocha also doing his duty well. All the players, yes even Lee, showed some top draw fighting spirit and determination. And even with the 10 men, we created by far the better chances in the second half, so it was a wonderful touch to the evening when Lennon made it four.

Congrats to Martin and his tactics today.

Added on top of the cheers for the goal was the fact that over in Cardiff Scum were beating Scum 2-1 and then, just to make sure that everyone didn't forget what a bunch of miserable arrogant slags they are they decided to add the cheery on top of the cake. Mass brawl. Everyone looking the dickheads they are. Nice way to end a Cup Final.

So, the journey home was a wonderful joyous one.

4 points adrift of 6th spot. Everything to play for. And I'll be happy if the team just keep on giving what they're giving at the moment. Especially that man Berbatov. Glenn Hoddle who made a half-time guest appearance must be getting nervous that his throne as the King might just one day be under threat from the sublime Bulgarian. Thats if Man Utd don't bid £20m for him in the summer.

http://www.rumourwhores.com/board/spursvbolton

~Spooky

this is the actual Bolton preview

2007-02-25T12:23:00.000Z

Difficult and frustrating that we are 11 points behind Bolton going into this game. I think its safe to say that top 6, or even 7th is going to be a challenge too far. Says a lot about the lack of any decent form this season but hopefully we can just win as many of our remaining games as possible and just pray we somehow manage to climb a few more places.

I'm looking forward to today. Hate Bolton. Who doesn't? The players owe us a decent full on action-packed one-way traffic performance. I don't expect it to be anywhere near a walk over, but it would be nice to smack 'em about a bit today.

Berbs is on fire at the moment, so more metaphorical moneyshots from the Bulgarian playboy please. Defoe will probably start ahead of Keane. No Mido today. Jenas should be back and hopefully Lennon get's to see as much as the ball as possible.

Hopefully, a good afternoon for us yids. Anything to get my mind off the Scum v Scum game. Which I wont be Sky+'ing. Now off to the pub for a pint of bitter.

~Spooky

Bolton at home, preview

2007-02-25T11:59:00.000Z

I've not had much sleep. The Killers (by the way) were quite outstanding last night. Took me an age to travel back from Wembley. Which also looks outstanding too, with its nice little arch. Hopefully, back to see that in May. When I got in, I watched MoTD just to see Curbs West Ham get dicked by Pardews Charlton. Anyone else notice the Spurs badge instead of the WHU badge when Lineker was introducing the game? Nice one.

Anyways, this was followed by a FM2007 session (need to take advantage of time spent away from girlfriend). I hit the sack around 4am. Only to be awakened by the fucking loud cunt living downstairs. People who use the forum will have heard me bitch and complain about him many many times before.

Basically, the man is a fucking irritation of the highest order. He's East European; Russian or Polish or something. Works as a courier - as he owns a motorbike and seems to be out during the day and then sometimes again in the evenings till the early morning (around 2-4am). He's a big huge fucker. And he has.......and this is no fucking exaggeration.....the loudest fucking voice you will ever hear. When he talks, he shouts. Its deeper than the fucking Grand Canyon. His voice goes right through you, shuddering your bones and sometimes even cracking one or two.

Additionally, he is one oblivious sonofabitch. See, the thing that grates me even more is that he goes about his business as if he lives all alone in the middle of a forest with nobody around him for miles and miles and miles.

I live in the upstairs flat, he lives downstairs.

If he doesn't go to work in the evenings, he has his TV blasting out some soap opera/Russian tv show. And most of the time he can have his TV blasting till gone 2am. If he's out working, its so quite and peaceful, you wonder whether his wife just tip-toes about in feather slippers.

When he gets in from work, the first thing that wakes you up his him parking his motorbike in the front garden. And on many occasions he sees fit to switch on his tv - gone 2am - for a little soap before he lays his big fucking head on his pillow.

Its staggering really. And what makes it even more epic is that God forbid I make any kind of noise if he happens to go to bed during a week day at say, 10pm or 11pm. I once dropped a coat hanger in my bedroom (directly above his bedroom) and I could hear him going mental. I mean, get a fucking grip you cunt........am I supposed to live my life around your fucking shift patterns?

The prick. This morning, he woke me up again. I would say he was having a conversation with his wife, but a conversation is when the other person has something to say too. All I could hear was him talking and talking and talking and talking. It was a tirade of non-stop chatter, no pauses or full stops.....just a continuation of his fucking loud fucking voice and laughter.

Yes. I have now twice knocked on his front door, to no avail. The reason I've taken so long is because I'm a stubborn person. I have faith (mis-placed) that even him - a loud cunt of a human - is capable of coming to the realisation that maybe he is being a tad too oblivious. But seems my faith is misplaced.

So fire with fire. I do the vacuum cleaning when I know he is having a lay in. I play dirty tech house at full volume when ever I'm in. I make use of my Denon surround sound system but watching my DVD's at ear-bleeding volumes. I'm hoping this results in him making a complaint about me. I'd fucking love that.....just love it.

If I suddenly disappear from the Interweb, I'm doing porridge.

~Spooky

that was the week that was

2007-02-24T00:07:00.000Z

Braga in the last 16. Berbs states his love for Spurs (I'm not going to leave) in a interview for a Bulgarian radio station. Rudolphs nightclub is, according to The Times, standing in the way of Spurs re-developing the Lane. Mido not fit for Sunday. I think that's it.

I'm tired and need sleep. I'll squeeze in some blogs (ooh matron) between The Killers on Saturday night and the Bolton home game. Maybe.

~Spooky

I'm thinking of buying Tottenham

2007-02-23T23:49:00.000Z

Steve Nash. Most valuable player, two seasons running for the NBA. And one of us. I had no idea he had British parents and a connection to North London, let alone that he was a Tottenham fan and not in the same sense that Spike Lee is an Arsenal fan. Steve knows his history.

So picking up the Metro on my daily trek to West London from East London, I was a bit miffed that a basketball player was publicly 'expressing' interest in buying Spurs. But then, was I really miffed? Deep down, did it really shock or surprise me? I mean, this is Tottenham. We play out like some demented episode of Dream Team without the textbook over-dramatic plane/coach/hit-man ending. It usually ends with fans of other clubs laughing at us. Not that this particular story ended that way. It was more of a......'Oh, really? Steve Nash you say? Interesting. Ok. Cool. Seen the new episode of Lost yet?'

Bless Mr Nash and his enthusiasm. Keeping supporting us mate. And stay clear of Bill Simmons. He'll have you making a cheeky bid for Newcastle if you ain't too careful.

~Spooky

Scouse Humour

2007-02-23T11:20:00.001Z

Toffees 1 Spurs 2

2007-02-21T23:34:00.000Z

Two away wins on the trot. The nosebleed wont stop. I don't know why I was concerned about this away trip considering we hardly ever lose up at Everton. Zok and TT again bossing the midfield. Berbatov showing superme class with another quality quality finish. Rennie also showing his class (cough) with another textbook dodgy decision, but thanks to Jenas and some staggering negative tactics/subs from Moyes, we can swagger into 10th place. Next stop, 8th.

Moment of the game though concerned Berbs struggling to understand how his strapped up fingers couldn't fit into his glove. Thats probably a mystery most footballers will struggle to solve. As long as he keeps banging them in, I'll forgive his footballers brain.

Oh, and Dizzy, hard luck mate. Normal service resumed against Everton.

~Spooky

take it to the bridge

2007-02-19T18:58:00.000Z

FFS. Chelsea away. That's just wonderful. I predict a war. It's gonna take some performance to leave Stamford Bridge with a place in the semi-final. And having seen Seville dismantle Athletico Madrid on Sunday, the UEFA Cup is probably even more difficult to win. Looks like we might max out for the season.

With 12 Prem games left, we'll have to turn all of them into mini-cup finals and hope to some how finish top 6. Never a dull moment. I hope the Fulham game is our turning point. I don't want to be appearing all negative on this, but bloody 'ell......Chelsea away. We haven't won away at a 'big 4' club since we won at Anfield back in 1995. Makes us uber-underdogs. Might be worth a couple of quid down the bookies, for a larf like.

~Spooky

Spurs to Wembley - Part II

2007-02-18T19:30:00.000Z

Oh yes. That was a little bit of an improvement. Clean sheet. Four goals away from home. A bit of spirit and composure. Neat passing and some first class finishing. For once they looked like a set of players that actually wanted victory. Sure, you could argue it wasn't an outstanding performance. We didn't quite dominate possession, but then again, Fulham hardly had a sniff and when they did Fat Robbo was there to do the business. Their best chance was Mido's header towards his own goal.

Zok and TT in the middle were actually competitive. Steed gave a superbly disciplined performance. Mido with two assists, Keane with two quite stunning volleys. Time even for Berbatov to show his class with a brace of his own late on. Never looked troubled or at risk. Considering our recent record at Craven Cottage, its a bloody good result and exactly what the players needed to give the fans. Something to smile about....finally.

Jol stating in his post-match interview that competing with a touch of passion will do wonders for the team. He is of course right and its been blatantly obvious that we have lacked the basics that are needed to complement the skills and flair. Now we need to up it another level and get back to the way we were last season away from home. Everton next week. Thats a test. And I'm a lot more confident of passing it than I was 2 weeks back.

Back to the Cup. Roll on 1:30pm tomorrow for the draw, were we get Plymouth at home in the Q-F (you all know its gonna be Arsenal or Chelsea....right?).

~Spooky

Spurs to Wembley

2007-02-18T14:27:00.000Z

Re-hash of a re-hashed story in the Sunday Mirror this morning with Spurs potentially looking to use Wembley as their home for a couple of years while WHL is completely re-developed. Out of all the new stadium rumours, this is the one that probably sits most comfortably with the Tottenham faithful. The sticking point still remains the rather woeful public transport infrastructure that makes getting to the Lane a nightmare for many. Add an additional 20,000 to the capacity....and then picture Seven Sisters station after the game. Seems Levy is fighting hard to resolve this, but with so many obstacles, its tricky one to work out. Has to be done though. 36,000 just isn't enough. I don't understand the logic of the London Underground/local council not wanting to build another tube station closer to the ground.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/TottenhamHotspur/

Then theres the new training centre and academy (near the A10-M15 junction) that is also proving to be problematic to obtain planning permission to begin work.

Apparently we will be officially told within the year what Tottenham's plans are. I'll be happy with the above. I don't want us to leave WHL.

~Spooky

David Dein and his magic wand

2007-02-17T14:46:00.000Z

They have Archway, Holloway Road, Finsbury Park and Highbury & Islington on the London Underground. Additionally, they again have Finsbury Park and Highbury & Islington on the overground. Add to that the countless of bus services that run through Holloway and Islington.

And yet........

Arsenal v Man City game postponed

Arsenal's Premiership match against Manchester City on 28 February has been postponed because of unforeseen maintenance work.

Beeb linkage

How convenient.

~Spooky

Doomed

2007-02-17T11:10:00.000Z

Read it and weep boys and girls.

Spurs managers last an average of 70 matches since Burkinshaw. They tend to get sacked either when they fail to break out of the 1.30-1.35 points per game mid-table stranglehold (Hoddle, Graham etc) or when higher points per game ratios slip down to a long term average of under 1.40 (Francis/Jol?). The sequence for Jol has been unfolding as predicted since first identified since the summer and its down to him whether he becomes just another Gerry or breaks the mould.

Top Spurs editorial

Maybe Jim should write a letter to the chairman.

~Spooky

Enough with the excuses

2007-02-17T01:03:00.000Z

So, FA Cup weekend is nearly upon us. With the tabloids latching onto the bad vibe that some Spurs fans are drowning in regarding Martin Jols 'performance' as manager this season, it seems that Sundays game is a must win. If anything to avoid mass suicide of lemming proportions come Monday morning when we all go to work and have gooners point and laugh. And we all know that when the fans start to complain and the papers start to report the disgruntlement....then it will probably only get worse.

Jenas and Defoe are both suspended. Huddlestone and Lennon are back in training. It's on Sky, so that wont help. I'm going to say just this: I will not find acceptable the Milky Way softness of recent weeks. I want us to be has tough as Mars bars. And not the current modern day marginalised Mars bar. I'm talking about the old skool Mars bar, which was as hard as a brick.

Yes, I'm a Jol supporter. I haven't changed my mind or opinion on him. I still back him 100%. But we have to start winning. Jol and the players have to give us something back. Just an indication of what we can achieve when everything clicks into place. A win at Craven Cottage will do. A win in style will do even more. Heres hoping....

~Spooky

Out of the office till Friday (probably)

2007-02-12T16:43:00.000Z

I'm staying in deepest Essex this week which means no blogging from home. Girlfriend is without a broadband connection (though thankfully she has Sky Sports). So, any blogs I do will be from work, and I doubt I'll have the time to do so.......therefore, see you Friday.

~Spooky (still under the thumb)

Another day at the office.....

2007-02-11T20:08:00.000Z

Losing 2-1 on Saturday wasn't exactly a shock to the system. Just more of ye olde Spurs away form. I didn't go to the game or watch the match on one of the several available Internet streams. Nope, just Gillette Soccer Saturday on in the background telling me what I already knew, even when we went 1-0 up.

I spoke to my uncle that evening. Now, heres a bloke who followed Spurs during the late 60's and through-out the 70's and 80's, going to UEFA Cup finals and seeing some wonderfully gifted players and ones with true grit and leadership. As my opinions haven't changed from last week, I'm just going to tell you what his opinions are instead.

"I'm sick of being humiliated by the club"

Thats basically how he started his rant. He then went on to echo one or two other statements of frustration that ring true with many other Spurs fans (at least the ones that frequent forums and message boards).

"I'm sick and tired of his (Jol) excuses. He shouldn't be such a diplomat in his post-match interviews. He should be more of a bastard, more critical of the ref and decisions and whatever else, because we seem to accept everything on and off the pitch instead of bullying the opposition and questioning decisions"

The above wasn't so much about the Sheff Utd defeat, but a general criticism about how Jol is sometimes too much of a nice guy and doesn't resort to under-handed tactics (though personally, I wouldn't want to see him turn into a Wenger type of character, blind to the truth).

"How can you not start Mido upfront against Arsenal in the semi-final? Look at the difference he made when he came on? Why so negative in that game when we should have taken it to them with so much more force? Graham Roberts hit the nail on the head the other day when he said how in the tunnels before the game, all the players were shaking hands and hugging. Go back 15-20 years, and they would have been spitting and biting each other"

Football in general isn't what it use to be, but yeah....would be nice for these games to be more blood and fucking thunder now and again.

"No way should Jol be sacked, but he has to start learning from his mistakes and learning from his tactical decisions that don't do the business. Losing Carrick is a big deal because of the system we played and the dependency we had based around that one player. Carrick is gone, and Jol has to adapt his formation and team and decide on his strongest eleven. He has to move on and he has to make the most of what he has. And what he has is the best set of players we have had for years and years. Jol has to instill some fight and passion into them, which is a ridiculous thing to want, because they should have that by default. So its his responsibility to make sure they do the club and fans proud"

That boy Carrick.....lest we forget.

"This season could end up being a disaster if we don't make Europe again. Players like Lennon and Huddlestone and King might start getting itchy feet....which is ironic because if we don't make it, its down to the very players who might want to up and leave in the summer. It's Berbs I feel sorry for. So much class and quality. He's probably wondering what the fuck he's doing at Spurs. I can see him being snatched up in the summer for sure, if we continue with this lack of confidence"

I don't think there will be a mass exodus, but imagine if there was, it would shatter the club. Might have to wait for a billionaire to buy us out to have any hope of success.

"Its a fine line between success and failure. Remember how good Gascoigne was at Spurs? And he played with some average players. Imagine Gazza at his best, in the current Tottenham team? He would elevate everyone around him. A proper talisman he was. Christ, we need a player like him. Add a Graham Roberts/Steve Perryman for the leader position and we could be set. We lack too much at the moment. Its blatantly obvious"

Theres nothing in my uncles words that hasn't been said before, but the thing that stuck with me was his response to something I said to him. I told him that sometimes (always - if you ask other fans) we expect too much and have this almost God given right demand for glory. He said answered by basically saying that it has nothing to do with arrogance. He simply stated that his needing for the club to achieve success can only be described as sheer desperation.

And I understand what he means. For a club that has spent so long in the top flight and has only ever flirted with success and silverware, while others have built 'empires' and stacked up their trophy cabinets, as a fan you simply want it to be your turn. You just want your club to push forward to that next stage and get past the countless transitional periods.

When a Tottenham fan is complaining about his club, its not about us thinking we are a big club and therefore we must be top 4. Its just that watching the same mistakes and the same problems over and over again has driven us to the point of insanity. We're just desperate for the alternative. And the alternative is having a team that does everything you expect from a team that can challenge for the top 4. We've never looked like doing it and consolidating it.

It's a bit like chasing the gold at the end of the rainbow....

~Spooky

Thread of the Day

2007-02-11T20:05:00.000Z

I think today is a perfect example of the bias shown towards the top 4 - not only by the referee, but the Sky commentary team also.

It was a foul on Heskey but Andy Gray wouldn't say it. Yet if it was the other way round you can bet anything he'd be calling it! But most importantly - the referee bottled the decision - as they so often do against the top 4.

I'm really starting to hate football. There's just no consistency with decisions when you're playing the top teams. At the end of the day, it's just not fair.

Oh, and Henry's a cunt - I've always said it. He's an arrogant twat that can't take losing with any dignity. His dive was disgraceful.

~Shifty

Thierry Henry - classless twat

Looks like I missed all the action. Arsenal leaving it late again...with some (lack of) style it would seem.

~Spooky

In defence of “Fat Frank”

2007-02-08T22:20:00.000Z

A GUEST BLOG....by JonP

England have this midfielder called Frank Lampard. It's not actually a name used very often by fans up and down the country, and he is certainly one of the most criticised players of the current crop of England players.

And, do you know what? I don't really understand it.

Everyone calls him “Fat Frank” for a start. It seems to just roll off the tongue and is in such popular use that I sometimes wonder why he doesn't have “Frank” on the back of his shirt, given that his first name appears to be “Fat”. He's not actually fat, mind, but, hey, it's a decent insult and the words start the same, so it's clever, innit? (It's alliteration, actually, but let's not get too complicated here...)

At International level, he suffers because he's part of the biggest dilemma England managers face, involving him and Steven Gerrard, who, despite both being talented players, appear completely incapable of playing alongside each other. This has often seen Frank forced to play on the left of midfield – as he is in the friendly with Spain which is on as I type. It's not his best position, but people would rather have FF out of position than Stevie G, la, who is a world beater week in, week out for Liverpool and bloody useless for England.

At club level, he's really hated. A lot of that vitriol comes from people defeated by deflected goals of his. That's his other trademark, you see. He's fat and he only scores deflected goals. Ask a Liverpool fan (them again?) and they'll tell you “Fat Frank only scores deflected goals” until the cows come home.

But the fiercest hatred comes from fans of his old club West Ham. They hated him when he played there, said he was rubbish most of the time. Then they sold him to Chelsea for £11million. 11million quid for a player you think is shit? Well, that's actually a good deal, rather than a reason to hate him all the more, but football fans are a funny bunch.

Well, I'm not a Chelsea fan, I'm not a West Ham and I'm not a Liverpool fan. From the outside, I see a talented midfielder who gets up and down the pitch, gets into excellent scoring positions and converts them with the sort of strike rate a lot of strikers would be delighted with. Ask his team-mate Mr Shevchenko.

I see a player who was promising – if never quite outstanding – at West Ham. Nearly 40 goals in less than 200 appearances, which ain't bad for a fat midfielder. And then Chelsea came calling. They probably paid over the odds for him back in 2001 (before Abramovich's millions arrived) but he has become a vital part of their side as they have won back-to-back Premiership titles.

So far, he has 86 goals in just over 300 appearances for the Blues – another superb strike rate for a midfielder – and no matter if they are deflected, you still have to hit them. Given that Peter Crouch is still claiming that one against Wigan a year or so ago, it doesn't actually matter that much... And in his 49 caps for England, he's got 12 goals. Again, that's a more than pleasing record for a midfielder.

I'm not saying for a minute that I think Lampard is one of the greatest players ever seen, but he's a good player and gets far more stick than he deserves from all concerned... But somehow, even if he single-handedly drags us to Euro 2008 glory, I can't see it ever changing.

~ JonP

A Guide to Posting on Tottenham forums

2007-02-06T21:39:00.000Z

#1 When the club is doing well and winning games, state in various threads that we have brilliant young players and a good squad and marvel at the progression under Martin Jol.

If however, form drops, the players are no longer of the necessary quality and the aforementioned young players are in fact over-rated. The manager should also be automatically considered for the axe, along with the Sporting Director as they are both not the right people to move the club forward.

Make sure, at this juncture, you forget about the past 10 years and also the work done by the current manager in his short tenure.

Claim that your viewpoint is the right one, and that the people who remain in support of the manager/board are blind to the obvious truth that only you can see.

Once the club are back in form, return to backing the manager claiming that you always knew he would come good.

~Spooky

Textbook Glory Glory

2007-02-05T20:12:00.000Z

I know one forum on the Internet shouldn't be taken as the one and only viewpoint of the majority, but it staggers belief having to read through threads and include such opinions as 'Lets not sack Jol now because its the middle of the season, lets wait to get rid of him in the summer if he doesn't get us into Europe'.

Like I said....staggers belief. Its quite embarrassing tbh. Think about it logically. Were Spurs in Europe prior to Jol? Nope. Who got us into Europe? Jol. Seems that one or two 'fans' are struggling to understand the concept of digging our way out of a decade of mediocrity. I don't want to go on about this because I've already made it clear several times in these blogs and also in the Rumourwhore.com forum......but the knee-jerking is almost bone shattering at the moment.

Most forums, have the extremes of footballing opinions. You have the people who are loyal to the end and see no wrong doing in the person they back, and then you have the ones who think the best way to solve the problem is to throw anger and frustration at it.

Again, its a minority that react is such a petulant way. On of the threads on Glory Glory asks, 'Do you want Jol sacked?'. Thus far over 100 said no, and 17 have answered with a yes. So if you take those figures and hypothesize that 20 out of every 100 Spurs fans want Jol out, that's still worrying. But not unexpected.

I'm gonna quote a West Ham fan:

I'm not being funny but this is Spurs fans all over. It is their mentality. Always has been. To overrate, over-expect and then be quick to point the finger and make excuses. Nothing new. Why the surprise?

If Martin Jol is sacked, its exactly what we deserve. The sooner we embrace the truth that in this day and age there are 4 massive clubs who are head and shoulders above the rest (Chelsea, Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal) to compete with and we still cant beat Reading or Fulham away, the sooner we need to let go of believing everything will turn to Lilywhite over night.

Let him get on with his job. Support him. Support the club. Bitch and rant if you want, but just remember.......everytime we get a new manager (most of the time) we believe its the right person. When Jol took over....thats exactly what everyone thought. How about this time, we just wait to see how it pans out.

Its still early days.

~Spooky

Dicked 0-4

2007-02-04T18:39:00.000Z

Manchester United. By far the best team in the Premiership. We lived with them for the best part of 45 minutes in the first half, and then in the space of 10 minutes in the second half, they tore us to shreds. Wasn't really a 4-0 performance, defensively, but it was a forgone conclusion that they would win - regardless of Ronaldos textbook theatrics.....the boy is too hot to handle.

After the game, I heard several 'fans' on their mobiles to mates bitching about Jol and how he isnt the right man for the job.

"All he does is stand there and do nothing"

I suppose Man Utd fans felt the same way about Fergie when they wanted him sacked. Once more proving what a bunch of fucking fickle idiots football supporters are. Maybe we could appoint Derren Brown as our new coach, and he could perceptually manipulate everyone into thinking we are the bestest team ever.

I've just got in from the game. I'm gonna make me a sandwich and call my girlfriend, who will obviously say something like 'Oh never mind...its only football' to cheer me up.

~Spooky

Lennon Whorage

2007-02-04T11:48:00.000Z

The first story I heard about Lennon's 'absence' from the Semi-Final concerned how he was hangover from a heavy bout of drinking the night before. I scoffed at this. The following 'version of events' is a little worrying if true. The source is from an Arsenal forum (though whether it was created there or taken from somewhere else is currently unknown). I've not read any broadsheets or tabloids today.

The real reason behind the business with Aaron Lennon on Wednesday night is as depressing a story as I have heard about how a club can treat a player.

In early September, Lennon was injured in training, and it turned out to be a small cartilage tear in his knee. He had an operation to fix it, but players are usually out for 12 weeks after the procedure Lennon had - a quick healer might be ready after 8 weeks. Spurs rushed Lennon back into action after less than 6 weeks (and one training session).

It was far too early, the bone was still too soft, and now, every 2-3 matches, his knee blows up like a balloon. He can't train for the following week, then the next weekend comes round, Jol asks Lennon if the knee is OK to play, he says yes, and he plays. This has been going on since October. The kid's 20 years old, and the club are killing his career. Some of the senior players are appalled at how he's being treated, but Jol rules with a rod of iron. King particularly knows the score, Tottenham have basically crippled him by playing him injured.

After playing against Reading, Lennon turned up for the England squad meeting for the friendly against Holland barely able to put his foot to the ground. The medical staff did some scans and tests, told him that he shouldn't consider training, much less playing, for at least a month, and sent him home. Spurs put in a complaint to The FA about the advice he was given, and just 10 days later, put him out for a full 90 minutes in the UEFA Cup.

In the 1st leg of the Carling Cup semi-final, he faded noticable after giving Traore the runaround in the first half. After the game he was limping, and then incredibly he was played the full 90 minutes against Southend, despite not having been able to train since the Arsenal game. He turned up at the Emirates and couldn't do the warm-up. His name was in the first 11 submitted on the team sheet, then after speaking with Jol and Hughton, he was swapped with Hossam Ghaly.

Despite treatment icepack in the Spurs dressing room, Lennon and the physio concluded that he could not play at all. Jol made Young-pyo Lee a sub, but the assistant and fourth official spotted it. Spurs initially claimed that the paperwork had been corrected, but just not on the referee's copy. When the Spurs copy of the teamsheet was produced, Lennon was of course still on there as sub. Jol threatened to put Lee on anyway, and was told that the officials would not allow it. Jol came up with the illness story himself when he was put on the spot by the press.

I hope this is nothing more than an exercise in propaganda.

This has been going on since October. The kid's 20 years old, and the club are killing his career. Some of the senior players are appalled at how he's being treated, but Jol rules with a rod of iron. King particularly knows the score, Tottenham have basically crippled him by playing him injured.

I can't for a second believe that Spurs would be fucking around with a player of this quality. Jol is very very protective of his 'kids'. We wouldn't set out to destroy a player who's main asset is the pace he possesses.

~Spooky

The Aftermath

2007-02-03T11:44:00.000Z

Apparently the club have received emails of complaint from angry Spurs fans after the semi-final defeat. I promise it wasn't me.

And in the tabloids papers today, Jol has been quoted with the following:

"We’ve realised we miss Michael Carrick. His biggest quality was to move play from defence to attack and win the ball. Because of him, other players played better. Tom Huddlestone has that quality but he has just turned 20 and he still has to make the next stage in his development"

"You can lose against Arsenal even if you are playing their so-called second string side. They simply bring in Cesc Fabregas, Gael Clichy, Julio Baptista then there’s Theo Walcott, Johan Djourou. The 2-2 draw in the first leg felt worse than a defeat. We went from football heaven to football hell. The worst part is the second half stays with you, especially when e-mails come in. Arsenal have a team within a team. They can freshen up the team in five or six positions. I can’t take that risk"

"If you want to be a good club then you have to develop your own players — like Ajax used to do. They only bought if there wasn’t another solution. Our vision is to develop young players to be top ones. That’s why I’d rather work with British lads"

"I have bought many footballers who then hardly played but I won’t be doing it again"

"Berbatov is a fantastic target man but he can also create things himself. He’s not a warhorse but a very graceful footballer — almost like a ballerina. When he doesn’t play then we can become pretty average"

Elsewhere (The Daily Mail) Carrick has stated that Spurs could afford to lose games because people didn't expect them to win all the time. Which is sort of ironic considering that he must have accepted this when he was at Spurs. All well and good having a go at us now that he is surrounded by players of a higher quality.

Seems everyone is having a dig. Get yourself over to Glory.Glory.net to witness a kool-aid mass forum suicide, with everyone drowning in each others negativity and over the top reactions to the semi-final defeat.

I've had time to reflect and I've had time to think about it all and the only people to blame are the fans. We expect too much. We want too much too quickly. And yes, its our right to have ambitions and demand success but we are not in a position to get it. As much as we like to delude ourselves, we are not half as good as we think we are. Sure, its just a minority of people on Internet message boards, but if you got 34,000 home fans onto a forum, I'm certain most would react with their hearts instead of their heads (much like I've done in the past).

Fact is, breaking into the top 4 is still something thats a season or two away from us. Dwelling on Carrick and what may have happened had he stayed is irrelevant. He never wanted to stay. And Jol knows that this has probably had a detrimential effect on the way we play. If we could replace Carrick, we would have done so. It's not an easy thing to do, and people who think it is are fooling themselves. Huddlestone is a wonderful wonderful talent, but he is not the same type of player Carrick was. One player doesn't make a team, but it certainly has a huge impact on it.

Criticising Martin Jol to the point when you begin to question whether he is the 'right man' is positively ridiculous. Look at the last 15 years. Then compare it to the seasons under Jol. The simple fact of the matter is, that all the mis-management off the field and then on it (with the wrong appointments) has resulted in the job to make Spurs 'big' again - a monumental task.

One over-achieving season, finishing 4th, doesn't mean that we will automatically consolidate that position the following year. Yes, our mentality away from home has dropped well below par, and yes that may have a lot to do with Carricks departure. But generally speaking, Spurs have always been a soft touch regardless of the players and the manager, who have always given out points to teams in need or lost with pathetic performances. Or always struggled to achieve success over the 'big' teams. So one good season last year, traditionally, would not be followed by a second one as guarantee.

Changing a habit of a life-time will take time. I know we fans hate hearing that. But it's a fact that can't be argued with.

Jol is talking about building a team. A club. Bringing in youth for tomorrow and looking for us to produce our own Spurs-breed players. He sees we lack depth, and he knows he has made mistakes in the transfer market before. But let's not be too harsh as the first round of players who joined the club (many who have since departed) were down to Frank Arnesen. Less said about Danny Murphy the better.

All our shortcomings are ones we have ALWAYS had. They are not weakness of Martin Jol. They are weakness of Tottenham Hotspur. With one difference. At least with this manager and this squad you can seriously sit back and say 'you know what....we ain't that bad' and people won't laugh at you.

Other fans of other clubs respect and admire Martin Jol. Some would love to have him as a manager. We have some of the best young talent in the country. It's just that Utd and Arsenal have even better young talent than us, but we are moving in the right direction.

Sometimes Jol confuses us with his tactical changes. And his rotation of players. And his current tactics away from home. But when nobody expected us to perform the way we did last year (come on, no one thought we we sit in 4th for 4 months) how can you possibly think that we are on the way down in the way of progression? Things change from one season to the next and Jol has done more for this club in under 3 years than all our managers from the past 10 years have done.

This is not about accepting second best. It's not about creating excuses to hide behind mediocre performances.

Our mentality will improve. We will start to compete when it matters. We will claim consistency.
I know some of you will read this and point the finger at me saying that I have the mentality that Carrick spoke of about Spurs. That I'm OK with losing some games. Because that's who we are....Spurs. And second best is what we do. Well, you might laugh at me, but I'm laughing back at you, because a few FA Cups in the early 80's doesn't make us an outright Premiership force in the present day.

Let me finish with something I read on a forum just a few moments ago. One member slated Spurs fans who accept the need of patience. Another member agreed and stated the following:

If Liverpool slip to 6th in the table their is a national outrage from their fans,If Spurs slip down the table it is seen as acceptable.I don't find it acceptable one bit.

And there we have it. The reason why people in my school of thinking are right, and the people in theirs are wrong. Liverpool dominated the 70's and 80's. Thats why they have the right to be outraged. What the fuck have we ever done in the League to have this kind of unjustified arrogance? It's one thing saying demanding we win every game and having the players think that way too, and its all together another thing actually believing it. Spurs fans, for more than 30 or 40 years have been content with playing great football as the main priority and living off the 1960's.

Changing the mentality of a team is hard enough, changing the mentality of a club is even harder.

~Spooky

King out for 8 weeks

2007-02-02T14:31:00.000Z

All Hail Anthony Gardner.

If he gets injured maybe Calum Davenport can take his place. Oh hold up, we sold him. Not too worry, we can always start with Rocha.

Oh God help us.....

King is out for about 6-8 weeks with a stress injury to the left fourth metatarsal. Not unexpected tbh. He hardly plays a full season for us anymore.

Glad to hear the Mido's transfer to City fell through. If only because it would have meant (according to the rumourwhores) that Harewood was on his way to Spurs for £4.5M.

Personally, I'm glad we didnt go silly and buy players for the sake of doing so. We need consistency and for the current players to settle in and gel. Its a cliche, but it runs true for us. It might mean ending up in 7th or 8th (which wouldnt be great unless we won the FA Cup or UEFA Cup). Oh God have mercy on my soul for saying this, but it's another transitional season for the Spurs. But a positive one. Unlike the ones under Santini or Gross, or even Hoddle.

We've bought for the future again - but these players will only really make it at Spurs if they enter into a first team that are strong and successful. We have a while to get things right.

Taarabt - we may see next term.

Barnes - we will sign in the summer (jinxed).

~Spooky

Sack the Manager?

2007-02-01T09:34:00.000Z

In Defence of Jol

Not too bad of an article, and one that most of the knee-jerking Spurs fan should read and attempt this morning while the much on their coco-pops (article is from the Beebs 606).

As you can see from yesterdays blogs, I was all over the place with my opinions so I'm gonna wait another day or so before I reflect.

We also failed in signing Giles Barnes and apparently failed with selling Mido (which personally is a good thing).

~Spooky

£2M on a 15 year old

2007-02-01T00:48:00.000Z

Tottenham have signed midfield prospect Dean Parrett from Rangers in a £2million deal.

Parrett, 15, attracted interest from Chelsea but opted for a move to White Hart Lane. The deal was completed on Wednesday night following several weeks of negotiations.

The England youth international is rated as one of the best young players in the country.

Rangers had planned to give Parrett his first-team debut as a substitute later this season if safety in the Championship was secure.

That would have made him the youngest ever player to turn out for QPR, beating Frank Sibley’s longstanding record.

We'll have to wait a while before getting excited about this lad. Yet another one for the future. Must be pretty decent to fork out two million. No word on Giles Barnes yet.......

~Spooky

eight beers in

2007-01-31T22:25:00.000Z

Oh well. Thats that then. I'm not gonna place any blame on Rocha. Arsenal always looked the more likely to make it two-one (did we even touch the ball in extra-time?). And the no-show of Lennon on the bench (not on the bench because of illness, and then 'on' the bench in Spurs minds, but not officially on the team sheet according to the assistant ref.....or maybe he was on the bench and he fell ill and we couldn't replace him time.......confusing).

No 'getting the game by the scruff of the neck' ethics to be seen from the Tottenham players. Mido and Huddlestone should have started. That would have sent the right message for what needed to be done.

All goes back to the home game. Two-nil and we......well, I'm sure you've heard the song.

Regardless of all of Tottenham's negatives, you can't really take it away from the scum. They deserved it on the nights performance.

Let's be honest. We don't have any world class players in our ranks. We dont have any true class either. Maybe, apart from Berbatov and Lennon (when on fire). Both were missing and the result was no width and pretty much no clever play up front. No King at the back is also damaging to our structure. These are not excuse for tonight, I'm talking generally. We don't have any true depth.

How long left till the end of the transfer window?

UEFA Cup it is then.

~Spooky (drunk and down)

two beers in

2007-01-31T19:30:00.000Z

If they flop tonight they should all be fined a months wages. these are the type of games where they have to show us 1000% commitment. If we lose because Arsenal are simply the better team, then thats life. if we lose because of the wrong attitude or commitment or lack of passion or whatever.....thats near enough a disgrace.

My issue is that even though Lennon has been average against Arsenal overall in the two games, you'd think our most 'creative' player would get fired up for it and would be the point of our attacking movements.

I just think its negative. But before I drown in my own contradictions and hypocrisy, I have one last thing to say:

COME ON YOU SPURS, LETS DO THESE FUCKING SHOWER OF CUNTS!!!!

Right, another beer....mates are round. See you all on the other side.

~Spooky

EDIT (from the bbc):

1926: Reports reach us that Aaron Lennon is not starting for Tottenham as he has been suffering with illness - so Martin Jol must be sure he is making a rapid recovery to name him among his substitutes.

LOL. I'm a typical Spurs fan with the over-reactions. I'll go sit in front of the tv now.

I don't know what to think now....

2007-01-31T19:11:00.000Z

All Lennon has done for us against Arsenal is lose the ball and then 'skip' away in disappointment.

Even though i blogged the opinion that dropping him isn't a shock, having just finished a cold one, leaving him out does seem a little insane considering he is probably the one player who can give us another dimension (the only dimension) in being able to run them ragged.

Gardner preferred to Rocha is also staggering. I should shut up now. I'm obviously not a football manager. Just a fan. A very fickle and soon to be drunk fan. So I don't have the right to know anything.

~Spooky

Team for tonight

2007-01-31T18:59:00.000Z

Team for tonight:

Robbo
Chimbonda
Dawson
Gardner
Assou-Ekotto
Ghaly
Zokora
Jenas
Malbranque
Defoe
Keane

On the bench: Cerny, Mido, Huddlestone, Lennon, Rocha.

Not surprised to see Lennon dropped, even though you would think he would be a key player, he hasn't been too hot against Arsenal in both games this season. Well, for a game and a half at least. Yes, he is our most creative player and yes he was superb over the weekend (against Southend...). On the one hand this is very negative from Jol, and on the other, the voice in my head screams 'He knows what he's doing'.

At the moment, I don't know what to think. Just can't figure it out. And I've been distracted by the puke-enhancing A-Team theme music Sky Sports are playing for the Arsenal team. See what they did there? They took the 'A' from Arsenal and the......anyways. I need a beer.

~Spooky

Warcry!

2007-01-31T12:36:00.000Z

We've got a lot of good players here, and a lot of players who are hungry to win something - we'll be going there all guns blazing ~ Spurs midfielder Jermaine Jenas

I'm quoting you on these Jenas. I'll find out where you live and shake my fist at you with much anger if you fail to turn up for tonights game.

Arsenal, for the record are also gonna come out 'all guns blazing'. There could be blood. There will be tears.

~Spooky

Head v Heart

2007-01-30T22:10:00.000Z

As much as I would like to think we aint gonna get dicked tomorrow night, I can't see where a winning goal will come from. We would have to put in some performance to get to through to Cardiff. Arsenal are always good for a goal or two, which means we would need to match them. 0-0 or 1-1 wouldn't be enough (away goals count after extra-time). Can we really go there and win? I'm not half as nervous as I should be, probably because my head is telling my heart; No chance.

But you know what, football shouldn't be about marginalising your feelings. It shouldn't be about accepting defeat before the ball is even kicked. Yes, the odds are against us. Yes, everything points to them being mentality stronger (see the first leg for evidence). And yes, I did start this blog with the belief that we're gonna get dicked but fuck it. You just have to believe. And if the players don't turn up and we lose 3-0......shame on them. If they turn up and play and take the lead........well, that's when we find out if the mental block will be our curse. Redemption is their key.

The point is, it's far more fun to think you're in with a chance. The beers will make sure of that.

~Spooky

Almost the end of the transfer window....

2007-01-30T20:50:00.000Z

Giles Barnes (Derby) and Parrett (QPR wonderkid) are apparently on their way to the Lane, according to the never-ever-wrong In The Know's. I'll have both of them (well Barnes at the very least). Don't know too much about Parrett other than he is meant to be very good. Again, two players for the future, and tbh, I'm liking this from Spurs. Nothing wrong with picking up the best young talent in the country to add to the Huddlestones and Lennons we already have. If we somehow manage to get Gareth Bale, that would be sweet. Though, I'm inclined to believe he will remain at Southampton and make the move to Man Utd in the summer. Shame really, he would be perfect for us.

It's been pretty quiet this January. For most. Spurs have a habit of signing someone in the very last moments of the windows, so you never know...maybe we are keeping someone back until after tomorrows second leg at the Emirates. You know, to help cheer us up.....

~Spooky

DEAR MR SPOOKY

2007-01-29T23:38:00.000Z

DAN: thank you for adding me to your MSN list

SPOOKSTER23: you’re a bird, right?

DAN: what?

SPOOKSTER23: show me your webcam

DAN: why?

SPOOKSTER23: listen honey, if you want some cyber-loving you’re gonna have to show me your goods

DAN: i think you’ve misunderstood my intentions. my name is Daniel and not Danielle

SPOOKSTER23: dude, i don’t do wood-on-wood action or any of that dick-tapping-monitor shit. try Mike-T69 if that’s your bag

DAN: no that’s not why i’ve logged on. At least not tonight

SPOOKSTER23: unless you’re about to send me pics of your legally aged sister in her panties, I’m gonna block you

DAN: Spooky, this is Daniel.

SPOOKSTER23: yeah, I got that the first time you said it, hence the soon to be block

DAN: Daniel Levy

SPOOKSTER23: you what?

DAN: Daniel Levy. The Daniel Levy

SPOOKSTER23: LOL!!!1111 yeah, whatever dude

DAN: I know, I know, you are probably a little shocked that you are chatting online with me. I have to admit, it’s quite surreal finally ‘talking’ to you

SPOOKSTER23: Levy? HA! Yeah right. Another disgruntled glory-glory.net admin more like. Listen, I promised I would stop posting threads in your forums about mobile phones. I’ve stuck to my promise so stop hassling me. FFS, have you never used a Sony Ericsson? Its bloody difficult with the options and buttons and stuff. I get easily confused

DAN: Its Levy, Spooky

SPOOKSTER23: no chance. Whoever you are, I’ll find out your IP address and DOS attack you. Don’t think I wont do it.

DAN: check my MSN profile

DAN: you checked it? I managed to find your MSN chat name from one of the forums you use

SPOOKSTER23: your profile says Supreme Commander and Chief of Tottenham Hotspur and Athletic Co

DAN: Yes it does

SPOOKSTER23: it must be you.

SPOOKSTER23: Hold up, how do I know this isn’t a wind-up? How do I know this isn’t a trick?

DAN: Supreme Commander. Says so in my profile.

SPOOKSTER23: Still cant be 100% sure

DAN: then let me prove it

SPOOKSTER23: ok, last Christmas, what did you get from me? I sent you a present

DAN: Easy. You sent me a replica of the Devils Tower made out of bagels and a note proclaiming to beware of a close encounter

SPOOKSTER23: correct. I sadly couldn’t follow up that threat. Apparently standing outside your mansion with a cricket bat is deemed anti-social behaviour. This country has turned into a liberal joke

DAN: so you believe me then?

SPOOKSTER23: if you are him, whats with the online chatting? You’ve never answered any of my letters. Not a single one. In all these years. All the protests I’ve made, you just communicate through your lawyers and the police. And as for my letters…..all I get is one of those stupid complimentary slips with a picture of you playing golf and ‘Up the Spurs!’ written across it

DAN: yes, and I apologise for not being able to personally answer your correspondence. I’m a busy man. And legally, its not something I would be advised to do considering our history

SPOOKSTER23: so why are you talking to me now?

DAN: because it’s time to settle this once and for all. And with the aid of the information super-highway it’s a little less complicated than having to converse via the Royal Mail and letters

SPOOKSTER23: you send me a letter? More chance of spurs keeping a clean sheet

DAN: how very droll

SPOOKSTER23: so what do you want? Are you about to offer me the exclusive story that you are set to resign or sell the club back to its rightful owner, Alan Sugar?

DAN: theres more chance of spurs keeping a clean sheet

SPOOKSTER23: get your own jokes you plagiaristic sonofabitch

DAN: now, now. No crude language please. This isn’t the South Lower

SPOOKSTER23: ok. You know what. say what you wanna say. Cause if you are who you say you are, I’ve got quite a bit to say back. Saves me buying a first class stamp

DAN: thank you Spooky. I should probably start by saying……Dear Mr Spooky…

SPOOKSTER23: if I could slap you in the head using control alt delete I would

DAN: Allow me to first thank you for the effigy of my good self that you sent by recorded delivery after the Arsenal first leg semi-final

SPOOKSTER23: my pleasure

DAN: I understand you were unable to hand deliver it to White Hart Lane’s main reception due to the court order that bans you from going anywhere near the West Stand

SPOOKSTER23: I cant even go to my local corner shop anymore on the grounds that the owner doesn’t agree with me defecating on newspapers that print your image. No freedom of expression left in this once great country

DAN: Spooky, you have to understand we don’t allow paupers to venture to this part of the stadium. And after the incident where you chained yourself naked to one of the turnstiles chanting Levy has stripped us of our dignity, you understand that its important that such an incident does not reoccur.

SPOOKSTER23: typical rich living-in-the-sky chairman, doesn’t want to hear from the people down below in the dirt

DAN: if you wish to partake in such activities in the Park Lane its of no concern to me. As for the effigy, it’s one of the more interesting gifts I have received in recent times.

SPOOKSTER23: cheers. I’m glad you liked it.

DAN: I particularly like how you attached a secondary effigy of a cockerel, which my effigy appeared to be straddling in a position you kids like to call ‘doggy’. I don’t quite understand what you are attempting to state with this, but rest assured that the gift is currently presiding on the desk of the investigating CID officer.

SPOOKSTER23: is there a point to all your yabbering?

DAN: Yes of course. Are you sitting comfortably?

SPOOKSTER23: I’m in front of my pc. of course I bloody am.

DAN: I doubt it. You troublesome lot in the Park Lane wouldn’t recognise a seat if an Ikea fell on your head.

SPOOKSTER23: you know what, screw you.

DAN: no please, I apologise. It’s so easy to be obnoxious when using one of these computers. I shouldn’t be forgetting my private school education. I want to talk to you about your last letter.

SPOOKSTER23: which one?

DAN: the one where you said that I was slowly but surely destroying the very fabric of this club.

SPOOKSTER23: oh yeah, that one

DAN: you likened me to Moriarty to your Sherlock Holmes and that we were heading towards the Reichenbach Falls

SPOOKSTER23: Easier to meet at Bruce Grove. You never showed

DAN: I had other commitments, washing my hair

SPOOKSTER23: you’re so full of shit.

DAN: come now

SPOOKSTER23: no, you are. You want to talk to me about my last letter? listen up you bald MOFO, you haven’t given a shit about my opinion and my rage against your machine from day one. Where were you when I chucked a burning season ticket at your wife? Where were you when I dressed up as Chirpy and attempted to slide tackle you, and missed and ended up breaking Donald Duck’s leg? I’m frigging banned from Disneyworld because of that.

DAN: so much anger. Anybody would think we weren’t in the semi-final of the Carling Cup, the 5^th round of the FA Cup, in touch with Europe in the Prem and progressing nicely in the UEFA Cup.

SPOOKSTER23: you must be drunk on the champagne you bought from selling Carrick to Utd

DAN: that money went on an indoor swimming pool, jacuzzi and purpose-built gym I’ll have you know. I oppose the fact you keep referring to my drinking habits

SPOOKSTER23: who the hell do you think you are?

DANKINGOFTHELANE: I’m the man responsible for you wearing that electronic tag

SPOOKSTER23: HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO EXPLAIN MYSELF!!! Like I told the police and like I told the judge, I did not kidnap your f*cking dogs

DANKINGOFTHELANE: the police found them in your basement

SPOOKSTER23: and like my solicitor explained in court they must have followed me home when I was out jogging

DANKINGOFTHELANE: you live twenty miles away from me

SPOOKSTER23: I like to keep fit.

DAN: admit defeat. You’ll never burn your season ticket

SPOOKSTER23: that’s only because you’ve made them fire resistant . I’ve just seen that interview you gave Sky Sports News today. You said that its unlikely we will be busy in the transfer market between now and the end of the window

DAN: so?

SPOOKSTER23: you said you were happy with signing just Alnwick and Taarabt ffs.

DAN: ITS MY FRIGGING MONEY OK SO I’LL SPEND IT WHEN I’M GOOD AND FRIGGING READY

SPOOKSTER23: I could never trust the man who sold away our dreams and hopes. Andy Reid was not fat! He’s just small and stocky

DAN: theres a reason why I don’t have you banned from the Park Lane end

SPOOKSTER23: really? Why is that?

DAN: Because I know, at every home game, you’ll forever be looking up at me

SPOOKSTER23: IM GONNA F*CKING AVE YOU LEVY. I GUARANTEE IT. DON’T YOU READ THE INTERNET? FANS ON MESSAGE BOARDS ARE SLAGGING YOU OFF AS WE SPEAK. YOUR DAYS ARE NUMBERED MATE, NUMBERED

DAN: yeah whatever dude, while you walk up Tottenham High Rd eating your bag of chips having sat on a smelly train to Seven Sisters station, I’m working on my strategic masterplan for the clubs future. Have you ever tried writing down notes in a pad with a glass of port in one hand while trying to entertain two leggy blonde twenty-year old girls? There’s not as much room as you think they’d be in the back of a chauffer driven Bentley

DAN: and yet, with all these obstacles thrown in front of me, I’m still able to run this club with ease. Save your ink. Sit back, and enjoy Spooks. I run tings, tings don’t run me.

SPOOKSTER23: sit back and enjoy what? you killing the club, season by season? you let Anersen join Chelsea, you refuse to ban the ‘England’s number one’ chant from the ground, why is Mido still at the club? What the hell is a Rocha? Huddlestone needs to go on a diet. You didn’t sell King for £25M when you had the chance and now we’re left with a crocked player. Jol is naïve with his tactics. Our away record is a joke..

SPOOKSTER23: you still online?

DAN: Hey

SPOOKSTER23: what?

DAN: smell you later

DAN IS OFFLINE

SPOOKSTER23: this means war

Its Fulham in the Cup!

2007-01-29T20:09:00.000Z

Away at Craven Cottage for the 5th Round of the FA Cup. Looking at the rest of the draw, nothing that exiting in the way of potential giant-killings or must-watch games. All a bit bland really. Hopefully we won't choke and get knocked out. No disrespect meant to Fulham. It's about time we actually beat them on their own turf.

I fancy us for the quarters. Oh.....my knees are going trembley.

~Spooky

Berbs in Germany

2007-01-28T22:55:00.000Z

Berbatov is currently in Germany seeking the magical healing powers of specialist Hans Muller-Wolfhart to help with his groin injury.

Tragically, he is out of Wednesday's second leg. I think the moment he got injured was the moment we 'lost' the semi-final. As much as Robbie Keane huffs and puffs around the pitch, I don't have any great hope of us achieving anything close to a victory without The Berb.

Yeah, how negative am I? Well actually I'm being quite level-headed about it. They haven't lost at AG and with them having to go away to Bolton in the FA Cup (replay) they will make damn sure they win on Wednesday to get through to the final. Which means anything thats not 1000% better than our 3-0 defeat at the Emirates in the Prem won't be good enough.

Fucking 'ell, I aint looking forward to this one.

~Spooky

spare a thought for the not so 'appy 'ammers...

2007-01-28T21:29:00.000Z

Post-Watford FA Cup defeat blues for our resident West Ham nut, Chazza:

Despite spending a large amount of money and appointing a new manager we seem to have gone backwards rather than forwards.

Boa Morte look utterly disinterested, Neil went off injured (rumour going round he dropped his wallet on his foot) and will no doubt do a Bowyer (ie. sit on the treatment table till we're relegated whilst happily collecting his wages) while we've left one of the best keepers in the country on the bench for some gambling addicted Irish pikey drunk.

Watford are utterly hopeless. God knows what that makes us and what does our hero, our messiah, managerial great Alan Curbishley have to say to rally the troops... some shit about last season again that he himself said he hated people bringing up yet does it at every opportunity, trying to deflect criticism from how uninspiring he is along with his tactics.

Every single player back at corners against Watford at home. Mark Noble, a young guy who'd bleed claret and blue not even on the bench. Sheringham still anywhere near the team. A number of players being bombed out because of what appear to be personal issues (Konchesky, Mears, Noble, Mascherano) while others are starting despite being utterly fucking shit (Shaun Newton FFS! Most clubs would bomb a player out if they failed a drug test. EVERY club would bomb a player out if they failed a drug test and weren't actually any good. Not West Ham) A midfield player who was one of the stars of the World Cup and wanted by two huge clubs in Liverpool and Juventus... I could go on... ~ Chazza Muffin

WHU v Watford Thread

Staying Up?

You'd think something will click for them soon in a positive way, but it seems that no matter what team Curbs fields, they respond with very little. Tuesday night Liverpool visit Upton Park. The Man Utd win way back should have kick-started West Ham's climb up the table. Should have. Its going to be interesting to see how the players perform against the Reds. I guess its a good opportunity for some of the WHU players to impress to guarantee that transfer away when/if they go down.

~Spooky

Spurs 3 Southend 1

2007-01-28T21:24:00.000Z

"Who's that Pikey in my seat", rang the chant, with fingers pointing at the Southend fans who sat in the Park Lane where the Spurs season ticket holders usually sit. I still don't quite understand why the club is using that section of the South Stand for away fans when they could quite easily give them the standard corner and maybe an extra block (along with the lower west stand bit). Anyways, comfortable win, Lennon looked good......but then the opposition wasn't exactly up to the standard of the Arsenal reserve team.

Heres looking forward to the 5th round, and probably another not very sexy tie against lower opposition at home.

~Spooky

Davids gone, Rocha in, and maybe Bale.....

2007-01-28T20:41:00.000Z

So, Davids is off to Ajax. No big shock considering he hardly gets a game. World class in his prime, way off it at Spurs, but played his part in last seasons surge to *cough* 5th *cough*. Probably had the desired effect off the pitch, in training which makes me wonder why he wasn't offered a coaching role. Then again, he could easily play on for a few years, so going back to Holland is probably the far more attractive option. Not that a coaching role was ever a real option other than in the heads of a few Spurs fans.

I don't know nowt about Rocha, except he is meant to be pretty decent and we needed a center-back with Ledley acting the sicknote at the moment. Experienced, so probably far better than the departed Davenport or the please-depart-soon Gardner. Not a glory glory type of signing, just one that's much needed to shore up the defence especially with so many games at the moment.

As for Bale. £10M? United claim we are in the front-running for his signature, but reading between the lines (Fergie's is the one rumourwhoring) it's obvious that Utd want him and will probably get him. Bale will stay at Soton for another year or so and then get drafted into Utd's team. On the other hand, he could probably walk into the Spurs line-up at the moment, due to the fact that even at 17, he is better than what we have at left-back. And £10M isn't a lot when you consider how much we have spunked for that position over the last few years on highly dubious 'quality'.

~Spooky

Spurs 2 Gypos 2

2007-01-28T19:44:00.000Z

"....if we play with pace and tempo like we've done in the past against the 'big clubs' at the Lane, we need to take every single chance we create. Otherwise, we can kiss it goodbye. Time to be relentless" ~ Spooky, in a previous blog

Yep. Kiss it indeed. Once more we give 45 minutes of exactly what's needed, followed by the anti-performance that makes the previous forty-five redundant. Not much to say except, wonderful first half display (if only.....if if if if only Berbs had not got injured, I fancied us for a 3rd with him on the pitch) and a craptacular second half display in that if you sit back and allow ANY Arsenal team to attack, then you have no chance of keeping a clean sheet (regardless how fucking inept Paul Robinson is at the moment).

Firstly, Arsenal fans. Try for some consistency with your gloating. Most of them have been saying how much of a disgrace Spurs were not to have beaten the Arsenal Yoof/Reserves. "You can't even beat our kids" they gloat. On the one hand, they claim to have the best players about, so surely if thats the case, drawing/losing to them isn't the shock it's meant to be? Is it? Even their 'second string side' has wonderful depth of quality players (and two world class players.......two more than what we have).

If they are as good as the Arsenal fans claim them to be, then why the big shock at claiming a draw at WHL, or for that matter getting there in the first place? Bit of a fallacy that allows the gooners to have their fun at our expense. Though, hand on heart, did anyone really think Spurs would hold their own..........against our worst enemy.............thats us by the way, not them?

It wasn't The Beast that brought us down to earth, it was Tottenham Hotspur. The textbook knee-jerk that the players seem to get when they find themselves in a strong position.

Consolidate your lead, Spurs. But that seems to be a mission impossible when it matters most. Much like the second leg at the Emirates will be.

The Spurs team are pretty inexperienced (in certain positions) but that's no real excuse. The Arsenal side fielded at the Lane could hold their own against most of the Prem....and if we're meant to be shit, whats the big deal? Hey, in your face Arsenal......you couldn't even beat Spurs with your second eleven.

This blog entry is losing it's structure now, much like we did last Wednesday. Disappointing that the players didn't up the temp further in the second half and finish them off. It seems that Spurs CAN get themselves going for the big big games (well, this time round at least) but definitely can not last the whole 90. How many times do I need to talk about 'mentality' and 'self-belief'. Once more, over to you Mr Jol.

~Spooky

Finally back online....

2007-01-28T18:57:00.000Z

My exodus is over. Monitor died on Tuesday. I've had to wait until today to venture down to Tottenham Court Rd and do some shopping. Business as usual soon...

~Spooky

King's Out

2007-01-22T19:03:00.000Z

All Hail Anthony Gardner!

No Ledley on Wednesday, which is a huge huge blow. Found out today that for the second leg, to get a ticket, you need 188 loyalty points. I've fallen short at 175. Gutted. Will have to wait and see if one happens to drop into my lap by pure luck. Was looking forward to returning to the Emirates. We owe them a performance. Our players owe us a performance. It's not a North London Derby if one of the teams fails to turn up. Have to make do with Sky Sports probably for that one.

As for Wednesday, ticket has arrived. Not going to be easy, regardless of the team they put out. One thing our boys need to do is.........if we play with pace and tempo like we've done in the past against the 'big clubs' at the Lane, we need to take every single chance we create. Otherwise, we can kiss it goodbye. Time to be relentless. Couldn't ask for a more difficult challenge IMO.

~Spooky

Grand Slam in the face

2007-01-21T23:28:00.000Z

So, Arsenal do what they do best and win their game against Utd in the dying seconds. You-know-who scores the winner. It's the same olde script. You'd think there be an alternative ending at some point. At least that's what I wish for. Credit to them. But boy, do they make me sick.

Liverpool beating Chelsea was less of a shock having watched the game. I have no idea why I thought a team without Terry, Carvalho and Makelele would stand a chance at Anfield. Egg on face for me. The Blues were woeful. Probably one of their worst and most ineffective performances under Jose. They looked ordinary. More of the same please.

As for Hatton. He won. As for Ben Thatcher. He shook the hands of Pedro Mendes before kick-off. And Charlton shook the foundations of Fratton Park by taking all three points.

Not a bad weekend. Now forwards we look, and to Wednesday. I'm already bricking it.

~Spooky

Jenas and his Bentley

2007-01-21T21:50:00.000Z

The lad smashed into the back of a van. Seems his co-ordination on the field is the same off it.

~Spooky

Bring back Pleat

2007-01-20T16:59:00.000Z

We have the players that can produce the goods, yet they rarely do away from home. But then again, when you look like you start out to play for a draw and you get a draw (against 10 men) the only person you can really look to for answers is the manager.

I don't quite grasp the concept of tactics on our travels. And lack of passion/self-belief/desire/whatever other footballing ingredient needed to make the fans proud. Today's game was awful, and apart from Robinson (who was actually pretty good for once) and maybe one or two other players, the rest look pretty much dis-interested.

With both Pompey and Bolton losing today, the one point is even more worthless than it looks. No, this isn't a knee-jerk, it's just a reaction to the frustrating facts. One away win in the Premiership. Again, difficult to understand why such a gulf in difference (relating to mentality) compared to last season.

Dare I say.......Carrick? We're we so reliant on him last year? Can one player really have such a negative impact on the teams flow and structure? Maybe. Probably. But the fact of the matter is, Carrick is the past. He wanted to move on and that's exactly what happened. We just move on and not look for the reasons in the past, but the present.

This shit is unacceptable.

It's probably not the best time for me to review this game in any true depth. Just in case I fill the blog with knee-jerks. One thing though. With Davenport gone, and lack of cover at the back (Gardner's 'clearance' lead to the shoot that hit Dawson's arm..........yeah, Anthony is set to be the 'Scapegoat of the Week for the Lilywhite faithful.....when isn't he?) we need to bring in cover for the CB position and also possibly another one or two signings with at least 2 or 3 players going off in the opposite direction.

However, bringing in new blood won't change the fact that we.........fuck it...

[kneejerk]Tactically, we get it wrong every single time away from home therefore, Martin Jol has to take a long hard look at how he motivates the players and what he looks to do tactically. We - as fans - can't keep on blaming the players. Getting it wrong 2 or 3 times is fine, its a learning-curve or sorts. Getting it wrong all the way into January.......thats unacceptable. Jol has to start giving himself a dirty look now and again to scare him into trying something different. [/kneejerk]

So, what do we do? Well, nothing. We let him get on with it. The last thing Spurs need is another transitional period under new management. I'm not suggesting for a second that this is even crossing anyone's mind (well, apart from the loonies). We just need to accept that there is still plenty to iron out and plenty of work to do and if this means a dip from 5th to 8th - then so be it. It's not like we have ever set the Premiership on fire. And if you look around, at clubs who have always been in and around the top 4 or 5, they too are still nowhere near getting into the top 2. It's not a simplistic as we would like to hope. And last seasons dramatic finish at 5th probably elevated our hopes a tad too high. And being a tad excitable, you can see why disappointing performances will hurt more than they should do.

If nothing has changed or progressed two seasons or so from now, then Levy will have to re-think his masterplan. Personally, I don't think we have anything to worry about. We are in safe hands.

~Spooky

Grand Slam Weekend

2007-01-19T20:32:00.000Z

Liverpool v Chelsea

This should be a cracker. Nah, just ribbing you. Have to say it's a difficult one to predict as Liverpool - strong as they are at home (except when playing Arsenal) are still not a team you can fully back to beat a Chelsea side who are allegedly going through a 'crisis'. And oh, what a crisis!! Second in the Premiership. That makes for depressing reading for the team from Fulham. A draw is a good as Liverpool can hope for I think. Chelsea, not the force they were last season but still strong enough, will not allow themselves to lose at Anfield. If...'if' they did, then they will have to hope that Arsenal defeat Utd on Sunday, otherwise Manchester United fans will reclaim their throne as the most irritating fans in the country.

Ricky Hatton v Juan Urango

Hatton's fighting for the IBF welterweight in Vegas against an unbeaten Colombian. Hatton will therefore be focused, determined and hoping to sniff out any potential upset by knocking out Urango early on. I'll Sky+ this one.

Arsenal v Man U

This should....I hope....but a monster of a game. Arsenal are playing catch-up and continue their confident attack towards the top two places. They haven't lost at the Emirates yet. If there's one team that can go there and win, it's Utd. I'm sounding like Lawro here. I've got fingers crossed that Man Utd stick it up their c*nts.

Pompey v Thatcher

Odds on Ben getting sent-off or getting a taste of his own medicine? Don't let us down Pedro.

~Spooky

Feyenoord kicked out of UEFA Cup

2007-01-19T16:32:00.000Z

Decision from UEFA.com

We now await to see if we get a bye or play another team from their group who will be lucky enough to be 'promoted' from the group stages into the next round. Or maybe a Champs League loser gets to take their place. Bit of a mess to be honest.

Maybe Levy can sue UEFA for lose of gate receipts. I'm kidding. No seriously, Daniel, that was a joke.

~Spooky

Something for the weekend, Sir?

2007-01-19T16:16:00.000Z

Spotted in a Vidal Sassoon in Whiteleys Of Bayswater shopping centre getting a haircut.....Alexander Helb.

Only made interesting by the fact he was having it cut in the 'schooling' part of Vidal Sassoon where 'students of hairdressing' learn their trade.....and cut the persons hair for free.

Maybe he forgot his wallet at home.

~Spooky

score draw

2007-01-18T15:14:00.000Z

The Football League today accepted our position on the issue of away ticketing allocations and ruled that there should be parity in percentage of allocation. They therefore asked Arsenal FC to find a way to increase the allocation at the Emirates stadium to match that which we were able to provide at White Hart Lane - namely 12.2%.

Arsenal FC have since responded that they are unable to do so and we find their unwillingness to accommodate this percentage of away fans disappointing. The Football League, in light of Arsenal's inability to comply with this, has therefore provided for the away allocation of tickets for supporters at both White Hart Lane and the Emirates to be equal, based upon Arsenal's provision of 5,173 away tickets. This means that we shall only be providing Arsenal with 3,000.

The Football League has stressed that their decision has been made in the exceptional circumstances of this being Arsenal's first season at the Emirates stadium and should not be used as a precedent in future seasons.

from tottenhamhotspur.com

The cheek of them still wanting a higher percentage at the Lane. Staggering arrogance.

~Spooky

semi-final tickets (again)

2007-01-18T12:17:00.000Z

From Football365:

"I can't go without a mention to Spurs, dear dear Spurs, apparently you have only allocated us Gooners 3,000 seats for the milk cup semi, and not the agreed 15% as per league rules. Apparently this is due to safety reasons?? This is easily solved, don't play Jenas and there is less likelihood of him injuring anyone behind the gaols with his 30 yards howitzers.

Rob (Narf London Gooner now in Dublin) Smith

Rob, try removing your head out of your arse so that in future you dont mis-read the facts. Let me guess....you didn't see the facts? Like manager, like fan.

Thankfully some intelligence to counter the LOLZ attack from Rob:

Phil Cornwall:

Another, more long-standing and plainly worthwhile rule is in the news, that granting the away side higher percentages of the tickets for cup ties.

Arsenal, it seems, have built a stadium incapable of holding a major cup tie. They are unable to give Spurs the 15 per cent entitlement for the Carling Cup semi-final, for reasons of segregation.

The solution is fairly simple. Give Spurs their 15 per cent then close whichever adjacent sections the police advise for the night to maintain safe segregation. Arsenal should not be rewarded for the lack of foresight in building their new ground with an unfair advantage and need a financial penalty from lost ticket sales to make them see the error of their ways. Otherwise others will follow suit.

I'm sure with the F.A. and Dein's 'relationship', 15% won't see the light of day.

~Spooky

Davenport to the 'ammers

2007-01-18T11:08:00.000Z

Good luck to the lad. He done well for them when he was out on loan and from all accounts was quite popular with the West Ham faithful.

Of course, this leaves us with just King, Dawson and Gardner. Along with a couple of lesser experienced youngsters (our French U-21 international captain is out injured) so we need cover. We need a new signing. So, I would hope that Davenports depature means someone new is about to come in.

Leaving us short at the back with King's struggle against injury is a tad insane considering the games we need to be winning in the coming weeks. It's been a slow transfer window regarding big name signings. All we've done is buy kids for the future.

Let's see how today pans out.

~Spooky

Game of percentages

2007-01-18T09:25:00.000Z

Let me get the gloating out of the way first (Bill Simmons take note).

Newcastle 1 Birmingham 5.

Not exactly Spurs is it Bill? If that was us losing we'd go 3-0 up and lose 4-3 in injury time. Certain victory ripped from our hearts when it looks impossible to lose. As opposed to being abjectly shit from the start and never looking like getting through to the next round. Although, a Championship team beating a Premiership team at their gaff makes me a little ashamed that we lost to the Toon 3-2 at home. Though by proxy, we best Chelsea, so that makes Newcastle the bestest. Which means that Birmingham are Barcelona. Football logic wins again.

Maybe Newcastle struggled due to lack of atmosphere at St James Park. Empty seats at the Toon. Have the coal mines re-opened?

As for us, comfortable win at home to Cardiff. I think the highlight of the evening was watching the police set up their 3 wall barrier on either side of the away-end entrance, inclosing in the rather pleasent chaps from Cardiff. Riot police, dogs and horses. And not a single punch thrown. Love the fact that the OB forced them to pick up their tickets at a service station so they can bundle them onto the coaches to London. Good work fellas.

Still on the subject of Cup games. Spurs v Arsenal semi-final. 15% agreed for ticket allocation, only for Arsenal to change their minds with what we should get at their ground, but wanting to still get the 15% at our place. Ok. Sure. That'll work. What's the problem anyway with giving us 9,000 for the Emriates ? It's not like it's going to kick off. We can't even smash up the toilets on account of the 18 police officers patrolling the urinals. Arsenal have twice the capacity we have, and in this day and age of high-tech police enforcement, the only reason for David Dein not agreeing to us getting the 15% is because he's a bit of a cunt.

~Spooky

Tottingham 2 Cartoons 3

2007-01-14T19:22:00.000Z

Gut-wrenching home defeat. Placing aside the fact we lost to a depleted and average Newcastle team and kissed goodbye to a 5th position (gave up on 4th place after the first 3 games), I just can't believe we managed to lose all three points in such a classic textbook Tottenham manner. Even snatching a point at the end (Defoe hitting the woodwork instead) would still have been pretty unacceptable. No disrespect to Newcastle, but only Man Utd have a license to claim max points at The Lane. With our away form being pants, home games are where we are meant to strut our stuff.

We did strut. For the opening 10 minutes. And at 1-0 I thought the floodgates were about to open. They didn't due to another soft goal conceded by Paul 'HE MUST BE DROPPED TO THE BENCH' Robinson. I wonder if I will live to see a Spurs side control and hold onto the ball straight after going 1-0 up? Clean sheets is something of a rarity these days.

Anyway, we had enough chances to bury Newcastle and we didn't. They were more clinical with their chances and we were rather average in defence. Recipe for disaster. The 'we must be more relentless and ruthless' mentality I cry for is persistently falling on death ears. Not that I get the chance to personally tell the players, but I'm sure if I can see it Martin Jol can see it too.

I don't want to be too much of a knee-jerk, because we didn't deserve to lose and tbh, I can't really single out anyone (Robbo/Tainio) for playing that badly/average. One of those days, perhaps? I suppose it was but its more of a 'one of those seasons'. We have more depth and better players in the squad and yet we have somehow managed to lose that mental strength of last year - especially away from home were we are so so easy to defeat.

So, in conclusion. We had plenty of chances (24 shots, 13 on target according to Sky). Didn't take them. Wonder goal from Martins. Too soft in defence and....oh, nearly forgot to mention one thing; Why the fuck do we persist in looking utterly clueless when at the edge of the penalty area with the ball? Shoot ffs, SHOOT!! It's staggering how their brains shut down and decide to play that one final pass so close to the goal. Very frustrating. But, oh well. Such is life. Such is the life of a Spurs fan.

I hope Bill Simmons wasn't watching this one. I bet he was though.....ripping off his shirt and waving around his black and white scarf. Bloody geordie.

~Spooky

The yeast he can expect is a 3 match ban

2007-01-13T17:11:00.000Z

When Milan player Marco Borriello failed a drugs test in Italy having been tested after a game against Roma, you'd think it would be curtains for the lad in trying to explain his innocence.

So imagine the shocked faces of the members of the panel when he walks in with Belen Rodriguez.......

Yum!

.....and proceeds to blame her for his negative result in the test due to a cream she used to cure a vaginal infection - which he unwittingly "ingested" whilst paying attention to the aforementioned part of her rather delectable anatomy. Though I suppose it wasn't that delectable at the time, hence the cream. A cunning excuse for sure.

~Spooky (thanking the boys of gg.net)

More pocket money for David

2007-01-13T14:39:00.000Z

So, Becks apparently isn't joining LA Galaxy for the money. He is moving to the USA because of the challenge at hand. Maybe he thinks he needs to learn a new language. £128M is a staggering amount of money, money he probably doesn't need, but lets face it....why should he be criticised for biting their hand off? He has been captain of his country, won countless silverware with Man Utd and regardless of the lack of success with the trophy cabinet at Madrid, its a fallacy to say he hasn't improved as a player and given La Liga some wonderful performances. Prior to the World Cup, he was outstanding (Less said about the World Cup on all counts, the better).

Beckham is a player of quality. Always in the right place at the right time (remember the free-kick against Greece?). Excellent set-piece take. Superb passer of the ball. Scores one or two. He has had a pretty complete career in that if you were in his shoes, you wouldn't complain. You might do if you had to marry Posh Spice, but purely on football reasons - he hasn't done too bad of a job.

Sure, if David had the looks of Luke Chadwick, he wouldn't be as rich and successful off the pitch with the aid of advertising and sponsorship deals. But you don't achieve success on the pitch based purely on looks. Beckham deserves credit. He has placed himself into a position where an MLS club has offered him an astronomical contract. Why the fuck shouldn't he take it? I know I had a sly dig at him at the start of this entry. But it's not like he's gonna tell the world that he is taking the deal so he can establish himself further in America so that after he retires from playing football he can proceed ahead with conquering Hollywood or whatever it is he plans to do out there. Make more money, presumably.

I don't know enough about the American game to comment about what kind of effect he will have on viewing figures/gate receipts etc, but it can't be a bad thing. So good luck Becks.

Question for the present is who will he play for in the mean time? Capello has told Beckham he won't ever play for Madrid again, so thats 6 months till his contract ends and he can depart for LA.

Maybe a Prem loan deal return beckons for beckham?

~Spooky

Roman empire begins to crumble

2007-01-13T12:42:00.000Z

I'm finding it difficult to believe that at the first sign of trouble Jose Mourinho is considering departing from Stamford Bridge. Then again, the ego taking off as easy as he landed would be greeted by some as a wonderful thing. More to do with a potential Chelsea slide than disliking Mourinho's antics and post-match interviews. You cant deny he isn't top draw entertainment and if he was to depart from the Premiership it would be a big loss to the English game.

No players arriving this transfer window and Jose is not best pleased. I'm sure the board would have concerns about bringing in more superstars after the disappoint that has been Ballack and Shevchenko. Jose has gone public to complain and make one or two comments that have been taken (cryptically) to mean he wants out. Textbook knee-jerk from the tabloids but it's still difficult to really know for sure if Jose has had enough.

But whether there is a power-struggle between Kenyon/Roman and JM or if this is some kind of elaborate Jedi-mind trick from The Special One - its difficult to gauge.

Two titles on the trot followed by an injury crisis and lack of relentless form. With United doing well enough to be sitting in first place, you could simply say that the heat is on and suddenly Jose is under a bit of pressure. My personal opinion is that he wouldn't want to just walk out if he failed to achieve a 3rd successive title or possibly the Champions League. But then again, football is fickle. Thats from the fans all the way up to the owner.

Chelsea are a lucky lucky club to have landed a saviour financially and then to have Jose lead them to success. They shouldn't forget their history (or lack of) and if they happen to have a fruitless season, they should not be the ones to force Mourinho out of the club. They should stop fooling themselves into thinking they suddenly have the God-given right to be 'the biggest club in the world'. They won't find a better manager than Jose. They should remember that.

Its a volatile situation because he might walk out anyway, simply because he can. It's not like he would struggle to get another job. As for Chelsea, psychologically, they may not recover from losing him.

But it's all 'what if' at the time of writing. Not until the final whistle of the final game of the season will we know. I remember a Chelsea fan a few years ago basking in the glory of his club being bought by a Russian billionaire and then seeing them appoint the well-groomed manager from Porto. He made a comment that back then that I've only recently remembered:

"We'll find a way to fuck it up....because we're Chelsea"

Didn't have to wait long for the fire to start.

~Spooky

April Fools in January?

2007-01-11T20:35:00.000Z

From The Sun:

Noise levels experienced by players at Fratton Park, Old Trafford and Anfield are often in excess of 90 decibels - meaning that players may be given earmuffs to protect their hearing under health and safety legislation.

Players wearing earmuffs? 90 decibels at Old Trafford? Someone somewhere has hit the Absinthe hard...

~Spooky

Dear Bill Simmons.....

2007-01-11T18:40:00.000Z

So apparently Bill Simmons is reconsidering his decision to adopt Tottenham as his Premiership team. If you’re wondering who Bill is, he’s an American. But don’t hold that against him. He's a sports journalist who writes for ESPN and is possibly one of the best they have to offer. That’s what other Americans have told me.

Back in the summer he decided to choose a team from the Prem to 'support' in order to break his football (real football) virginity. He opted to go with Spurs. Yeah, yeah.....poor sucker. Google him, you'll come across the article he wrote up where he talks through his selection process. Its a good read.

He now apparently (sort of) regrets it, which you may argue for him that he has a case, but not until you hear that he thinks he should have chosen Newcastle United. I'm shaking my head with disapproval. This isn't American sports Bill where you can pick and support someone depending on what town you happen to be living in.

Right, let’s copy and paste something at this juncture:

Tim (Kalamazoo, Mich.): What happened to your newfound love of the English Premier League? I hope you know that you are now one of the several million people who claim to like soccer but don't actually follow through with it. Jerk.

Bill Simmons: I've been watching some, will kick it into another gear once the NFL season ends. My biggest problem is that I feel like I picked the wrong team … I keep gravitating towards Newcastle every time they're on, I like their uniforms and their fans and I'm kicking myself for not taking them. But I feel loyal to Spurs even though we have no real history. I feel like someone who went to college and immediately got a girlfriend the first week without playing the field. I dunno. I need to figure this out. There was a game last month when Newcastle beat Spurs 3-1 and I found myself getting fired up every time Newcastle scored … and you know how I feel about sports bigamy. So I'm not going to write about soccer until I figure this out.

Seems the cliché about Americans short-term concentration span rings true even for a professional writer. Uniforms? Bill, please, get a grip man. That's like me selecting an American Football team to support based purely on the length of the skirts the cheerleaders wear. Though, on reflection, that's probably how I would choose to support a team States Side.

As for their fans, yes, historically they are a fanatical bunch. Shirtless in sub-zero temperatures waving scarfs to help prove just how craaaaaaaaazy they are. I don’t get the ‘no real history’ bit, as I’m not sure if you are referring to yourself and your personal association with selecting Spurs or the club's history. I’m sure you can’t mean the club, as Newcastle haven’t won a thing for 50 years and Tottenham’s history is just that tad more colourful, if frustrating. And had you selected any other club for that matter, you'd still be without any true association to it.

You're Spurs, and you know you are...

I suppose the fact you are from Boston is the reason you have taken the Newcastle fans to heart. Brash loud fans in the North East of the country. But don't expect the Magpies to move their franchise down South to London.

See, what you need to do is get hold of one or two DVD’s. Maybe the 1981 FA Cup replay at Wembley. Or the FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal from 1991. And also the 4-3 home defeat to Man City in the Cup when we were leading 3-0 against 10 men. Though this seasons 2-1 victory over Chelsea was probably one of the games of the season. Have you seen it? No? Why?

Better yet, how about getting in touch with Daniel Levy and asking for a ticket to a home match, because I assure you once you hear the Park Lane Roar your ears will bleed…

…well, maybe not bleed, but you'll find it altogether a more satisfying experience than watching a game on the box. I'll give you one of my tickets if you decide to pop over to London. As long as I get to meet some leggy cheerleaders if I ever re-visit America.

The reason you still feel some form of loyalty to us is because you are genuinely loyal to us but you are allowing yourself to get districted by something that you should be ignoring. It’s like having a girlfriend back at home, in sexy lingerie, waiting for you in bed with a tub of ice cream only for you to be eyeing up the slut in the local bar who is wearing a skirt so short that its half way up her neck. So stop flirting. The girl back home will let you lick ice cream off her every night, even if the slut in the bar will give you a f*cking great time in the sack, you're still end up with an assortment of STD's. Its not worth it. Choose the tub of ice cream!

Spurs, guaranteed, will always – without fail – give you a rollercoaster of a ride from season to season. Newcastle, historically, always find themselves complaining about their chairman and not really doing anything from one season to the next. I mean, when was the last time Newcastle got food poisoning on the last day of the season when needing to win to get into the Champions League? It’s positively popcorn premier entertainment. Only Spurs do spectacular defeats. But when we do get it right, we get it RIGHT. And we are a joy to watch.

I don’t think there’s that much to work out Bill. You need to stop being so over dramatic and join us in the utter misery and ecstasy that is being a Tottenham fan. You went through all the decision making and selected the Lilywhites so your creditability will be pretty much zero if you jump ship. Especially if you jump ship for a team that won’t provide you anything in the way of heart skips and headaches. I mean, Newcastle’s deadliest rivals aren’t even in the Prem. You can’t support a team that can’t provide you with a derby day.

Yes. We have been utterly underwhelming thus far this season, and my research suggests that tragically the games that have been screened over there in the States involving Spurs haven't been the best choices. Which means you probably haven't seem much of a certain Aaron Lennon.

But maybe thats not a bad thing because we haven't been that great in the Prem this year. But one or two explosive goals from Newcastle doesn't mean they wont spend the best part of the season defending like the Keystone Cops. And watching Newcastle losing as a Newcastle fan is like watching a really bad Adam Sandler movie. Any Adam Sandler movie.

Look, at the end of the day losing one armchair fan isn’t exactly going to break my heart or the hearts of others that follow the Spurs. But it’s wonderfully ironic that you chose us in the first place and I’d hate to see you move onto another club like many pretend followers of the game do.

We're in the League Cup semi-final. Its a two-legged game, one home and the other away. And we are playing Arsenal. Yes, the Enemy. Spurs are the type of team that could win the first leg 5-0 and the fans still wont be sure of a place in the final because if there is one team that could lose the second leg 6-0, its us.

Nobody can give you that kind of heart-trouble. Not even Newcastle United. Keep the faith Mr Simmons, and before I forget, who does have the cutest cheerleaders?

~Spooky

Blues rewrite history

2007-01-11T00:04:00.000Z

Blunder of the week has to be the 2007 Official Club Diary of Birmingham City.

The story

So apparently, the printers are blaming the club for giving them the information to print in the first place.

If Hollywood can re-write history why not a football club? For the record, Spurs are six times European Champions. I'm publishing the book next month.

~Spooky

Behind closed doors

2007-01-10T22:30:00.000Z

Nothing clever about the title of this blog. Just stating potential fact:

UEFA Decision

Those naughty Feyenoord fans will have to share the pubs in and around Rotterdam with travelling Spurs fans who have already booked up in earnest.

I'll prefer to take a drive down to Amsterdam and ask the cute brunette in the kamer by the canal to put the radio on.

~Spooky

Liverpool get enema from the enemy

2007-01-10T21:52:00.000Z

Zero goals conceded at Fortress Anfield since October time. Then 9 in 2 games.

Some are suggesting that Liverpool's 3-6 home defeat in the Carling Cup was all down to abysmal defending and goalkeeping. Even if you play badly, conceding six goals at home isn't something that you should distract from the ones that truly deserve the credit. I mean, firstly, it's not like Wenger played a full strength team, and to be honest, I'd rather play a full strength Arsenal side than their reserves (well, actually, I'd rather not play the gits at all).

Roll on the semi-final. Allocation has been sorted (the goons get 5,500 for the Lane and we get 9,000 for The Grove). Though the less said about £60 tickets for the home leg the better.

Have to go back to Liverpool for a moment. Out of all comps apart from the Champs League (the Prem is a two horse race, obviously) and surely the great underachievers cement their title by never quite reaching the dizzy highs that their fans expect from them. Crisis at Anfield it is then.

Well, not quite. Maybe its time the fans let go of the distant memory of utter relentless domination from the permed years of European Cups and League titles, and lower their expectations a little. Because from where I'm sitting, I'd gladly have Liverpool's trophy cabinet of the past few years. Yes, they should strive for improvement and progression, but they are nothing more than a good cup team. Oh right, now I get why their fans were booing them. Well, there's always next season and there's still the Champions League to play for.

I'm sure Liverpool fans are hating the fact they are blue at the moment.

~Spooky

Whore yourself!

2007-01-05T18:40:00.000Z

Will Micah join Chelsea?
Who will Curbs buy for West Ham United?
Is Lescott on his way to Madrid?
And is Owen Hargreaves really worth £20M?

Its silly season........Click here to join in

Brand new year, same old tripe

2007-01-03T19:58:00.000Z

Hola, and welcome to 2007. I've been away for a bit, relaxing in The Shire (deepest Essex). I actually had access to broadband there, but I also had access to a slim brunette in sexy lingerie. But praise Al Gore, I'm now back online and ready to browse porn. And maybe write some blogs if I have time.

West Ham United

6-0 drubbing at Reading. One wonders why Pardew was shown the door, as it's not the quality of the manager that will save the 'ammers from relegation. It's down to the level of passion and commitment that the players decide to display out on the pitch. Prima donnas? The club appears to be rife with them. Last years heroic performance in league and cup seemed to have elevated the ego's of one too many at Upton Park and tragically for the fans this has resulted in the said players deciding that its not necessary to turn up and actually try on any given Saturday.

I'm going to regret using this saying, but I think they are too good to go down. Unless its all a ploy from the ego's to wriggle themselves out of East London via relegation and join a bigger club in the process. Though in this case, the bigger club will probably be Fulham for most of them.

For me, the quote of the day can be read in a nice little article in The Guardian where Yossi Benayon calls his team mates 'a bunch of drunks' and then goes on to state:

"In our last game, I was the best man on the pitch, but what could I have done against Reading? I only touched the ball twice".

Credit to the away fans. If the players had half the energy the WHU's supporters displayed they wouldn't be anywhere near the drop zone. 'Not fit to wear the shirt' is quite apt.

Classic Irony

Apparently Jose is complaining that its a tad difficult to potentially purchase anyone in this transfer window as clubs add on millions and millions to the value of the players Chelsea are interested in because they know they have an infinite supply of notes at the ready and are willing to pay over the odds to bring in 'that' star player.

Apparently, this isn't fair. Apparently, Jose thinks we have a three-second memory. Complaining about other players diving is funny enough, but this is pure gold. His lickle brain must be hurting from all those mind-games he keeps playing with Grandpa Fergie. Then again, maybe Essien and Drogba ARE worth the money Roman paid for them. Which mean's Chelsea have never paid over the odds for a player and should not be held to ransom.

Worth every penny.

The W-Factor

Arsenal lose to Sheffield United, and Arsene Wenger decides that:

- Utd were far too physical
- It was raining and the pitch wasn't in good shape
- A Saturday evening kick-off is unacceptable for his team

These were the reasons why they lost 1-0. Fucking do one Mr Wenger. I don't buy into all this 'a good loser is still a loser' philosophy that he spouts as a defense for his arrogant statements. It's not a sign of weakness to state the blatantly obvious that all others can see. You lost 1-0 cause on the night you were second best. But I suppose it's far better value to have a manager act the c*nt than be a nice chap. So, Arsene, carry on Wengering. It would be boring without your unbiased viewpoints.

~Spooky

IE7 display glitch

2006-12-25T20:08:00.000Z

Merry Xmas, etc.

Just noticed that IE7, for whatever reason, is displaying code on the previous blog entry 'How hard can it be?'.

IE7 screengrab:

So if you're using IE - sorry. Use Firefox instead. Its way cooler.

ta,
S

How hard can it be?

2006-12-24T14:22:00.000Z

Well, Mr Levy. Let me take this opportunity to wish you a merry Christmas. I’ll hold back on the Happy New Year for the time being.

Another year is about to end, and a new one will be born. And still, you wear angelic clothing to disguise your satanic morals fooling the White Hart Lane faithful into believing you are guiding us towards the Promised Land of silverware and success.

But you are not fooling me. No amount of court injunctions or electronic tags will result in my campaign for the truth being shut down. Fact is Mr Levy, you are slowly but surely destroying the very fabric of this club and you are doing it with subtle and sublime genius. I applaud you and respect you for your underhand tactics, for you are Moriarty to my Sherlock Holmes. And I am certain we are heading towards the Reichenbach Falls. Though geographically, it might be best to meet up at Bruce Grove for our final battle.

You have quite obviously mastered the art of perception. As the Spurs faithful still believe the club are moving in the right direction. But I will not fall for your David Copperfieldesque tricks.

Your subtle genius is to simply allow things to continue as they are, using UEFA Cup victories as a way to disguise the obvious lack of progression.

Last season, we almost finished in the 4^th spot. We almost ousted Arsenal from their yearly excursion to the Champions League. Instead most of the players fell ill on the day of reckoning. Which reminds me. Did you ever receive the bowl of fruit I sent to the club hotel the night before the West Ham game? It was meant as an apology for the incident in your front garden. I had no idea sixty-one cockerels would leave such a mess. But anyway, that was back at the end of last season. Its now almost Christmas and turkey is in the offing in more ways than one.

Instead of moving on up, we have stagnated. Yet, I don’t hear disenchantment from the stands. I see no protests. And it staggers belief that the club shop has not fallen victim to any boycotts. I’m sure if we still had Carrick this wouldn’t have happened.

I’m not going to talk about the UEFA Cup or our home form. Neither will I mention the fact we are in the Carling Cup semi-final. Nor will I discuss the birth of a new bigger and blacker version of Glenn Hoddle. I simply want to discuss our form when travelling and the fact we have achieved just one victory away from WHL in the Prem.

Firstly, Martin Jol. He has recently quit smoking, which has quite obviously affected his rationality and thus forced him to make dubious selections and tactical decisions. How about you stop smoking those Cuban cigars around the club and show some damn solidarity. Although it maybe an idea to speak to him about his current dress code on match days first. We all know he is manager of Tottenham. He doesn’t have to wear an Ossie Ardiles style cap that stats ‘Spurs’, just in case we forget. Or is this part of your merchandising advertising campaign to have the manager and players wear clothing and accessories that are available in the club shop? Very shrewd Mr Levy, it’s all about the benjamin’s, isn’t it?

Anyway, let’s take a look at our Premiership results away from home:

Bolton L 2-0
Man Utd L 1-0
Liverpool L 3-0
Aston Villa D 1-1
Watford D 0-0
Reading L 3-1
Blackburn L 1-1
Arsenal L 3-0
Man City W 2-1
Newcastle L 3-1

Due to the court order, you pretty much survived an avalanche of mail that you would have received from me after each of the above-mentioned defeats. Especially a certain game played in the red part of North London. On four occasions now we have conceded 3 goals in a game.

Which begs the question, how we can go from being decent away from home last season to pulling our trousers down and bending over backwards, with KY at the ready this season?

Bolton – Gutless and soft
Man Utd – Two sitters missed
Liverpool – Jenas sitter, then collapse
Watford – How can we not score against the bottom club?
Reading – Gutless and soft
Arsenal – Disgraceful
Newcastle – Textbook collapse at St James Park were we allow the Toon Army the one performance of their season where they look world class.

I can’t help think there’s an underlining conspiracy at play here. One that you are conscious of, but refuse to do anything about.

Sure, we have played 3 of the top 4 away from home but whereas last season we claimed some decent points and performances at those clubs, this year we have lost them all. As for picking up one point from the two promoted sides, that’s again down on last year. Bolton and Newcastle away are testament to the quintessential ‘away-day’ performance we have had to endure.

We have never been decent away from home. No matter the manager or players at our disposal. And yet now we have a better manager compared to the past 15 years, with probably the best set of players we’ve had for 15 years (which, lets face it, isn’t that difficult of a comparison to make), we still put in a soft apologetic type of performance on our travels – yet at home, we can perform well enough to beat Chelsea for the first time in years and take Southend to extra time.

I’ve done my research, and I think I have some relevant info on why we just don’t perform away from the Lane.

Touching on the fact we have had to play the top teams away before Christmas, this may point to a potential David Dein/Football Association pact to give us the hardest possible fixture list. This wouldn’t surprise me in the least as Dein obviously has the power to do evil and would also explain how the referee’s performance in the Arsenal away game was directly responsible for our player’s poor display on the day.

Then there’s the finanical side of things. Makes me wonder if we are not offering a big enough incentive for the players when we play away from home. What’s the win bonus like for three points on our travels? Are you being a scrooge, Mr Levy? It’s not exactly easy for them to have to go up to places like Blackburn or Newcastle and they deserve to be compensated for the effort.

A number of our players wear gloves, which may suggest you have financed transfers for footballers that are struggling to adapt to the cold chilly weather of the marshes and moors of middle-England. Perhaps sub-zero training will aid them better for the future.

Then we have Lasagnagate. After the West Ham defeat at the end of last season, our players probably no longer have the confidence to eat when they travel to an away game leaving them weak and hungry and unable to concentrate on the football. No food and the added handicap of playing in a chocolate coloured shirt is enough to make anyone self-conscious to the point of embarrassment.

Away ticket allocation is also a problem. As we have the nosiest and easily the best away fans in the country (and probably Europe), its quite obvious to me that other clubs (especially Arsenal) allocate few tickets as possible or place us in the part of the ground that has poor acoustics thus the Tottenham Roar™ cannot be heard. If the players out on the pitch can’t hear us, then how can they possibly perform well? If Huddlestone can’t hear the cry from the fans to shoot, the boy will be lost for ideas. We had to leave the North London Derby at the Emirates 20 minutes from time, as it was impossible for anyone to hear us sing.

All this helps add up to sloppy casual play, without spirit and fight resulting in players like King and Dawson being part of a defence that can concede three goals with relative ease.

Seems negativity breed’s negativity. Take replacing an injured Defoe with Danny Murphy instead of Mido. Perchance, does this have something to do with everyone having a crush on Joanna Taylor? Cause I think of any other reason of fielding him.

Take a good hard look at some of the players you have purchased. Take Zokora. Box to box midfielder who can’t attack or defend. I think someone mis-took his World Cup form to mean he has quality worth investing in. How dare he fails to settle into the English game with immediate effect. Transfer list him now. Our left back isn’t good enough to even offload to West Ham United and we have problems elsewhere too. King isn’t a true leader and should be stripped of the captaincy. Give it to Robbo. The shot-stopping England’s number one will inspire the rest of the players more so than Ledley ever can leading to faultless displays. When Jenas is fit again, play him in the middle of the park in order for us to regain some composure. I mean, come on Mr Levy. If I’m able to ascertain all this from the 3-1 defeat at St James Park, then surely you are able to do so too?

When you add on top of this the fact that Martin Jol lacks Premiership experience and the willingness to drop players, then I’m afraid our problems are even more so evident. We are no better than a team with Ruel Fox and Andy Sinton. Mid-table mediocrity. Good in the cups, sh*t in the league.

Three defeats in twenty-one matches and three months is just not good enough I’m afraid.

Fact is, as chairman, you should be making it your priority to work out why it all goes wrong when we leave N17. But then again, that’s the conspiracy. The fact you can see it, but do nothing to stop it.

Looks like that duel is still on for Bruce Grove then.

Anyway, must dash. I’m cooking Christmas dinner this year. Couldn’t get any turkey, so we’re having cockerel. Not sure how that will go down with some cranberry sauce, but then again….never red.

~Spooky

I lost my toes at White Hart Lane

2006-12-21T00:12:00.000Z

Bloody hell was it cold tonight. I had to endure extra time before seeing Spurs progress into the semi-final, and to be quite honest, hardly cared enough when it happened as I was losing blood circulation in my feet and legs. Only Spurs can turn make something that should be not-so-difficult into a hard evening's work. Though credit to Southend for being....well, for being as good as us on the night.

I see Chelsea are through, and with the usual controversy following them. Just a couple of things. Yes, Robben was fouled and it was a free-kick, but Robben mid-air arching of the back or whatever you want to call it, for extra dramatics is exactly the type of thing that makes Jose seem a tad hypocritical when he claims other players dive to earn penalties.

As for the free-kick itself. Thats some nice movement of the ball before it was even kicked. Made it nice and simple for Drogba to score claim the Toon. But then, when is a freekick ever taken from the exact position the foul took place? I guess people only notice when Chelsea 'move' the ball.

Anyway, I've got my fingers crossed for Wycombe in the semi. I'll be there with any luck, wrapped in a portable electric blanket. Mmmm toasty.

~Spooky

The Ashes

2006-12-20T00:51:00.000Z

Yes. I did purposely forget to post about the 3rd test. Not a lot to say really. 3-0 pretty much sums it up. Many a wasted night watching Sky Sports. Hours that I will be unable to reclaim. Lets hope (and pray) that England manage to reclaim some much needed pride in the remaining tests.

5-0 is something I don't want to be reading about in the coming weeks.

~Spooky

It ain't grim in Stoke, ok? (Part 1)

2006-12-18T19:15:00.001Z

GUEST BLOG BY 'STOKIE'

As some of you may or may not have noticed, Stoke City have crawled their way up the championship table to a healthy 7th position.

After our away game at Wolves on the 23rd of September we sat in the rather worryingly 22nd place, and with just 1 solitary win the doom merchants were in full flow. They where calling for Tony Pulis’s head and even planned a “Red card protest” in an aim to oust the “new” gaffer. Pulis had rejoined the club after being sacked at the end of the 2004/05 season. He then had a 1 season stint at Plymouth.

But then 'it' happened.

The first loan mercenary arrived, in the form of Aston Villa outcast Lee Hendrie. He was the target of several Championship clubs, including Crystal Palace and QPR, but he opted to stay in the north, and he arrived at the Brit just in time for the home game with Preston.

We drew 1-1, but it was evident the confidence Hendrie had bought to the squad. We were unlucky not to take all 3 points against an in-form North End.

The next 2 saviours weren’t far behind. Rory Delap from Sunderland and Salif Diao of Liverpool were installed just in time for the away tie at Elland Road. Nobody, including myself expected to get anything from the game. But we did. We beat a lacklustre Leeds 4-0, and it should have been more. Happy days.

We brushed aside Sunderland in our next game, lost against Southampton at St Marys, then absolutely demolished Norwich 5-0 the weekend after.

Our next game was against Leicester on the 31st October. Stoke started brightly, as Ricardo Fuller gave us an early lead, but we were undone by 2 exceptional goals towards the end of the match. Confidence was still high though.

Liam Lawrence was signed on an emergency loan from Sunderland. The last of the mercenaries … for now, surely? Nope, we signed Patrick Berger on deadline day. Wtf!

In our next 7 games against Coventry, Palace, Hull, West Brom, Cardiff, Coventry and QPR we dropped only 2 points and conceded none. Zilch. Zero.

7 games, none conceded. We had broke a record that had stood for over 50 years.

In my 20 or so years as a Stoke supporter, I have never seen the style and quality of football we are playing now, so forgive me if I get a little over excited at times. But I think this could be our year.

Obviously it all hangs on what happens in January. Hendrie and Berger will return to Villa, as will Diao to Liverpool. Liam Lawrence is a done deal and I have high hopes of seeing Andy Griffin back in the red and white. So its a possibility that I'll be crying into my pint glass in a month's time as we slide down the table. The Championship is a rollercoaster and everyone seems to yo-yo up and down the table. I just hope the board know that they need to finish off what they have started. Otherwise, what's the point?

Part 2 in late Jan 2007. Hopefully titled 'Stoke's drive towards the Premiership'.

Wish us luck.

BLOG ADDED TO FORUM

The name's Huddlestone, Tom Huddlestone

2006-12-18T02:34:00.000Z

If I hear or read one more 'Is Huddlestone the new Carrick?' thread I might consider DOS attacking the forum in question and laying to rest the irrelevant comparisons once and for all.

Tom can pass the ball. Not very well, but wonderfully well. And because of that, he's being compared to Carrick and Hoddle - because for some ridiculous reason Spurs fans think that the kid has to go up against this benchmark.

There will never be another Hoddle. And as for Carrick, its always been debatable just how good of a player he is. Ask some and they'll tell you he's the best passer of the ball in England and never has to tackle because he reads the game so well he gets to the ball before the need to slide to it. Others well tell you he's just over-rated.

Because he left Spurs in the summer, the instant knee-jerk from the fans who miss him is to latch onto the idea that Tom Huddlestone is some kind of direct prototype replacement and thus has to fill the void Carrick left behind. Well no. A good midfielder should be able to pass the ball and pass it well. How exactly does that make him the new Carrick?

Tom is a player with quite majestic vision and touch. A player comfortable and composed on the ball, so much so, you forget his tender age and inexperience in top flight football. He's an excellent passer of the ball and enjoys a good olde crack at goal, usually from distance. However, he lacks pace and mobility and due to his inexperience he also has to improve his general conducting from the central midfield position.

And Carrick?

Majestic vision and touch. Check.
Comfortable and composed. Check
Excellent passer. Check.
Cracks at goal. Well, no.
Lacks pace. Check.
Mobility. Check.
Conducting. Check.

Take that above list and then take the 'playmaker' or the 'player who pulls the strings' from any of the top sides and you'll find that these are simply the necessities of a good midfielder. Some will have more pace others will score a ton of goals. But everyone is an individual and although they may fit into a type of 'mould', they still retain their own characteristics, strengths and weaknesses.

Huddlestone is not the new Carrick. He's Tom Huddlestone. And simply allowing him to develop on his own accord (with help of course from his coach) rather expecting him to mimic departed players is the way to go.

As for the Hoddle comparison - thats just unnecessary. Hoddle was nothing like Carrick and vice versa, so placing Huddlestone alongside either of them has no logic. Yes - they are all midfielders. Yes - they are all wonderful passers of the ball. Yes - they all lacked pace. But Hoddle and Carrick are two very distinctively different footballers. Not too long ago Spurs fans were asking, 'Is Carrick the new Hoddle?'.

Tom Huddlestone has yet to clearly define the type of player he will become. What is ironic is that Carrick's depature has given him a chance to shine, and suddenly the £14M to £18M or so banked from his move to Man Utd is looking even more like the deal of the season. Not for Utd, but for Spurs. Lets hope he isn't dropped when Jermaine Jenas returns from injury.

The only comparison that will ever matter is that in 20 years from now Spurs fans talk about Tom the same way they talk about Glenn. In 2 or 3 years time, we might be in a position to predict if that will ever come close to happening.

~Spooky

Drogba's class pains Fergie as he's kicked to the Curb

2006-12-17T18:13:00.000Z

Apologies for the title. Play-with-words isn't my strong point after a few afternoon cold beers. Today, The Premiership took another wonderful hiccup of a twist as Chelsea brilliant came from behind twice to break the hearts of 'The People' in Liverpool's blue territory while Alan Curbishley sent 'ammers fans into delirious celebrations as the new dawn at Upton Park rained points for the home team, as the battled superbly to defeat Manchester United.

You have to love football. This time last week Alan Pardew was in charge of the Claret and Blue Army, and a week on, Curbs manages to guide WHU to a much needed moral boosting win and, ironically his first against Man Utd in 16 attempts. And back onto the irony again, Nigel Reo-Coker scores the winner.

See, NRC apparently wants out of WHU and hasn't been the most popular player amongst the Chicken Run faithful this calender year. Makes it all that more interesting when an unlikely hero sends the home crowd back into the pubs to celebrate what they hope will be a progressive move up the table.

If West Ham play like this every week, then their fans have nothing to worry about. Though relegation is a word only ever used by other fans as a wind-up. And great to see Edward Sheringham coming back to haunt Fergie.

Earlier in the day Chelsea beat Everton. Wonderful entertainment. But lets just talk about the 'Harvey Dent' of Chelsea's season:

Drogchenko.

One player, brilliant and in possession of match-winning abilities and 'holy sh*t' goals. The other, brilliant in Milan but distinctively average and lacking in self confidence in London.

Place aside the dramatics and the mis-controls of previous afternoons, but anyone who claims Drogba 'isn't that great' needs to shrug off the bitterness and admit that he has the class and is consistently proving it week in week out.

Shevchenko on the other hand is player who on form, would rip the opposition to shreds, but instead just apologetically coughs in their direction.

There's no doubting his proven quality. Some players don't adapt to the game over here in England, others take time. What Utd fans (and the rest of us) should consider is that if Jose keeps the faith and Shevchenko doesn't look to return to Italy - god help us all if he hits the form he is capable of.

This season, the two-horse race that it is, continues to provide us with some wonderful sub-plots and shocks.

All hail the Premiership.

~Spooky