Swaggering Berbatov is the new King of the Lane

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.


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~Spooky