Out of action

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

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

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

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

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

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

"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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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