Spurs drop two points and then gain one
Monday, December 13, 2010 at 12:02PM Spurs 1 Chelsea 1
Should have won the game. Arguably could have lost it. The emotion that sits alongside me post-game is one of regret and frustration. Go on, hands up if you're gutted we didn’t collect the three points? Gutted, but hardly surprised at the final result. Yet another perfect illustration of just how small the margin is from pretenders to something a bit more than just pretenders.
Let's review.
Our opponents
For all their possession (especially in the second half) they still lacked any sustained cutting edge up front (sound familiar?). Passion wise, they rediscovered some much needed form, but then it was a derby so you expected them to play a lot better than they have in recent weeks. But even now looking back, if this is Chelsea trying to rediscover full pelt it was hardly punches to the back of our neck. When their missing and returning players return to full fitness they'll probably shift gear. Thought we contained them first half and they had pockets of pressure in the second half. Wasn't easy but I was hardly biting my nails either.
Their stand out player, was (pains me) John Terry. Made some point-saving interceptions.
I'm struggling to remember the last time they beat us at the Lane. Just in case you wanted another example of evidence of how we've dragged ourselves out of that horrific hoodoo that haunted us for so long.
Chelsea are as fragmented as we are.
Us
It's simple really and it’s the same conclusion discussed at the end of most games these days. Forwards. It's not quite right up top, is it? But then it's not just about our lack of clinical pomp in the final third from our front two. It's the movement and decision making that is a few per cent off from resulting in two or three goals rather than the one - which on Sunday would have had the game wrapped up at half-time (although I prefer to theorise on prior games that we would have wrapped up - let's not forget that we were playing the Champions, poor form or not).
That final ball, that early ball, the required movement into space. It's not quite silky and instinctive.
There were a number of occasions when I felt Bale and Lennon could have played in a pass releasing Defoe/Pav. A top class forward would make an obvious and effective difference. Equally so if Modric did not have to spend too much time on chasing/defending he'd possess far more freedom to carve and craft. Then again - two DM's with Modric behind the front two and Bale on the left is hardly balanced on paper and with Hudd and vdV out it's about making the most of what we have. Which isn't half bad considering our recent unbeaten run of games.
Even with the slightly (ever so slight) off-key decision making, we'd probably have survived had we not made one or two errors at the back to allow Chelsea a share of the points.
1st half - could have punished them further. 2nd half - could still have punished them on the break and when we reclaimed some possession in offensive positions, but lucky not to lose in the end, amazingly, with our finger on the self-destruct button.
It was in our hands and we dropped it. Rather than being battered into submission.
The Goals
Brilliant touch and movement from Pav.
Ball in from JD in front of the practically static Chelsea back-line, Pav then touches the ball taking him away from Terry and co, creating time and space to thrash the ball in for the 1-0. Considering some of the Russians 'first touches' littering the game you might wonder if he actually meant the touch that set himself up for the goal. But that's harsh. Probably. It was a class finish. From the very top drawer.
Drogba's goal was altogether a different ilk of beast. Okay, so we all know Gomes is a loopy loon of a tune. Expert shot-stopper, instinctive reflexes when there is hardly time to think. So why exactly did that shot go through him with such ease? Much like I'd even expect Superman to be downed by a bullet made of Kryptonite, with Gomes it felt more like a pie to the face of a clown. And yet perhaps his only mistake was to think he could have saved it by allowing gravity to pull him downwards, rather than standing tall and taking the ball in his face.
Alas, this pie had a brick in it, and the power of the shot was just too damn powerful for his girlie wrists. Did he have time to work his positioning before the shot flew towards him? No matter, he should have done far better than he did.
Sure, Drogba hand-balled it, quite blatantly, and Dawson was a second or two slow to react (because of that second spent looking across for the flag). Defensive errors cost us dearly here. It was a soft goal to concede. But for all their possession, they scored a goal from almost nothing. Not quite gift wrapped. Drogba still had to take his voucher to the shop and select his prize.
The Penalty
Madness. Why goalkeepers go charging out then hold their hands up proclaiming innocence…dear oh dear. But like some demented twist and turn of a screenplay, fate would have him give the penalty away so that he could save it and reclaim some lost dignity, even though this was a mess he created. Because of how it played out, during the time it took for the ball to be placed on the spot and be taken - it felt like we had lost the game. So the save made it feel like we had won a point. Crazy. Poor penalty helped matters. Lovely irony what with Fwank on the pitch.
In Defence of Gomes
Yes. He's fruit-loop. He's also an outstanding keeper and let's not forget the amount of times he has saved us playing with a forever changing back four in front of him. Does need a good slap in the face every now and again (gentle slap, don't want him crying) but he showed character. He guessed which way to go with the dive for the pen, going opposite to where Drogba tends to place them. Homework or luck, what does it matter. He redeemed himself for this particular last gasp dramatics.
Who is this Wilson?
Not that Chelsea were formidable in the centre of the park, but let's still stand and applaud Wilson Palacios for a performance which had bite and some much missed intensity returning from a long sabbatical. And in addition, a refreshing lack of misplaced passes. He did his job perfectly, got himself involved, closing down players and laying it off with a simple ball to feet. Not quite the destroyer of his early Spurs form, but one game at a time, right?
The Redknapp Substitution
Defoe is taken off. On comes Peter Crouch. Why?
Well that all depends on a couple of things. If it was about JD, he might have been subbed to preserve some juice as he's only recently returned from his injury. Don't think he picked up a knock. If it wasn't that then it has to be tactical. Knowing Redknapp, I'd hazard a guess he wanted Crouchie to lend a hand (head) at the back to defend set-pieces. But it didn't quite work, at least that's the ranting going on in Harry's direction over this tactical reshuffle.
Defoe and Pav worked well. JD's work-rate was very decent. There was a partner-ship there, be it one that still requires a few more games to click. But if we suddenly need to change it because of the opposition asking questions deep in our half, do we do so to the detriment of our forward play?
Would it have been more apt to sub Pav (no pace, not great in the air) and bring on Crouch to knock the ball down to JD? Crouch did very little, did get his head on the ball a few times but nothing more. Was okay but with Defoe off the pitch, we lacked an outlet of pace. Crouch and Pav is hardly the most dynamic combo. Then again, for all of Defoe's work-rate, he didn't have enough about him to get in behind the Chelsea defence. So perhaps this was a fitness issue after all.
Not sure what the point of bringing Keane was other than hope he could produce something from that long lost forgotten locker. Needs to find the keys first.
Dawson's Return
Great to have him back. Superb, got caught out for the goal, but for him to play in this game as a return to the side game do so with some comfort wearing the captains armband - that makes me smile.
Player Ratings Score-Card
Gomes - 6 - The good, the bad and the ugly.
Hutton - 7 - Far more disciplined than usual defensively and didn’t nullify Lennon. Still think he's positional sense and intelligence is not great.
Dawson - 8 - Early Christmas present. We might finally see our back four settle down now.
Bassong - 7 - Reliable and focused. Made some telling contributions.
BAE - 8- Cracking performance.
Lennon - 8 - Continues his rehabilitation, proving what a little confidence can do. 2/3 games from his best if he continues this form.
Palacios - 8 - Still on the subject of confidence, perhaps it was the responsibility bestowed due to the occasion. Can hardly fault him.
Modric - 8.4 - Really beginning to tick. Shame he can't shoot for toffee.
Bale - 7.2 - Quiet but still had opportunity to create with a few marauding runs down the flank, probably should have released the ball early once or twice, got cluttered and marked out by Chelsea. It's a transitional stage for him this, learning to adapt to the adaption our opponents are having to adopt.
Defoe - 7 - Worked hard, assisted for the goal. Still not 100% but he'll get there.
Pav - 7 - Brilliant finish. When he starts he scores. Was detached from play second half.
Crouch - Header here, knock down there. Not much of an impact but then the subs came late in the day to truly influence proceedings.
Keane - Spent a lot of time in the middle. Not sure I can remember much else.
Sandro - Hardly enough time to make an impact.
The ref - 5 - Made plenty of mistakes, let one or two obvious fouls go without yellows. Neither side will be best pleased. But at least he didn't ruin the game like some.
Forward Conundrum
World class forward up front and we'd be laughing right about now, yeah? The lack of guile at times and the obvious lack of testing their goalkeeper is what births the pressure on our back four the longer the game goes on. Ground-drog day. Perhaps with a vdV in the side and a Huddlestone we'd have created one or two more chances that could have left us in a far more comfortable position. When either or both return, we're back to Harry and his tweaks. It's going to define our season this. A new forward won't work out if our midfield isn't set up to maximise opportunities. I'm talking about decision making with the final ball and movement from all concerned.
Very obvious stuff this.
Our Form
Think it's just four wins out of nine so far this season at the Lane. Which on the face of it is not great. But then when you delve deeper it's one Premier League loss at home during the last year (1-0 to Wigan).
It's also six defeats in all competitions in twenty-six games played. Shame we were so abjectly bad away to West Ham and allowed Wigan to win at the Lane.
Race for 4th, 3rd, go on then why not…race for top spot
Another stat-attack for you - we are three points behind our total from the 2010 season, if you wish to compare.
09/10 - 17 games, 30 points
10/11 - 17 games, 27 points
Not the perfect benchmark I know (different season altogether, can't really compare game to game) but the more telling total is how far off the top we are. Because that's more relevant. Five, at the time of writing.
That's not shabby.
Harry, Levy - take note of the niggling repetitive quirks to our play that need fixing. January - it's imperative. But more so are the games from now until then.
Onwards. As ever, onwards.
Reader Comments (66)
Keane knocked the penalty rebound out of the way - you've got to give him that?
WP - well done and a lovely goal from Pav.
Great read that Spooks. Agree with the ratings althoughwould have given Daws a 7 for the mistake.
Keane clearing the ball after the pen? When's the dvd out?
We were definitely watching the same game there, then. Spot on analysis.
Without wanting to be too gloomy the five point gap between us and the top is the same as the five point gap between us and and West Brom/Blackpool.
I am probably out of sync' with most in that I believe Pav is just not very good 95% of the time-mostly his touch is woeful and he is incredibly one footed. Positively Benoit had his best game for me. It's a sign of how far we've come when your disappointed with a draw against the champions.
I thought Keane did well in filling in midfield and linking the forwars. In the little cameo he had, he looked...keen. Dare I say he looks leaner as well. Just in time for January and before that a booze up in Ireland. Top bloke. :)
No Daws was a 9 and Bassong was an 8. Wasnt really a mistake from Daws seeing it rolled down Drogba's arm.
Well done Wilson, much better.
Well done Keane for the clearence. Still a legend even though he's on the way out.
COYS
Agree with most of what you say, particularly good to see Palacios back, his first decent game since his brother's body was found. If you remember back to Pav and Defoe a couple of years ago before JD got injured they looked like they would make a good partnership. There were signs of it yesterday and I'd like to see them get more chances together. Pav's eye for a pass is very underrated. I still have a problem seeing how our team will look with JD &VDV, I don't see them working without a 'big man' and certainly wouldn't want to see Lenny dropped at the moment. It'll be nice to have the problem tho'.
Gomes worries me. Not just ysterday but previous games as well. Top keepers hava an air of calm assurance but with him you know there's a mistake or stupid penalty conceded just round the corner. To be fair, some good saves as well but that's the case witha lot of keepers.
The bottom line is that his mistake did cost us 2 points, which would have put us right in the mix at the top instead of the chasing pack. Equally it might have been another nail in the Chelski coffin rather allowing them to hope that they may be turning the corner.
good to see someone give Palacios and Ekotto some credit. Too many people ignore them when they play excellently as they both did yesterday and berate them when they have an off day.
Also, glad you mentioned Redknapp substitution. Made very little sense other than he thought we weren't getting the ball out of our half, which he was right, so his solution was to bring on Crouch and hoof it out to him. If the FA were watching, there's one reason why he's not good enough to manage England. Been great for Spurs, which there is no denying but falls short when it could make the difference tactically IMO.
oh and need to agree with johnnyh, Pav IS shite 95% of the time.
Having seen the replay to Drogba's goal a few times now I actually think Daws lost the flight of the ball for a second rather than look over at the lino. You can see him 'switch on' as soon as it comes back in his eye line. So for me unlucky rather than a mistake.
Anyone in the East Stand catch Cashley's cheeky behind-his-back finger in retaliation of the abuse he was getting. Very funny.
We need to tighten up at the back and to consolidate our defensive lines. We are totally incapable to defend at individual and collective level. I suppose that many of our supporters can see that the incapability of our defenders, with the exception of Gallas, and the total lack of a defensive plan and cooperation between the defenders destroys in almost every game what the midfield and the strikers are producing. A good team is a team which is WELL BALANCED in ALL ITS LINES. We have to buy 2-3 players in January who are capable to defend, including a really HOLDING and QUICK defensive midfielder and a DOMINANT inside the box and QUICK CB next to Gallas. A capable to defend left back would be also a plus. These should be our primary targets. If we can get rid of some of our current strikers then we can look for a scoring striker. The team with its current striker capacity scores in every game. The only problem is that it concedes also at least a goal in all of its games. It means that in order to win Spurs have to score at least two goals in every game. It's just like Spurs start every game with a handicap of one, at least, goal!!
Agree BAE and Wilson had good games. Great to see Dawson back as well. Other than that didn't really think anyone had a great game, a few had a good game though.
Terry kept us out of the game I think. I hate him.
Blackpool next week. Biggest game of the season (R).
Spooky, how about an in depth guide to some of our possible Champions League oppoents ahead of the draw this Friday?
Pav is indeed one footed and has an awfull first touch and thats not good. However he is a MAXIMUM 60mins player and stops trying after the hour mark. Thats unforgivable. His little genius ways of making space and scoring are great, but if you weigh up the bad touches and his unwillingness to get stuck in for the whole match then he doesn' cut it for me.
January sale item.
No-one mentioning Essien's attempted leg-breaker on Bale on the 20 minute mark? Should have been a straight red
@Zonergem. Bloody hell mate. Is your glass always half empty? I wouldn't want to be trapped by you in the corner of the room at a party over the next couple of weeks. We have had many of our key players out over the last few weeks/months but we are still up there amongst it. Come on man. Enjoy.
Spot on. A fair assessment.
was it just me or was BAE outstanding. I can only remember Man city at home last season, when he played at that level for 90mins!
It's not just you. BAE was a beast. Has been and will continue to be.
Love the fact that Chelsea now see this as a season defining game. 1-1 against Spurs - how times have changed!
lads, i'm interested in your views on this one. I'm bitterly disappointed that we just seem to coming up short in games this year when i feel we should have had so many games one by half time. The very obvious issue we have is the front pairing. In my opinion we're srong ans convered everywhere, bar possibly if modric was injured. The striker issue is a painful one considering we are so good everwhere else. Pav in my eyes is brilliant in one area of the pitch and thats in the box. No where else is he effective or good enough for our pacy and skillful team. I'm sick of watching us play brilliant fast flowing football only to have no end product due to the inefficiencies of our front pairing. My question is this: Would you take 8 million for Pav if Harry was told we needed the cash to fund the 20 million striker we so clearly need?
Spooky, your title does not make sense. Your article however does. Good write up. Pissed off we didn't score a second in the first half.
Zonergem. Yes but then the difference in quality is hardly the same now is it?
The title? The answer is one, not three.
We have three, we drop two, we then 'lose' all of them (potentially) then gain one.
Sadly the above would have a bit messy for a title, so I still think mine works just fine.
;)
Pav so far this season - 9 Goals in 21 Appearances with 9 of those appearances coming off the bench. Come on lads, that's not a bad return, a goal every 2.3 games. He's on course to score more than he did last season (10). Most other PL teams would love a striker with that sort of return. Ok so he's not World Class but give the guy a break. We'd have been screwed without him last season.
Get a new striker to replace Keane in Jan and retain Pav, Crouch and Defoe. Sorted IMO. I think Levy is trying to tie him down to a new contract anyway from what I've read.
Cheers
Pav fan club
Agree with your analysis Spooky. As I said pre - season...need that extra class striker.
If Tevez wants out..for Christsakes lets get him in January. Think he would gel with Defoe and might fancy supply from our midfield.
Was at the game and rate the worst players as this: -
Pav to slow and positional awareness sometimes dreadful (possibly due to his sloth like nature) however when in the right spot is able to produce the goods.
Lennon sometimes to quick for his own good and ends up dribbling to much, when a straight forward pass or cross will do, loses the plot runs into a defender or bamboozles himself and doesn't know where the ball is.
Crouch needs someone to run off him to flick the ball to however 9 times out of ten the flick on or header down ends up nowhere in space or with the defender. He does hold the ball up well though and can give a good pass along the ground which somehow is complete opposite of why we have him in the team i.e. for his height
Keane is all huff and puff good work rate but no substance alas
Gomes love him or hate him he is a very good goalkeeper with an occasional howler or two thrown in, still think he is better than not
Average ratings go to:-
Bale seems to have been found out by most teams now and finding it harder to produce the goods although still gives the occasional spurt and pinpoint cross
Palacios did well and seems back to his best no wayward passing and some very good ones to be honest
Bassong was good and solid
Hutton did nothing wrong although doesn't seem to understand the meaning of a deft touch and most passes seemed to be over hit when passing to players in a good position
Good ratings:-
BOE very good game good interventions and passing from back seems to be growing in confidence and has some good touches
Dawson you would not believe he had been away apart from slow reaction to their goal was solid in defence
Defoe was as sharp as ever and a real threat but lacked service during game if we had a big forward with speed and positional awareness to play up front with him we would be on fire
Modric was instrumental in controlling our midfield with his passing and tactical awareness
Overall as a team I felt especially in the second half we dropped deep and stopped running off the ball, when someone like Modric got the ball had no-one to pass to and had to go for either square pass or long ball, some of which were very good though. There was not much overlap between our wingers and wing backs and Pav seemed to be static most of the time instead of into space was waiting for the ball to arrive. Why we took Defoe off I just dont know?
Pav should be starting far more often. Think he'll be a great asset the more games he gets. Stop start is doing him no good at all.
IOANX - I suspect noone else has replied to your comment because it's so brilliantly daft. I suppose you could just be trolling, but if not, here goes...
We just conceded a single, unlucky route one goal to the reigning league champions; but for Drogba's "shoulder" (yeah, and the rest...), we'd have kept our first clean sheet in the league since City at the start of the season, and Spurs fans, neutrals and Chavs the country-wide are united in the opinion that Dawson had an outstanding first game since injury, Bassong played well and with confidence, Hutton made some absolutely fantastic tackles and interceptions, and BAE was just downright superb. This comes in the context of a defensive squad that's had Corluka, King, Woodgate and Dawson injured for decent stretches, with Bassong and Gallas occasionally out for shorter periods, and THudd no longer shielding whatever Harry's been able to patch together at the back.
With all that going on, one of our best defensive showings (certainly without King Ledley on the pitch) in YEARS goes by, and your whole comment is about how rubbish our defence is? Yes we could do with signing a CB (assuming at least one of King and Woody is crocked for good), but Harry can't change that til January, so let's focus on how well we did with what we had available yesterday.
We are slowly turning into moaning fickle fans demanding excellence week in week out and every minor flaw or mistake is dealt with savage abuse aimed at the guilty party.
And we've not even had any actual success it. I'm scared for our future.
Well it was a point gained in the end wasn't it? Ekotto and Hutton were simply awesome, fantastic display. So glad Hutton is first choice now. Dawson and Bassong were also very good. They actually derseved a clean sheet yesterday. Somethng that is costing us in games. Spurs did well considering the key players we had out. Palacios had his best game of the season, very goo. If VDV played we would have won for me, hope he is back soon. We just seem to get so many injuries!
Glad Gomes made that pen save but certainly a game to forget for him as I couldn't really see Chelsea scoring. Most Chelsea fans have said to me today how happy they are to get a point at Spurs. Well that just speaks volumes for the team and what Harry is doing at Tottenham. COYS.
Hutton was impressive. Could have hurt Chelsea going forward. Still think he suffers from mental lapses because he's so offensively minded.
To think we are able to go toe to toe with Chelsea even with key players missing, beat the likes of Arsenal at the Emirates. Top our group in the champions league when everyone said that would never happen is something we should all be very proud of. It is certainly something we are not used to but long may it continue. In Harry we trust.
I understand your point Oillie but most Spurs fans are not like that only the fickle one's which every club has....
There aint no pleasing some people.
It's a minority. Slightly more than a minority.
Or maybe it's just the majority who post online in message boards and the rest are just fine with it all.
A good/lucky point against the champions. I know we have had the better of them at the lane in recent years but they are still the reigning champions. They showed us a huge amount of respect this year and were very good yesterday. Our season will be defined by teams below us from now until may. For starters blackpool villa and Newcastle, there's 9 points there. 3 teams above us pay each other twice in december.
Hutton was excellent but BAE was man of the match. Match of the Day 2 for anyone who didn't watch it made it look like 95% Chelsea 5% Spurs in the highlights. We looked constantly on the ropes. Can't ever remember the game being that one sided.
Ollie - question you should ask yourself is just how many Spurs fans actually use online forums and boards and blogs? Say we have 30,000 at a home game I'd wager only 5000 bother with the internet.
Jep 5000? I'll see your 5000 and add another 10000 on top. There are hundreds of blogs and forums catering for Spurs fans. I know people who haven't heard of news filters like NewsNow and forums like COYS and FTL. It's a big place.
Plenty of people I know use the internet but some of the forums I've never heard of it. I know people who haven't heard of FTL or Spurs Community, COYS or even GG. There's even an official forum that Spurs host where you sign up with your membership number.
The official Tottenham forum? Have you seen it? God knows where the people in there sit but they're fucking idiots mostly.
Spurs 1- sunderland o Birmingham 0 Spurs 1 Spurs 1 Chelsea 0 this would be 9 points instead its three . Lets say we get a striker for 25 million it wont stop Luke Varney scoring against us or any other striker. .The problem is we cant keep a clean sheet or the same defence twice running Man City have kept eight clean sheets and could have bean nine if West Ham had not scored. We are playing Cup football I like Hutton but he is a luxury we cant afford especialy when we have Lennon I would even play Bassong there or Kaboul when Gallas is fit. I have just watched the game again and Chelsea where very clever when they fouled us when we threatened to breakaway they stuck a foot in and got away with some dirty ones caused by High Tempo abuse brought out when Teams are desperate. Terry was a fine example of this and a great advert was Blackpool's great escape at Stoke with defending that defied believe and this my friends is wy we don't need a striker but to find out why teams up there Tempo when we play with Bale and Lennon's speed. One observation to knock all you fans who want new strikers Blackpool who cost less than David Bentley to assemble have beat Newcastle away Liverpool where 2-0 up at Bolton beat Wigan away drew with Everton and have just beat Stoke. There scorers Charlie Adams who was a flop in Scotland Marlon Harewood let go by Villa Luke Varney on loan from Derby DJ Campbell when Gary Llineker asked the question would Campbell make a premier striker the answer was no he his scoring for.Blackpool. They have lost there best Keeper and Harewood they also had to play there first six games away from home yet they have 22 points and they have won at grounds we will struggle at and they have drew at Bolton where we lost .Explain this to me and if you give a good honest answer i will agree to buy Suares my answer would be to keep our team all of them and pray we don't get the same horrendous injury's. these high Tempo games cause and with this defence for a good few weeks we will rise above this Tempo with our natural speed and talent we have invested in years ago with Lennon Bale Hudds Dawson Ekotto Kaboul all maturing . We don't need any new players just better understanding why teams up there speed and players when Bale and Lennon come to play. We have lost t three games in the dressing room sunderland Birmingham Chelsea last year one nil up we would have won these we badly miss King and so does Gomes now our pass master Hudds is badly missed also not a new strikers..
@ruetheday
Sign a CB in Jan mate? Someone like Bongani Khumalo, who we've already signed, perhaps?
You need to be Neo to be able to decipher a Davspur post.
If we had a world class forward Dav then we'd be 2-0, 3-0 up and the the tactic would be to kill the game off with possession play. Our attack doesn't help with the defence.
I'm sorry but Pav's first touch is v.v.poor. Was an exceptional goal, but there were so many situations where he was poor. V frustrating to watch. Needs replacing with someone better. Also we need a more settled side, the movement and hesitancy will improve when we have 9/10 of the same players on the pitch week in week out with minor tweaks, not 4 players different with a different system each time. This is in no way a criticism of Harry but I have to wonder whether the medical staff have decided leeches are the way forward. We seem to lose a player a game!
We're 4 points worse off if you compare the results from last season to the games played so far this season and substitute the 1-1 West Brom Away for Burnley Away (2-4) (promoted/demoted clubs)
If you compare it against the Portsmouth or Hull away results from last season we are 7 points worse off... you have to remember also that last season we had a 100% record with 4 games played... cracking start!! We desperately need to go on a runof of 3 pointers.
Let's discuss again after December concludes. Think the way the Prem shapes up over this period will set up how the rest of the season will play out.
In a way I wish we'd thumped the bastards after seeing that chubby, unshaven look of delight on Abramovich's corrupt, soggy mush after ensuring he'd greased the right palms for the 2018 World Cup. If I were a Chelsea "fan" I'd hang my head in shame, but why let pride get in the way when you can buy yourself a regular trophy and pretend you were there right from the Dixon and Speedie years?
No, I think the recent analysis is spot on - getting annoyed at drawing rather than winning is quite a step forward and the new reality. Hopefully in not too long we'll be getting annoyed at not winning the title again (I can dream). Given the way the God of Ankles and Hamstrings has smote us recently I think we can all be very happy and very proud of the way things are going right now. Will be watching the transfer window with interest, but can anyone name a striker who is (i) good enough (ii) affordable and (iii) would come to WHL who would fit the bill? When you get to this level I guess the shortlist is pretty damn... short.