We've got our Tottenham back
Tuesday, February 1, 2011 at 8:12PM I'll get around to writing up my own opinions on the the recent 'activity' (scoff) relating to the transfer window once I've returned from my travels. Will not be around to preview/watch/report on the Blackburn game either, so when I'm back I might just ask you lot to let me know how badly we played.
What?
Ah, don't fret, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. We'll do just dandy with our strike-force, I promise.
Talking of which, I will say this about the January Transfer window; Not resolving the fabled forward conundrum will only make finishing in the Top 4 that ever so sweeter.
What?
Just work with me, nod and pretend you agree.
So, moving swiftly on, I've got another guest blog for you this evening. Having received a number of emails that consisted of people going mental over our apparent inability to target a player with genuine belief of signing him rather than appear scatter-gunned and desperate, this particular piece speaks up for the all the frustrated. We all know sometimes (considering we don't actually know what goes on behind the scenes, well, until 'arry let's us know) it's not as black and white as it looks when you're watching SSN or reading news updates. Sometimes, it's best turn up the colour and just see red.
Insert Andy Carroll joke here.
Enjoy the rant/knee-jerk. Agree, disagree, throw rotten fruit.
-
Dear Mr Levy (and indeed Mr Redknapp),
On behalf of the supporters of Tottenham Hotspur FC everywhere, thank you. Thank you for giving us back our Tottenham. Thank you for bringing back to us what it is to follow Spurs. Once more we can feel like we’re used to feeling, when thoughts of that cockerel-adorned crest come to mind, so again I say thank you. Thank you for re- introducing us to those familiar experiences of disappointment, wasted opportunities, expectations of mediocrity, and that gentle whiff of embarrassment. It’s clear that you realised we were starting to forget what success felt like, so the feelings had begun to be less raw. Less intense. We needed that glimpse of the promised land to remind us what we were missing. But now you have returned our club to us.
This transfer window, you could have led us down a path that would leave us uncomfortable, nervous and twitchy. A path of hope; not a path we were familiar with, prior to the last couple of years. But you saw our confused little faces, and said ‘No - this cannot go on’.
Despite our recent comparative success, certain flaws in our team have been evident to all but the most blinkered of observer. For example, the lack of specialist cover at left-back is one area which patently needs addressing, yet due to the flexibility of players like William Gallas and Younes Kaboul this is an area that could wait until the Summer. There is, however, one area that could not wait. Not if we were to stand any chance of retaining our position among the Champions League elite next season. Not if we were to stand any chance of winning any silverware in the short-to-medium term. Not if we were to avoid a decline from which it will be very difficult to return. That area; the one of greatest importance and urgency; is in the forward line. The strikers.
Firstly, let me illustrate my point using some statistics about our strikers. The combined number of league goals that have been scored this season by the three senior strikers currently on our books totals six. That is less league goals between them than Gareth Bale has scored on his own. One third less league goals between them than Rafael Van der Vaart has scored on his own. Aaron Lennon, about whom it has often been said (incorrectly in my opinion) that he lacks a final ball, has managed half as many goals on his own as our entire strike-force. Even Alan Hutton, our full-back, has managed two league goals. All of these players have scored more league goals this season than either Peter Crouch or Jermain Defoe. At the moment, Crouchy couldn't introduce a banjo to a bovine posterior if they both had name-badges and a bloke at the door announcing them like one of those Cinderella ballroom scenes.
I think this point needs even greater context. At Chelsea, the attacking line of Drogba, Anelka and Kalou have managed 20 league goals, and this is considered to be a poor return this season. They have just added to this strike-force to the tune of £50 million. At Manchester City, Tevez and Balotelli alone have 19 league goals. They too have gone to significant expense to secure a front-line striker in this window in the form of Edin Dzeko. In the red half of that city, the combination of Berbatov, Hernandez and Rooney (in a tricky season for the England striker) have managed 28 league goals. And our natural enemies from up the road have seen 21 league goals scored by Chamakh, Van Persie, Walcott and Bendtner.
Even Liverpool, who have had a woeful first half of the season by their standards, have seen 15 league goals scored by Torres, Kuyt and Ngog. They may have subsequently lost Torres to Chelsea, but they have replaced him with Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez. Remind me, weren’t both of those players linked with us during this transfer window? And how have we enhanced our striking options during this oh-so-important period? By getting rid of Robbie Keane and Giovanni Dos Santos.
Just for a one further reference point, in the 2007/2008 season, our four strikers managed 40 league goals. I’ll say that number again. 40. See the difference?
I don’t think I can make the point any clearer than this: without a first-class strike-force, you will not achieve anything in football. Even if your defence is water-tight (and ours has been anything but this season), it takes goals to win games. It takes wins to achieve league success. It takes league success to maintain European football. And it takes European football to maximise turnover and attract top players. Success breeds success. And it all grows from scoring goals.
And what is the core reason for our failure to secure a top class striker in January? Because we persist in playing this ridiculous game of chicken with other clubs at the transfer deadline. Quite frankly, it’s pathetic. Other fans laugh at us. The BBC Live Text used the following simple phrase to sum up our desperate last-minute scramble to secure Charlie Adam: So near. So far. So Tottenham.
Does it give you some kind of buzz to see how near to the final second you can push it? Is it the gambler in you? Is it the chance that a last minute deal can open opportunities for a bargain? Because let me clarify this for you. Rafael Van der Vaart was a one-off. It was the exception, rather than the rule. It was a freak of modern football, and was rightly lauded as such.
If you leave it too late for other clubs to find a replacement, or so late that administrative problems can scupper the deal, you are left with nothing. You are standing empty-handed; with a pile of cash burning a hole in your pocket; cash which you will be simply throwing away in May when we finish 5th in the League. Or even worse, 8th. And let’s be clear, missing out on European football next season altogether is far from out of the picture.
Congratulations. You have gambled away tens of millions of pounds of Champions League revenue for the chance of saving one or two million. Sound business sense? I think not. It’s like me heading to the bookies and putting a grand on a bet that might return a hundred, but at ridiculously bad odds.
Stop this. Stop it now. When you have an opportunity, do the deal. Secure the players we need to take us to the next level, or even maintain us at this level. Make sure of our future success, rather than throwing it away.
And just out of curiosity, what were we going to do with Charlie Adam? He’s a great player don’t get me wrong. But is he simply cover for Huddlestone? Cover that is so much better than Jenas, Palacios, Sandro, O’Hara or any of the other multitude of centre-midfielders we have, that it is worth concentrating on that deal rather than making one last push to get a forward in? And what do we do when Thudd is fit again? Consign Adam to the bench? Drop Huddlestone? Or shift to an even-more centre-heavy formation of 4-6-0? Hell, why not? The strikers aren’t delivering anyway.
According to the press, we have been linked with Dzeko, Suarez, Carroll, Aguero, Fabiano, Forlan, Llorente, Rossi, Lukaku and countless others in this transfer window. It’s clear that you thought about the problem. But this is one of those cases where it’s NOT the thought that counts. To dare is to do. We didn’t think you’d dare pass up this chance to save the season and cling onto Champions League football. But you did it.
So yeah, thanks a lot.
Regards,
Beadle
Also, catch up on Chris King's guest blog on the same subject here.
Reader Comments (111)
Thinking back to 2007-8 when our strikers were prolific, many people were saying if only we could score from midfield aswell we would be devestating. I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
Listen fella, you'd rather have triffic footballers like Beckham, Neville and Parker than those mugs you listed. And don't get me started on Dos Santos. That guy grassed me up to the taxman so I've done to him what Hoddle did to Rebrov - ruined his career completely. If it wasn't for Levy insisting on getting some of the money back I'd have released him on a free a long time ago.
And one more thing, I will never let any whippersnapper near the first team unless I have no option. Jenas and Crouch are fantastic footballers and must play as much as possible.
I have to go now, Sandra is running her mouth about how I never tried to sign her in the last 10 minutes of the transfer window.
Well put good spur. We needed a striker, and a left back, when last minute we were thought to have signed adam, I thought what the hoo har? surely harries laughing at me. We need to think outside the box, put hugglestone up front, he can pass the ball into the net from anywhere.
COYS!
Thank you for summing up exactly how i think we all feel
I am so gutted
Why not give Obika a go... 10 times the player Crouch is
COYS
Superb article.
Plain and simple, Levy is a cunt (officially).
"Hope can kill a man"
Couldn't have put it better myself, watching the Wigan-West Brom game I'd have settled for rodaellga or odemwingie, they look better than our "preferred 2". If Pav doesn't get a start soon I will cry
SCOTT
Levy is a cunt?
You fucking mug, fuck off and follow the woolwich you jumped up little prick hiding behind a keyboard!
Harry picks who we target, harry picks the side
talk about being mugged off all this talk about him being england manager has gone to his head play fulham in the cup and he plays graham taylors fucking christmas tree formation naive naive naive
we should have had the targets sorted before the window and got it sorted middle of january anybody with 2 eyes can see what we need except our manager and coaching staff!
the closest we have come to genuine success in my lifetime gone because redschnapps is inept if he wanted to target a central midfielder it should have been Sessegnon who went to sunderland but why we need one is anybodys guess!
Harry Kane is eligible so maybe redschnapps is gonna look at YOOF!
Corluka at right back and Pav & Defoe up front is surely the only hope we have, then they sort out what they want to do with VDV, Mod and Bale but to be honest we have to go with them changes and hope for the best.
This is all so mad - not the comments here they are spot on - rather the shenanigans we have all had to suffer. Neville, Pienaar, Adam, Parker WHAT on earth is going on. Are we all mad and missing the point? Arry hasn't even mentioned Khumalo in the midst of a defensive crisis so why did he sign him? I have been saying for sometime that there would be a problem when Defoe and VDV were both fit as they obviously couldn't play together upfront and dropping Lennon makes no sense. Unfortunately 'Arry seems determined to prove that they can't play together - repeatedly. Crouch hasn't played once as he did against City away last season. In fact he hasn't even managed an average performance in the league. Pav for all his inadequacies at least gets some goals and has the size we need to go with VDV (or Defoe) but it is beyond 'Arry to make him the regular first choice. And as to the lack of a new striker I can only agree totally with the article - spot on - So are we all just mad and missing something? I could weep and probably will be tomorrow night...
James spot on about Corluka. Don't get me started on Hutton, I think I've officially become an "I hate Hutton" bore - again are we all mad - I think not - what is going on??? I sometimes think the more the crowd reacts in a certain way the more 'Arry becomes determined to do the opposite regardless of the sense of it?
Heres a idea now sit down and get ready SUPPORT YOUR TEAM you know the team that are fifth in the league in the CL knock outs yes SUPPORT them instead of blogging about how bad the people are who got us there.
Seems like too many of you play pm and think its easy
we would not be in this situation if it wasn't for vdv. 4-4-2, but because of vdv we play 4-4-1-1 and have crouch upfront. (crouch is a C*UNT who cheats on his fu*ing wife)...
If Pav does not play the full 90 tomorrow, I too will accept defeat and join the Harry for England chorus
I do support the team at great expense every home game and have for a frighteningly long time. Suggesting that people writing here don't know management is difficult is insulting. Support like love does not need to be blind. There is too much strange and rotten in the state of Tottenham. It wont stop me yelling my heart out but I cant help like other writers here being upset by the missed opportunity. We are so close but with the strength of the teams around us we could be about to throw it away. What price keeping Bale. Modric and VDV if we miss the CL?
We do not need a striker, we merely need to address the tactical differences each game dependant upon who we face. Are we playing a dogged English team who will shut the midfield down and get at us going for every first, second or third ball? The problem we also face is that we are Spurs, top 4, champions league however we have never convinced others of that and they do not fear us on the field of battle like they tremble at Manchester United. Fulham knew we had a soft belly and kicked us hard, stoopidly hard in it. Man Utd walk on to a pitch and and the other team spend more time thinking about what to watch out for their fear stops them simply closing down and sucker punching them. We have maybe forgotten that and walked out on occassions thinking it's won before a ball has been kicked, however this is not an inditment on our strike force or any other position in our squad. We broke the top 4 monopoly by hard work, no fear and in some way brute force, showing no fear and taking no one for granted. This season we have not shown as much respect to shit teams and paid the price. We also have unfortunatly help ferment the myth that Bale is 90% of our team. Bale is the greatest player in our team? No we have Modric, VDV, Lennon, Dawson, Huddleston, Kranjcar, Pavlyuchenko, DeFoe, Hutton, Corluka, we are a team, a squad we have just helped the myth that Bale is our only out let and Fulham, when Bale was absent saw that as a weeknes and we allowed it to be. Back to basics, we stayed up and broke into the Champions league with this squad and without Bale some games and before VDV. Some times it's about strikers, some times it's about midfielders. This season strikers have not been at the forefront for any team. Pav can smash the goals like last year, but not if the team is set out for playing the strikers in, most of the time we are simply asking the striker/s to create space for Bale or nods down to VDV. Even if we were tp aquire the service of Torres what differnce would it make if we continued to play the way we are. Some games VDV should be dropped and we should go to 4-4-2 Pav, DeFoe. Some game we should go 4-5-1 VDV and Crouch style.
Jenas gives us so much going forward and get some goals, Lennon should mainly be paired on the right with Corluka not Hutton. Hutton gets too far up and Lennon has never shown he is comfortable with that, where as Lennon and Corluka worked a dream. We do not need to strengthen, even the addition of Stevie P has made it harder for Kranjcar, a player of pure class to get on the pitch. Palacios can't pass, can't do much but in some games he does the perfect role, is a pain in the arse to the oppents midfielders.
All I am saying is get back to last season and get Pav on a goal spree, rather than spunk £35million on a random.
Spot on Steve,
"Go out and get one more than the other lot" or "managerial freedom" doesn't always cut it I would think, even in Arry's sternest tone of voice.
For tactical versatility one could though question the wisdom of sending everybody out on loan, entering all the injured on the 25 list (+youth yes, but still), 4 keepers incl., and not doing anything other than what was rumoured, in market, which was indeed embarrasing.
This was so breathtaking obvious. We needed a striker and did not get one. Pienar is a decent player but not that more so than other options already there. Mercifully we did not get Neville (I know it could have been his brother!!! god forbid). We have enough midfielders to stock a shelf with but we have three strikers who at the moment do not appear to be able to it a barn door between them. Carol could have been had last year but that is water under the bidge. For heavens sake lets give a youngster a chance,if that is now we all have as fourth striker.
Some Spurs fans are a total joke....just listen to them...all they do is moan about mouth off....
Spurs had FIVE bids rejected for a striker...it's not if we didn't do anything like our neighbours up the road, but I expect they are not coming out with all this crap I'm hearing. Yes we left it late in the transfer market but clubs still rejected our offers. Some of the offers we put in where amazing! We can't sign certain players because we can't afford their stupid greedy hyped up wages. Why can't people get that in their tiny little brains? Slagging of Harry is pathetic and weak, he has taken us to a completely new level, something only our bloody playstations Fifa games could bring us. His record is amazing. Best Manager for over two decades! Oh yeah sack him then! YOU THICK MORONS!!! Where you saying that a few weeks ago when we beat Ar5ena1? We did the lets sack another Manager with Jol for Ramos to take us to the 'next level' remember...and then we were BOTTOM of the league. You have no idea what it's like to run a football club. It is likely that we won't make the top four...but look at the clubs above us? What do you expect???? We are extremely luck to be where we are....
Get real people you FICKLE fools and support your football club.
i will always support the team through thibnk and thin but i think even them would have be suprised we didnt bring in another striker and i can help thinking its going to cost us 4th and its a big oppertunity missed to step up to the next level. but then again we would also have to up wages as well and as much as i hate the abount of money players are now on until its capped we also have to pay silly wages
Now now children..!!
Do you really believe 'arry and Danny didn't bother in the January window ?
Do you really believe 'arry snd Danny don't want us to score goals ?
Do you really believe 'arry and Danny don't know anything about football ?
Do you really believe you could do a better job ?
I am mystified by why we've helped the Spammers by loaning them Keane.
I am mystified by why he keeps picking Crouch.
I am mystified by a few things I don't understand but I am a Spurs Supporter, have been for over 40 years and will be until the day I slip off this earth so I will continue to have faith in 'arry and Danny to take care of our club.
By the way, Hutton is one of the best right backs in the league and can score goals. He was put in an impossible position by Mr Reliable against Fulham.
By the way, our South African midfielder is in the 25 so we will see him.
By the way, we have some good youngsters on the books so may see some of them too....
Come on everyone, support your club and leave slagging us off to the Gooners, Spammers etc. There's enough of them out there only too happy to do that...!!!
How about we also show some cheer to the fact that we didn't lose any of our top stars in this window...some fans have completely overlooked that. Moan, moan, moan.
Couple of points.
If we sell Bale, Modric and VDV the NDP will become a lot more viable financially if we don't spend it on new players.
If we get the OS, we'll probably get new owners.
We can't lose really can we?
We wanted Carroll, the only reason Liverpool got him is because they sold Torres. Had we sold Bale for 50m and bought Carroll for 35m would people on here be happy. I doubt it.
Let's just get on with supporting the team. What's done is done.
I hate being called deluded but today I can see it from the other side of the fence. We are 5th and look at the teams above us and the resources they have. Talk about punching above your weight. We cannot compete.
We are not Chelsea, they know if they don't make the CL they can forget the financial fair play rules coming up. Money means nothing to them, see the loss they posted yesterday? They have no plans to move to a new stadium because they know they could never fill it. West Ham have more chance than they do of filling 60K regularly.
They have won the League, played in CL finals and as far as I know they don't have a ST waiting list, they even had STs available for the current season back in the summer.
Levy is playing the long game and fair play to him. He made it very clear back in September we would not chase the CL every year, why should we? He sees no success and 35k and rising on the waiting list.
So first step a new stadium. And once that happens then maybe ENIC will sell and about 90% of Spurs fans will be happier than they are today.
Me? I'm just along for the ride, being screwed for my £s along the way.
Transfer window DVD anyone?
What "missed opportunity" ? players have too WANT to come to us , its well know carrol was not keen and as soon as Liverpool put a bid in he slapped in a transfer request is that Harrys fault NO.
We are fifth in the leaque and in my eyes doing well yes we could do with a striker so what would you propose drag them here ?.
The next 5 months..........
1. We lose the Olympic Stadium bid
2. We are knocked out of the Champions Cup by Ac Milan
3. End up 6th and do not qualify for Europe
4. Bids in for Bale and Modric
5. We lose both in the summer
6. VDV loses and focus and signs for Liverpool
7. Cant afford to move to another stadium and hence abandon the whole idea
8. L. King retires and becomes the new Spurs head physio
9. Redknapp becomes England manager
10. Sam Allardyce appointed as new Spurs manager
11. Defoe signs for West Ham, stating his dream is to play in the Olympic Stadium
12. Crouch made club captain
13. Spurs sign El Hadji Diouf
14. Levy sells club to Iranian consortium
Let us pray and prepare.............................
Great post, just hope you'd put in a couple cunts and twats in there. Also whoever thinks those 5 bids were real (nothspur) give us a fucking break
Also Harry is not at fault us not signing anyone, Levy WILL NOT PAY THE WAGES ffs,Harry must be so frustrated too
I'm a non-paid up member of the BAE appreciation society, and looks like I should join the Hutton Bore society too. He drives me crazy - Corluka was so much better.
Break the wages structure of the club and you could break the club. They tried to get a striker in, but failed. We can say they didn't do well enough, but if these guys didn't want to come to Spurs, or wanted too high a salary, there's not much anyone can do about it.
Sadly it looks like we need to win pretty much every match between now and the end of the season to get fourth...can't quite see that happening ;( Ahh well, lets just win the Champions League instead.
Lost me at the first paragraph. You sound like a spoilt child. Grow the fcuk up and appreciate the talented squad assembled. Dickhead.
Of course the bids were real...why would the clubs who own the players say they rejected our bids?...it wasn't to bump up the prices (Apart from maybe Carroll) because the rest of our targets stayed put as the clubs didn't want to sell. I agee Levy won't pay the high wages, which is frustrating but on the other hand we don't want to go into stupid debt, that is a slippery slope my friend. Also you pay one player over a £100k a week then the rest want the same wage...we just don't have the money to do that. Accept it and move on.
"Also Harry is not at fault us not signing anyone, Levy WILL NOT PAY THE WAGES ffs,Harry must be so frustrated too" We don't need anyone, Arry should be less frustrated with purchasing power and wage structure and maybe concerntrate on coaching and managing the exsisting squad which is easy the best in the Prem for strength and depth. We don't need to buy our way to goals we can achieve all of them with this group of players!!! If Harry is frustrated (which is speculation) then just get Pavy and DeFoe firing! But we wont get that if everything is hinged around attacking midfielders, strikers are going out of vogue. 4-4-2 is dead, but this is England and a healthy balance of knowing 4-4-2 is dead will win the Champs league, and 4-4-2 will gain prem success.
MrSpang Hutton is a great out let for attacking from the back, he is the same as we ahev ahd on the left for ages now in Assou-Ekotto, however in some game he can help destroy but Lennon works better many a time with Corluka. Lennon doesn't seem to like Hutton so high up the pitch and seem less inclined to make runs for Hutton.
Again this is why we don't need to buy anyone as we are in the positive dilema of having too much quality and too many options. COYS!!! All results now are based upon Arrys formation, tactics and motivation as those 25 players can win everything if set up right!
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Therefore a fact we all know: Spurs is the ONLY team among the 20 biggest spending teams in the world last 20 years which haven't won any domestic or international championship.
Lennon doesn't like running for Hutton because when he does Hutton just cuts back and passes to Dawson/Gallas or whoever is the right-hand centre back. ;) He also delays giving the ball until Lennon is standing on the chalk with an opposition player about to hack the back of his legs the second he receives the ball.
But agreed - he can be great against the lesser teams when some direct running - but maybe not behind Lennon, and definitely not against quality opposition.
Levy didn't deal with other clubs as a real player. He fucked around offering stupid money for good players trying to show everyone how cool of a negotiator he is, like offering Everton £250k for Phil Neville. Fact is he is no good at landing the players Harry wants. And whoever said that Harry names the players HE wants is wrong. Levy bought VDV (a present for Harry! remember) and Harry said last night on 'Talk Sport' Levy asked him did he fancy Charlie Adam, so they agreed a price with Blackpool for him. Harry doesn't sign players and Levy doesn't take a blind bit of notice of the players Harry asks him for.
The blind leading the blind if you ask me.
IOANX - better than last year though - we were the richest team to have never made the Champions League back then, weren't we?
As usual, good article. Plus, good letter. Exactly my thoughts and I suspect, our thoughts. Absolutely farcical and shambolic, that transfer window was. Also, 1/2 Mil for the captain of Everton!!. wtf. I agree with Moyes, it was insulting to them and embarrassing for us. Why bother? Why did we all bother staying up on the last day clicking refresh on the tottenham news site a hundred times that day? :(
Scatter-gun, wheeler-dealing is exactly how we have approached this transfer window. Having pursued a much needed striker from this country and overseas since the start of the month, and been soundly rejected by player or club, in all cases the last hours are spent trying to get a defender (Neville) on the cheap and a central midfielder (Adam) to join the myriad of options already available in that position. And of course failing in both cases.
What a joke this pair are. If Redknapp spent less time in Italian Restaurants or pontificating about everybody and everything on TV, he might find the time to work on the deficiences of our current strikers. And Levy, having put all his effort in constructing the hideous plan to up sticks for Statford, then decides to charge round like a blue-arsed fly signing players his hapless manager hasn't even asked for.
Pathetic!
Making an offer for Aguero or whatever his name is after they turned Chelsea down that pays good wages is making an arse out of himself Levy did Northspurs, also 250 for Neville.These kinda bids don't fool me but apparently a lotta younger supporters are very proud of his efforts.and I'm not saying we should or should not break the wage structure, was saying that's the reason they won't come for 75 tops a week
Just seen Kaboul has undergone surgery on his knee and will be back in training in 4 weeks. He was suspended for 3 games why the hell didn't he have surgery then? Our injuries and suspensions this season have been horrendous. Just when it looked like they were starting to clear up we now have Palacios, Kaboul, Dawson (suspended), Bale (please Harry save him for the Milan match and play Kranjcar or Pienaar till then), Pavlyuchenko (always injured or can't be arsed? Yet everyone sings ‘Super Pav’ while Crouch is always the scapegoat; although I too prefer Crouch to be the plan B option from the bench, he always looks more effective deployed that way) are all out along with the long term absentees of Huddlestone, King and Woodgate. So this is partly why we’ve been struggling to keep pace with the top teams. Having said that we were a bit unlucky not to beat Man U or Chelsea at home as that would have given the us a real confidence boost not to mention take some pressure off our away form because of the number of draws at home.
I agree with Steve in some games where the opposition like to get stuck in with no time to play pretty football particularly away from home then it would be better to leave VDV on the bench and play 4-4-2 and match them for effort. Then introduce VDV later in the second half as the opposition start to tire. Rather than he starts the game, runs himself into the ground, gets frustrated and then the game starts to pass him by. At the least it would keep him fresh and I would also say Bale should be dropped to the bench now and again because if he is not restrained by the manager he will burn himself out which is why he is now out with a back injury.
I do think the whole Beckham saga and the Olympic Stadium controversy has been one massive distraction that has caused the club and supporters to lose focus. I can't help thinking there is now a lot of negativity around the club what with people chanting about Stratford during the game rather concentrating on the matter at hand which is trying to win games.
Look guys it's not ideal we would all like to still be in the Cup and higher up in the league but before the season I thought we were the 5th best team and if we get some luck on the injury front then I still think we’ll finish 5th which would NOT be a disaster. One way to look at it is now Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool have done most of their big spending for a while then come summer we will have a better chance of getting the players to take us to the next level. So if we don’t get Champions League this time despair not; players will still come to us even if we’re ‘only’ in the Europa League. Let’s not lose our nerve just because we didn’t splurge £30m-£40m this transfer window.
Now I know why Spurs were never accepted in the " sky 4", it's not the standings it's the ownership that dictates that. Also as long as Hutton is on the roster we won't ever get back to top 4, he's a shit player running like a fucking pinball going forward and don't even start me on his defending
I would like to see most peoples posts pre xmas- wasn't everything hunky Bloody dorry, so to speak........now its all doom and gloom.....wow....now were shit......it must of been the away win at villa..(not seen many of them in my lifetime and I'm in my 40's)
but hey, you lot know best.......18 months ago... 2nd from bottom...... then Champions league qualification 2 seasons later ( didn't think I'd see that in my lifetime, and I'm in my 40's)
De ja vu again I believe. Wow , we signed no one....is it the end of the world.
Rewind<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
18 months ago we would of said champions league......last 16....top of the group with Milan the champions in 2nd.......are you on drugs...silly spurs fans... we're all f**king mystic meg......coz we could all see that happening.........Yeah right......course we could......and now as some of our supporters believe.........world beaters.......coz we qualified...just the once mind......wow.....aren't we F**king brilliant.......we will win the league ........yeah thats right......listen to yourself......sounds ridiculous........well you believed dickheads.
I suppose most of this B**lox comes from this internet age of streaming and some f**kwits watching from half way round the world with now some sort of opinion that we all have to read, and the other bunch of never seeing a game live, but we have to read all the crap that comes with sucess and the experts!!!! to get through to someone who talks F**king sense........yeah right.
We signed no-one but not for the lack of trying.........but an ITK i know said Messi will come when we beat them at Wembley in the final...........MMmmmmmm cant wait till May......
Merry xmas
Great article, and sadly it's the end of the dream, finish 6th or 7th and lose Bale and Modric in the summer
@brez
why do you only go back 18 months, jack off with first division we won in 61, it's what have you done for me lately in evrything in life. And cunts like me from across the world fought in the terraces and took over north ends before u knew who spurs are.Just because u live in London u think you're some hot shit. Bet you can't wait till the team moves to east London pussy
As a fan since 81, and one of the poor sods who turned out at Craven Cottage, I sympathise and agree with much of the sentiment expressed here re team selection and transfer policy. HOWEVER, unless you actually hate women and don't like the idea of having sex with them, can you do us all a favour and resist calling people you don't like eg Levy "cunts"? After all, cunts are where we all came from and spend most of our lives trying to get close to. It's like slagging people off by calling them "pizza", "beer", "tropical holidays" or "lottery winnings"
I guess what I meant to add to my earlier post was that we need to build up our reputation in this country and around Europe in order to attract the better players. One season is not enough. Imagine if for the next 5 seasons we finish no lower than 5th or 6th with a couple of those seasons actually flirting with winning the League that would be progress.
Also once our new state of the art training facility at Bulls Cross is up and running we’ll start to attract a better standard of young talent that otherwise tend to get seduced by that ‘man with a packet of sweets and a cheeky smile’. It would be great to one day see us have our own versions of a Fabregas or a Scholes come through our academy into the 1st team. Although the next Steve Perryman and Glenn Hoddle would be nicer ;)
@MrSpang......we at the Society for the Appreciation of Benoit are thankful for your support.
BTW, anyone notice the Fulham game....
Ponytail with the little jerry curls on BAE.
I'm telling you, it's fucking bad juju.
It's corn rows or we're fucked.
Okay I was trying to be positive but just seen on four-four-two via newsnow that according to the Croatian FA Modrić is to have surgery for appendicitis so he'll be missing for the Blackburn Rovers game and the Croatia friendly match with Czech Republic next Wednesday. So god knows what team 'Arry will put out tomorrow; to use that well-worn phrase from his West Ham days 'We're down to bare bones'
The ironic thing is that Spurs are on a great run of 12 games with a single loss. If you project those 23 points from 12 games to the full season, then that is over 72 points a season form. Which is more than we got last season. So we are doing ok right now. What is the point in comparing teams that play 3 attacking players to our 2 attacking players - obviously they are likely to get more goals amongst them....and then you don't treat VdV as a forward, which has been most of the time. You can only compare like for like. What is the point in harking back to a time (2007-8) when our strikers got more goals between them when we actually got LESS points from them? I know what I prefer. I truly understand that people think that a striker could have been the icing on the cake, but as long as Spurs can overcome this injury crisis (I hear Modric will be out too), then we will be fine. A bit of positivity please.