Oh my days, we won a game at Bolton.
Thursday, May 3, 2012 at 9:08PM Bolton 1 Spurs 4
An away win, the first since December and our first at Bolton since Sky Sports invented modern football. Okay, so sure, Bolton are awful compared to the bullish physical side that has always made sure we get nothing up there but having comfortably beaten Blackburn at the Lane without having to dig too deep it was good to see us do the same here. Our hosts displayed fight, unlike Rovers. We had a wobble early doors second half, but came through it. A flurry of punches from them failing to do any damage. Three quick uppercuts our response. Floored. I hope they pick themselves up and avoid survive the count.
Emotional stuff before the kick-off with Fabrice walking out onto the pitch. The Spurs Drum was apparently smuggled into the ground, then confiscated after 30 minutes. Spurs won't be too impressed after their explicit instructions that no drum is allowed (home and away). That and the fact the 'Y' rhythm was played. Tut tut. Got next to no chance of ever seeing it return to the Lane.
Our defending is still not that great but going forward we appear to have rediscovered the simple things that can be so effective. Spacial awareness, wingers on the flanks crossing the ball for players attacking the box. Quick precise counters. Smart and tidy one touch from midfield to attack that sees the players instinctively run into space to pass the ball onwards with intent.
A similar confident display (excluding the opening six or so minutes in the second half) away to Villa and it's all smiles with a hearty farewell to that almighty blip that almost killed our season. It still hangs in the balance, but this is a far better position to be in than a month back.
The goal from Luka (from a corner no less) was sublime. Is there a way to fit him into a system so that he isn't anchored too deep? He doesn't score many but when he does he leaves you thinking how many he could score if he played more offensively. Then again, he wouldn't dictate the tempo as much if he found himself lurking outside the box. Perhaps when Spurs are bossing he can sacrifice himself to the giddy heights of the area around the penalty box.
He did make one mistake in the game, leaving Reo-Coker free early in the second half for the equaliser but he made up for it with a brilliant assist releasing Lennon on the opposite flank to cross for Adebayor (3-1). In amongst the goals, a van der Vaart textbook pass into the net (2-1) and another Adebayor close finish from a Bale cross (4-1). Bang, bang bang. All over in the space of nine minutes. Clinical Spurs of the Fall, how I've missed you.
Sandro was again a beast this time without vomit. Adebayor, the paradox, scores and assists across the season (in patches) and has a first touch that has me pulling the hair out of other people (because I have no hair left on my head to pull). But still more effective than anything we've had since the last time we went out and signed a quality forward.
Lennon got better as the game progressed. Bale roamed and swapped but showed how important staying out left can be when the players around him are equally hungry but disciplined positionally. There might not be enough time left in the season to truly capture the rapturous solid full pelt flow of pre-blip, but this might just do. One journalist made a joke on Twitter when Spurs were 1-1 and on the ropes that it was because Harry was being linked to the England job, before the joke cut away with irony (what with Harry no longer linked as the job is gone). Further irony then that Spurs finally woke up which means it must be because there is no possibility of Three Lions, just the one cockerel dusting its self off. No follow up joke from the journo to balance out the comedy digs.
One point is now the monumental gap between us and third although only 4th spot is up for grabs. Woolwich won't drop points (hex). Chelsea look out of it (in terms of a league placing) after two ridiculous Cisse goals (apparently their announcer proclaimed pre-match that Chelsea would move into 4th spot when Spurs lose to Bolton...bless 'em). Pardew's men have the tricky remaining fixtures. I guess the shock would be them beating City on the weekend. Three points at Villa is now imperative. Let's just win the next two games because what happens elsewhere is beyond our control.
So where does this leave us, generally speaking?
Our away record across the past three seasons has been better than anything in the past 20 or so. As good as we've ever had it? Let's bury this fallacy once and for all. It's not as good as we've ever had it. Not when the 1990s and early 2000s were so abject. It's hardly difficult to call this Spurs side the best we've had in a long time when you look back to the ones we've had to endure sitting in mid-table going nowhere fast. We are simply playing to the standard that we've wanted to see since the 1980s left us forever. As good for some fans in their life time, perhaps, but that doesn't mean we gleefully accept and not want to push for more. Why should we be so defeatist ? This should never be about one man's ego but always about Tottenham and what we strive to be and play for. Glory.
It was as good as we've had in the past 20 years when pushing for 4th back in 2010. It's now better than it was that season but there is so much room for improvement, achievable improvement. Seems fairly obvious to me. Aim higher. Get better. Achieve more. Look how far off the top we are and yet we hardly took Europe and the League Cup seriously. Remove uncertainty and bulk the squad up rather than playing a game of cat and mouse nobody can decipher. That's a call to chairman and manager to take responsibility.
Harry is now focused on us having given up on England. Shocker. Although depending on the media, Hodgson and the England players there is no way you can discount another twist in a year or so. So if we are stuck with him, then it's back to accepting his strengths and his failings. Although he is not the most tactically astute or consistent with strategy (which means he might never have it in him to better 4th spot) we still compete. But you can't proclaim a title push one day and then admit we're lucky to be 4th the next. Harry will continue to be a short term custodian of team affairs, from one season to the next, reactive to whatever is happening at any given time. There might be no other manager out there that could do any better, but there might be one that could perhaps plan for the long term and allow this team to make that further step up.
If Levy believes in the gaffer and backs him, then so be it. I'll follow and support. We won't have a choice. Would be the more most prudent fiscal decision to make even if there are many that would prefer someone brand new to take the helm.
For now, I'll happily accept a smug Harry sound-bite on Champions League qualification, telling us all 'told you so'.
For now, all that matters is the next game.
I'm away until Tuesday, might log onto Twitter if I'm sober. Might log onto Twitter if I'm drunk.
Reader Comments (75)
Parker on for VdV with 5 mins to go? Defoe on the bench?
End of.
Only two possible conclusions: Harry is either a functional retard or he was fixing the match.
Please love off to Bournemouth.
I only wish the toon had won as they seem like the only team in contention that actually deserves CL football.
HR - "I cant fault the boys. We went down to 10 men and we kept attacking. Did you see the game we battered them. What was it 19 corners. And did you see the attacking substitutions I made. I brought on our free scoring mid fielder Scotty to get us the winner". As a tweet says on BBC - if we cant beat the worst Villa side ever fielded in the premiership - it perhaps says something. Again - all the possession but poor finishing , poor final balls into the box etc etc -same old same old. Although I will say - their one shot on goal was a bit lucky. Any body else think it was worth trying to save it - I bet Cech would have tried.
Anybody else coming on hear to tell me Arry knows what he is doing!!
He has screwed my club big time, just like everyother club he has been at!!
I have 3 kids so i cant write what i feel at this stage..................
Congratulations England! You really dodged a bullet with Redknapp.
"What was it 19 corners."
This in itself is a shocking statement.
The ONLY corner kick where we had anything remotely resembling a goal-scoring opportunity was when we played the short ball. The other 18 were crosses directly to Given.
Beg for your job Arry..........and then, pull the trigger Levy!!!!
I have been a Harry defender. No more. There is no way to defend his utter cluelessness any more. There was a fantastic shot of him with about 2 minutes to go and it was clear that HE HAD NO PLAN.
Get rid.
You know, can you really blame Bale and Modric wanting to leave. Deep in your hearts, can you blame them, i cant!!
They must look at City, Chelski, Real, Barca and wonder........................why do i need to go through this crap!!!
OK, have now had a moment to think about it a bit more. Yes I can see there was some logic to Harry thinking that Parker would give us more possession etc. and maybe there was the thought that bringing him on would ensure that we didn't get hit on the break etc but for my money the biggest problem was that we looked like we were attacking well and VdV actually looked more threatening than he does in late stages of matches. Easy to blame in retrospect but bringing on Parker was adding something that we didn't need just then. Most likely that Defoe wouldn't have scored but giving us another option up front with fresh legs would have created space for the midfielders as well. I don't know. Just unimpressed with HR and his inability to really add anything when we need that extra bit of guile.
Also I can't imagine Defoe would have scored.
The brutal facts are:
Our players don't have what it takes. Our manager isn't good enough. We just don't deserve 3rd.
On the positive side, at least we aren't f*cking gooners :)
HR "We dominated the second half but we couldn't get the second goal". As I and many others have said before - surely part of the reason goes right back to the transfer windows when we havent got a decent 20 goal a year striker.
What happened ? Jermain DeFoe was geared up to come on the field and rip the wooden Villa defence apart. Then Sandro is felled inside the box and Ade slots home the equalizer. What happened to Defoe, the next I see him wrapped in an oversize coat and then Scott Parker takes the field for VDV. SP is a great defensive player, but when was he going to be a match winner! Would this move have been made if we hadn't known that Newcastle had lost to Man City. Did we give up the chance of a guaranteed CL 3rd place for a 4th place qualifier (dependent on Bayern Munich) because we were scared that Delfounso was going to sneak a last minute winner?
Just saw Harry's interview on BBC, he says we 'baherred em' wit 10 men, but the deserved goal wouldn't come. Harry, you haven't got a tactical clue.
Bottled it big time. Stats tell all-we dominated throughout evan with 10 men, but could not put it in the net. Poor finishing tells the story of the 2nd half of this season along with poor attitude since 'Janu Arry' (geddit?) And yes 19 corners 'resulting' in barely
one scoring opportunity- just what do the several well paid members of the 'coaching' staff do for their money all week? Yes, I know, overuse of inverted commas, but that is what supporting Spurs does for you.Extremely frustrated that we could not capitalise on Arsenals slip up yesterday. Harry, you are too old , have no passion, lack the will to win and are always showing too
much respect to SAF, Wenger etc. You allowed/presided over, an almost certain 3rd spot to slip away from us and for this and this only, you will be remembered. Oh yes and the phrase - "we battered 'em".
We needed a win and we did not get it. And this result may or may not have changed had Harry brought on defoe but his sheer cluelessness was apparent. We were a goal down and battering Villa and unable to score, he gives detailed instructions to defoe around the hour mark and he is set to come on... we get a pen. and we score. we have just equalised so its understandable he keeps defoe on the bench for nxt 10 15 mins. The game continued in the same pattern with absolutely no change whatsoever so how on earth does his decision to bring defoe on in the first place change !!! Surely unless he thought draw was a good result , he should have brought him on (if he actually had thought of what to do with defoe in the first place) !!! sheer cluelessness !! I am thankful to Harry for where he has gotten us. Harry was right... its 'as good as it gets' as long as he is incharge. He has got us as far as he can. Bring in Martinez or Rogers please !!! And this season, not after letting Harry wind the contract down !!! It might be too late to keep modric , maybe we can hold unto bale for another year and build on without going into a Liverpool like situation !!! Champions league football I still believe !!! COYS
Spurs4Life
You hit the nail on the head. It wasn't so much the decision itself as much as the way it was made/not made by Harry. I felt exactly the same way. The moment revealed how utterly clueless he is.
Crystal clear to me that he can never take us any further than he has. Thanks for the good times HR. Jog on and let us write the next chapter.
When West Brom draw with the gooners and we beat Fulham 3-1 the Harry lovers will be out in force. I just hope Levy, like the FA, has seen enough by now to realise he needs to give Bill Kenwright a call and polietly request that he allow him interview David Moyes.
How do you post your own blog? I would like to share my thoughts on the game in detail
I'm not sure if my ticker can take much more of the Tottenham way of doing things but let's wait until after the Fulham game to see if DL has anything up his sleeve. I cannot believe he doesn't see what has been happening. Until then we need non stop support for all at the Lane next weekend as the one point gained (2 points dropped) means Newcastle need to win at Everton and I have feeling the A*** just ain't firing like they were for a while and WBA will want to put on a show for its fans and manager. Spurs to finish 3rd
We will finish third. Goonarses to get at best a draw (though I think they will lose badly).
Manager side - Lets ship 'Arry to Dubai or China. No ifs or buts - he has to go.
Team side - On the assumption we get CL football next year and 'Arry is gone, what happens to our side next year?
Lets look at our spine. Bale? He will remain. Modric? He will leave. King, retired. Gallas, exit. VDV, remain. Friedel, will remain but a new number 1 needs to come in. So real need for strengthening.
Key Decision -
The above noted, I think the way Levy treats our strikers is the real statement of our intent. We have to keep Adebayor and let Defoe go. Keeping Adebayor leads to a stronger side/squad and a stronger club - players will take note - sponsors will take note - TV will take note - press will take note - global coverage will take note. Anything else smacks of adequate and same old one track crap. Anything else is a Defoe.
The point is that yes, Adebayor may spend half the season out our waving his arms but every serious side in the CL has one of him - we will know we have arrived when we have taken the decision to step up to a level that includes an Adebayor on basis that we have enough power elsewhere in the squad. But it has to start with him being in place to begin with.
Wisky Tom - has 3rd place............................gone up in smoke?
Everyone else - here we go again hoping a mid table side does us a favour.
4mullery - the tragedy is the coaching staff don`t need to teach the players to kick a ball. All they need to do is throw em a bag of balls and tell em to have an hour of fun practicing corners and free kicks.
Once again all those corners all those shots on goal all that possession - we`re doing the hard bit. Then the opposition have one shot on target and score it`s all too familiar.
Actually I have decided that I don't care whether or not we get CL football next season or not, just as long as we get shot of Redknapp. He's such a liability that I know Levy will see the sense in paying him off. So all ye out there get ready for the new 'Redknappless' era.
Sounds like Fabio Capello is looking for a job in the greater London area. Not that he is my favorite but I think he could do better than Harry who should just retire and be a colour f***ing commentator. Martinez could be a great coach but he signed a new contract at the beginning of the season and won't be cheap. He's younger than Friedel
The last post hits the nail on the head. Our soundbitian manager should be on SKY full-time, it is a natural evolutionary step for him.He has a 247TV ego. Think of all the additional opportunities he will have to say "i was looking at signing him" when discussing any player showing a grain of form.I am going to design a Harry T-shirt with "Cui Bono" under his head. All media responses lead to Rome, well Sandbanks.
I can see it now Redknapp commentating on Arse v THFC - "Well Gary the only way I can see Spurs winning this one is to go narrow, therfore forcing the play into where the Arse are strongest and leaving Walcott totally unmarked for a simple dink over the top".
At least if he gets his dream job it'll prove to everyone what complete b@@@@cks he spouts.
Cookiebun - part of me is with you but we need the CL spot to recruit a decent manager and at least hold onto our good players. Otherwise we`ll be looking up at Newcastle Liverpool etc next season and once again enjoy that pointless middle of the table feeling.