Challenge Spurs™ - Monday Night Cup Final

It's been a while since I quoted some stats from the Beeb, so here we go:

Harry Redknapp takes his new Tottenham charges to West Ham, hoping they will retain a 100% record for him. The 61 year old has won every Premier League game at Upton Park as an opposing manager since leaving the Hammers, where he was in charge for seven years from August 1994 to May 2001. Portsmouth won there 2-4 in March 2006, 1-2 on Boxing Day 2006 and 0-1 on 8 April this year.

Spurs, who are on course to retain the Carling Cup, need a victory to draw level with West Ham on points, but they're yet to win a London Premier League derby this season.

Gianfranco Zola's Hammers have followed a six-match winless run, with five points out of nine, a three game spell in which as many clean sheets have been kept.

This being Spurs, you can throw out omens and previous history, as nothing is ever certain when we clash with the 'ammers. And with 'arrys return adding an extra spark to the game (for their fans) I'm sure this will be anything but boring. After the disappoint of losing to Everton at home, and with Utd next weekend, 3 points is imperative™. Losing to them is probably on par with losing to Fulham. An annoyance. And its something best avoided considering we are just above (or arguably in) the mire.

12 miles apart geographically, but I've always fancied Chelsea, Arsenal and even Leeds more when it comes to hatred. Their insistent obsession with us is all abit stalkerish (they seem to hate us, like Arsenal, support West Ham in that order).

I know certain minorities from both sides like a rumble now and again, smashing up pubs at 6am, but I've always liked their players/teams and style of play. But I get it, if you lived in the vicinity and supported Spurs, then you'll have grown up surrounded by West Ham fans, so I can see how some of our fans hate them as much as Arsenal.

Meet any Hammer and they will tell you Spurs are not a big club - sure, we're not, but we're still a bigger club than West Ham - which I guess is what they dislike hearing. They seem to discount the fact they yo-yo between divisions, never win anything and brag on about how they finished above us that one season. Trevor Brooking header aside (my earliest footballing memory was celebrating the goal in the back garden), they won the World Cup (or maybe that was a Russian?).

Their finest recent moment was stopping us from getting to the Champions League. But I've always found that I get more defensive when Arsenal fans bring that up rather than a Claret and Blue. I do know that some Spurs fans hate losing to them, much like Man Utd hated losing to Southampton away many years ago.

WHU v Spurs is the biggest fixture in their calender, which is why they paint their faces and sing 'Bubbles' with so much more intent when we visit Upton Park. But fucking 'ell, leave us alone. We've had to contend with Chelseas love for just as long, and the itensity when we play them is far greater than when we play the Hammers. Also, a horrible little place to visit, with the over zealous police and foul-mouthed fans.

Modric plays, we win. If he doesn't, its a draw or something Fulhamesque, which will result in much open bus parade and street parties I'm sure.

Will Harry keep up his 100% record?
Will Spurs manage to win a London Derby?
Will Zola's inform Hammers hammer Harry?

If it breaks their lickle hearts to lose to us, then I'm more than happy for them to get spanked. Tune in Monday.

And that was the week that was.....

Anderton retires today, bless him. Hope he gets that testimonial he deserves from us.

Freddy Adu (formally a Man Utd and then Chelsea fan) who was fourteen years old for about 5 years is now proclaiming he supported Spurs when he was a kid. Even though, he still is a kid. He's at Benefica, although out on loan in France, so basically, he's shit and over-rated and simply a over-hyped product of the Nike school of bullshit. Thanks but no thanks. I'll stick to the Football Manager version of you.

Robbie Keane is being rested for Liverpool today, away to Blackburn. Rumours (and that's all they are) suggest he will be sold. Where does one go when he is pushed out of his boyhood club? I guess his other boyhood club (Celtic) will be happy to take him. Keane will score 30 goals up there, no problem. I guess if he is sold we'll be disappointed (Levy that is) financially, as we probably only got £12M upfront for him, with the rest based on appearances and goals.

I'm uncertain if Tony Parks has joined the club as a coach. Can anyone confirm?

Watford away was just about okay. One down, two won up. Sure you've gathered that by now. Not a convincing performance, but then wasn't a fully strength team. Sure 'arry will play a strong team in the semi-final. Interestingly, every time we've got rid of a manager early on in the season, the new boss has gone onto win the Cup. More of the same please.

Warm balls?

Hail to the Milk Cup. Semi-final draw, live on Gillette Soccer Saturday, saw us get a plum first leg to Burnley - the giant killers of London clubs (Fulham, Chelsea and Arsenal) whilst Manchester United go to Derby. Sponsors are expecting a Spurs v Utd derby, and unless we manage to completely fuck up our home tie, I expect this to be the case. Disrespect meant, who would want to watch the two Championship teams in the final? Glam it's not.

Think I'm more happy with the home tie first up also, more so than last year because of the opposition. Do a good clinical job, and the second tie will be a formality. If we choke, stutter or simply get a bit arrogant and fuck it up, we don't deserve a second successive Wembley visit. Yes, they beat second elevens on their way to the semi-finals, but if we can't brush them aside then shame on us.

Would love a Utd final. Berbatov, are ya listening.....?

Watford v Spurs

If we lose tonight, then we don't need to beat ourselves up because - and I know this is an obvious thing to state - if we lose, we don't bloody deserve to think about the 'what ifs'.

3 games from Wembley. That's incentive enough. No matter the team Harry puts out.

Not that it matters in the long run. If we get Utd in the semi-final, it will be a full strength Utd. Which won't bode well. But enough of this negativity. Onwards, upwards etc.

Milk Cup update

The Arsenal super-kids get knocked out by Burnley. Apparently they didn't quite make the grade (I guess the grade is getting dicked 6-2 in the semis?). But hey, let's all applaud Arsene for sticking to his footballing principles.

Derby beat Stoke in the other quarter-final. Watford away for us tomorrow, and if it's a good evening then its hello to the semi-finals and another potential UEFA Cup qualification. All dependent on the team Harry selects. Premiership is obviously always going to be the priority. But its just 3 games from another Wembley day out. So why not go for the glory?

Too good a chance to fuck up.....so get your excuses ready for Thursday morning.

I'm growing a beard...

...and will not shave it until its mathematically impossible for Spurs to be relegated. Superstition has kicked in. That is all for today.

Stephen Carr

Has retired.

I'm now waiting on the DVD of his career (scheduled for a pre-Christmas release), which will apparently include a special documentary on 'that goal' he scored against Manchester United for Spurs. Obviously, the Blue-Ray version will be the definitive collectors item and will include a holographic cover (look straight at it and he's wearing the Irish shirt, to the left its Spurs and to the right its Newcastle.

Essential.

Afterthought

Are Everton a better run club than us? Yes. They don’t sack their manager if they have a poor season and they always look to strengthen the positions where they lack depth and class. The concept is continuity. Something Levy and co have never quite grasped, but then – as a whole – neither have our fans.

With the amount of money we splash out on players season in and season out, along with the over-ambitious goals the club set themselves – it makes failure (which is always the result of each passing year) create convenient scapegoats, which help appease the disgruntled fans.

Maybe we need to be more like Everton.

Understated. Patient.

Sure, they splash out big money every now and again. But their basic and obvious work ethic around organisation and hard work/graft helped by a balanced team means they are not easy to break down and beat even if they are far from being anywhere near attractive to watch. Yes, they’re boring. And on Sunday, as far as Moyes was concerned, he was tactically spot on because had they attempted to open up and play – we would have found it far easier to score. They stopped our creative players from playing, and we had no way of countering this (which is a bit depressing really).

When you result to hoofing the ball because there’s no way through, it’s the very definition of depressing. But it happens. Under-par performances, lack of a Modric in midfield….it shouldn’t come as a surprise.

So, should we still be more like Everton?

Balance. We need a DM and LM, which will give us the required balance to out-think and play a 5 man Everton midfield who’s sole purpose is to stop US from played.

Patience. Well this one is doubtful in the way of managerial appointments, as Harry is only here for the short-term. He knows it and so does Levy. What happens after that is anyone’s guess.

Our players sometimes have this underwhelming presence on the pitch, casually running around, off the pace and with a lack of urgency and responsibility. We obviously have better players, with regards to ability, than most Prem club, yet sometimes can’t even compete against the likes of Hull or Stoke.

It’s the Holy Grail for Spurs fans this. Seeing a team evolve into one that can hassle and bully and run games. Jol, for a couple of seasons, gave us something that was not quite complete but was on its way.

January transfer window will be telling.

Guess who's back?

Shudder.

Prince charming

Pure plagiarism here. No creative blog spark today thanks to an evil bout of insomnia that had me hallucinating PVC clad care bears.

The Prince is back. Cameo performance in the 1-0 Everton defeat is possibly worthy of a DVD (I’m waiting for confirmation from the Spurs Shop). These highlights are positively electrifying (thanks to McBoggers and co over at GG.net):

• Getting into a bit of an argy-bargy with Fellaini within 15 seconds of coming on
• Showing off his new neck tattoo for the first time in the League this season
• Holding the ball up against 2/3 Everton players and then executing a dragback-spin away from them and into space
• Giant leap to flick the ball onto Lennon which lead to Campbell’s chance at the end
• General display of composure and strength at a time when everyone else was hoofing the ball 900 yards even though Everton’s centre-backs spent the entire game dominating the air
• Trying to remove Tim Howard’s chest from the rest of his body

The kid has bite and enthusiasm. More importantly, its arguable that this almost forgotten reserve/fringe player has shown us in a brief appearance that he has more footballing intelligence (minus the thug element) than some of our supposed international class first-teamers, some of which have set the club back £15M or so.

I’m going to quote DanishWhite (again from GG):

What on earth are we thinking spending 17m on players who are inferior in almost just about every single department to fringe players already in the squad ? Surely, something is all wrong when this almost un-integrational problem-child who is unfit and (allegedly) overpriced, overpaid and overrated can come onto the field for a short cameo in a game all but lost and instantly display a higher skill level, more hunger for the game and significantly more clue about how to play the game on the deck than quite a few than our regulars.

Nail on head.

Deemed not that good by previous management, yet had more presence than most on Sunday. Yes, sure, it was one of those days where selection wise we got out-lucked a little by Everton, who came, scored a fluke goal, then sat back and defended. Great tactics, frustrating for us, but not them. Much like our 1-0 steal from a few seasons ago up at Goodison.

The Prince has more composure on the ball than Zokora, gets more involved than Jenas and has an eye for a decent pass. Redknapp has obviously seen something in this lad so we might be yet surprised with more cameos and possibly even a start against Watford.

Bit of competition from an upstart might get some of our 'certainties' playing with zest.