The name is Foy. Chris Foy. Licence to Kill.

Stoke 2 Spurs 1

A referee is not meant to influence a game with such defining persistent calamity. Perhaps one wrong decision (it happens). But Chris Foy is no ordinary referee. Not even average. Poor is the word best associated with him. One mistake swallowed and regurgitated in a constant loop over the ninety minutes played. If ineptness was an art form then his performance in the Stoke v Spurs game was a masterpiece.

The rather ironic saving grace after the whistle blew at full time and we finally lost a game of football in the league was that the players can take the bitterness and allow it to fuel their emotions for the next game (Sunderland at the Lane). Whilst the rest of us (those wanting to look beyond Foy) can feel a little aggrieved that Tottenham let us down in the first forty-five minutes. Because no matter what happened in the second forty-five, the game was lost before the ref and his assistants played their part in guaranteeing it. Still, there is no hiding from the fact that we did more than enough to save the points and our response is what this new-look Spurs is all about. In the end, we were ended by the man with the whistle and not the brutal brand of football our hosts play.

2-0 down, fully deserved. We allowed ourselves to be completely bullied from the off. The formation looked uncomfortable, the players (especially at the back) seemed confused and lost out to Stoke and their physicality (do they have anything else?). I guess this was frustrating for one reason only – what did we expect? Okay, so in the past we’ve had success there but considering our form they were hardly going to sit back and let us play tippy-tappy possession play. Their football is ugly. It can be effective.

I found myself hoping Harry would instruct someone to cello-tape a cardboard cut out of Ledley King onto the back of Scott Parker, for that much needed calming influence. Parker himself, off key, lacked that edge he’s had in his play since he joined our midfield. That leadership quality went missing. We allowed the anti-football to antagonise us.

You know what, it happens. Against Stoke, the obvious actually played out. We let them get to us. Now, for anyone playing around with the words ‘we’ve got out Tottenham back’, I know you’re only jesting. Because old Spurs, that inconsistent creature we hardly miss, would have got battered in the second half too. Not the case this time.

Character. We have it in abundance and we did more than enough in the second half to prove we have spirit and guile. Harry mixed things up with a 3-5-2 formation and it worked. Well, it sort of worked but didn’t. This is where unfortunately the Foy Factor impacted proceedings. Now granted, he gave us a dubious penalty one that you might admit to being generous (and perhaps not wanting Luka to repeat). Although I’m willing to bet most would prefer to silently applaud Modric for it with whispers that certain other clubs have been doing it for years (win at any cost). Personally? Would prefer we win playing football, purely. If our players want to take that particular route of falling down easily, I’d prefer it to remain ambiguous enough for me to ignore.

The inconsistent and dire decision making however had already settled into the game during the first half and spread like the black plague in the second. Luka pen aside (slotted away by Adebayor), the rest were not in our favour. A detail the home support seemed to turn a blind eye too (insert Specsavers joke here).

Time wasting on throw-ins (I feel stupid complaining about the sewn in towel so I won’t)
Shawcross foul on Kaboul in the penalty area, no intent to play the ball, blatant
Shawcross clearing the ball off the line with his arm (straight red?)
Lost count now, there was another handball, right? Woodgate should have walked
A legitimate goal disallowed for offside when Adebayor was onside (assistant ref, anyone?)
The curious case of the corners given as goal-kicks when they were blatantly corners
Various suspect decisions on free-kicks not given, no consistency compared to free-kicks given to opposition

Most of the controversy was post-Modric penalty. Coincidence? Work it out.

He (Foy) influenced the second half. Like the final season of Lost, he had no idea how it would end, making it up as he went along. In the end, what with Kaboul adding to his yellow card for complaining with another yellow for a foul – regardless of the fact that he should have been more wise in both incidents, it almost felt like another kick in the teeth (at a point when I could see us over-running them). Wasn't really a foul worthy of a yellow, was it? Bit soft? If he only stated to the ref 'it was handball' for the first yellow, then you could start to argue that the ref really didn't have a clue how to handle it all and killed off the game completely with over zealous reactions and non-reactions.

Just how much was necessary to make amends for Luka falling over? Or was he also making amends for the Walters header from last season?

The officiating was bad. Our first half performance was bad. So to play well and not get anything after the second half, it’s gutting. But s*** happens. Our response is what I’m taking from this game and as mentioned, let the players feel aggrieved and robbed, let them take that attitude into the next match and take it out in the form of redemption. I’d be far more worried if we capitulated. We didn’t. What it proves is that we have to be far more accomplished from the off, especially when King isn’t playing. So take note chairman and manager, I’m sure they have. Activity certain in January.

This is the ilk of game we've been winning this season. We should have beaten Stoke. We didn't. Never get complacent.

To elaborate on the tactical switch, first half, too many players were isolated so the movement was ineffectual deeming Rafa and his deep deployment redundant and Adebayor without support. With Stoke being what they are we should have (easy with hindsight) started with two forwards, if anything to allow a more balanced shape to the side to deal with their style (lack of). Defoe didn’t deserve to be dropped but then I’m always keen to see Rafa start. In this case, we got it wrong. Harry who is sometimes maligned for not seeing things and changing them got it right when we returned from the dressing room. Foy got it wrong enough to make sure Stoke held on. Something they deserved based on their first half, fortunate to survive the second.

If there was one game in our fixture list that the footballing Gods marked down as the one where we would stumble, this was it.

Etherington for England
‘Unplayable’ Crouch (you just knew this would happen, right? Man of the Match, I'm laughing)
Woodgate and Palacios
The hoofing
No King equating to an Friedel uneasy
Gio's cameo

Still 3^rd. Game in hand. Sunderland will get it next weekend. Live and learn. We lost thanks to that first half display. What the ref did in the second will mask that. Onwards, upwards Spurs. Down into the Championship for Foy, with any luck.

As for Stoke. Well done. You’re not pretty. You got the result, but I’d rather be relegated playing football on the park than survive playing whatever the f*** it is you lot do. I guess you'll cite Wigan as a reason why you don't play it on the park. You've done well against the bigger teams. I guess I should be grateful for my colours. It’s not easy down there. It’s just as hard up here.

As for us lot, this defeat, I don't like the taste of it. I've spat it out.

COYS.

Glory doesn't come in half-measures

No matter where I look, where I turn...I'm surrounded. There's no way out. I must conceded defeat. No escape. I have to accept my fate. Fate being the positivity from the media which is almost as consistent as Tottenham's on field results.

Zombies would have made that opening a little more exciting, I know. Maybe next time.

Whether it's the broadsheets or the tabloids or the journos on Twitter, everyone loves a bit of Spurs. Phil Thompson and Alan Hansen were so giddy in their compliments, I'd imagine they shared a booty call at some point last week just to get it all out of their system.

There has been plenty of title talk from the press. More shocking is that probably for the first time in recorded history (since the very early 80s and 60s) when a Lilywhite speaks the words 'title challenge' when in amongst a group he's not mocked and forced to paint his face in clown colours and waltz up and down the road with everyone pointing and laughing. It might not be possible due to a certain Mancunian project but a challenge is hardly improbable thanks mainly to the continued transitional form of the other former Sky Sports greats. In fact, we're almost beyond that point now when discussing such matters. Rather than 'can we win it?' it's a far more complex conundrum that poses the more relevant question; what do we need to be able to win it?

Probably £100M, and that isn't going to happen.

I'm sort of half jesting anyway. My opinion on this is to aim for top spot because anything directly below it (2nd, 3rd, 4th) will be dancing in the street acceptable. At the start of the season I would have taken fourth. At the start of the season we all thought it would be another long hard struggle. I would have accepted another hard fought, almost nigh impossible bare bone must win every game journey to the final day of the season this time out too. Yet all the early season disarray we struggled with (i.e. that transfer saga) switched on that in-built mechanism we posses to always consider the worst case scenario first, resulting with many knee-jerking away. More so after the opening two results.

I can also remember plenty of 'Has Harry taken us as far as he can?' light-bulbs blinking away in unison. That being the result of our form at the back end of last season which was hardly inspiring. Hindsight tells us the reason was simply due the side requiring new blood. Consolidation. This season has proved that to be correct. More so that with every step taken, further consolidation is required.

We got us the engine room. We got us the complete forward. Wanting to improve further is a sign that the culture of comfort is without air, six foot under.

The most important element of all is most definitely the fact that we held onto our key players. All that belief since Bale's hat-trick in Milan, all the momentum birthed going back further in time to Crouch nodding in the goal at Eastlands...it hasn't been wasted with another blue screen of death and reboot.

What have we won? Well, nothing. But what relevance does that have when we've been achieving something for more important in the long term? We've had to rebuild and this time with not a cowboy in sight.

Doesn't matter, honestly hand on heart, it matters not at all if we/they/them think we can win the title.

What matters is whether the players believe they can. Even if its a day dream or a gentle whispering voice in the back of their heads, it's enough. It's enough for us to challenge at the top. Misplaced, delusional...sure, fives years ago. These days, it seems to be up for grabs. It's not just us with an invitation, there's one or two other clubs out there and their fans who are nowhere near as strong as they once were but could put up a similar argument that its not impossible.

There is nothing to be embarrassed about, displaying ambition. Wanting glory. Neither is acceptable in half-measures. You can't sort of want to oh go on then challenge for anything. You either believe in yourself or you don't.

Fives years ago simply no longer matters other than looking back to it as a reminder of where we once stood. Neither does last season. Even yesterday is history. All focus has to be on tomorrow. The next day. The day after that. And so on.

We don't quite have that experience of the pressures that come with being in a position far more lofty than challenging for 4th whilst looking up from 5th. The winning mentality is fledgling but its one that has many (non-Spurs including) licking their lips with admiration and a little green-eyed jealously. Our opponents might be able to cite that much sought after experience but they gained much of it in days when they only had three other clubs to concern themselves with. Pressure, it doesn't just exist for us. It exists for them too, finding themselves in a place they are accustomed to.

Everyone is fighting each other and having to fight their demons within.

Champions League qualification will no doubt elevate this club to the next level once more, with a solid chance of retaining it the following season (along with retaining those key players that everyone enjoys wanting to link with moves away). That's the target, but this being Spurs, a club that had dreamt for so long...it would be rude not to aim higher. We would dream of CL when we were nothing more than a mid-table side. Now we have a look of a top four side, it's only fair we revel in our confidence.

If we stumble, if we fall...I have complete faith we'll get right back up again, dust ourselves off and continue marching. That's the big test so many of our recent admirers are adding as a caveat in small print embedded subtly alongside their kind words about us. Not that I'm wishing such a thing (the 'L' word) just yet.

Beyond Stoke, beyond the New Year. I can only repeat myself. Sure, we have the best midfield in the country (pound for pound) but regardless of whether we believe our squad depth is sufficient enough say if we did lose a key player or two, we can not take that chance if that chance equates to struggling.

We have to be shrewd and take no prisoners. On the pitch and off it once the transfer window opens. What we've shown is we can grind out results, play without a key player or two. Now just imagine if we strengthen an already very strong first team eleven.

We should not care less about the rest and their problems because they won't care too much about us. As for those kind words. Be certain they will gladly ram it down our throats if we stumbled and failed to get up.

The marker is down.

But having said all this, let's not allow things to bog us down with serious faces and ample chin scratching. Enjoy it for what it is. Tottenham Hotspur playing with style and industry and desire.

Love the shirt.

This changes everything

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Screenshots

Enough of all this swagger and swashbuckle

I've exhausted all superlatives and find myself dizzy from sunstroke, what with the constant basking in the bright shining light that emanates from the heavens where Spurs currently reside. How many times am I expected to salivate over the form of Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon? The untold chances created? The winning mentality crafted out of the desire to progress and reclaim lost Champions League love? The brilliance of little Luka Modric and his giant presence? The influence of Scott Parker? I'm human damn it, not a machine! So as I gather my thoughts and search through my battered thesaurus in the hope of finding replacements for over-used giddiness such as 'swagger' and 'swashbuckle', I've decided to review the 3-0 win over Bolton Wanderers by not actually referencing the game nor citing the momentum birthed from the current run of games that has seen us accumulate 31 points from a possible 33 (the pre-season friendlies against City and Utd obviously not included in that stat).

It's a bit left-field, but it's hardly the Da Vinci code. I'd ask you to enjoy it but you're probably busy reading this on your iPhone or Android whilst having Harry Redknapp's face tattooed on your back.

Epic Fail (revisited) - From September 2008.

Spurs 1 Aston Villa 2

What a shambles. I can't even be arsed to dwell too much on this miserable evening, so I'll stick to the main points.

We have three games in the space of a week. Villa, some Polish side and then Wigan on Sunday. So, what does Ramos do? He selects a disjointed and weakened side in arguably our toughest game of the three. Bentley dropped to the Bench, King rested completely. And selecting Huddlestone and Dawson to play against the pace and movement of Villa was a monumental **** up. Not helped by a typical Zokora display of complete non-existence, we sat back and watched Villa out run us, out move us, out pace us - the lot. Embarrassing.

Even when we did start to play possession football deep into the second half, there was still no end product. In fact the only person attempting end product is the one person who has no end product. Lennon.

Huddlestone in action for Spurs against Villa

The first Villa goal was scored when Huddlestone lost his man. The second, I'm not going to dwell on Gomes allowing the ball to slip under him. Gomes in the first half saved us from going into the dressing room at half-time, 4-0 down. Dawson was at fault for this one. That shot should never have been fired towards goal.

I didn't see Bent's consolation. I was already on my way out.

4 played, one draw, three defeats - two of them at home. Had we played a full strength team, I'm uncertain if the result would have been any different.

Now, you could argue losing Berbatov and Keane isn't something we are going to recover from in a handful of games. But you could also argue, that if Levy, Comolli and Ramos have been assembling this squad since the start of the summer, then resting players shouldn't result in such a shambolic performance. All tonight illustrates is that there is no true depth - which means, play the strongest side possible when a win is most needed. What we get instead is glue, sticking us to the bottom of the league.

                                                          Michael Dawson, falling over

Huddlestone should only be used as an impact sub on current form and mobility. Dawson if everyone else is injured. Zokora's over-hyped performance at Chelsea masked his deficiencies once more, for all of 5 minutes, before it dawned on the faithful that he is in fact ****ing gush. At least young Gio gave us some hope.

Poor Pav, upfront - running into space and behind defenders waiting for a ball that will never arrive. Again, its unfair to be critical of either Pav or Bent. At the moment they look too similar to be playing together - but they do need time to gel (or attempt to do so). So surely tactically, something should have been agreed upon, because if the tactic was hoofing the ball for someone to get their head on it and for someone else to run onto it, then **** are we ****ed.

I'm back at White Hart Pain on Thursday for more comedy. I live the life of a ****ing king, I do.

~ Spooky

Reader Comments (2)

Three wins from our last sixteen league games. Not a great stat. I agree tactically we were all over the shop. What is it with us and underachievement?

Sep 16, 2008 at 12:10 AM | Slamming Joe

We have nothing in midfield. There's no point in Modric if there's no hard nut defensive midfielder to look after him. The loss of K&B is devastating. Another 11th place finish is on the cards at this rate.

Sep 16, 2008 at 3:02 PM | Kings Dodgy Knee

There is no Doomsday. Just All-Stars.

One of my favourite scenes from Superman II is the diner fight. Both of them in fact. A powerless Clark Kent gets bullied and knocked out by a truck driver. Clark means well, but deep down it's all bravado. He knows this but gallantly attempts to blag it. The truck driver humiliates him, leaving Clark bloody and beaten.

It's like the 1990s and early 2000s in constant loop. Spurs turn up, look the part, but everyone can see right through them and can't quite believe they want to go toe to toe and proceed to get brushed aside. The victor arrogantly show-boating whilst Spurs pathetically fail. Teaching someone manners has to be backed up with a good slap. We were limp and no amount of fronting was going work.

Not pleasant viewing. Disillusioned and confused, we were lost whilst those around us grow stronger and more powerful. There was no competition for them and just survival for us. Going through the motions with no apparent evidence that a shift in power would ever occur.

Sure, we had powers in the past. Okay so the metaphor doesn't quite stretch to us giving them up for the love of a woman but we may as well have considering how we turned into a parody of ourselves. An empty shell. I wasn't alone in my Fortress of Solitude either during those dark times. Had one or two fellow Spurs fans sharing the despair, head in hands, shaking despondently at another beating.

So what changed exactly?

The powerful ones got complacent thanks to greed and comfort. We got fed up kneeling down. We switched it. We did it to them. Well, not unequivocally. We still need to crush the hand of Zod and throw him into the depths. Zod being Man Utd in this part of the metaphor...just keep humouring me until the end of the article. Those that want to work with me, you can take Man City to be Lex Luthor and Arsenal can be Non (figure it out).

We're no longer that weak Kent asking the bully to step outside. Rather a supremely confident Kent preferring to tease jokingly about the past then swagger on in. Belief all-consuming.

Come and get it. Oh how we've done just that.

So when Bolton visit us at the Lane, much like so many teams have done in recent times, they will possibly look to trap us in the Phantom Zone. Frustrate, break up play, populate the midfield with physicality to leave us trapped in a perpetual state. One or two might be expecting that slip, that off day, that defeat. Others are preferring to bask in the positives and await a DVD spectacular. Directors cut.

I am neither concerned nor am I giddy. Simply fulfilled.

This Spurs team is not quite at the stage of being able to fly around the earth and turn back time to avoid Louis Lane's death (the 1990s happened, deal with it, history can't be changed). But we can still fly around with our underpants over our trousers with arms upright and clenched fists. I mean literally underpants over trousers. If we keep winning I'm going to have to take 'shrooms just to sober up and attempt to anchor myself to reality.

Reality is also over-rated for some. Many that surround us might wish to believe otherwise but there is nothing to fear. Other than ones self-doubt. So many citations to the past from those desperate to cling to it when in the past we had to endure a desolate future. Times are changing. If you don't care to admit it you're either blind or covering your eyes with your hands. Be blessed if you have x-ray vision.

Reality can also be many more things.

If we lose a game, this team is hardly going to fall apart because of it. In fact the team is more than likely to taste it and accept it as part of the learning curve and move onwards. Backbone is a quality that was mostly missing from those darker times. Defeat, when it hurts, when it should truly hurt, is when it's in isolation rather than being part of consistent inconsistency.

Let's also not forget that loving to win is one thing, learning to hate defeat is another - but equally as important. Whether it's against a trucker or a megalomaniacal Kryptonian.

These days, I quite fancy us against either. Super Spurs. They've been...working out.

Movember, day 30. The end.

Movember final update.

Over £750 raised for growing facial hair. Nice work by all involved.

You can still visit The_Fighting_Cock 'My mo space page' and my page. We've also been updating the thread over at The Fighting Cock forum with weekly photos on the growth and (lack of) styling of our majestic moustaches. To donate click on the link and ‘donate to my team’.

For this year, the 30 day journey of moustachery is over.

 

What a sexy beast.

Time to embrace Decembeard.

Greek tragedy

Spurs 1 PAOK 2

If this was a must win game, Harry should have played our strongest side. The fact he didn't more or less tells you the importance of it. That's been the problem from the very start. It's not a priority. It's an after thought. It's something that's there that can't be ignored so it's patronised. Placing aside the emotive aspect of Europe and a cup run, the actual competition is hardly geared towards aiding you domestically due to the sheer volume of games to be played. I guess if our aspirations were different, say we sat in 8th - 6th place and that was the best we could hope for we might have sacrificed more for the it rather than simply play youth and fringe players.

Last night, what with it being a 'must win', Harry added Modric, Lennon and Defoe to the starting line-up. Bale and Walker also made appearances. Was of no consequence when the defence appeared to freeze frame on a couple of occasions in truly calamitous fashion early on in the game rendering it game over before we had a chance to make any worthy impact. I guess proving that if you call upon players that sit on the bench most days, their lack of focus/first team action can prove to be devastatingly ironic. We lost the game in the opening twenty minutes. Got to be honest. I could have walked through the Spurs defence with a kebab in one hand and an Essex bird on the other. No shocker to see an average side do the same (minus the dodgy meat and bint).

The penalty, fortunate as it was, also went a long way to suggest it was going to be an ominous night in front of goal. I could not shake off the feeling that we would dominate possession and still not hit the target convincingly - and that's basically the story of the second half. Even with 10 men, the Greeks contained us. With ample help from the officials that disallowed an equaliser for no apparent reason other than complete incompetence. Player goes down injured. Nobody (officiating) are concerned for said player, play continues, Defoe scores, the assistant referee starts to run back towards the half-way line and the other bloke (that stands by the side of the goal) hardly made an effort to gesture anything. So the ref, in his infinite wisdom, gave a free-kick to PAOK. If it was for the foul, why the delayed reaction? If it was for offside, it quite obviously wasn't offside. All very bizarre and idiotic.

It's a shame, but the reality is - Harry never believed the squad had the necessary depth to take this competition seriously. Hindrance is the vibe I get. Perhaps he thought we could get away with playing the likes of Corluka, Gallas, Bassong, Pienaar etc as they are/were first team players. But once more, if you lack recent competitive game time, it doesn't matter what the name is on the back of your shirt. It was all disjointed and mish-mashed with very little sustained quality (Modric was decent enough).

All down to mathematics now. I think Harry and co will not care too much about the formulas as they are far too tricky to contemplate. The league is the only challenge of importance to this side and retaining our current position, to be awarded with a far more attractive European prospect. Perhaps the FA Cup can give us a much missed run towards silverware.

We tried to get away with it in the Europa League. We didn't. Looking back at the group, we really should have walked it. But if you don't really want something you're not going to be scared or fearful about losing it. That was apparent through-out the group stages.

Onwards to Bolton at home. Quite obviously a game of far bigger importance to most.

Comments

[Slamming Joe]

Three wins from our last sixteen league games. Not a great stat. I agree tactically we were all over the shop. What is it with us and underachievement?

[Kings Dodgy Knee]

We have nothing in midfield. There's no point in Modric if there's no hard nut defensive midfielder to look after him. The loss of K&B is devastating. Another 11th place finish is on the cards at this rate.