Danny wouldn't be impressed

Sunderland 0 Spurs 0

I'm fairly certain the reason we lacked any vibrant sharp urgency was because our players were battling narcolepsy having to watch Sunderland that close up. I know I was. I spent most of the game counting sheep. There was no tempo to our play which was a massive shame because had we stepped it up a notch we'd have won this comfortably. Although it would have entailed our players firing rubber bullets to get past Martin O'Neil's ten man demonstration against forward progression.

Still, our passing was sloppy. Even with a whacking 65% possession we failed to test their keeper. Did we fail to break down Sunderland? Yes. Trying to skip around a brick wall rather than attempting to jump it proved futile. Then again we don't have too many that can jump. As for our hosts they were the epitome of anti-football (if you haven't guessed yet).

I called them 'organised' and 'committed' in the match preview. Oh the hilarity of irony. They were defensive and negative and the personification of footballing boredom, drilled for containment with the hope of perhaps getting lucky from a set-piece. No want and desire to make a game of it. Shame on us for failing to snap out of the snooze and slap them down. Up to them how they wish to play (even if IMO a home team should be the one setting the pace of the game rather than camping out in their own half for ninety minutes. Each to their own).

Frustrating that we appeared to hold back. I thought about this earlier. Perhaps that pre-match focus (take one game at a time and treat it as the one that matters most till you get to the next one) failed us. If we did hold back with Norwich and Chelsea in mind when you attempt to understand what that means in a pragmatic sense, you can't. Well I can't. Does playing within yourself mean that exerting to say play a decisive forward pass in an up-tempo patch of football have a knock-on effect for the next game and the one after that? Is it possible for a collective, a unit of players to decide to play at 60% effort and restrain imagination from having the expansiveness of a lucid dream right down to a forgettable day dream?

I've played football. Its been many years now, but on occasions for whatever reason, things just don't work on that day. Whether you're off the pace or lethargic with pass and move, it's all a little clustered and without fluidity across all players in the same jersey. Fluidity is something we've recently rediscovered so perhaps in the back of the players mind a point was enough and that's what ended up playing out. That's a shame because every game should be about the three points. One will have to do this time.

Then again, we probably didn't hold back that much. We just couldn't muster the required craft and guile to trick our way over their brick wall. Being constantly hacked down didn't help with the rhythm either. The stadium extinguished light to darkness.

One to forget.

Danny Blanchflower would have frowned at this.

Rovers v Spurs: Fight for your right to party

Time for the truth. No, I'm not talking about the Dublin unofficial Christmas-do. That was yesterdays news. The only thing of importance is how we follow up the comfortable 3-0 home against Manchester City with a win today, away to Blackburn. This game and our next one against Fulham are quite possibly season defining. Not forgetting West Ham before 2009 closes. Okay, too much with the dramatics there, but maximum points will go along way with cementing belief and progress going into the New Year. Last time up at Rovers, we led until the 82nd minute. And lost the game in the 89th. No thanks to the ref sending Wilson off, but it had similar foundations that collapsed so epically away to Everton recently. So that olde question about mental strength is about to be asked once more.

Swift sharp answer please.

Our 'rivals' all have very winnable games, so pressure on. As ever.

Won't be an easy one. Probably won't be too pretty either. And without a doubt a game where players will be required to step up. Dollops of leadership from all areas of the pitch. Tactically, I'm sure Blackburn have plans to suffocate the supply from the midfield to Lennon out hugging the touchline. All eyes on how Harry deals with any potential 'job' done on both Azza and of course our talisman, Niko.

Talking of which, Modric wont be watching from the bench. Precautionary (ankle injury) I'm sure. King on his way back also, but doubt we'll see a change in the back four - which did very well with coping with City in midweek (as limp as they were).

No room for southern powder-puff up in the gritty north. Key for me is Palacios. Need him to be at his brick-wall best and hopefully not too wasteful with his distribution. Fact is, there is no way to predict it. Such is our consistent inconsistency.

Meant to be snowing/freezing up there (much like most of the country at the moment). Add Big Sam's brand of stench football to the mix and we're in for a fight. Won't be easy, they won't make it easy. It's pretty much another test of character and one that has to have the conclusion of cutting edge.

I like Tottenham, even with our blips. The blips are self-inflicted mind blocks blinding us momentarily. They can be corrected and avoided altogether. We are not getting out played by anyone. We are bossing possession and if we're not (in the course of a game) we still have enough about us to create chances. We are sort of on auto-pilot. Which is not ideal. It's time for some control.

Dig deep. Dictate. Retain the ball. Pick off the opposition. Kill the game off.

Over to you Tottenham. It's time for an audacious plot, planned with military precision. The objective? Three points.

COYS.